Discovery of mechanisms predicting response to new treatments in colon cancer
Delivering on the promise of personalized medicine
VHIO pioneers pre-clinical functional studies and clinical trials in the fight against cancer. Importantly, Dr. Palmer´s team has developed in vivo models that accurately recapitulate disease progression in colon cancer patients. They inoculate the animals with cells derived from the patient’s tumour, creating a “xenopatient” model. These cells regenerate the the disease in the animals with the same distinctive characteristics as in the individual patient, retaining its original genetic, clinical and pathological alterations. The xenopatients represent a parallel reality of each patient in the laboratory. This approach allows the study of disease progression and response to experimental medicines before subjecting the patient to new treatments. This model could soon form the basis of future functional, predictive and personalized cancer treatments.
Stage I (Dukes A) Colorectal Cancer
Stage I tumors have spread beyond the inner lining of the colon to the second and third layers and involves the inside wall of the colon. The cancer has not spread to the outer wall of the colon or outside the colon.
Standard treatment involves surgery to remove the cancer and a small amount of tissue around the tumor. Additional treatments are not usually needed.
Aggressive surgery to remove all of the cancer offers a great potential for cure. The five-year survival rate for stage I colorectal cancer is 93% according to the American Cancer Society.
Stage II (Dukes B) Colorectal Cancer
Stage II colorectal cancers are larger and extend through the muscular wall of the colon, but there is no cancer in the lymph nodes (small structures that are found throughout the body that produce and store cells that fight infection).
Standard treatment is surgical removal of the cancer and an area surrounding the cancer: A person with Dukes B colorectal cancer may also be a candidate for a clinical trial looking at the use of adjuvant immunotherapy or chemotherapy. Chemotherapy may also be given as a precaution against cancer recurrence.
The five-year survival rate for Dukes B colon cancer is 78%.
Stage III (Dukes C) Colorectal Cancer
Stage III colorectal cancers have spread outside the colon to one or more lymph nodes (small structures that are found throughout the body that produce and store cells that fight infection). Tumors within the colon wall which also involve the lymph nodes are classified as Dukes Stage C1, while tumors that have grown through the colon wall and have spread to one to four lymph nodes, are called Dukes Stage C2 cancers. Those tumors which have spread to more than four lymph nodes are classified as Dukes stage C3 colon cancers.
Treatment involves:
- Surgery to remove the tumor and all involved lymph nodes if possible.
-After surgery, the patient will receive chemotherapy with 5-FU and leucovorin.
- Radiation may be needed if the tumor is large and invading the tissue surrounding the colon
The five-year survival rate for Dukes C colon cancer is about 64%. Patients with one to four positive lymph nodes have a higher survival rate than people with more than five positive lymph nodes.
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For further information:
Amanda Wren
Communication Manager
Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO)
Tel. +34 695 207886
e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Amanda Wren
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
34-695-207-886
Vall d´Hebron Institute of Oncology