ABSTRACT
Background: Peritoneal metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRC) has limited therapeutic options and poor prognosis. Systemic chemotherapy combined with cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) or pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) have yielded initial promising results. However, standard local therapies with oxaliplatin and mitomycin are not optimal and a better individualized management of these patients remains as an unmet clinical need. Patient-derived organoid (PDO) technology allows to culture in three dimensions normal and cancer stem cells (CSC) that self-organize in multicellular structures that recapitulates some of the features of the particular organ or tumor of origin, emerging as a promising tool for drug-testing and precision medicine. This technology could improve the efficacy of systemic and intraperitoneal chemotherapy and avoid unnecessary treatments and side effects to the patient. Case Description: Here we report a case of a 45-year-old man with a rectal adenocarcinoma with liver, lymph node and peritoneal metastases. The patient was treated with systemic chemotherapy (FOLFOXIRI plus Bevacizumab) and was subjected to mitomycin-based PIPAC. We generated patient-derived peritoneal carcinomatosis organoids in order to screen the activity of drugs for a personalized treatment. Both 5-FU and SN-38, the active irinotecan derivative, displayed strong cytotoxicity, while the response to oxaliplatin was much lower. Although the development of a colo-cutaneous fistulae prevented from further PIPAC, the patient continued with fluoropirimidine maintenance treatment based on standard clinical practice and the drug-screening test performed on organoids. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the peritoneal implant shows chemoresistance to oxaliplatin, while it might still be sensitive to irinotecan and 5-FU, which supports a potential benefit of these two drugs in the local and/or systemic treatment of our patient. This study shows the strength of the utility of the establishment of organoids for drug response assays and thus, for the personalized treatment of colorectal carcinomatosis patients.
ABSTRACT
The microbiome (bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that exist within a patient's gastrointestinal tract and throughout their body have been increasingly understood to play a critical role in a variety of disease, including a number of cancer histologies. These microbial colonies are reflective of a patient's overall health state, their exposome, and germline genetics. In the case of colorectal adenocarcinoma, significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanism the microbiome plays beyond mere associations in both disease initiation and progression. Importantly, this improved understanding holds the potential to further identify the role these microbes play in colorectal cancer. We hope this improved understanding will be able to be leveraged in the future through either biomarkers or next-generation therapeutics to augment contemporary treatment algorithms through the manipulation of a patient's microbiome-whether through diet, antibiotics, prebiotics, or novel therapeutics. Here we review the role of the microbiome in the setting of patients with stage IV colorectal adenocarcinoma in both the development and progression or disease as well as response to therapeutics.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The attitude toward cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC in peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer is unclear. The aim of this study is to report the perioperative outcomes after cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC in patients ≥ 75 years. METHODS: This retrospective multicenter study collected the data the Spanish Group of Peritoneal Cancer Surgery. Thirty-six patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer met the selection criteria for the study. Morbidity, mortality, disease-free and overall survival were analyzed. RESULTS: Morbidity (grade III-IV) was 17% and 2 patients died of complications related to the procedure (5.4%). Median disease-free survival (DFS) was 16 months. DFS at 1 and 3 years was 81% and 42%, respectively. Overall survival at 1 and 3 years was 96% and 75%. In the univariate analysis, preoperative comorbidities (p = 0.01), liver metastases (p = 0.02), blood transfusion (p = 0.001) and postoperative complications (p = 0.001); and in the multivariate analysis, perioperative blood transfusion (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.95-6.24, p = 0.03) and postoperative complications (OR 3.25, 95% CI 2.35-7.56, p = 0.02) were associated with a lower overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Age is not an absolute contraindication to perform cytoreduction surgery with HIPEC in highly selected elderly patients with colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis.