Michael Sapienza, Chief Executive Officer of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, shared on LinkedIn:
“The FDA’s recent approval of Genentech’s Tecentriq in combination with chemotherapy for certain patients with stage III dMMR colorectal cancer is an important step forward in colorectal cancer treatment.
In the Phase III ATOMIC trial, adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death by 50% compared with chemotherapy alone.
This is the first approved adjuvant immunotherapy regimen for this group of patients, offering a new treatment option after surgery. This is an exciting advancement that underscores how research and progress can change a patient’s course of care and outcome.
Understanding a tumor’s molecular characteristics can help identify treatment approaches that may offer patients a better chance of staying cancer-free.
This is the type of progress that the Colorectal Cancer Alliance is working to accelerate with Project Cure CRC and KLEOS.
We believe the next era of colorectal cancer care must be driven by research that creates more opportunities to improve outcomes. Too many patients are diagnosed at late stages with limited treatment options.
Enough, end this.
Read about the FDA approval, and consider supporting the Alliance’s work to end this disease:”
More about the importance of Tecentriq approval
- Introduces the first adjuvant immunotherapy option for this patient group: FDA approval of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) with chemotherapy provides a new postsurgical treatment option for patients with stage III colon cancer whose tumors have deficient mismatch repair (dMMR).
- Reduces the risk of recurrence or death: In the Phase III ATOMIC trial, adding atezolizumab reduced this risk by 50% compared with chemotherapy alone, marking a significant advance in adjuvant treatment.
- Demonstrates the value of biomarker-guided treatment: The approval tailors postsurgical therapy to tumor biology, reinforcing the importance of testing colon cancers for mismatch repair deficiency or microsatellite instability to inform treatment decisions.
- Improves disease-free outcomes: At three years, 86% of patients receiving atezolizumab plus chemotherapy remained cancer-free, compared with 76% receiving chemotherapy alone, highlighting the potential to improve long-term outcomes.
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