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In a retrospective cohort study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Akushevich et al found that receipt of chemotherapy was associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease in colorectal cancer survivors. As stated by the investigators, “Evidence on the nature of the relationship between...
According to a report published by Pickhardt et al in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), compared with multitarget stool DNA and fecal immunochemical tests, computed tomography (CT) colonography using a polyp size threshold ≥ 10 mm most effectively targeted advanced neoplasia—preserving...
In an analysis of early safety outcomes in a Chinese phase III trial (RELARC) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Xu et al found similar surgical complication rates with complete mesocolic excision vs D2 dissection in patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy for right-sided colon cancer. The...
In an updated analysis of the pivotal phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial in microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer, the benefit of first-line pembrolizumab continued beyond disease progression on the subsequent line of treatment, despite a high crossover to immunotherapy for...
In a Japanese phase III trial (JCOG1007; iPACS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kanemitsu et al found that the addition of primary tumor resection to chemotherapy did not improve overall survival vs chemotherapy alone in patients with asymptomatic primary colorectal cancer tumors and...
The study’s invited discussant, Michael J. Overman, MD, Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, said the findings of the study presented by Henriksen et al1 add to a convincing body of data showing that “the use of circulating...
Patients with stage I to III colorectal cancer who have a high risk for recurrence may be identified by serial testing of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after resection, according to a study in which ctDNA proved more reliable than carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) surveillance or standard radiologic...
At-home tests, which measure blood in stool as a potential marker for colon cancer, are often used for colorectal cancer screening. Usage of these tests has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as patients try to avoid clinical visits. However, effectiveness of these screening tools, along with...
A recent study found that long-term aspirin use before a diagnosis of colorectal cancer may be associated with lower colorectal cancer–specific mortality. The report, published by Figueiredo et al in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that the findings for prediagnosis...
Administering colorectal cancer screening kits through a socially distant drive-by flu vaccination clinic increased access to colorectal cancer screening among Black Americans, according to results presented by Washington et al at the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer (Abstract S02-04)....
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Quénet et al, the French phase III PRODIGE 7 trial has shown that the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to cytoreductive surgery did not improve overall survival—and was associated with an increase in postoperative late...
In an analysis of data from the IDEA collaboration reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Timothy J. Iveson, MD, FRCP, and colleagues found that 3 months (vs 6 months) of adjuvant CAPOX (capecitabine and oxaliplatin) may be a potential treatment option for patients with high-risk colorectal...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Weiser et al have developed a "third-generation" clinical calculator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), which incorporates molecular and clinicopathologic characteristics and provides an accurate prediction of disease recurrence...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Priority Review to nivolumab as either adjuvant or first-line therapy in several types of gastric cancers, as well as to a novel PD-1 inhibitor for locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal. The FDA also...
In a phase II trial (SWOG S1406) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of vemurafenib to irinotecan and cetuximab significantly improved progression-free survival in previously treated patients with BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne Université and Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, and colleagues, the prospective pooled analysis of six phase III trials in the IDEA collaboration has shown that noninferiority in overall survival for 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Laura M. Fernandez, MD, of Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, and colleagues found high rates of conditional recurrence-free survival during watch-and-wait surveillance among patients with rectal cancer who maintained a clinical complete response to...
Tenna V. Henriksen, PhD Candidate, of Aarhus University, discusses her findings on how circulating tumor DNA may help assess recurrence risk and the benefit of adjuvant therapy, and more quickly detect early relapse after treatment in patients with colorectal cancer (Abstract 11).
In a study reported in a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Nassar et al identified the prevalence of the formerly “undruggable” KRAS G12C mutation across tumor types, race, and sex. As stated by the investigators, a recently reported early-phase clinical trial has shown...
Dostarlimab, a monoclonal antibody targeting PD-1, showed strong and durable antitumor activity in patients with mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) gastrointestinal tumors in the phase I GARNET study, reported Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne Université and Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, and colleagues...
Kai-Keen Shiu, MD, PhD, of the University College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - London, discusses an interim analysis of PFS 2 results (defined as time from random assignment to progression on the next line of therapy or death) from the phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial. This study has already shown that first-line pembrolizumab provides a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in PFS compared with chemotherapy in patients with microsatellite instability–high metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract 6).
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...