Highlight 3: colorectal cancer

Dr Vandamme’s discussion revolves around two important topics. Firstly, he highlights the use of ctDNA (circulating tumour DNA) as a tool for guiding treatment decisions in colorectal cancer. Secondly, Dr Vandamme focuses on mutational signatures and the role of Homologous Recombination Deficiency (HRD) alterations in colorectal cancer.

Dr Vandamme’s first discussion centers around a post-hoc analysis of the large IDEA initiative, with a particular focus on the French cohort. The study aimed to determine how disease-free survival can be predicted in patients who have undergone surgery for stage III colon cancer.

Also, the OPTIMISE study is discussed, focusing on a different setting – patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. This study explored potential adjuvant strategies following total debulking surgery, with a particular emphasis on the role of ctDNA guidance.

Dr Vandamme’s final contribution to this session focuses on the landscape of Homologous Recombination Deficiency (HRD) in colorectal carcinoma. He highlights the work of a research group at Weill Cornell Medicine, which conducted an analysis of over 15,000 colorectal tumour specimens with the objective of characterizing somatic HRD mutations.

With the educational support of: