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Background: The triplet FOLFOXIRI (fluorouracil, L-leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan) plus bevacizumab showed improved outcomes of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, when compared to FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, Lleucovorin, and irinotecan) plus bevacizumab. However, the actual benefit of the upfront exposure to the three cytotoxics when compared with a preplanned sequential strategy of doublets was not clear, as well as the feasibility and efficacy of therapies after progression. To this purpose, we aimed at comparing a pre-planned strategy of upfront FOLFOXIRI followed by the reintroduction of the same regimen after disease progression to a sequence of mFOLFOX6 (fluorouracil, L-leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) and FOLFIRI doublets, in combination with bevacizumab. Methods: TRIBE2 was an open-label, prospective, phase 3 randomised study of patients (aged 18-70 years with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] performance status of 2 or less and aged 71-75 years with an ECOG performance status of 0), with unresectable, previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer, who were recruited from 58 Italian Oncology Units. Patients were stratified according to center, ECOG performance status, primary tumour location and previous adjuvant chemotherapy, and randomly assigned (1:1) via a web-based procedure to two different strategies: first-line mFOLFOX6 plus bevacizumab followed by FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab after disease progression (control group) or FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab followed by the reintroduction of the same regimen after disease progression (experimental group). Combination treatments were administered up to 8 cycles followed by fluorouracil/L-leucovorin plus bevacizumab maintenance until disease progression, unacceptable adverse events, or consent withdrawal. Both patients and investigators were aware of treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival 2, defined as the time from randomization to disease progression on any treatment given after first disease progression or death, analysed by intention to treat. Safety was assessed in the population of patients who received at least one dose of their assigned treatment. The study recruitment was completed, and follow-up of participants is still ongoing. Findings: Between February 26, 2015, and May 15, 2017, 679 patients were randomly assigned and received treatment (340 in the control group and 339 in the experimental group). 81% of enrolled patients had a right-sided and/or RAS or BRAF mutated tumour. At data cut-off (July 30, 2019) the median follow-up was 35·9 months (IQR 30·1-41·4). Median progression-free survival 2 was 19·2 months (95% CI 17·3-21·4) in the experimental group and 16·4 months (95% CI 15·1-17·5) in the control group (hazard ratio [HR] 0·74, 95% CI 0·63-0·88; p |