Personalized medicine is all the buzz these days. The idea is that by taking into account a person's unique genetic make-up, the best medications can be prescribed. The goal is to pick the treatment that offers the most benefit, with the least amount of risk.
Personalized medicine has great potential in cancer care. Already, this approach is being used in decision-making about colon cancer treatment. For example, researchers can test the genetics of a colon cancer tumor. This will tell your doctor whether or not two medications, called cetuximab (Erbitux®) and panitumumab (Vectibix®), will be effective against your cancer.
Most Stage II Patients Are Low Risk
Researchers have developed a new colon cancer genetic test called ColoPrint, which can help identify which people with stage II colon cancer would benefit most from more aggressive treatment. The ColoPrint test identified that approximately three-fourths of the stage II colon cancer patients were low risk.
Ninety-five percent of this group did not develop metastasis (recurrence and spread of the original cancer) withing five years of the initial diagnosis. For the people identified by ColoPrint as high risk, 20% had developed metastasis by five years after initial diagnosis. The ColoPrint was significantly better at identifying low- and high-risk patients than any other clinical measurement.
When Less is More and When More is Needed
For many people with stage II colon cancer, chemotherapy after surgery isn't recommended. And this is because the harms of this treatment can outweigh the benefits. If a person wouldn't have a recurrence anyway, there's no sense exposing them to chemotherapy that can decrease quality of life and have long-term negative side effects.
The ColoPrint test now gives an objective way to tell who can safely avoid chemotherapy. It also helps doctors identify for whom the benefits of chemotherapy outweigh the risks. In these people, chemotherapy is a good option.
Availability of ColoPrint
ColoPrint is undergoing the final stages of testing. At this time it is available only through clinical trials, but researchers hope to bring it to more widespread use in the near future.
If you have stage II or III colon cancer and are uncertain if you need chemotherapy after surgery, bring this up with your doctor. You may be eligible for participation in a ColoPrint clinical trial. If a clinical trial isn't an option, your doctor still can help you figure out the pros and cons of chemotherapy for your particular situation.
