Targeted therapy of CRC patients with anti-EGFR antibodies
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Predictive biomarkers for more effective targeted therapy of colorectal cancer patients with anti-EGFR antibodies
IRAS ID
228447
Contact name
Sharadah Essapen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kingston University London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
With around 41,300 new cases and almost 16,000 colorectal cancer deaths in 2014 in the UK, colorectal cancer remains a leading cause of cancer deaths both in the UK and worldwide. In 2017, in spite of advances in the screening test for detection of pre-cancerous polyp and early-stage colorectal cancer and the decline in its incidence and mortality rates in the past 20 years, there will be an estimated 135,430 new cases of colorectal cancer and 50,660 colorectal cancer deaths in the USA. While the 5-year survival rate is above 90% for patients diagnosed at stage I, it decreases sharply to around 8% for patients diagnosed with the metastatic form of colorectal cancer, highlighting the importance of early detection on survival rates and response to therapeutic interventions. It is also essential to discover additional and more specific biomarker(s) that are important in colorectal cancer metastases and for the selection of a more specific patient population who are most likely to gain long-term benefit from therapeutic interventions. Currently, of the various drugs developed for the treatment of human cancers, two antibody based drugs which are against epidermal growth factor receptor (cetuximab and panitumumab) have been incorporated into treatment paradigms for the majority of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. While the inclusion of these drugs has improved the survival of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the response is usually of a short duration and many patients eventually develop resistance following a short course of therapy. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression pattern and prognostic significance of wild-type EGFR and EGFR ligands, which is the target for therapeutic interventions with anti-EGFR mAbs cetuximab and panitumumab, in paired primary colorectal cancers and their corresponding metastatic lesions.
REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0272
Date of REC Opinion
28 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion