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The NCCN Guidelines for Colon Cancer provide recommendations regarding diagnosis, pathologic staging, surgical management, perioperative treatment, surveillance, management of recurrent and metastatic disease, and survivorship. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the NCCN Colon Cancer Panel discussions for the 2018 update of the guidelines regarding risk stratification and adjuvant treatment for patients with stage III colon cancer, and treatment of BRAF V600E mutation-positive metastatic colorectal cancer with regimens containing vemurafenib.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) comprise a broad family of tumors that may or may not be associated with symptoms attributable to hormonal hypersecretion. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Neuroendocrine Tumors discuss the diagnosis and management of both sporadic and hereditary NETs. This selection from the guidelines focuses on sporadic NETs of the pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, lung, and thymus.

The NCCN Guidelines for Colon Cancer address diagnosis, pathologic staging, surgical management, perioperative treatment, posttreatment surveillance, management of recurrent and metastatic disease,and survivorship. This portion of the guidelines focuses on the use of systemic therapy in metastatic disease. The management of metastatic colorectal cancer involves a continuum of care in which patients are exposed sequentially to a variety of active agents, either in combinations or as single agents. Choice of therapy is based on the goals of treatment, the type and timing of prior therapy, the different efficacy and toxicity profiles of the drugs, the mutational status of the tumor, and patient preference.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are believed to originate from the cells of Cajal that are randomly dispersed along the aerodigestive tract. Despite their distinct morphologic appearance, NET and GIST may share oncogenic mechanisms. Often presenting in the metastatic setting, treatment options for patients with NET are limited. This case report presents a patient with refractory metastatic NET that did not respond conventional chemotherapy. The patient was treated with a KIF11 inhibitor in a phase I clinical trial and experienced a prolonged and clinically meaningful partial response. On progression at 20 months, the patient's tumor was sequenced to reveal a KIT exon 11 mutation. Institution of imatinib therapy achieved a rapid and sustained antitumor effect with profound clinical benefit. Despite previously reported KIT expression in NET, this is the first documented case of an activating KIT mutation in NET and of successful treatment with both a KIF11 inhibitor and imatinib, each of which was elucidated through molecular profiling of the patient's tumor. Imatinib may be a valuable therapy in NET harboring activating KIT mutations.

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Colon Cancer begin with the clinical presentation of the patient to the primary care physician or gastroenterologist and address diagnosis, pathologic staging, surgical management, perioperative treatment, patient surveillance, management of recurrent and metastatic disease, and survivorship. The NCCN Colon Cancer Panel meets annually to review comments from reviewers within their institutions and to reevaluate and update their recommendations. In addition, the panel has interim conferences as new data necessitate. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the NCCN Colon Cancer Panel's discussions surrounding metastatic colorectal cancer for the 2013 update of the guidelines. Importantly, changes were made to the continuum of care for patients with advanced or metastatic disease, including new drugs and an additional line of therapy.

The workup and management of squamous cell anal carcinoma, which represents the most common histologic form of the disease, are addressed in the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Anal Carcinoma. These NCCN Guidelines Insights provide a summary of major discussion points of the 2012 NCCN Anal Carcinoma Panel meeting. In summary, the panel made 4 significant changes to the 2012 NCCN Guidelines for Anal Carcinoma: 1) local radiation therapy was added as an option for the treatment of patients with metastatic disease; 2) multifield technique is now preferred over anteroposterior-posteroanterior (AP-PA) technique for radiation delivery and the AP-PA technique is no longer recommended as the standard of care; 3) PET/CT should now be considered for radiation therapy planning; and 4) a section on risk reduction was added to the discussion section. In addition, the panel discussed the use of PET/CT for the workup of anal canal cancer and decided to maintain the recommendation that it can be considered in this setting. They also discussed the use of PET/CT for the workup of anal margin cancer and for the assessment of treatment response. They reaffirmed their recommendation that PET/CT is not appropriate in these settings.

Personalized medicine in oncology is maturing and evolving rapidly, and the use of molecular biomarkers in clinical decision-making is growing. This raises important issues regarding the safe, effective, and efficient deployment of molecular tests to guide appropriate care, specifically regarding laboratory-developed tests and companion diagnostics. In May 2011, NCCN assembled a work group composed of thought leaders from NCCN Member Institutions and other organizations to identify challenges and provide guidance regarding molecular testing in oncology and its corresponding utility from clinical, scientific, and coverage policy standpoints. The NCCN Molecular Testing Work Group identified challenges surrounding molecular testing, including health care provider knowledge, determining clinical utility, coding and billing for molecular tests, maintaining clinical and analytic validity of molecular tests, efficient use of specimens, and building clinical evidence.

An estimated 3,990 new cases of anal cancer will occur in 2005, accounting for approximately 1.6% of digestive system cancers in the United States. Prognosis directly depends on the size of the primary tumor and the likelihood of lymphatic spread, with tumors 2 cm or smaller cured in 80% of cases. The NCCN guidelines recommend a thorough evaluation for any patient with a suspicious lesion in the anal canal and include additional recommendations for diagnosis, treatment, and follow up for anal canal cancer. For the most recent version of the guidelines, please visit NCCN.org