CCR5 antagonist, an ally to fight against metastatic colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer (1.36 million cases) in the world (1). Nearly three quarters of newly diagnosed CRC patients have localized disease and can be cured with surgical resection (2). However, the remaining patients present with metastatic diseases. Moreover, a considerable number of patients experience recurrence and/or metastatic disease even after curative surgery. These patients need systemic therapy consisting mainly of chemotherapy and/or molecular targeting therapy. The advancement in these therapeutic modalities has improved the prognosis of CRC patients with metastasis and/or recurrence, but their median overall survival still remains about 2 years (2). Thus, an additional type of therapy is required for the treatment of CRC patients with metastasis and/or recurrence.