Combining Targeted Therapies to Enhance the Effectiveness of Chemotherapy in Patients with Treatment-Refractory Colorectal Cancer

Exceeding interest arose in combining targeted therapies for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer as a result of impressive results reported on a small phase II study (BOND2). Consequently, clinical trial designs quickly adopted combined biologic therapy as a means to enhance treatment efficacy by blocking potentially two different signal transduction pathways. Recent data has been reported on the role of combined targeted therapies as well as ongoing trials. This review summarizes the potential preclinical rationale for combination targeted therapies in the treatment of colorectal cancer, currently available data, and the role of potential surrogate markers.