Colorectal Cancer

Circulating tumor DNA could serve as an ideal biomarker to assess early response in patients with advanced colorectal cancer due to its short half-life compared with other tumor biomarkers, and it could enable the use of adaptive clinical study designs in the future.

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab for adult patients with RAS wild-type, HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed after treatment with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, and irinotecan-based chemotherapy.

John H. Strickler, MD, discusses the significance of the FDA approval of tucatinib plus trastuzumab in metastatic colorectal cancer.

The Signatera molecular residual disease test was able to detect patients with stage II to IV colorectal cancer who were at an increased risk for recurrence and predict which patients were most likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.

Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, MD, FACP, expands on key data reported from the MOUNTAINEER trial, the potential effects of this regimen’s approval on the current treatment landscape, and the continued investigation of this and other targeted approaches in metastatic colorectal cancer.

Neoadjuvant treatment with anti–PD-1 inhibitors induced high rates of complete response and reduced recurrence rates, according to a retrospective analysis of patients with localized mismatch repair-deficient or microsatellite instability–high colorectal cancer.

Christina Wu, MD, discusses key targeted therapies under investigation in patients with colorectal cancer.

Peter Kozuch, MD, discusses the phase 2/3 CIRCULATE-US trial evaluating chemotherapy decisions for patients with resected colorectal cancer based on circulating tumor DNA status.

Geneoscopy’s at-home, stool-based diagnostic screening test to detect colorectal cancer and advanced adenomas in average-risk individuals displayed high sensitivity and specificity, meeting the primary objectives of the phase 3 CRC-PREVENT trial.

Patients with stage III colon cancer who receive longer courses of adjuvant oxaliplatin, exercise for less than 9 hours per week, have diabetes, or have a higher body mass index could experience higher rates of severe oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to adagrasib plus cetuximab in patients with KRAS G12C–mutated, advanced colorectal cancer whose cancer has progressed following prior treatment with chemotherapy and an anti-VEGF therapy.

Melissa A. Lumish, MD, discusses emerging treatment strategies that could lead to more individualized treatment plans for patients with rectal cancer.

COM701 plus nivolumab demonstrated modest antitumor activity but a favorable safety profile in patients with metastatic microsatellite stable colorectal cancer.

The FDA has approved updated labeling for capecitabine tablets (Xeloda) under an initiative aimed to ensure labeling information is clinically meaningful and scientifically up to date.

The addition of budigalimab to ABBV-151 was well tolerated and significantly enhanced responses in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

Sam Klempner, MD, discusses the investigation of adagrasib in KRAS G12C–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer.

The combination of NT-I7 and pembrolizumab showed significant clinical activity in checkpoint inhibitor–naïve, relapsed/refractory microsatellite stable colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer without liver metastasis.

Regorafenib plus ipilimumab and nivolumab led to encouraging survival and responses in approximately half of patients with microsatellite stable, non–liver metastatic colorectal cancer who progressed on prior chemotherapy.

Data presented at the ESMO Congress 2022 highlighted advances across treatment modalities, including landmark data for trials in melanoma, breast cancer, and lung cancer, as well as early data that made headlines in a subgroup of patients with colon cancer.

Afsaneh Barzi, MD, PhD, discusses the need for more sensitive minimal residual disease testing in colorectal cancer.

Sam Klempner, MD, discusses the design and eligibility criteria of the ongoing phase 1/2 KRYSTAL-1 trial in colorectal cancer.

Prognosis, treatment outcomes, and molecular characteristics have become associated with sidedness in colorectal cancers making the distinction an essential characteristic for consideration in decison-making.

Benjamin Adam Weinberg, MD, discussed the expanding role of circulating tumor DNA in CRC and the various testing methods, the utilization of liquid biopsies, and the need for up-front genetic testing to identify molecular alterations.

Additional analyses of the phase 2 MOUNTAINEER trial further support the early administration of tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab as an optimal treatment strategy for patients with previously treated HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer.

Stacey A. Cohen, MD, discusses the evaluation of the role of circulating tumor DNA to determine the benefit of chemotherapy in colorectal cancer.