title: Treatment recommendations for metastatic colorectal cancer.
abstract: Metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) represents an important health problem in which several biological predictive and prognostic factors have been identified, including clinical features and molecular markers that might influence the response to treatment. Actually, certain prognostic factors are considered key elements, along with disease extent, for deciding the therapeutic approach. However, a distinction between resectable/potentially resectable and unresectable patients must be made in order to establish an adequate therapeutic strategy. Different drugs and chemotherapy regimens are currently available, and their administration depends on patient characteristics, disease-related factors and the treatment objective. Moreover, special situations such as peritoneal carcinomatosis and local treatment of CRC in the setting of metastatic disease should be considered when deciding the most appropriate treatment strategy. This article reviews all the previously mentioned issues involved in the management of metastatic CRC and suggests some general recommendations for its treatment.
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Córdoba, Spain. earandaa@seom.org
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aranda
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abad
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carrato
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cervantes
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: García-Foncillas
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: García Alfonso
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García Carbonero
authors.forename: Auxiliadora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez España
authors.forename: Josep M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tabernero
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Díaz-Rubio
mesh_terms: D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic