Gastric Cancer

While the ToGA study showed a survival benefit with trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in HER2-positive gastric cancer, the drug proved no more efficacious when given in larger doses, according to Manish Shah, MD.

Sue Naeyaert, senior director of Biosimilars Policy, EMD Serono, discusses the long-term impact that biosimilars could potentially have on the field of oncology.

A phase III study exploring the combination of olaparib and paclitaxel missed its primary endpoint of improvement in overall survival compared with paclitaxel and placebo for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, MD, Medical Oncologist and Director, The Institute of Clinical Cancer Research and Krankenhaus Nordwest-University Cancer Center, Frankfurt, Germany discusses neoadjuvant 5-FU, oxaliplatin and docetaxel (FLOT) versus epirubicin, cisplatin and 5-FU in patients with locally advanced, resectable gastric/esophagogastric junction cancer.

Updated findings from the KEYNOTE-012 trial have demonstrated promising antitumor activity with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with metastatic gastric cancer.

Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, gave a synopsis, in a talk at the 2015 World Congress on GI Cancer, of novel agents that are under examination for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer.

Despite their promise, checkpoint inhibitors are not effective in every patient, and research suggests the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway may hold important clues as to why some tumors fail to respond.

Growth in healthcare spending in the United States continues to outpace growth in European countries that enjoy a similar standard of living.

A panel of expert clinical investigators discussed details of several treatments and a dozen patient cases involving gastric, colorectal, and pancreatic cancer at a satellite meeting of the 2015 ASCO GI Cancers Symposium.

Representatives Diana DeGette (D, Colorado) and Fred Upton (R, Michigan) recently released a "discussion draft" of the 21st Century Cures Act.

Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, discusses the challenges of using chemotherapy to treat patients with gastric cancer.

Kei Muro, MD, discusses phase II and III trials which examine pembrolizumab as a treatment for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Manish A Shah, MD, talks about a recent phase II study of FOLFOX with or without onartuzumab, a MET inhibitor, for the treatment of metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.

Metastatic disease accounts for the vast majority of cancer-related deaths. Ensuring a definitive diagnosis and the most effective treatment in a timely fashion is essential for extending life expectancy.

Pembrolizumab showed promising antitumor activity and a manageable toxicity profile in patients with metastatic gastric cancer, according to updated findings from the KEYNOTE-012 study.

Adam Bass, MD, assistant professor, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, provides an overview of the four subtypes of gastric cancer identified in a recent study.

Based on data from the phase III RAINBOW trial, the FDA has approved ramucirumab (Cyramza) in combination with paclitaxel as a treatment for patients with previously treated advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma.

Researchers from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Network have proposed a molecular classification system that separates gastric cancers into four subtypes.

A geographic analysis of trial results supporting the use of ramucirumab in gastric cancer showed that patients in the U.S. and other Western nations experienced similar survival gains as did their counterparts in two other regions of the world.

Johanna Bendell, MD, Director of GI Cancer Research Program, associate director, Drug Development Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the results of a randomized, double-blind, multicenter phase II trial that examined FOLFOX with or without ramucirumab as front-line therapy for advanced gastric or esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Advanced gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancers are highly aggressive cancers with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. The VEGF pathway has been one of the key signaling pathways under investigation for these cancers.

The FDA has approved ramucirumab as a treatment for patients with unresectable gastric cancer or GEJ adenocarcinoma following fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing therapy, based on a significant extension in overall survival (OS).

Pamela L. Kunz, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, on the use of angiogenesis inhibitors for the treatment of metastatic gastric cancer.

Smitha Krishnamurthi, MD, a medical oncologist and associate professor of medicine at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, discusses the results of the phase III RAINBOW trial, which explored ramucirumab plus paclitaxel as a second-line treatment in gastric cancer.

Pamela L. Kunz, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, discusses the need to identify molecular subtypes of gastric cancer.