Colorectal cancer: Recent advances in management and treatment

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, and the second most common cause of cancer-related death. In 2020, the estimated number of deaths due to CRC was approximately 930000, accounting for 10% of all cancer deaths worldwide. Accordingly, there is a vast amount of ongoing research aiming to find new and improved treatment modalities for CRC that can potentially increase survival and decrease overall morbidity and mortality. Current management strategies for CRC include surgical procedures for resectable cases, and radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, in addition to their combination, for non-resectable tumors. Despite these options, CRC remains incurable in 50% of cases. Nonetheless, significant improvements in research techniques have allowed for treatment approaches for CRC to be frequently updated, leading to the availability of new drugs and therapeutic strategies. This review summarizes the most recent therapeutic approaches for CRC, with special emphasis on new strategies that are currently being studied and have great potential to improve the prognosis and lifespan of patients with CRC.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Colorectal cancer; Immunotherapy; Surgery; Targeted therapy; Treatment.

Figure 1

Management of colorectal cancer. Different procedures and regimens of treatments are available to manage patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted treatment, and immunotherapy. CTLA-4: Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4; EGFR: Epidermal growth factor receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2; PD-1: Programmed death 1; PD-L1: Programmed death-ligand 1; TAMIS: Transanal minimally invasive surgery; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.