Colorectal Cancer

Pembrolizumab demonstrated an improvement in progression-free survival in the first-line treatment of patients with microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer, meeting one of the primary end points of the phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial.

In honor of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month,&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;was joined by Pashtoon M. Kasi, MD, MBBS, MS, in a tweet chat. The 3 featured cases highlighted a variety of subsets of CRC, including patients with NTRK fusions,&nbsp;<em>BRAF</em>&nbsp;mutations, and HER2 amplifications.

An association was found between a lower risk of grade 3 or higher chemotherapy toxicity with higher body mass indexes and normal albumin, a protein made in the liver, levels in older adult patients with solid tumors, according to an analysis of a prospective, multicenter study.

A sudden surge in the cases of COVID-19 due to pandemic, along with efforts to contain it, has led to multiple challenges that no country has experienced in the last several decades. The global pandemic from COVID-19 poses a unique set of challenges not only for patients with cancer who need their treatment, but also for caregivers, oncologists, and the overall care team.

The use of genetic testing by way of tumor tissue analysis combined with liquid biopsy monitoring at different time points throughout the disease progression of colorectal cancer may help optimize treatment selection.

The addition of cetuximab to irinotecan, fluorouracil, and folinic acid leucovorin demonstrated superior overall survival compared with the addition of bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who developed skin toxicity from cetuximab exposure, according to results from the phase II FIRE-3 trial, published in the Annals of Oncology.

Despite demonstrating improvement in overall survival as treatment of patients with advanced inoperable metastatic colorectal cancer, cetuximab plus chemotherapy led to significantly worse survival for patients with operable colorectal liver metastases in the perioperative setting, according to findings from randomized phase III clinical trial.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Kashyap Patel, MD, discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of new precautions in his practice as the number of COVID-19 infected persons rises in the state.<br /> &nbsp;

Patients harboring IDH1/2 muta&shy;tions may receive benefit by the use of PARP inhibitors, with investigators initi&shy;ating clinical trials in patients across multiple different tumor types to determine the efficacy of this strategy.

Treatment with pembrolizumab demonstrated antitumor activity along with tolerable toxicity in patients with 4 different rare and hard-to-treat malignancies, according to results from a phase II study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers and published in the&nbsp;Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

Colorectal Cancer

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, discusses the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer and how it differs from other cancer regimens.

To help assess the advances the United States has made in decreasing cancer-related deaths, a collective of public health bodies found that monitoring trends in cancer risk, screening test use, and mortality is informative. A report published in&nbsp;<em>Cancer</em>&nbsp;shows that progress has been made in recent years, but there is more work to be&nbsp;<a>done.</a>

From 2001 to 2017, the cancer death rates continued to decline in the United States, and these decreases were observed in all major racial and ethnic groups, as well as in males, females, adolescents, young adults, and children. However, the rates of cancer incidence for all cancers slightly increased in females from 2012 to 2016, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, which was published in&nbsp;Cancer.^&nbsp;

The FDA has accepted a Biologics License Application for MYL-1402O, a proposed biosimilar to bevacizumab, according to a press release from co-developers Biocon and Mylan. The BLA is seeking approval for the biosimilar as a treatment for multiple types of cancer and the FDA has set an action date goal of December 27, 2020, for a decision on the BLA.

As the new coronavirus disease 2019 creates problems internationally, health-wise and economically, it is also becoming a cause for concern throughout the oncology community.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Van K. Morris, MD, discussed a pooled analysis of the TRIBE trials to determine how oligometastatic disease status impacts treatment decisions. He also discussed advances in the field, including novel treatments that are emerging for advanced CRC.

In February 2020, the FDA gave indications to multiple therapies meant for treatment of solid tumor and hematologic malignancies. FDA action included 10 Priority Reviews, 2 Breakthrough Therapy designations, and 2 Fast Track designations.

Van K. Morris, MD, describes the novel treatments he is excited about in the treatment landscapes for colorectal and anal cancers right now.

To help clinicians cope with an increasing number of geriatric patients with cancer, the Association of Community Cancer Centers is addressing this problem with a 2-pronged approach that focuses on the delivery of care and diagnostic assessment.

The incidence of colorectal cancer is rising among people who are below 50 years of age, the colonoscopy screening age as recommended by the United States Preventive Service Task Force of the National Cancer Institute. To date, there is no research that can explain the rise which has led physicians to deliberation on whether the recommended screening age for colonoscopies should be lowered or left as is. During a debate at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, Uri Ladabaum, MD, and David S. Weinberg, MD, MSc, presented their stances on the topic.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Daniel H.&nbsp;Ahn, DO, discussed the phase Ib/II study of onvansertib plus FOLFIRI and bevacizumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer &nbsp;with a&nbsp;KRAS mutation.

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, discusses the results of the phase III BEACON CRC study, which was presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Maintenance of quality of life on patient-reported assessments was prolonged with encorafenib plus cetuximab with or without binimetinib, out-performing the standard of care in patients with <em>BRAF</em>&nbsp;V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.