An updated analysis of a phase 3 trial reports that encorafenib/cetuximab, alone or in combination with binimetinib, improves quality of life compared with the current standard of care in patients with BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease progressed after one or two prior therapies.The BEACON CRC study, the results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in October, investigated the efficacies of encorafenib/cetuximab/binimetinib (triplet therapy) a...
Fluoropyrimidines, such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and capecitabine, are standards of care in treating gastrointestinal cancers, breast cancer, and head and neck cancers. However, both 5-FU and capecitabine can potentially induce cardiotoxicity that presents as acute coronary syndromes. A team of researchers led by Anne Dyhl-Polk, PhD of the Department of Oncology at the Herlev-Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, set out to compare the incidence of cardiotoxicity caused by 5-FU and capecitab...
For patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the standard treatment is induction combination chemotherapy with a targeted agent. However, clinical trials that involved patients either continuing cytotoxic therapy until disease progression or observation have shown inconsistent efficacy results. To close this gap, a systematic review and network meta-analysis was conducted and revealed that continued induction therapy until progression offered no survival benefit compared with maintenance fluo...
Because high blood insulin and insulin resistance are associated with increased cancer risk, cancer screening is especially important in patients with diabetes. However, a recent study has found that women with diabetes underutilize screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer.Cancer screening has been shown to decrease the risk of death by up to 33% for breast cancer, 70% for cervical cancer, and 37% for colorectal cancer. By enabling early detection and treatment before the disease ha...
In metastatic colorectal cancer, the BRAF V600E mutation, which affects around 10% of patients, portends a poor outcome. Initial standard chemotherapy often fails, and after it does, patients survive for a median of only 4 to 6 months. A phase 3 trial reports a significant improvement in overall survival with two different treatments: a triplet therapy consisting of encorafenib (BraftoviTM, Array BioPharma), binimetinib (MektoviTM, Array BioPharma), and cetuximab (Erbitux®, Eli Lilly); and ...