Colorectal Cancer

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.

According to researchers, a “better understanding of the heterogeneity of mCRC, including primary tumor location, microsatellite instability (MSI) status, and other clinically actionable tumor mutations, is reshaping the therapeutic landscape.”

Frontline pembrolizumab induced clinically meaningful improvements in the health-related quality of life of patients with microsatellite instability-high and/or mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer.

The cancer specialist from Cedars-Sinai spoke about the observed increase of colorectal cancer in younger individuals, as well as the significantly higher incidence and death rates in black people.

This study found black patients were less likely to undergo chemotherapy or surgical resection for colorectal liver metastases and had worse survival compared to other patients.

Researchers suggested that potency enhancing phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor drugs may have the ability to improve a prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer.

With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers recommended that resection should occur as soon as possible depending on the availability of hospital resources and local disease burden.

A recent study found a 22% lower risk in developing colorectal cancer in the 3 years after patients took hypertension medications to treat high blood pressure, heart failure, or heart disease.

The board-certified gastroenterologist discussed the lack of screenings being conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how many physicians have tried to circumvent this issue.

The FDA approved pembrolizumab for IV injection for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic MSI-H or dMMR colorectal cancer.

Study presented at the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting II supports an increased role for genetic testing in these patients.

Andrea Dwyer addressed why it is important to raise global awareness around the increasing rate of EAO-CRC, and how healthcare providers can get involved.

Researchers identified a correlation between the timing of genomic testing and mortality risk in a clinicogenomic cohort of patients with cancer.

The findings, presented at the 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program, are the first to show benefit with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced colorectal cancer when used as a front-line therapy.

Payment models with shared-savings components, such as the Oncology Care Model, may be associated with fewer visits and lower costs in certain cancer settings in the first year.

Patients with pretreated microsatellite instability-high cancers treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors were found to have high activity, independent of tumor type and drug used.

This phase II trial suggested that combination immune checkpoint inhibition with durvalumab plus tremelimumab may be associated with prolonged overall survival in patients with advanced refractory colorectal cancer.

A recent examination of older adults with cancer found accelerated losses in differing sarcopenia measures existed before and after a cancer diagnosis.

A recent study implemented the Screen to Save program to educate racial/ethnic minority groups on colorectal cancer, finding that knowledge and screenings increased after patients completed the educational program.

The study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Virtual Meeting 2020 and demonstrated encouraging preliminary antitumor activity with objective responses as a monotherapy and in combination with nivolumab.

This study found a substantial difference in the number of agents available for use in the metastatic and adjuvant settings for non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer.

Leading cancer experts from across Europe issued an international expert consensus statement regarding radiotherapy treatment options for patients with rectal cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FDA approved the combination use of encorafenib and cetuximab for the treatment of adult patients with BRAFV600E-positive metastatic colorectal cancer.

The trial evaluating the first-line treatment of pembrolizumab in patients with microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer demonstrated improved PFS compared with chemotherapy.

ASCO released new guidelines for treating patients with late-stage colorectal cancer based on previously existing guidelines using an expert panel.