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Molecular Markers of Chemotherapy Resistance in Colorectal Cancer

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Colorectal Cancer

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Oncology ((CCO))

Abstract

A major obstacle to successful treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer with chemotherapy has been that the majority of tumors prove to be intrinsically resistant to the drugs. The commonly used drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), for example, when used as a single agent against colorectal cancer causes tumor shrinkage that would be classified as a response in only about 20–25% of patients (1,2). Thus, the majority of patients not only do not derive any benefit from this drug, but the treatment often does direct harm to the patient in the form of severe toxicity to normal tissues. Nevertheless, without the ability to predict who will or will not respond in advance of the treatment, there has been no recourse but to place all patients suffering from cancer into standard treatment protocols with the full knowledge that many, if not most, will have an unsatisfactory outcome from the treatment.

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Authors
  1. Peter V. Danenberg
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Gastrointestinal Oncology Division, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Leonard B. Saltz MD

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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Danenberg, P.V. (2002). Molecular Markers of Chemotherapy Resistance in Colorectal Cancer. In: Saltz, L.B. (eds) Colorectal Cancer. Current Clinical Oncology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-160-2_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-160-2_34

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9670-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-160-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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