Dr. Halfdanarson on Investigational Agents in Driver-Negative CRC

Thorvardur (Thor) Halfdanarson, MD, associate professor of medicine, Division of Medical Oncology; medical oncologist; assistant program director, Hematology/Oncology fellowship program, Mayo Clinic, discusses investigational agents that are being evaluated in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) who do not harbor genomic alterations.

For patients with CRC who do not harbor genomic alterations, systemic chemotherapy remains the standard of care, Halfdanarson says.

However, multiple novel agents that target the VEGF pathways are under investigation for use in this patient population, explains Halfdanarson.

Combination regimens such as bevacizumab (Avastin) plus TAS-102 (trifluridine/tipiracil; Lonsurf) are being considered. Additionally, the VEGF inhibitor fruquintinib is being tested in the United States after demonstrating promising efficacy and safety in the phase 3 FRESCO trial. Finally, regorafenib (Stivarga) is being evaluated in combination with immunotherapy, Halfdanarson concludes.