Dr. Eng on the Role of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in CRC

Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, FASCO, David H. Johnson Chair in Surgical and Medical Oncology, co-leader, Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Research Program, professor of medicine (hematology and oncology), co-director, GI Oncology, vice chair, SWOG GI Committee, and director, VICC Young Adult Cancers Initiative, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, discusses the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Adjuvant chemotherapy provides patients with a reduced risk of disease recurrence, Eng explains.

Historically, adjuvant chemotherapy was given to patients with stage III, lymph node–positive disease following colon resection, explains Eng. Patients with stage II disease may also be eligible to receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Ultimately, that decision should be based on a discussion with the patient.

Primarily, patients with colon cancer are candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy vs those with rectal carcinoma, Eng says.

Ongoing research efforts within the rectal carcinoma paradigm are evaluating moving available treatment options to the neoadjuvant setting, concludes Eng.