Irinotecan and colorectal cancer: the role of p53, VEGF-C and α-B-crystallin expression

Abstract

We would like to echo and provide additional information on the review paper by Mitry et al. in Int J Colorectal Dis 2009;24:605–621, which examined the literature of irinotecan as palliative therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer. The conclusions of the paper are irinotecan therapy clearly improves outcome of the patients and genetic markers may provide more information about the treatment.

In our practice, irinotecan is the common second line chemotherapy used for failed first line chemotherapy treatment for colorectal cancer. However, irinotecan is not without side effects, and not every patient registers a response to irinotecan. In the literature, there is lack of study to investigate the factors at molecular level, which can predict the responsiveness of the advanced stages or recurrent colorectal cancer to the irinotecan. Thus, we would like to present our pilot data on the use of molecular makers that may help to identify the patients who can be benefited from irinotecan.