Treatment with cetuximab is most effective for patients with KRAS wild-type colorectal cancers carrying a specific genetic marker, according to a recent study.
In an article published in Clinical Cancer Research, investigators reported results of a clinical trial analyzing how two Fc-γ receptor (FCGR) polymorphisms, FCGR2A H/H and FCGR2A R, were associated with overall survival and progression-free survival in patients treated with the chemotherapy drug cetuximab for refractory, metastatic colorectal cancer expressing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).
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A total of 293 patients were included in the analysis, 153 (52%) of whom had tumor DNA available. Among patients with KRAS wild-type disease carrying FCGR2A H/H, treatment with cetuximab was associated with significant overall survival benefit (5.5 months) and progression-free survival benefit (3.7 months) compared with patients who did not receive cetuximab. However, among patients whose cancer carried FCGR2A R, there were only marginal benefits for overall survival (2.8 months) and for progression-free survival (1.6 months).
"Our research discovered that the blood marker FCGR2A identifies a new group of patients that will benefit from taking cetuximab. With this finding, we believe we are now on the way to move it into the clinical setting to provide patients targeted, effective treatment," said Geffrey Liu, MSc, MD, a scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Center (Ontario, Canada) and lead author of the study, in a press release.
He added that clinicians and researchers “need to find other ways to personalize cancer medicine for people with colorectal disease, keeping in mind that cetuximab is an expensive drug and can have side effects."
