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Romain Cohen, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic and Sorbonne University, discusses a post-hoc analysis of phase III results from the CALGB/SWOG 80702 study, which showed that adding the number of tumor deposits, a negative prognostic factor, to the count of lymph node metastases may improve the accuracy of TNM staging (Abstract 10).
Patients with stage I to III colorectal cancer and a high risk for disease recurrence may be identified by serial testing of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after resection, according to a study in which ctDNA was more reliable than carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) surveillance or standard radiologic...
Electronic health record–based artificial intelligence may help uncover new risk factors in the development of early-onset colorectal cancer, according to study findings presented by Parker et al at the AACR Virtual Special Conference: Artificial Intelligence, Diagnosis, and Imaging (Abstract...
In a pooled analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cohen et al found that the addition of oxaliplatin to fluoropyrimidine was associated with improved overall and disease-free survival in patients with stage III colon cancer with microsatellite instability (MSI). They also found the ...
New research published by Abdel-Rahman in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found more than one-third of eligible people miss timely screening tests for colorectal cancer, and at least one-quarter appear to miss timely screening tests for breast and cervical cancers....
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Kasi et al found that total neoadjuvant therapy was associated with improved pathologic complete response rates vs standard therapy with neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with...
Thierry André, MD, and colleagues reported the prospective pooled analysis of six phase III trials in the IDEA collaboration in The Lancet Oncology. The analysis showed that noninferiority in overall survival for 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy was not established in patients with stage III...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fernandez et al found high rates of conditional recurrence-free survival during watch-and-wait surveillance among patients with rectal cancer who maintained clinical complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 1, 3, or 5 years. Study Details In the...
To improve long-term survival odds, individuals with early-stage colon cancer should have their surgery performed by highly skilled surgeons. In a study that used video assessment, surgeons with highly ranked skills gave their patients a 69% lower risk of dying at 5 years as compared with their...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne Université and Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, and colleagues, the second interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with pembrolizumab vs...
Six months before my diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer, in 2016, at age 38, I told my mom, “I feel like I’m dying.” Even though more than 10 specialists I had seen over the previous 8 years for unexplained bouts of abdominal pain and bloating, fatigue, and constipation kept assuring me that ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Bahadoer et al, the phase III RAPIDO trial has shown improved 3-year disease-related treatment failure with preoperative short-course radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy and total mesorectal excision (TME) vs preoperative chemoradiotherapy, TME, and optional...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, the second interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with pembrolizumab vs fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment of patients with advanced...
A systematic meta-analysis has shown that statin users had a significantly reduced risk of colorectal cancer. The study included patients with and without inflammatory bowel disease, which is associated with an increased risk of this type of cancer. The largest chemopreventive effect was observed...
The Immunoscore assay can assess the risk of disease recurrence in Asian patients with early-stage colon cancer and may be used together with TNM classification to guide clinical decision-making, according to findings presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia Virtual...
Early identification and removal of cancerous colorectal polyps are critical to preventing the progression of colorectal cancer and improving survival rates. The U.S. Multisociety Task Force on Colorectal Cancer has released new guidance for endoscopists on how to assess colorectal lesions for...
In a German single-institution study reported in JAMA Surgery, Rahbari et al found that the anterior approach to the resection of colorectal liver metastases was not associated with a reduction in the detection of intraoperative circulating tumor cells vs conventional hepatectomy. As stated by the...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zhu et al found that the addition of irinotecan to neoadjuvant capecitabine chemoradiation (CapIriRT)—with irinotecan dosing guided by UGT1A1 genotype—followed by capecitabine/irinotecan (XELIRI) significantly improved...
In a study reported as a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Brajcich et al found that higher-rated surgical technical skill was associated with significantly improved long-term survival in patients undergoing surgery for colon cancer. Study Details In the study, surgeons were recruited from the...
In states that have expanded Medicaid availability as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), mortality rates for three major types of cancer are significantly lower than in states that have not expanded their Medicaid, according to findings from a new study published by Miranda B. Lam, MD, MBA, and ...
Is intensive monitoring of patients after curative colorectal cancer resection warranted? Not necessarily, according to the findings of PRODIGE 13, reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress 2020.1 “After curative surgery, the addition of CEA [carcinoembryonic...
A nonsurgical treatment option for rectal cancer that preserves quality of life may be safe for selected patients, according to a new study comparing it with standard surgical treatment. These findings were published by Beard et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons and were...
On October 27, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) posted a draft recommendation statement on screening for colorectal cancer. For the first time, the Task Force is recommending that screening start at age 45. This is a B recommendation, meaning the USPSTF recommends the service; that...
Editor’s Note: The ASCO Post learned of the death of Patrick Beauregard due to colorectal cancer on September 6, 2020. Just weeks after my wedding in late summer of 2017, I had a sudden bout of abdominal pain so severe that it sent me to the emergency room. I was just 29 years old and in great...
