Dr. Zafar on the Potential of Immunotherapy in Colorectal Cancer

S. Yousuf Zafar, MD, associate professor of medicine, Duke Cancer Institute, discusses the potential of immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Recent data have shown that PD-1 inhibitors demonstrated activity in patients with mismatch repair-deficient metastatic CRC. These patients experienced a durable and significant response rate, Zafar adds. In terms of standard practice going forward, he questions how practitioners will incorporate immunotherapy into practice, if at all.

Zafar hopes that similar data from larger studies will be just as promising. However, practitioners should be reserved in integrating these therapies into patients’ treatment plans until stronger evidence exists.