Colorectal cancer - characteristic and treatment resistance

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is a neoplasm with the worst prognosis in Poland. The possibility of cure depends mainly on the stage of disease at diagnosis. The use of chemotherapy is essential in the management of colorectal cancer, but chemotherapy is effective in some patients only due to the resistance to cytotoxic agents. Chemotherapy constitutes usually only part of combined treatment that includes surgery and radiotherapy as well as multidrug resistance modulators and targeted agents. Modern anti-cancer targeted therapies aim at inhibition of molecular oncogenic pathways and selective introduction of active compounds into malignant cells. Novel agents include signal transduction pathways modulators, cell cycle regulators, agents controlling angiogenesis and multidrug resistance, and oncogenes. Anticancer antibodies used either as immunological response modifiers or as an alternative to deliver cytotoxic agents directly to cancer cells play an important role. This therapeutic strategy intends to improve the effectiveness of anticancer treatment with reducing its toxicity. The application of the combined therapies can contribute to the improvement of the treatment in patients.