Colorectal Cancer

During Colorectal Cancer Awareness month, CancerNetwork® sat down with Dorothy Dulko, PhD, to discuss social determinants of cancer.

Phyllis Morgan, PhD, sat down with CancerNetwork® to discuss health disparities during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

“Emerging evidence supports a possible role for overall dietary patterns that, in totality, emphasize habitually consuming fruits, vegetables, grains, and low-fat dairy and reducing red meat and alcohol intake,” wrote the study authors.

A pooled analysis of 2 cohort studies suggested that individuals who began using aspirin before age 70 years and continued using the agent later in life had a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

“As the current work is the largest ever published on adjuvant [fluoropyrimidine; FP] for patients with MSI stage III [colon cancer], it suggests that FP alone should not be recommended as adjuvant treatment for these patients,” wrote the study authors, who were led by Romain Cohen, MD, PhD.

Investigators suggested that findings across different clinics can help inform future implementation of the Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP).

Research published in JAMA Network Open found that total neoadjuvant therapy enhanced pathological complete response rates for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

When compared with standard capecitabine and bevacizumab therapy, patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer saw an increase in overall and progression-free survival.

Data presented at the 2021 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium found that health-related quality of life among younger survivors of colorectal cancer is poor and social and functional well-being are also suffering as treatment durations increase.

When compared with chemotherapy, patients with microsatellite-instability high/mismatch repair deficient metastatic colorectal cancer saw significant improvement in progression-free survival with the frontline use of pembrolizumab monotherapy, while demonstrating superior safety.

The phase 2 study presented at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium reported a total of 2 responses at the interim analysis, meeting criteria to continue accrual.

SWOG S1406 evaluated the use of irinotecan and cetuximab (Erbitux) with or without vemurafenib (Zelboraf) in patients with BRAF V600E-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer who had been previously treated with 1 or 2 regimens.

The study assessed the use of irinotecan and cetuximab (Erbitux) with or without vemurafenib (Zelboraf) in patients with BRAF V600E–mutated metastatic CRC who had been previously treated with 1 or 2 regimens.

This new risk estimation model could help physicians determine whether an average risk patient’s specific risk indicates an at-home stool test would be a good screening option or suggests a colonoscopy may be the most appropriate option.

The latest episode of CancerNetwork’s podcast focuses on the rising incidence rates of colorectal cancer in both young and black patients.

The guidance is intended to inform gastroenterologists of how to assess lesions for endoscopic features associated with cancer, discuss how these factors guide endoscopic management, and to outline the factors that frame whether to advise surgery after a malignant polyp has been endoscopically resected.

A study published in JAMA Surgery found that low quantity and low quality of muscle can predict poor outcomes after colon cancer surgery.

These results emphasize the importance of defining patterns of variance in early-onset CRC survival in order to understand the impact of community health behaviors on early-onset CRC outcomes.

Adagrasib demonstrated an acceptable safety profile and promising clinical activity in pretreated patients with non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and other solid tumors with a KRAS G12C mutation.

Medicaid expansion was found to be associated with improved mortality among patients with newly diagnosed breast, colorectal, and lung cancer.

Watch-and-wait in place of surgery was shown to be a safe and feasible treatment approach for patients with nonmetastatic rectal cancer achieving a complete response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation.

The updated guidelines outlined indications and best practices for pelvic radiation treatments, as well as the integration of radiation with chemotherapy and surgery for patients with stage II to III disease.

For the first time, the draft recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force indicate that screening for colorectal cancer begin at age 45.

“This algorithm could allow us a better shot at personalized medicine and enhance our ability to tailor the treatments to be as appropriate as possible,” said study author Daniel Chang, MD.

This data suggests clinicians should not rely on self-reports from their patients about either their need or the proper interval for a repeat surveillance colonoscopy.