title: Therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer.
abstract: Median overall survival of metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with first- and second-line combination chemotherapy now extends to more than 20 months in some studies. Chemotherapy alone, particularly when oxaliplatin is included, may allow potentially curative resection of advanced disease. There is evidence that the addition of antibodies targeted against vascular endothelial growth factor or the epidermal growth factor receptor will further improve prospects for patients with advanced and metastatic disease. However, the optimum sequencing of chemo- and biological therapies remains to be established, as does the potential contribution of numerous agents in development.
authors.affiliation: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. goldberg@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Goldberg
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis