Dr. Bekaii-Saab on the Expansion of Treatment Options in Colorectal Cancer

Tanios Bekaii-Saab, MD, professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, discusses the recent expansion of treatment options available for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Treatment options, especially the biologic forms, have been rapidly multiplying in the treatment landscape of CRC for over a decade now, says Bekaii-Saab. Oncologists previously struggled with a lack of options, but now, 2 therapies have emerged at the forefront of the paradigm.

One of these agents is regorafenib (Stivarga), which is essentially characterized as more of a biological mutlikinase inhibitor, according to Bekaii-Saab. It is often referred to as a "dirty drug," as it hits multiple targets.

TAS-102 is quite different, says Bekaii-Saab. It is more of a traditional, oral chemotherapy drug, but it is a cytotoxic agent. The treatment actually contains properties that allow it to work even when patients are exposed to, and fail, therapy with 5- fluorouracil (5-FU).