Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, accounting for approximately 10% of all cancers, and is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). How colorectal cancer develops is not well understood, but researchers are making progress in developing new therapies.
The Australian Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute (PeterMac) has announced that a new oral treatment has been shown to be very effective in treating a difficult type of bowel (colorectal) cancer associated with the KRAS G12C mutation.
The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, provided results considered remarkable, with 62% of people with bowel cancer with the KRAS G12C mutation achieving a positive response to treatment when given the new drug, divarasib, in combination with another cancer treatment called cetuximab.
Professor Jayesh Desai, Medical Oncologist, Associate Director of Clinical Research and Head of Early Drug Development Studies at the Australian Peter MacCallum Cancer Center (PeterMac), explained that these results are incredibly impressive.
Although the KRAS G12C mutation occurs in only about 4% of colorectal cancer patients, it is routinely tested for, so our ability to identify the right patients to offer such an experimental treatment is straightforward.
„Median progression-free survival for patients in the study was just over eight months, and the treatment was well tolerated, with manageable side effects”, said Professor Desai.
Although it was not a comparative study, the response rates are better than those seen with other treatments that act on the KRAS G12C mutation pathway, he said.
„We are very confident that this combination of divarasib with cetuximab will translate into better outcomes for patients with colorectal cancer”.
KRAS is a key protein that controls how cancer cells divide and survive, and when the KRAS-G12C protein is mutated, it makes cells, including cancer cells, more likely to divide uncontrollably, which leads to the appearance of tumors.
2023-12-22 06:14:30
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