Patients Living Longer With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Advances in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer have greatly improved survival for these patients, and novel approaches on the horizon are particularly exciting, according to John L. Marshall, MD, of Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington, DC, who described the treatment landscape for this malignancy at 2015 JADPRO Live at APSHO. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is now being recognized as not just one disease, but a cancer with a number of molecular subtypes. It is classified as microsatellite stable (MSS) or unstable (MSI) and as RAS wild-type or mutant; then it is classified anatomically by colon vs. rectum and right side vs. left side of the colon. Most recently, gene profiles and stool flora types are being explored, and researchers are studying how the environment (particularly foods) interacts with the microflora to affect CRC risk.