Colon cancer.
Colon cancer is one of the leading tumours in the world and it is considered among the big killers, together with lung, prostate and breast cancer. In the recent years very important advances occurred in the field of treatment of this frequent disease: adjuvant chemotherapy was demonstrated to be effective, chiefly in stage III patients, and surgery was optimized in order to achieve the best results with a low morbidity. Several new target-oriented drugs are under evaluation and some of them (cetuximab and bevacizumab) have already exhibited a good activity/efficacy, mainly in combination with chemotherapy. The development of updated recommendations for the best management of these patients is crucial in order to obtain the best results, not only in clinical research but also in every-day practice. This report summarizes the most important achievements in this field and provides the readers useful suggestions for their professional practice.
Ospedali Riuniti, Bergamo, Italy. rlabian@tin.it
Roberto
R
Labianca
Giordano D
GD
Beretta
Basem
B
Kildani
Laura
L
Milesi
Federica
F
Merlin
Stefania
S
Mosconi
M Adelaide
MA
Pessi
Tiziana
T
Prochilo
Antonello
A
Quadri
Gemma
G
Gatta
Filippo
F
de Braud
Jacques
J
Wils
D000818:Animals; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D010166:Palliative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis