Colorectal Cancer

Treatment with&nbsp;trifluridine/tipiracil combined with bevacizumab improved&nbsp;progression-free survival over capecitabine plus bevacizumab in patients with&nbsp;metastatic colorectal cancer who are not eligible for chemotherapy or surgical resection,&nbsp;according to findings presented at the 20th World Conference of Gastrointestinal Cancer.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;

Bert H. O&rsquo;Neil, MD, recently shared his considerations for treatment when treating patients with gastrointestinal cancers. O&rsquo;Neil reviewed how he would treat patients with colon cancer and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma based on case scenarios during a <em>Targeted Oncology</em> live case-based peer perspectives presentation.<br /> &nbsp;

Things are looking up in the world of adjuvant therapy for patients with gastrointestinal cancers, according to Diane Reidy-Lagunes, MD.&nbsp;During her presentation, Reidy-Lagunes outlined the current state-of-the-art in GI cancer care, with findings from pivotal studies in gastric, pancreatic, biliary, and colorectal cancers.

The Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research released the first Community Care Cancer in Washington State: Quality and Cost Report to provide transparency for patients and health providers, establishing a more value-based care model.

Todd Yezefski, MD, a senior fellow in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses the results of a trial investigating cost and outcome differences in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in the United States and Canada. Specifically, he looked at patients in Washington and British Columbia. This data was presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

In patients with&nbsp;peritoneal carcinomatosis undergoing surgery, the addition of heated chemotherapy to the abdomen during surgery did not provide a survival benefit, data&nbsp;from a phase III study presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, in Chicago, Illinois, showed.

According to the results of a study presented during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, microsatellite instability-high tumors are more likely to be associated with the presence of Lynch syndrome.&nbsp;

Prices for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer were more than twice as high for US patients than for their Canadian counterparts, according to a study of costs of treatment in Western Washington (WW) and the province of British Columbia (BC) in Canada.

In the first report of the full cohort of 119 patients in the CheckMate-142 study, positive results were demonstrated with nivolumab alone or in combination with ipilimumab in patients with previously treated microsatellite instability-high or DNA mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer.

Scott Kopetz, MD, associate professor of GI Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Center, advises community oncologists on what testing should be done for patients with colorectal cancer.

According to topline findings from the phase III IMblaze370 study, treatment with the combination of the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab and the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib failed to improve overall survival versus regorafenib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer&nbsp; who were previously treated.

The beginning of 2018 has brought many exciting developments in the treatment landscape of metastatic colorectal cancer, explains Shubham Pant, MD.

While not all patients with gastrointestinal cancers will respond to immunotherapy, those who do&nbsp;are likely to have long-lasting responses, explained John L. Marshall, MD.

When findings of larotrectinib,&nbsp;a pan-TRK&nbsp;inhibitor co-developed by Bayer and Loxo Oncology, that generated significant excitement for the treatment of both adult and pediatric patients with TRK fusion cancers,&nbsp;were presented during the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, the small molecule was lauded as a future standard of care for patients with advanced solid tumors harboring a TRK fusion.

Irinotecan plus bevacizumab with a fluoropyrimidine proved to be a noninferior treatment option compared to the standard regimens of either mFOLFOX6, CapeOX, or FOLFIRI for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to findings from the phase III TRICOLORE trial.<br /> &nbsp;

According to the results from a phase I study, BLU-667, a next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was well-tolerated and demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced,&nbsp;<em>RET</em>-altered solid tumors who had progressed on previous therapies. These findings were presented April 14 to 18 at the ASCR Annual Meeting 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.

Carlos Becerra, MD, recently shared the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. Becerra, a medical oncologist at Texas Oncology, Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center, explained his treatment decisions based on 2 case scenarios during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation.