Immunotherapy in colon cancer: approaching to the future

Abstract

Colon cancer is still one of the most common neoplasias every year, although screening strategies have reduced its incidence. Unfortunately, the median survival in metastatic cases, not candidates to surgery, remains less than 3 years, far away from the expectations. A few years back, new agents were introduced in its armamentarium. Bevacizumab and cetuximab created hopes then. However, systemic options have not evolved as quickly as expected and fluorouracil-based chemotherapy is still the standard. Moreover patients stop responding at some point due to resistance to these agents and disease progression after two lines of treatment entails a short survival. However, some patients are still able to receive further treatment and thus, new agents are urgently needed. The appearance of immunotherapies has opened a hopeful new therapeutic approach. These treatments alter the immune system and although these have shown efficacy in multiple cancers, colon is not one of them. However, emerging data show that there are some patients who may benefit. This article will review published and ongoing clinical trials of immunotherapy in colon cancer.