Fisch MJ, Grabner M, Mytelka DS, et al. - Since balancing clinical effectiveness and risk of complications while selecting chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is important, researchers undertook this retrospective cohort analysis to define real-world inpatient/emergency department hospitalizations during first-line chemotherapy in patients with mCRC. Data from medical and pharmacy claims were used. The study sample comprised 717 eligible people (mean age 55 years; 58% male; ECOG 0/1/2+/missing in 44%/39%/6%/11%; median follow-up 116 days) suffering from mCRC with ≥ 1 claim for ≥ 1 of the 5 most commonly used first-line chemotherapy agents (fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, bevacizumab, irinotecan, capecitabine). Insurance plan type, geographical location, ECOG, and renal disease were the factors that were shown to have a link with hospitalization, in univariate analyses. Multivariable analyses revealed a 67% increase in the odds of hospitalization in correlation with ECOG ≥ 1 vs ECOG= 0. Overall, hospitalization was experienced by nearly 40% of patients with mCRC during the study duration. The stays in hospitals were typically short. The median time to first hospitalization was documented to be 52 days. The most frequent problems related to inpatient hospitalizations were infections/neutropenia (21%) and bowel-related complications (17%). Also, experts noted a large amount of variation in regimens utilized in the first-line setting.