New Treatment Options for Colon, Breast and Skin Cancer Care

What is new in cancer care this month

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment option for some people with stage 3 colon cancer. The approval covers atezolizumab in combination with chemotherapy for patients whose tumors have deficient DNA mismatch repair, known as dMMR. This news comes from the ATOMIC clinical trial led by Mayo Clinic. The study included 712 patients with stage 3 dMMR colon cancer that had been surgically removed.

Adding atezolizumab to standard chemotherapy reduced the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 50 percent compared with chemotherapy alone. This is a meaningful change for this specific group. The goal after surgery is to eliminate remaining microscopic cancer cells. This helps increase the number of patients who are cured of their disease. You can read more about this approval in reports from News-Medical.Net and European Pharmaceutical Review.

There are also updates for breast cancer and skin cancer. The FDA approved tucatinib maintenance for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. This approval is based on the HER2CLIMB-05 trial with 654 patients. Adding tucatinib to trastuzumab and pertuzumab extended median progression-free survival by 8.6 months. For nonmelanoma skin cancer, new options include photodynamic therapy for superficial basal cell carcinoma. Immunotherapy is also an option for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. These details were shared by Dr. Todd Schlesinger at Fall Clinical 2026, as noted in Dermatology Times.

Where it is available

The ATOMIC trial that supported the new colon cancer approval was led by Mayo Clinic. While the drug is now approved for use, clinical trials continue to explore its impact in other areas. For example, there is a phase 3 trial testing atezolizumab after surgery for early stage non-small cell lung cancer. This trial is recruiting at several sites including Tower Cancer Research Foundation in Beverly Hills and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Other centers involved in this lung cancer study include Cedars-Sinai Cancer - Tarzana in Tarzana and Torrance Memorial Physician Network - Cancer Care in Torrance. Additional sites are Beebe South Coastal Health Campus in Millville, Helen F Graham Cancer Center in Newark, and Medical Oncology Hematology Consultants PA in Newark. The Beebe Health Campus in Rehoboth Beach is also participating. These locations offer enrollment in studies that may help shape future care standards.

What to know if you are in treatment now

New approvals do not mean every patient will receive these drugs. Eligibility depends on tumor type, stage and specific genetic markers like dMMR status. Your care team will review your pathology reports to see if these options apply to you. It is important to remember that medical decisions belong with the care team. They consider your full health picture before recommending changes.

Some treatments come with side effects that require monitoring. For instance, liver injury after CAR T-cell therapy may be driven by cytokine storm. A landmark analysis found this injury is predominantly early and linked to cytokine release syndrome. Understanding these risks helps you prepare for conversations with your doctors. Here are a few points to keep in mind:

• Ask if your tumor has been tested for dMMR or other biomarkers that match new approvals.
• Discuss the timing of maintenance therapies and how they fit with your current schedule.
• Inquire about supportive care services that can help manage side effects during treatment.