Colorectal Cancer

The multitarget stool DNA test, a noninvasive screening tool for colorectal cancer (CRC), demonstrated potential for identifying cancer and advanced adenomas in community-based individuals who had previously not followed national screening recommendations, reported Mark Prince, MD, MBA, Director of Gastroenterology, USMD Health System, Arlington, TX, at the 2016 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

A panel of 4 blood-derived biomarkers showed promise as an aid to early detection of colo­rectal cancer (CRC). The panel yielded a negative predictive value exceeding 90% for CRC, the combination of CRC and high-risk adenomas, and colorectal plus other cancers. The biomarker assay demonstrated fair to good performance characteristics, associated with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve ranging between 0.70 and 0.80.

Barcelona, Spain—Controlling and minimizing nausea and vomiting enables patients with cancer to continue their chemotherapy. A clinical trial reported at the 2015 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer shows that the newly approved agent aprepitant (Emend), an oral neurokinin (NK)₁ antagonist, improved antiemetic control in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) who were receiving oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, according to Junichi Nishimura, MD, Assistant Professor, Osaka University, Japan.

San Francisco, CA—In routine patient care, adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard FOLFIRI (leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil, and irinotecan) improves progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to data presented at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Orlando, FL—In screening colonoscopies, high adenoma detection rates (ADRs) by physicians are associated with fewer missed cancers and with better survival from colorectal cancer (CRC), according to 2 studies presented at Digestive Disease Week 2013.

New chemotherapies for metastatic colon cancer have improved life expectancy, but at a significant cost, say the authors of a study that explores the value of medications including bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech), capecitabine (Xeloda, Roche Laboratories), cetuximab (Erbitux, Bristol-Myers Squibb), irinotecan hydrochloride (Camptosar, Pfizer, Inc), and oxaliplatin (Eloxatin, Sanofi-Aventis LLC).