Many colorectal cancer patients are not getting the right chemotherapy dose
Posted by Adrienne Choma on Wed, Jun 01, 2011 @ 09:00 AM
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world, with over 1.23 million new cases diagnosed annually. More than 600,000 people die of colorectal cancer every year. Why isn’t treatment more effective?
One reason may be that the drugs used to treat colorectal cancer are not used in the best way possible. A Phase III randomized study published by Dr. Erick Gamelin in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2008 found that 85% of 208 patients in the study did not receive the right dose of the critical chemotherapy drug, 5-FU, to get best clinical outcomes and reduce the nasty toxic side effects associated with chemotherapy. Surprisingly, 67% of the patients were underdosed – they did not appear to get enough drug to effectively kill their cancer cells. The other 18% were overdosed, which could lead to undue toxicity.
Those patients in the study who received personalized dosing adjustments to reach the optimal systemic exposure to 5-FU realized almost a doubling in response to treatment, 2-year overall survival and dramatically reduced toxic side effects.
Achieving these greatly improved treatment results only takes a simple blood test that will help oncologists target the right dose for their individual patients. To find out more about these blood tests please visit the Products section of our website.
Adrienne Choma, Vice President, Marketing & Sales