Bowel cancer: 3-drug combo may offer an alternative
Chemotherapy treatment for people who have advanced bowel cancer and a particular genetic mutation is commonly ineffective. A combination of three different drugs could be the key to improved treatment.
The outlook for people with standard bowel cancer — also known as colorectal cancer — and those with an advanced form of the disease can differ greatly.
While more than half of the former tend to survive bowel cancer for 10 or more years, the outlook for the latter can be just a few months if cancer involves a specific gene mutation.
Up to 15% of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients have the BRAF V600E mutation. Treating this form of cancer is difficult as it can be aggressive and tends not to respond to combination treatments involving chemotherapy.
Now a new study has tested a combination of targeted therapies without chemotherapy. Researchers call this the BEACON CRC Phase III trial.
Their study appears in the Annals of Oncology and featured at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2019.