Colorectal Cancer

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.

“This combined genomic and epigenomic plasma-based ctDNA test continues to demonstrate high sensitivity and specificity which significant implications for its clinical utility of CRC detection,”

Amir Khan, MD, discusses the possible reasons for the rising incidence of young adult patients with gastric cancer and colorectal cancer at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology following SOGO 2020, Andrea Cercek, MD, discussed the rising incidence of CRC in young adults in detail. She also advised community oncologists who encounter these patients in their clinics.

The FDA has granted approval to the therascreen BRAF V600E Kit as a companion diagnostic to encorafenib, a BRAF inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic colorectal cancer harboring a BRAF V600E mutation, as detected by an FDA approved test, in combination with cetuximab after prior therapy.<br /> &nbsp;

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, discusses&nbsp;the combination of regorafenib and nivolumab for patients with colorectal cancerthe combination of regorafenib and nivolumab for patients with colorectal cancer.

The FDA has approved the combination of encorafenib and cetuximab as treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with a BRAF V600E mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test, after prior therapy, according to a press release from Pfizer.&nbsp;

The FDA has accepted and granted a priority review to a supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with tissue tumor mutational burden-high who have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.

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.