MSH6: Cancer Treatment
Cancer Treatment for People with Inherited Mutations
Testing positive for an inherited mutation may affect your treatment options or eligibility for clinical trials studying which treatments work best. To learn more about standard of care treatment options for specific types of cancer, visit our section on Cancer Treatment by Cancer Type. People with an mutation who have been diagnosed with cancer may benefit from testing and may qualify for clinical trials looking for more effective treatments for cancer.
The following are examples of situations where an mutation may play a part in treatment decision-making.
treatment
Most cancers linked to an inherited mutation have a called (). means the cancer has trouble repairing damage to its , a feature known as ( or ). Testing a tumor for or is important because cancers with these biomarkers are more likely to respond to a type of called immune checkpoint inhibitors.
colorectal cancer
- In people with 2 colorectal cancer, cancers have a good prognosis and may not benefit from 5-fluorouracil (chemotherapy used in colorectal cancer) therapy.
- People with 2 or 3 rectal cancer that is , may benefit from treatment (before surgery) with Jemperli (dostarlimab).
- Jemperli (dostarlimab) may be used to treat or advanced colorectal cancer in people whose cancer got worse after chemotherapy.
- Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is an used to treat or advanced colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
- Opdivo (nivolumab) is an used alone or in combination with Yervoy (ipilimumab) for cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
- Imfinzi (durvalumab) is an that is approved in combination with chemotherapy to treat recurrent and advanced that is mismatch repair-deficient.
- Jemperli (dostarlimab) is an that is approved to treat recurrent and advanced that is mismatch repair-deficient.
- Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is an that is approved to treat or advanced or recurrent that came back or got worse after previous treatment and for which there are no other treatment options.
endometrial cancer in women who wish to preserve their fertility
Although not yet FDA-approved, researchers are studying whether treatment of , endometrial cancer with may be able to eliminate tumors, allowing women to safely avoid hysterectomy. You can learn more about the study here.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors for treating any type of advanced or cancers
- Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is approved for the treatment of any that test , have progressed after treatment and for which there are no other treatment options.
- Jemperli (dostarlimab) is approved to treat cancers with the dMMR that have progressed after prior treatment, and for which there are no other available treatment options.
Participate in Treatment Research
Below are some of our featured research studies looking at new ways to screen for, prevent or intercept cancer in people with mutations. To search for additional studies, visit our Search and Enroll Tool.
Post-surgery Immunotherapy (Toripalimab) for MMR-D / MSI-H Stage IIB-III Colon Cancer
Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT07140679
Study of the Drug Olvi-Vec in Women with Ovarian Cancer
Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT05281471
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