Fadlallah H, El Masri J, Fakhereddine H, Youssef J, Chemaly C, Doughan S, Abou-Kheir W. Colorectal cancer: Recent advances in management and treatment. World J Clin Oncol 2024; 15(9): 1136-1156 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i9.1136]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Wassim Abou-Kheir, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, American University of Beirut, Bliss Street, Hamra, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon. wa12@aub.edu.lb
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Oncol. Sep 24, 2024; 15(9): 1136-1156 Published online Sep 24, 2024. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i9.1136
Colorectal cancer: Recent advances in management and treatment
Hiba Fadlallah, Jad El Masri, Hiam Fakhereddine, Joe Youssef, Chrystelle Chemaly, Samer Doughan, Wassim Abou-Kheir
Hiba Fadlallah, Jad El Masri, Hiam Fakhereddine, Joe Youssef, Chrystelle Chemaly, Wassim Abou-Kheir, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
Samer Doughan, Department of Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
Co-first authors: Hiba Fadlallah and Jad El Masri.
Co-corresponding authors: Samer Doughan and Wassim Abou-Kheir.
Author contributions: Fadlallah H, El Masri J, Fakhereddine H, Youssef J, and Chemaly C wrote the manuscript; Doughan S and Abou-Kheir W revised the manuscript; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Fadlallah H and El Masri J contributed equally to this work, in writing the manuscript. Abou-Kheir W and Doughan S contributed equally to this work in revising the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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: Wassim Abou-Kheir, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, American University of Beirut, Bliss Street, Hamra, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon. wa12@aub.edu.lb
Received: December 27, 2023 Revised: June 11, 2024 Accepted: July 29, 2024 Published online: September 24, 2024 Processing time: 245 Days and 11.5 Hours
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, and the second most common cause of cancer-related death. In 2020, the estimated number of deaths due to CRC was approximately 930000, accounting for 10% of all cancer deaths worldwide. Accordingly, there is a vast amount of ongoing research aiming to find new and improved treatment modalities for CRC that can potentially increase survival and decrease overall morbidity and mortality. Current management strategies for CRC include surgical procedures for resectable cases, and radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, in addition to their combination, for non-resectable tumors. Despite these options, CRC remains incurable in 50% of cases. Nonetheless, significant improvements in research techniques have allowed for treatment approaches for CRC to be frequently updated, leading to the availability of new drugs and therapeutic strategies. This review summarizes the most recent therapeutic approaches for CRC, with special emphasis on new strategies that are currently being studied and have great potential to improve the prognosis and lifespan of patients with CRC.
Core Tip: As one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, research efforts have focused on finding new treatment modalities for colorectal cancer (CRC), with higher efficiency and better overall survival rates. Current management options include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy. Despite all efforts, CRC is still highly incurable, necessitating additional research in this field. This review summarizes recent advances in therapeutic approaches targeting CRC.
