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VIDEO: David P. Ryan, MD, reviews variances between right-sided, left-sided colon cancer
In this video with Healio.com, David P. Ryan, MD, chief of hematology/oncology and medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, highlights issues at the forefront of colorectal cancer.
He discusses the increasing incidence of colon cancer among patients aged 50 years and under, as well as the distinction between left-sided and right-sided colon cancer. “They are not the same thing, by any stretch of the imagination,” Ryan said.
Colonoscopy may not be fully protective against right-sided colon cancers, he notes. In addition, right-sided cancers “… may have a different prognosis compared [with] left-sided colon cancers. They respond differently to some of the epidermal growth factor antibodies.”
Finally, Ryan addresses the heterogeneous nature of colorectal cancer.
“The days of calling someone a colon cancer patient are over. The days of calling somebody a patient with colon cancer who is microsatellite stable, KRAS-mutant, PI3 kinase mutant and so on are here,” he said. “ … When you’re referring to patients who have colon cancer, you really do need to have all of those differentiators in your notes and in your thought process.”