Alexandria, Va. - In advance of the sixth annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (January 15-17 in San Francisco, CA), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has released its first Provisional Clinical Opinion* (PCO) on the use of KRAS gene mutation testing in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer to guide treatment with the anti-EFGR monoclonal antibodies cetuximab and panitumumab.

ASCO's PCO recommends that all patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who are candidates for anti-EFGR therapy have their tumors tested for KRAS gene mutations. If a patient has a mutated form of the KRAS gene, it recommends against the use of anti-EFGR antibody therapy, based on recent studies indicating this treatment is only effective in patients with the normal (wild-type) form of the KRAS gene. It is estimated that 40 percent of colon cancer patients have the KRAS mutation.

An economic analysis being presented at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, also embargoed until 6:00 p.m. tonight, found that routine testing for KRAS gene mutations in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer could save the U.S. health system up to $604 million per year in the cost of the drug cetuximab alone.
"Personalized medicine is the next frontier in cancer care. Basing cancer treatment on the unique genetic characteristics of the tumor or the individual with cancer will improve patient outcomes and help avoid unnecessary costs and side effects for patients who are unlikely to benefit," said Richard L. Schilsky, MD, ASCO president and Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "Using KRAS testing to guide colorectal cancer treatment is a prime example of where cancer care is heading."

The PCO is available online on ASCO's Web site and will be published in late January/early February in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is the world's leading professional organization representing physicians who care for people with cancer. With more than 27,000 members, ASCO is committed to improving cancer care through scientific meetings, educational programs and peer-reviewed journals. For ASCO information and resources, visit www.asco.org/presscenter. Patient-oriented cancer information is available at www.cancer.net.

* ASCO's new Provisional Clinical Opinions are intended to offer timely preliminary clinical direction to oncologists following the publication or presentation of potentially practice-changing data from major studies. ASCO develops PCOs by convening a panel of four to six experts on the issue, in accordance with the panel composition requirements of ASCO's Conflict of Interest Management Procedures for Clinical Practice Guidelines.

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