Colorectal Cancer

In this podcast, we discuss whether all male colorectal cancer patients over the age of 60 should be screened for prostate cancer.

The surgical strategies of “classic, reversed, or combined” resection of colorectal cancer and colorectal liver metastases have to be tailored to a specific patient, and all three strategies have a role in the treatment of stage IV colorectal cancer today.

There is limited data available to guide decision making in the management of colorectal liver metastases. Despite a trend toward increased use of perioperative chemotherapy, others have questioned the role of this approach in patients with solitary lesions and a longer disease-free interval.

In a good percentage of patients who have oligometastatic disease confined to a single organ-usually the liver-complete metastasectomy can result in cure. However, once the decision to pursue surgery is made, there remain a number of issues that must be addressed in order to ensure the best possible outcome.

The two drug combination of cetuximab plus brivanib alaninate worsened quality of life and did not improve overall survival in patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer.

No difference in overall survival was seen for surgery with or without FOLFOX4 in patients with initially resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer, according to the results of a new study.

We discuss colorectal cancer screening with two gastroenterologists, including results from two recently published studies showing long-term effects of screening.

A prospective trial needs to be done in order to create a safe and responsible environment in which to offer patients the watch-and-wait option for rectal cancer.

We also propose that limiting the watch-and-wait strategy to patients with T1/T2N0 rectal cancer and using adequate T staging with MRI will result in improvements in local control and patient outcomes.

Once a patient has been appropriately educated by an informed healthcare provider about the possible benefits of PSA screening, then patient preference as part of shared decision making regarding PSA screening should be considered in all cases.

It may be appropriate to offer prostate cancer screening to carefully selected men with a previous history of colorectal cancer. However, the risks and benefits of establishing the diagnosis in this setting need to be considered and discussed with them.

Not all patients with colorectal cancer are candidates for such screening, however, as a remaining life expectancy of at least 10 years is generally required in order for PSA screening to yield a significant mortality benefit.

This article reviews current evidence in support of a watch-and-wait approach to rectal cancer management, and discusses the challenges and limitations of this approach.

Kinder, gentler cancer therapy is neither of those things if it fails to be as effective in controlling the cancer. When an area of completely clinically regressed cancer is excised, there is commonly residual cancer present.

A new study shows that additional RAS mutations can confer resistance to panitumumab, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody approved for treating metastatic colorectal cancer.

A new meta-analysis indicated that people with diabetes are not only at an increased risk of developing breast and colon cancer, but are also at an increased risk of dying from the diseases.

Colorectal cancer patients who have early tumor shrinkage after first-line treatment with chemotherapy plus cetuximab may be more likely to have long-term response to therapy, according to an analysis of two large clinical trials.

In the VICTOR trial, patients with PI3KCA-positive colorectal cancer who took aspirin had a lower cancer recurrence compared to those with a wild-type PI3KCA gene.

A study on screening colonoscopy for colorectal cancers, originally presented at ASCO 2013, found that from 1976 to 2009 late-stage cancer incidence decreased from 117 to 74 cases per 100,000 people, and early-stage incidence decreased from 77 to 68 cases per 100,000.

The use of a centralized nurse-led telephone-based care coordination system failed to improve outcomes including quality of life, unmet supportive needs or visits to the emergency department after surgical resection of colorectal cancer, according to the results of a new study.

Two separate studies have found direct evidence that F. nucleatum, a bacteria found in the mouth and in periodontal plaques, promotes growth of colorectal tumors.

Over the past few years, significant efforts have focused on developing and validating molecular biomarkers to better define the subset of patients with stage II disease who might derive benefit from adjuvant therapy.

At this juncture, various commercially available assays for colon cancer may be of little added value, and accelerated biomarker development with clinical validation is desperately needed.

In this review, we will discuss adjuvant chemotherapy in non-metastatic colon cancer, the existing prognostic and predictive molecular biomarkers in the field, and how to integrate these molecular biomarkers into the decision about whether to administer adjuvant therapy.

A new endoscopy technology called photometric stereo endoscopy, which captures the topography of the colon surface to create a 3D image, could be a more robust way to screen for precancerous lesions of the colon.