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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2023; 29(10): 1569-1588
Published online Mar 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i10.1569
Systemic treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer
Wattana Leowattana, Pathomthep Leowattana, Tawithep Leowattana
Wattana Leowattana, Pathomthep Leowattana, Clinical Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Tawithep Leowattana, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Author contributions: Leowattana W wrote the paper; Leowattana T and Leowattana P collected the data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Wattana Leowattana, BMed, MD, MSc, PhD, Full Professor, Clinical Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajavithi Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. wattana.leo@mahidol.ac.th
Received: November 29, 2022
Peer-review started: November 29, 2022
First decision: February 8, 2023
Revised: February 16, 2023
Accepted: February 27, 2023
Article in press: February 27, 2023
Published online: March 14, 2023
Processing time: 101 Days and 2.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Advances in the molecular profiling of metastatic colorectal cancer allow treatment to be tailored to the biologic characteristics of the tumor for certain patient subgroups. Although cures are still rare, more people can expect to live longer. Genomic profiling enables therapy selection, allowing more individuals to benefit while exposing fewer to the harm of ineffective medicines. An important component in determining treatment results is the choice of an effective first-line therapy, which should consider both clinical considerations and molecular indicators. The systemic treatments used in the first-line regimen determine the second-line regimen. Third-line therapy, which includes epithelial growth factor receptor inhibitors for patients with rat sarcoma virus wild-type, should consider molecular profiling. Patients with high microsatellite instability illnesses may be candidates for immunotherapy with pembrolizumab or nivolumab plus ipilimumab.