Colorectal cancer

Patients with KRAS-mutant colorectal cancers do not respond to cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody against EGFR. A new proof-of-concept study presents a bispecific antibody with the ability to trigger EGFR degradation in LGR5⁺ cancer stem cells, and robust anti-tumor activity in KRAS-mutant and wild-type colorectal cancers.

A subset of colorectal cancers arises from sessile serrated lesions. Tumorigenesis via the serrated neoplasia pathway is largely unexplored. Now, a new study suggests that this pathway is initiated by gastric metaplasia induced by damage and repair, which is triggered by disadvantageous composition of microbiota in the proximal colon.

Important colorectal cancer (CRC) studies in 2021, including a new standard of care for first-line treatment of MSI-H–dMMR metastatic CRC, single-cell and spatial analysis of primary tumours and investigations of diet in preclinical models of cancer initiation, have provided novel insights into the CRC immune microenvironment.