Dr. Ramanathan on Biomarkers in Appendix Cancer

Ramesh K. Ramanathan, MD, medical director, Clinical Trials Program, Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center, discusses the potential of identifying actionable targets in appendiceal cancers.

Ramanathan says this study, which was presented at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium, looked at the molecular profiling data from the KRAS target database of about 250 appendiceal tumors and found a number of molecular markers which might help in formulating a treatment regimen.

The majority of the tumors tested showed that the incidence of thymidylate synthases was low, suggesting that 5-FU-based chemotherapy may be a treatment option, Ramanathan says. The incidence of KRAS mutation was around 50%, similar to colon cancer. There were also a number of other molecular biomarkers, such as PI3K, TOPO I, TOPO II mutations, which can lead to potential treatment options for patients.

This approach, especially in tumors that do not have any standard treatment, may be useful for patients and oncologists, Ramanathan says.

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