Report from the 27th Annual Western Canadian Gastrointestinal Cancer Consensus Conference on Colorectal Cancer, Calgary, Alberta, 26–27 September 2025: Advances in Colon and Rectal Cancer
- Study type
- Clinical guideline
- Study name
- WCGCCC 2025
- Design
- Report of an interactive multidisciplinary consensus conference (regional consensus statement)
- Source
- Current Oncology · 2026
In plain words
Every year a group of specialists in digestive cancers in Western Canada meets to review the latest advances in treating cancer of the colon and rectum. This report covers topics such as exercise after treatment, aspirin, immunotherapy, targeted drugs and the possibility of avoiding radiotherapy or surgery in some patients with rectal cancer. The report reflects the views of experts from one region, and you should talk with your treating doctor to decide about your own treatment.
Study population
This document is a consensus conference report and no patients were enrolled. Participants were health care professionals from across Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) involved in the care of patients with colorectal cancer. The group included specialists in medical and radiation oncology, pathology and surgery, and a family physician in oncology.
Endpoints
The aim of the conference was to develop consensus recommendations on recent advances in the treatment of colorectal cancer in the Western Canadian setting. Topics covered were: adjuvant exercise (based on the CHALLENGE trial), adjuvant aspirin and PI3K testing (based on the ALASCCA trial), adjuvant immunotherapy (based on the ATOMIC trial), use of encorafenib and an EGFR inhibitor with chemotherapy (based on the BREAKWATER trial), combination immunotherapy (based on the CHECKMATE 8HW trial), and optimal strategies for radiotherapy omission and non-operative management of non-metastatic rectal cancer.
Safety and side effects
The published abstract gives no information on adverse events. For safety details of each treatment, consult the full text and the original trials.
Clinical significance and place in guidelines
This report is a regional consensus statement for Western Canada and gives an overview of the CHALLENGE, ALASCCA, ATOMIC, BREAKWATER and CHECKMATE 8HW trials as well as strategies for radiotherapy omission and non-operative management of rectal cancer. The abstract does not state the text of the recommendations or their levels of evidence. Therefore, before use in clinical practice, the exact recommendations should be checked in the full text and compared with authoritative guidelines and local drug approval status.
Limitations
The abstract only lists the topics covered and gives no recommendations, levels of evidence or numerical data. This document is the product of expert consensus in the context of the Western Canadian health system, and the availability of drugs and treatments in other countries may differ.
This summary was prepared by the editorial team from the published paper; the original paper is the final reference. Read the original abstract on PubMed.