National Comprehensive Cancer Network

About NCCN

NCCN Updates Colon Cancer Guidelines

JENKINTOWN, Pa., January 29, 2007 — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announces updates to the NCCN Colon Cancer Guidelines. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ are widely recognized and applied as the standard for clinical care in oncology in both the community practice setting and in academic cancer centers. These guidelines are used extensively by managed care companies and by Medicare as the basis for coverage policies. These guidelines are updated continually and are based upon evaluation of scientific data integrated with expert judgment.

One of the major changes to the 2007 version of the guidelines was the update to the chemotherapy options for advanced or metastatic disease. The combination regimen CapeOX, which is capecitabine (Xeloda, Roche) and oxaliplatin (Eloxatin, sanofi~aventis), was added as an alternate option to the combination of fluorouracil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin (known as FOLFOX). The combination regimens of fluorouracil, leucovorin and irinotecan (Camptosar, Pfizer) (known as FOLFIRI) + cetuximab and irinotecan + cetuximab were added as treatment options after progression on bevacizumab-containing combination therapy.

Panitumumab (Vectibix, Amgen) was approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with EGFR-expressing, metastatic colorectal carcinoma with disease progression on or following fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, or irinotecan-containing regimens. The NCCN Colon Cancer panel added panitumumab as alternate option to cetuximab after first or second progression on previous therapy. This addition came with a recommendation that patients should not be excluded from therapy on the basis of EGFR results.

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ are developed and updated through a consensus-driven process with explicit review of the scientific evidence by multidisciplinary panels of expert physicians from NCCN Member Institutions. The most recent version of this and all the guidelines are available free of charge at www.nccn.org.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network^® (NCCN^®), a not-for-profit alliance of 23 of the world's leading cancer centers, is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers. The primary goal of all NCCN initiatives is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology practice so patients can live better lives. For more information, visit NCCN.org.

The NCCN Member Institutions are:

• City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center
  Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
• Duke Cancer Institute
• Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center / Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
• The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
• Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Moffitt Cancer Center
• The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
• Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
• Stanford Cancer Institute
• University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center
• UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center
• UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
• University of Colorado Cancer Center
• University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
• UNMC Eppley Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center
• The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center