New strategies in colorectal cancer: biomarkers of response to epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibodies and potential therapeutic targets in phosphoinositide 3-kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways.

Initial experience with the epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibodies (EGFR MoAb) in unselected patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) showed that most of the treated patients did not derive therapeutic benefit. This outcome has driven the search for biomarkers for this population. Recent advances have further shown the heterogeneous nature of this disease with multiple interlinked pathways being implicated. Two such pathways downstream to the EGFR, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) PI3K, have gained increasing attention and become targets for development of novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents. Here, we highlight recent progress.