Colorectal Cancer Research

Colorectal cancer research emphasizes screening, immunotherapy for MSI-high tumors, and targeted therapies for specific mutations.

Our Colorectal Cancer Analysis

• October 10, 2026Journal of Clinical OncologyCOMMIT (NRG-GI004/SWOG-S1610), NCT02997228

  Adding mFOLFOX6 and Bevacizumab to Atezolizumab Improves Progression-Free Survival but Not Overall Survival, With More Grade 3–5 Toxicity, in dMMR/MSI-H Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Randomized COMMIT Trial of 82 Patients

  In the randomized, open-label COMMIT trial (NRG-GI004/SWOG-S1610), 82 patients with previously untreated dMMR/MSI-H metastatic colorectal cancer were randomized 1:1 to mFOLFOX6/bevacizumab/atezolizumab (FFX/bev/atezo) or atezolizumab alone. At the November 6, 2025 cutoff (median follow-up 46 months), progression-free survival favored the combination: HR=0.42 (95% CI, 0.22–0.80; P=0.0068), with median PFS of 24.5 versus 5.3 months.

• September 29, 2026Nature MedicinePhase 1, part 1 (RO7589831)

  WRN Inhibitor RO7589831 Achieves 74.2% Disease Control but a 10.6% Objective Response Rate in Heavily Pretreated MSI Solid Tumors, in a Phase 1 Trial Without Direct Target-Engagement Evidence

  Part 1 of a phase 1 trial of RO7589831 (VVD-133214), a covalent Werner syndrome helicase inhibitor, enrolled 88 patients with MSI and/or dMMR advanced solid tumors who had progressed on standard therapies. Among 66 MSI efficacy-evaluable patients, the disease control rate (DCR) was 74.2% (95% CI 63.9–82.9; 49/66) and the objective response rate (ORR) was 10.6% (7/66, confirmed RECIST v.1.1 partial responses).

• September 24, 2026JAMA Oncology

  Modifiable Risk Factors Account for an Estimated 84% of the Male–Female Cancer Gap in China but 26% in the UK

  A multicohort analysis of 589,766 adults aged 40 to 74 years without prior cancer, drawn from the Shanghai Men’s Health Study, the Shanghai Women’s Health Study and UK Biobank, estimated how much of the higher cancer incidence in males is attributable to 11 lifestyle factors and health conditions.

• September 22, 2026Nature MedicinePATHFINDER 2 (NCT05155605)

  Multi-Cancer Blood Test Reaches 60% Positive Predictive Value and 99.6% Specificity in Largest Prospective Screening Study to Date

  PATHFINDER 2, a prospective, interventional cohort study of 35,878 adults aged 50 and older with no clinical suspicion of cancer, evaluated the performance and safety of a blood-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test that analyzes cell-free DNA methylation patterns to detect a shared cancer signal and predict its tissue of origin.

• August 28, 2026Clinical Cancer ResearchC-800-01 phase 1b expansion cohort

  Botensilimab Plus Balstilimab Produces Durable Responses and 33% Three-Year Survival in Refractory, Microsatellite-Stable Colorectal Cancer

  An open-label phase 1b expansion cohort within a larger basket study tested Fc-enhanced anti-CTLA-4 antibody botensilimab plus anti-PD-1 antibody balstilimab in 123 patients with microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer without active liver metastases, most of whom were heavily pretreated.

• August 27, 2026Clinical Cancer ResearchNCT02675829

  T-DM1 Shows Strongest Activity in Salivary Gland Cancer in HER2-Amplified Basket Trial

  A single-center, non-randomized phase 2 basket trial tested ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) across five disease-specific cohorts of HER2-amplified solid tumors, asking whether a shared molecular driver predicts benefit from a HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate regardless of tumor origin.

• August 20, 2026JAMA Oncology

  Industry Now Outpaces Federal Cancer Trial Sponsorship Nearly 5 to 1 — And the Gap Is Widening

  A registry-based analysis of 11,681 US interventional cancer trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov between 2008 and 2024 found that industry sponsors now outnumber federal sponsors nearly 5 to 1 (4.53-to-1 overall), with the ratio widening from 2.72-to-1 in 2008–2012 to 6.44-to-1 in 2019–2024.

• August 6, 2026Journal of Clinical OncologySTELLAR (NCT02533271)

  Short-Course Radiotherapy-Based TNT Improves 5-Year Overall Survival in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

  The phase III STELLAR trial (NCT02533271) randomly assigned 591 patients with distal or middle-third locally advanced rectal cancer to a short-course radiotherapy-based total neoadjuvant therapy regimen (SCRT-TNT) or standard long-course chemoradiotherapy (CRT); this update reports 5-year outcomes at a median follow-up of 68.7 months.

• July 23, 2026Clinical Cancer Research

  Quantitative MSI Burden Predicts Immunotherapy Response and Survival in dMMR Colorectal Cancer

  Retrospective, single-center biomarker cohort study of 39 patients with dMMR metastatic colorectal cancer treated with anti-PD-1 monotherapy at Mayo Clinic, using integrated exome, transcriptome, and immune-repertoire profiling to test whether quantitative MSI burden — not just binary MSI-high status — predicts benefit from checkpoint blockade

• July 20, 2026Journal of Clinical OncologyIM96 (NCT05287165)

  Phase I GUCY2C CAR T-Cell Therapy Shows 40% Response Rate in Refractory Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

  Open-label, single-center phase I dose-escalation and dose-expansion trial of IM96, an autologous GUCY2C-targeted CAR T-cell product, in 20 treated patients with microsatellite-stable, third- or later-line metastatic colorectal cancer — a population with very few remaining options

• July 3, 2026JAMA OncologyCIRCULATE-Japan GALAXY (UMIN000039205)

  ctDNA-Guided MRD Status Predicts Who Benefits From Chemo After Liver Metastasis Surgery

  Retrospective subset analysis of the CIRCULATE-Japan GALAXY registry (298 patients with resected colorectal liver metastases) testing whether ctDNA-defined molecular residual disease (MRD) status can identify who actually benefits from adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) after liver resection