CHICAGO, June 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cancer researchers have identified precision treatment options for patients with increasingly aggressive colorectal tumors. Based on genomic profiles, oncologists developed a personalized treatment approach that achieved a rapid and dramatic response in patients, according to a study published in the June 2016 edition of Cancer Discovery – "BRAFV600E Mutations in High-Grade Colorectal Neuroendocrine Tumors May Predict Responsiveness to BRAF-MEK Combination Therapy."

Bruce Gershenhorn, D.O., a medical oncologist at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) at Midwestern Regional Medical Center (Midwestern), along with other researchers, looked at 108 patient cases to identify effective treatment options for neuroendocrine tumors (NET) of the digestive tract. These solid tumors are increasing with an estimated annual incident rate of 3.65/100,000, according to the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry.

The study, which identifies recurrent somatic BRAF alterations in high-grade colorectal NETs, is highlighted by the dramatic response of two patients within the group. The patients, both female, were diagnosed with treatment-refractory metastatic high-grade rectal NET harboring a BRAFV600E substitution. For each patient, to investigate further therapeutic options, a comprehensive genomic profile was conducted.
"This is the largest published colorectal NET series and the first reported oncogenic BRAF mutation in high-grade NET," Gershenhorn said. "What we have demonstrated in this study is the ability of genomic profiling to identify therapeutically relevant alterations in this aggressive disease with no standard treatment approach."

With a tailored treatment approach, based on the findings of the genomic profiling, each patient achieved a rapid and dramatic response to combination BRAF-MEK inhibition-directed therapy.

Patient A, a 70-year old female diagnosed with a poorly differentiated high-grade (grade 3) rectal NET, received neoadjuvant chemoradiation, followed by a low anterior resection and end colostomy showed metastatic disease, which was confirmed by a liver biopsy as high-grade NET. Follow-up scans confirmed disease progression and she reported abdominal pain with 3 months of her treatment. After her genomic profiling revealed BRAFV600E substitution at a mutant allele frequency (MAF) of 26 percent, she was transitioned to two different drugs, and her symptoms resolved within 10 days of treatment.

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