People with stage III colon cancer whose tumors lack a working DNA repair system now have an approved immunotherapy option after surgery. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved atezolizumab, sold as Tecentriq, on Oct. 8 for use with chemotherapy containing a fluoropyrimidine and oxaliplatin in patients whose tumors are mismatch repair deficient, known as dMMR.
The approval is based on a federally sponsored trial in which adding the drug cut the risk of cancer returning or death by half compared with chemotherapy alone. Genentech, the drug's maker, described the regimen in its approval announcement as the first approved adjuvant immunotherapy regimen for stage III dMMR colon cancer. Adjuvant treatment is given after surgery to lower the chance that the cancer comes back.
