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Eight important updates in colorectal cancer
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The advocacy group Fight Colorectal Cancer and Eli Lilly launched the “Biomarked” campaign to highlight the role biomarkers play in the treatment of colorectal cancer.
“It’s vitally important that [patients with colorectal cancer] understand biomarkers, the value of testing soon after diagnosis, and how this knowledge can positively impact future treatment,” Anjee Davis, president of Fight Colorectal Cancer, said in a press release. “Our goal is to educate patients and spark conversations about biomarker testing so patients become their own best advocates.”
The campaign provides a variety of educational resources to encourage patients and their caregivers to talk to physicians about biomarker testing.
In conjunction with this effort, HemOnc Today presents eight updates related to colorectal cancer detection, treatment and research.
- Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with non-V600 mutations to BRAF define a clinically distinct disease subtype with a good prognosis, according to results of a retrospective study. Read more.
- Fecal immunochemical testing for colorectal cancer demonstrated high overall diagnostic accuracy, indicating it is a viable, safe and low-cost alternative screening method for patients at increased risk for colorectal cancer. Read more.
- Three companies — eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Pfizer and Merck KGaA — entered a clinical collaboration to evaluate the combination of eFT508 and avelumab for patients with microsatellite stable colorectal cancer. Read more.
- Increasing the age limit for routine genetic testing among patients with colorectal cancer could help identify more families affected by Lynch syndrome, the most common inherited colorectal cancer syndrome. Read more.
- The addition of cetuximab (Erbitux, Eli Lilly) or bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) to a first-line chemotherapy regimen appeared associated with comparable OS, PFS and response rates among patients with KRAS wild-type untreated advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results of a phase 3 clinical trial. Read more.
- Array BioPharma and Bristol-Myers Squibb entered a clinical collaboration to investigate two combinations as potential treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have microsatellite stable tumors. Read more.
- The U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer Screening released new recommendations that rank screening options for average-risk individuals, acknowledge the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer among younger individuals, and suggest that black patients begin screening earlier. Read more.
- Array BioPharma and Merck entered into a clinical trial collaboration agreement to evaluate binimetinib (Array BioPharma) in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have microsatellite stable tumors. Read more.