Belgian doctors hit personalized cancer treatment milestone

In a breakthrough for personalized treatment of colorectal cancer, Dr. Eric Van Cutsem from University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Levuen, Belgium, and his colleagues determined that colorectal tumors that contain a gene called normal (or wild-type) KRAS are more likely to retreat when treated with cetuximab (Erbitux) in addition to the standard chemotherapy treatments that they would receive.

Dr. Van Cutsem delivered his findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in New York. He and his team determined the status of KRAS mutations in tumors from 587 of 1,198 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with the usual course of chemotherapy as part of a large study.

They found wild-type KRAS in 65% of the tumors, and mutated KRAS in the remaining 35%.

When cetuximab was added to the first line of chemotherapy in patients with wild-type KRAS, patients had a response rate of 59%, compared with a 43% response rate for those treated with the chemotherapy alone.

In patients with the wild-type KRAS gene, it was found that those treated with chemotherapy alone had a median survival of 8.7 months, while when cetuximab was added to the regimen they had a median survival of 9.9 months.

For the 35% of patients with the mutated KRAS gene, there was no difference in response rates when cetuximab was added to the treatment regimen.

"KRAS is the first molecular marker for the selection of a targeted therapy in combination with a standard chemotherapy regimen in first-line metastatic colorectal cancer," Dr. Van Cutsem said.

"KRAS testing should be routinely conducted in all colorectal cancer patients immediately after diagnosis to ensure the best treatment strategies for the individual patient," he added.

The toxicity of the treatment was as expected, and the researchers found side effects to be manageable. "There were more grade 3 and 4 adverse events, but there were no surprises, no new safety signals, in patients with wild-type KRAS tumors treated with cetuximab and FOLFIRI," Dr. Van Cutsem said.

To receive a FREE Mesothelioma Web information packet** or to make a request, please fill out the following form :

**For a FREE information packet including treatments, clinical trials, and specialists, please complete the form above or call a Mesothelioma Web coordinator at 1-877-367-6376.

News

Resources

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here