Test Tells If Chemo Will Help a Colon Cancer Patient

The finding was reported in the July 17, 2003, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

In the study, researchers examined 570 tissue samples from colon cancer patients, who are usually treated with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. The results showed that patients with a specific mutation in their tumor, called high-frequency microsatellite instability, did not benefit from chemotherapy.

This finding represents a significant step toward providing individualized treatment plans, or personalized medicine. Testing for the genetic mutation could easily become part of the routine during diagnosis, noted the researchers, with the results being used to direct the use of chemotherapy.

"This study shows that the usual type of chemotherapy is effective for about 83% of colon cancer patients,” said lead author Dr. Steven Gallinger, a surgical oncologist at Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto, Canada). "Yet, for nearly 17% of colon cancer patients, the traditional chemotherapy treatment is not helpful and may even be harmful.”




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