Primary tumour location in metastatic colorectal cancer impacts overall survival

Prof Venook speaks with ecancertv at ASCO 2016 about the difference in patient prognosis depending on the location of primary lesions among metastatic colorectal cancer.
Locations were defined as right sided (cecum to hepatic flexure), transverse (hepatic flexure to splenic flexure) or left sided (splenic flexure to rectum), of which Dr Venook notes the organs' differing genetic origins during foetal development as influencing the likelihood or KRAS mutagenesis.
He discusses the superior overall survival of patients with left-sided primary tumours, the impact of these findings on patient outcomes and further studies in molecular analysis to reach a deeper understanding of the biology involved.