Colorectal Cancer Research Results and Study Updates

Diagnoses of colorectal cancer continue to increase in younger adults. In September 2020, more than 400 leading scientists and patient advocates participated in an NCI/NIEHS-sponsored symposium to identify research priorities that address important questions about this concerning trend.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved encorafenib (Braftovi) in combination with cetuximab (Erbitux) to treat adults with metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors have a specific mutation in the BRAF gene, called V600E.

For people with colorectal cancer with a specific mutation in the BRAF gene, a treatment regimen of three targeted drugs can improve how long they live without increasing their risk of serious side effects, results from a new clinical trial show.

Many colorectal cancers likely have spread long before the original tumor is detected, researchers have found. The findings suggest the need for very early detection and could help identify patients who need more aggressive systemic treatments.

Using novel proteogenomic techniques, scientists from NCI’s Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium have uncovered new features of colon cancer that may guide new treatment strategies.

Findings from an NCI-funded study suggest a new vaccine approach may have the potential to prevent colorectal cancer in people with Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that increases an individual's risk for developing certain types of cancer.

The FDA has approved the combination of the immune checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumor cells have defects that affect their ability to repair DNA.

Two studies examined the impact of more frequent follow-up testing for cancer recurrence in colorectal cancer survivors. Learn whether the studies showed that frequent testing improved survival.

Colorectal cancer screening reduces deaths from the disease, yet about one-third of Americans aren’t up to date with screening. Learn what happened when people waiting for routine checkups used an app that allowed them to order their own screening test.

People with FAP, an inherited condition that greatly increases their risk of gastrointestinal cancer, who took the drugs erlotinib (Tarceva) and sulindac (Aflodac) saw a substantial decrease in the number of precancerous lesions in the colon and rectum.

Fusobacterium, found in the stomach and intestines, may help fuel the growth of colorectal cancer and metastases. In a mouse model of colorectal cancer, using antibiotics to kill these bacteria slowed tumor growth.

Proactive, low-tech outreach approaches can help increase the number of people who get screened for colorectal cancer with a colonoscopy or home stool test and complete the appropriate follow-up.

FDA has granted accelerated approval to the immunotherapy drug nivolumab (Opdivo®) for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors have alterations that affect DNA repair.

A shorter course of chemotherapy following surgery may be preferred to longer treatment for some patients with colon cancer, results of an international collaborative study suggest.

Drs. Philip Rosenberg and William Anderson of NCI discuss a recent study on which they were coauthors that reported an increase in colorectal cancer incidence among adults under age 50 in the United States.

In a study of an immune therapy for colorectal cancer that involved a single patient, researchers identified a method for targeting the cancer-causing protein produced by a mutant form of the KRAS gene.

A blog post on a study showing that in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the location in the colon where the tumor originated appears to strongly influence how long patients live.

African Americans younger than age 50 had significantly worse 5-year survival rates at every stage of disease compared with young white and Hispanic patients, a new study shows.

In a small clinical trial of people with an inherited condition that greatly increases gastrointestinal cancer risk, a two-drug combination shrank precancerous lesions in the duodenum.

A missing hormone in obese mice may help explain a longstanding association between obesity and an increased risk of colorectal cancer in humans.

The FDA has approved a single drug that combines trifluridine and tipiracil to treat patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease progressed after standard treatment.

In an international randomized phase III trial, the investigational drug TAS-102 extended the lives of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease had progressed following standard therapies.

A new study suggests that dense bacterial communities called biofilms may promote the development of some colorectal cancers.

New research suggests that identifying specific changes in the gut microbiome could potentially help screen patients for colorectal cancer.