In KEYNOTE-177, the anti–PD-L1 antibody pembrolizumab reduced the risk of disease progression by 40% vs chemotherapy in a targeted subset of previously untreated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Now, in terms of health-related quality of life, pembrolizumab is also the clear favorite,...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) provides guidance for physicians who use radiation therapy to treat patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Recommendations outline indications and best practices for pelvic radiation treatments, as well as the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Schmoll et al, the phase III PETACC 6 trial has shown no benefit of the addition of preoperative and adjuvant oxaliplatin to preoperative capecitabine-based chemoradiation and adjuvant capecitabine in patients undergoing total mesorectal excision...
Veena Shankaran, MD, of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses study findings from a national sample of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who are on systemic therapy. A year into their treatment, nearly three out of four patients had major financial hardships despite access to health insurance coverage (Abstract 137).
Although cancer incidence and mortality rates for all cancers combined are considerably lower in younger adults than older adults, a disturbing pattern is beginning to emerge in the development of early-onset cancers, typically diagnosed in older patients, occurring in younger adults. The rising...
To accelerate progress in the survival rates of people with cancer in the United States and to reduce cancer disparities across the entire spectrum of cancer from diagnosis to survivorship, there needs to be increased access to cancer screening and prevention programs. To shed light on this...
Colorectal cancer is more prevalent among Black people, a group with the highest rates of death for an illness that is curable if caught early. “The unfortunate reality is that minorities, especially Black people, have a much lower chance of getting life-saving cancer treatment. Health care works...
Immune checkpoint inhibitors have improved outcomes for patients with a variety of cancer types, including those with advanced colorectal cancers that test positive for microsatellite instability/mismatch repair deficiency (MSI-high/MMRd). While testing rates for patients with MSI-high/MMRd...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by David S. Hong, MD, and colleagues, the phase I CodeBreaK100 trial showed activity of the oral KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib in heavily pretreated patients with KRAS p.G12C–mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cancer,...
The first half of 2016 was arguably the most exciting of my life. My wife, Jaione, and I had decided to leave the United Kingdom and move with our two children, Andrew, then 14, and Alba, then 10, to Denver, where I was taking on a leadership role in corporate affairs for a brewery company. By the...
Among patients with stage III colon cancer, patients aged 70 or older were less tolerant of adjuvant oxaliplatin/flouropyrimidine therapy, in addition to having poorer relapse-free interval rates on the regimen, according to findings from a large subgroup analysis of the phase III TOSCA trial...
Thierry Andre, MD, of Hôpital Saint-Antoine, discusses phase III KEYNOTE-177 findings on the reduced risk of disease progression or death in patients receiving pembrolizumab monotherapy as a first-line treatment of microsatellite instability–high and/or mismatch repair–deficient metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract 396O).
In a large group of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, consumption of a few cups of coffee a day was associated with longer survival and reduced risk of disease progression, according to findings reported by Mackintosh et al in JAMA Oncology. The findings, based on data from a large...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Burke et al found that the combination of eflornithine and sulindac did not reduce the risk of disease progression vs either agent alone in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. Study Details In the international trial,...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mlecnik et al found that high Immunoscore values were associated with reduced risk of disease recurrence and better outcomes with chemotherapy vs no chemotherapy in patients with stage III colon cancer. Study Details The international...
A research letter published by Thornblade et al in JAMA Network Open examined the impact of race or ethnicity on rates of chemotherapy, liver resection, and survival among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. “The unfortunate reality is that minorities, especially Black people, have a much...
In a patient-level meta-analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chiara Cremolini, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan (FOLFOXIRI) plus bevacizumab was associated with significantly greater overall survival vs...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Xiao et al found that low skeletal muscle index and low skeletal muscle radiodensity were associated with an increased risk of complications and poor outcomes following surgery for colon cancer. Study Details The study involved data on...
“In line with the emergence of targeted therapies, molecular biomarker testing in metastatic colorectal cancer has evolved over the past decade,” noted Jeanne Tie, MD, MBChB, FRACP, who acknowledged there is confusion about the best ways to use molecular testing in the clinic. Dr. Tie, who is...
In a Chinese single-institution trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tang et al found that the addition of first-line bevacizumab to mFOLFOX6 (modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) resulted in a higher rate of conversion to R0 resection in patients with RAS-mutant,...
On June 29, 2020, pembrolizumab was approved for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the randomized,...
In a French phase III trial (PROPHYLOCHIP–PRODIGE 15) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Goéré et al found that second-look surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) did not improve disease-free survival vs standard surveillance in patients at high risk of developing colorectal...
Xavier Llor, MD, PhD, of Yale University School of Medicine, discusses the steep rise of early-onset colorectal cancer over the past 15 years, which cannot be explained by genetic predisposition but may be prompted by environmental factors (Session ED35).
Periodontal disease was associated with an increased risk of two precursors of colorectal cancer, according to results of a study published by Lo et al in Cancer Prevention Research. “Periodontal disease is prevalent among adults, with periodontitis affecting more than 40% of the U.S. population,”...
In a population-based modeling study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Maringe et al estimated that delays in diagnosis due to the COVID-19 pandemic could result in 3,291 to 3,621 additional deaths from breast, colorectal, esophageal, and lung cancers within 5 years. As stated by the investigators,...
In a Dutch population-based observational cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Rovers et al found that adjuvant systemic chemotherapy was associated with improved overall survival vs active surveillance after upfront resection of isolated synchronous colorectal peritoneal metastases. Study...