Detection of RAS mutations in circulating tumor DNA: a new weapon in an old war against colorectal cancer. A systematic review of literature and meta-analysis.

Background: Tissue evaluation for RAS (KRAS or NRAS) gene status in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients represent the standard of care to establish the optimal therapeutic strategy. Unfortunately, tissue biopsy is hampered by several critical limitations due to its invasiveness, difficulty to access to disease site, patient's compliance and, more recently, neoplastic tissue spatial and temporal heterogeneity.

Methods: The authors performed a systematic literature review to identify available trials with paired matched tissue and ctDNA RAS gene status evaluation.

Immunotherapy of colorectal cancer: new perspectives after a long path.

Although significant therapeutic improvement has been achieved in the last 10 years, the survival of metastatic colorectal cancer patients remains in a range of 28 to 30 months. Presently, systemic treatment includes combination chemotherapy with oxaliplatin and/or irinotecan together with a backbone of 5-fluorouracil/levofolinate, alone or in combination with monoclonal antibodies to VEGFA (bevacizumab) or EGF receptor (cetuximab and panitumumab). The recent rise of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the therapeutic scenario has renewed scientific interest in the investigation of immunotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer patients.

Immune-modulating effects of bevacizumab in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

The mPEBev is an anticancer regimen which combines a chemotherapy doublet, based on cisplatin and oral etoposide (mPE), with bevacizumab (mPEBev), a mAb targeting the vasculo-endothelial growth factor (VEGF). In previous studies, this regimen showed powerful anti-angiogenetic effects and significant antitumor activity in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) patients. We also recorded the best benefit in patients exhibiting low-systemic inflammatory profile at baseline.