Phat Le, MD, assistant professor, Department of General Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses research efforts that are need to address unmet needs in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

One area that many ongoing trials are focused on has to do with a small population of patients with mCRC, such as those with microsatellite instability—high tumors, says Le. A lot of new data are coming out for those subsets of patients; however, those with MSI-H disease only represent about 4% of all patients with mCRC, adds Le.

More research is needed in the larger population of patients with mCRC, says Le, such as those who are MSI stable and who do not have any activating mutations to target. Although it is great that new therapies are being developed for subsets of patients with mCRC, there is still an unmet need for the majority of the patient population. Hopefully, the field will see more advances made for patients who do not fall into those rare and specific subcategories, concludes Le.

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Phat Le, MD, discusses research efforts that are needed to address unmet needs in metastatic colorectal cancer.

Dr. Le on Research Needed to Address Unmet Needs in mCRC

Phat Le, MD, assistant professor, Department of General Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the need for aggressive therapeutic approaches in oligometastatic colorectal cancer (CRC).

In some cases, patients with oligometastatic CRC may be candidates for aggressive treatments like surgery and radiation, says Le. However, 60% to 70% of patients who receive these treatments will eventually recur.

As such, not every patient should be treated with surgery or radiation, says Le. Further research is needed to understand which patients are likely to benefit from aggressive therapies and which patients should be spared the potential complications that associated with them, concludes Le.

Phat Le, MD, discusses the need for aggressive therapeutic approaches in oligometastatic colorectal cancer.

Dr. Le on the Need for Aggressive Treatment Interventions in Oligometastatic CRC

Phat Le, MD, assistant professor, Department of General Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses treatment approaches for patients with oligometastatic colorectal cancer (CRC).

The treatment of patients with oligometastatic CRC is evolving, says Le. Historically, clinical trials for patients with oligometastatic disease were limited to those with less than 3 or 4 sites of localized metastases. However, in clinical practice, patients could have more than 4 metastatic sites of disease and still be considered oligometastatic.

In the absence of robust clinical trial data, it’s important to have a multidisciplinary team help determine which patients with oligometastatic disease require more aggressive therapy versus those who don’t, concludes Le.

Phat Le, MD

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Dr. Le on Research Needed to Address Unmet Needs in mCRC

Dr. Le on the Need for Aggressive Treatment Interventions in Oligometastatic CRC

Dr. Le on Treatment Approaches for Oligometastatic Colorectal Cancer