Search Results

Although tumor biology and genomics of colon and rectal cancer are no different, patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) require neoadjuvant fluoropyrimidine-based chemoradiation and total mesorectal excision. In addition to known clinical risk factors, improved algorithms integrating molecular tools are needed to stratify patients with LARC to improve treatment outcomes and reduce acute and long-term toxicities. Simply combining newer systemic or targeted agents with standard treatment in all patients yielded little success but added toxicities. This article reviews the historical data, current standards of care, and ongoing research efforts regarding biomarkers, molecular imaging, and personalized genomic information.

These NCCN Guidelines Insights highlight treatment recommendations and updates specific to the management of patients with advanced non-clear cell carcinoma included in the 2014 version of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Kidney Cancer.

The NCCN Guidelines for Kidney Cancer provide multidisciplinary recommendations for the clinical management of patients with clear cell and non-clear cell renal carcinoma. These NCCN Guidelines Insights highlight the recent updates/changes in these guidelines, and updates include axitinib as first-line treatment option for patients with clear cell renal carcinoma, new data to support pazopanib as subsequent therapy for patients with clear cell carcinoma after first-line treatment with another tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and guidelines for follow-up of patients with renal cell carcinoma.

The NCCN Guidelines for Colon Cancer address diagnosis, pathologic staging, surgical management, perioperative treatment, posttreatment surveillance, management of recurrent and metastatic disease,and survivorship. This portion of the guidelines focuses on the use of systemic therapy in metastatic disease. The management of metastatic colorectal cancer involves a continuum of care in which patients are exposed sequentially to a variety of active agents, either in combinations or as single agents. Choice of therapy is based on the goals of treatment, the type and timing of prior therapy, the different efficacy and toxicity profiles of the drugs, the mutational status of the tumor, and patient preference.

These NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology provide recommendations for the management of rectal cancer, beginning with the clinical presentation of the patient to the primary care physician or gastroenterologist through diagnosis, pathologic staging, neoadjuvant treatment, surgical management, adjuvant treatment, surveillance, management of recurrent and metastatic disease, and survivorship. This discussion focuses on localized disease. The NCCN Rectal Cancer Panel believes that a multidisciplinary approach, including representation from gastroenterology, medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, and radiology, is necessary for treating patients with rectal cancer.

The workup and management of squamous cell anal carcinoma, which represents the most common histologic form of the disease, are addressed in the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Anal Carcinoma. These NCCN Guidelines Insights provide a summary of major discussion points of the 2012 NCCN Anal Carcinoma Panel meeting. In summary, the panel made 4 significant changes to the 2012 NCCN Guidelines for Anal Carcinoma: 1) local radiation therapy was added as an option for the treatment of patients with metastatic disease; 2) multifield technique is now preferred over anteroposterior-posteroanterior (AP-PA) technique for radiation delivery and the AP-PA technique is no longer recommended as the standard of care; 3) PET/CT should now be considered for radiation therapy planning; and 4) a section on risk reduction was added to the discussion section. In addition, the panel discussed the use of PET/CT for the workup of anal canal cancer and decided to maintain the recommendation that it can be considered in this setting. They also discussed the use of PET/CT for the workup of anal margin cancer and for the assessment of treatment response. They reaffirmed their recommendation that PET/CT is not appropriate in these settings.

Germ cell tumors (GCTs) account for 95% of testicular cancers. Testicular GCTs constitute the most common solid tumor in men between the ages of 20 and 34 years, and the incidence of testicular GCTs has been increasing in the past 2 decades. Testicular GCTs are classified into 2 broad groups—pure seminoma and nonseminoma—which are treated differently. Pure seminomas, unlike nonseminomas, are more likely to be localized to the testis at presentation. Nonseminoma is the more clinically aggressive tumor associated with elevated serum concentrations of alphafetoprotein (AFP). The diagnosis of a seminoma is restricted to pure seminoma histology and a normal serum concentration of AFP. When both seminoma and elements of a nonseminoma are present, management follows that for a nonseminoma. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Testicular Cancer outline the diagnosis, workup, risk assessment, treatment, and follow-up schedules for patients with both pure seminoma and nonseminoma.