Dr. O'Neil Discusses the Current Treatment of Patients With CRC

Bert O’Neil, MD, the Joseph W. and Jackie J. Cusick Professor of Oncology, professor of medicine, and director of the Phase I and Gastrointestinal Oncology Programs at Indiana University, discusses the current treatment of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Currently, the average patient with CRC does well on chemotherapy and either a VEGF-targeted agent or an EGFR antibody, says O’Neil. The population that will definitely see a change in treatment is microsatellite instability-high, where immunotherapy may be a factor in the near future. Those studies have yet to read out.

O’Neil says that it is also early days in understanding the role of HER2 expression. Additionally, O’Neil asks whether early intervention is better in patients with BRAF mutations. Specific treatments for that population should be considered, he adds.