Marwan G. Fakih, MD, professor, director, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, City of Hope, discusses anti-angiogenesis versus anti-EGFR therapy in patients who have RAS wild-type colorectal cancer.

Fakih says it is important for researchers to figure out which therapy is more beneficial for patients who have RAS wild-type colorectal cancer in the first-line setting. There are hints that anti-EGFR therapy is effective in the first-line setting based on the FIRE-3 data, Fakih says, but it is important to see the results of C80405. Especially since the FIRE-3 data shows a lack of improvement in patient’s progression-free survival.

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Dr. Fakih on Angiogenesis Versus EGFR Inhibitors in CRC

Marwan G. Fakih, MD, professor, director, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, City of Hope, discusses expanding 

 mutation testing for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Recent data have shown that expanding traditional 

 mutations can better focus treatment with anti-EGFR therapy on a patient population that is most likely to derive benefit, Fakih says.

At the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, there were several presentations supporting expanded testing with data from large analyses. One of these presentations, from study 20050181, reported that patients with traditionally wild-type non-exon 2 

 mutations (at exons 2, 3, and 4) did not benefit from anti-EGFR therapy with panitumumab.

This study, plus others, represents an overwhelming accumulation of data suggesting that it is necessary to move past traditional KRAS testing for the selection of anti-EGFR therapy in CRC, Fakih believes.

Marwan G. Fakih, MD, professor, director, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, City of Hope, discusses extended RAS mutations in colon cancer.

Marwan G. Fakih, MD

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Dr. Fakih on Angiogenesis Versus EGFR Inhibitors in CRC

Dr. Fakih on RAS Mutations in Colon Cancer