Colorectal Cancer

Immunotherapy with pembrolizumab in combination with capecitabine-based chemotherapy and the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab, appeared tolerable as treatment of patients with microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer, showing a safety profile that was expected with the drug, results from a phase 2 study show.

A draft recommendation statement was published by the United States Preventive Services Task Force stating that screening for colorectal cancer should start at the age of 45, according to a press release from the Task Force Bulletin.

Results of a randomized phase 3 trial demonstrated that the 3-month regimen of adjuvant combination therapy caused significantly less grade 2 or more peripheral sensory neuropathy than the 6-month regimen as treatment of patients with high-risk stage II colorectal cancer, while not affecting the 3-year disease-free survival rate, according to a report in the Annals of Oncology.

Due to the high prevalence of KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer and the fact that many different KRAS variants are found in these tumors, developing treatment for patients with KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer is an area of unmet medical need

The health-related quality of life had clinically meaningful improvements with pembrolizumab as a first-line therapy for patients with microsatellite instability-high and/or mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer versus standard-of-care chemotherapy, according to new data presented at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020.

The incidence of disease progression in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis was not significantly lower when patients were treated with eflornithine plus sulindac compared with either drug alone.

Compared to other racial and ethnic groups, Black patients were the least likely to receive chemotherapy or surgical resection for colorectal liver metastases and experienced worse survival, according to a published research paper.

RAS status detected in circulating tumor DNA was associated significantly with clinical outcomes when patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were rechallenged with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody therapy of either cetuximab or panitumumab, according to findings from a clinical study evaluating RAS mutational status in ctDNA using the OncoBEAM RAS CRC test kit in 2 Japanese multicenter, prospective studies.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, PhD, discussed the history of immune checkpoint inhibition in the metastatic colorectal cancer treatment paradigm.

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, discusses the significance of conducting biomarker testing in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in accordance with the results of the phase 2 CheckMate-142 trial.

"Patients with unresectable or metastatic MSI-H colorectal cancer have historically faced poor outcomes, and until today, chemotherapy-containing regimens were the only FDA-approved first-line treatment options."

Salvatore Siena, MD, discusses the efficacy of the phase 2 DESTINY-CRC01 trial of trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with HER2-expressing metastatic colorectal cancer who have progressed on 2 or more treatments in this setting.

A New Drug Application was submitted to the FDA seeking accelerated approval of eflornithine in combination with sulindac for the treatment of adult patients with familial adenomatous polyposis.

Fruquitinib was granted Fast Track Designation for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have received prior fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, and irinotecan-based chemotherapy and anti-VEGF therapy, as well as anti-EGFR therapy for RAS wild-type tumors

"Cancer is now the number 1 cause of death in many parts of the United States and overall, men are at a 50% likelihood of having some sort of cancer diagnosed in their lifetime, where it is slightly lower in women at about a third."

In an attempt to better understand the critical unmet needs of young survivors of and patients with colorectal cancer, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance launched an annual survey. These latest findings indicate the unique challenges of young-onset CRC and the need to continue improving this treatment landscape.

Tilsotolimod has demonstrated innate and adaptive immune activation in multiple tumors. Now, some safety and efficacy data have been reported for the combination of tilsotolimod plus nivolumab and ipilimumab.

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, discusses the next steps following the phase 3 BEACON CRC trial of encorafenib plus cetuximab with or without binimetinib compared with irinotecan or FOLFIRI plus cetuximab in patients with BRAF V600E metastatic colorectal cancer.

Data from 2 phase 2 trials involving fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki revealed the agent’s ability to induce responses in patients with HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer and advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

Encorafenib plus cetuximab with or without binimetinib continued to show an overall survival benefit compared with cetuximab plus irinotecan-based regimens as treatment of patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer in the updated findings from the phase 3 BEACON CRC clinical trial.

"Pembrolizumab works in non-randomized studies in this group of patients with advanced disease. This randomized study demonstrates a huge benefit in the first-line [setting] with pembrolizumab and should be the new standard of care."

“[The study confirmed] that use of Immunoscore® in combination with established prognostic factors allows one to more accurately assess prognosis, highlighting the clinical utility of Immunoscore."

"This designation is a significant validation of not only our onvansertib clinical program, which is now eligible for priority review and accelerated approval, but it also signifies recognition of the medical need for new effective treatment options.”

Cathy Eng, MD, speaks to the unmet needs of treatment options in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer is among the most commonly diagnosed malignancies worldwide, representing 10.2% of all cancer cases. The recent addition of third- and fourth-line therapies that extend survival and improve quality of life has opened up new possibilities in the growing continuum of care for metastatic colorectal cancer.