ASCO Urges KRAS Gene Testing for Colorectal Cancer
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recommended today that patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who are candidates for anti-EFGR therapy have their tumors tested for KRAS gene mutations. In a “provisional clinical opinion,” ASCO recommends that patients with mutated forms of the KRAS gene should not receive the drugs cetuximab (Erbitux) and panitumumab (Vectibix), based on recent studies indicating that these drugs are only effective in patients with normal forms of the gene.
Researchers from the Adjuvant Colon Cancer Endpoints (ACCENT) Group used individual patient data from 18 phase III trials of adjuvant fluorouracil-based chemotherapy for colon cancer to show that the regimens provide their survival benefit primarily by reducing the high risk of recurrence within the first 2 years after surgery. Read more > >
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Physicians can use the tool to help patients make decisions about screening and care
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Reasons for the difference are not clear
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Cancers found at baseline in the study were more aggressive than those found in subsequent screenings
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Patients experienced similar overall health and quality of life compared to hormone therapy alone
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The study compared cisplatin and oxaliplatin in guinea pigs
NCI recently launched a newly enhanced Funded Research portal on its Web site. For a decade or more visitors to www.cancer.gov could search the cancer research portfolio, but the enhanced portal now provides consolidated information from varying NCI locations on one site, including funding and other data on NCI's intramural research program. The result is a significant increase in public access to this broader range of data. Read more > >
The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which was established in 1937. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases.
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