Genetic testing brings precise treatment to colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer does not happen overnight — according to statistics, the time it takes a mutant cell to grow into a malignant tumor exceeds 30 years on average. In recent years, colorectal cancer has become the second highest incidence cancer, closely following lung cancer. With the deepening of research on targeted therapy and genotyping, targeted drugs have become a new option for individualized treatment of colorectal cancer patients. Commonly used targeted drugs include those targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) — such as cetuximab and panitumumab — and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) — such as ramucirumab, bevacizumab, and regorafenib. Targeted drugs addressing KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA, MSI, and PD-L1 have also entered clinical trials, with more options expected in the near future.

The treatment of colorectal cancer is closely tied to tumor stage and must follow the principle of individualized treatment, which can only be achieved through genetic testing. A 2008 study demonstrated clearly why this matters: for KRAS wild-type patients, cetuximab monotherapy significantly prolonged overall survival compared to best supportive treatment (9.5 months vs 4.8 months), while KRAS mutant patients failed to benefit. This confirms that even when prescribing a drug with a known target, understanding a patient's broader genetic profile is irreplaceable in guiding effective treatment decisions.

Standard second-generation sequencing, which detects DNA mutations to identify targeted drug candidates, has significant limitations in practice. According to statistics, fewer than 10% of cancer patients can detect actionable mutation targets through this method, and even fewer go on to benefit from targeted drugs. The majority of patients still rely on chemotherapy, yet the selection of chemotherapy drugs is rarely guided with the same precision as targeted therapy — most patients receive treatment based on general guidelines rather than their individual tumor profile.

Caris multi-platform molecular analysis addresses this gap by comprehensively analyzing tumor biology at the DNA, RNA, and protein levels, providing access to more than 60 FDA-approved drug selection opportunities. Having completed over 127,000 tumor map analyses, the technology enables 95% of cancer patients to receive clinically meaningful treatment guidance. In a large solid tumor study enrolling 1,180 patients, those guided by Caris multi-platform analysis experienced a prolonged survival of 422 days, and required an average of 3.2 medications compared to 4.2 for unguided patients — meaning fewer side effects and reduced unnecessary costs. The cancers that benefit most from this approach include lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer, and it is particularly valuable for patients with metastatic cancer resistant to standard treatment, rare cancers with few options, and malignant tumors with almost no standard selection criteria such as melanoma and pancreatic cancer.