Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer. From the Preclinical Setting to Clinical Practice.

Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer. From the Preclinical Setting to Clinical Practice. Curr Cancer Drug Targets. 2015;15(8):703-15 Authors: Maurel J, Postigo A Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second largest cause of cancer mortality in Western countries, mostly due to metastasis. Understanding the natural history and prognostic factors in patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) is essential for the optimal design of clinical trials. The main prognostic factors currently used in clinical practice are related to tumor behavior (e.g., white blood counts, levels of lactate dehydrogenase, levels of alkaline phosphatase) disease extension (e.g., presence of extrahepatic spread, number of organs affected) and general functional status (e.g., performance status as defined by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group). However, these parameters are not always sufficient to establish appropriate therapeutic strategies. First-line therapy in mCRC combines conventional chemotherapy (CHT) (e.g., FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, CAPOX) with a number of agents targeted to specific signaling pathways (TA) (e.g., panitumumab and cetuximab for cases KRAS/NRAS WT, and bevacizumab). Although the response rate to this combination regime exceeds 50%, progression of the disease is almost universal and only less than 10% of patients are free of disease at 2 years. Current clinical trials with second and third line therapy include new TA, such as tyr...
Source: Current Cancer Drug Targets - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Curr Cancer Drug Targets Source Type: research