Colorectal Cancer

A multitude of studies presented over the course of the past year have emphasized the importance of broader RAS mutational analyses outside of traditional KRAS testing for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

At the recent National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 19th Annual Conference, experts discussed this year's updates to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. The meeting also included reviews of NCCN Task Force reports on issues in supportive care. We asked eleven NCCN panel members to select the most significant updates and insights presented at the conference.

Johanna Bendell, MD, director of GI Cancer Research Program, associate director, Drug Development Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses two studies in BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer.

Frontline therapy with bevacizumab (Avastin) or cetuximab (Erbitux) combined with either FOLFOX or FOLFIRI yielded a comparable survival benefit of approximately 29 months in patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer

The FDA has expanded the approval of panitumumab to include the frontline treatment of patients with KRAS wild-type mCRC in combination with chemotherapy.

Two recently published clinical studies demonstrated a strong association between higher levels of vitamin D and improved outcomes among patients with various cancers.

For patients whose colorectal cancer has spread to the liver, and confirmed by computed tomography (CT), further imaging scans before surgery added little benefit when compared to patients who did not undergo further imaging.

Johanna Bendell, MD, discusses the rationale of a phase II trial looking at onartuzumab (MetMAb) and bevacizumab for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Treatment with the investigational oral agent TAS-102 significantly improved overall survival in a phase III trial for patients with heavily pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer.

The FDA's Molecular and Clinical Genetics advisory committee has unanimously supported the safety, efficacy, and positive risk-benefit profile of the noninvasive stool-based DNA test Cologuard in a 10-0 vote.

The blood-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening test Epi proColon passed the scrutiny of the FDA's Molecular and Clinical Genetics advisory panel in a close 5-4 vote with 1 abstention in support of the claim that the test's benefits outweigh its risks

Roberto Bordonaro, MD, chair, medical oncology, Garibaldi Hospital, Catania, Italy, discusses treatment options for patients with colorectal cancer who fail on oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapy.

Marc Peeters, MD, PhD, department of oncology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerpen, Belgium, discusses the future of the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Genetic counseling-including testing and risk assessment-is one of the most rapidly growing areas of oncology and has become the standard of care for patients with a personal and family history of breast, ovary, or colon cancer.