GI CANCERS

The addition of pembrolizumab and trastuzumab to the combination cisplatin plus capecitabine was able to effectively treat HER2-positive advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer, regardless of PD-L1 expression in the phase 1b/2 PANTHERA trial.

Camrelizumab in combination with apatinib demonstrated encouraging clinical efficacy as a second-line treatment of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and demonstrated acceptable safety in a single-arm, open-label phase 2 clinical trial.

Roughly 40% of patients with advanced, progressive gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors treated with pembrolizumab in combination with lanreotide achieved stable disease, according to results from the phase 1b/2 PLANET clinical trial presented during the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium.

Myriam Chalabi, MD, discussed the utility of microsatellite instability testing in gastrointestinal cancers and highlights the current role of immunotherapy for these patient populations.

Significant progress was made this year toward effectively hitting KRAS-driven tumors, leading to a great deal of excitement in the field.

Experts in oncology and hematology review some of the most impactful FDA approvals from 2020 in lung, breast, blood, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary cancers.

The FDA granted a Priority Review designation to pembrolizumab for potential approval with platinum and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy as frontline treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic carcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction.

The FDA has accepted a New Drug Application for the oral FGFR1-3 selective inhibitor, infigratinib and granted it Priority Review for the treatment of patients with cholangiocarcinoma.

Bassel El-Rayes, MD, reviews the case of a 66-year old man with gastric carcinoma and discusses the disease from diagnosis to unmet needs.

The FDA granted a Breakthrough Therapy designation to zanidatamab as treatment of patients with previously treated HER2-amplified biliary tract cancer.

In the future, scientists may identify additional actionable alternations, allowing clinicians to target various subsets of pancreatic cancer more precisely.

Following a long history with minimal advances, neoadjuvant therapy provides hope on future avenues to further explore in order to continue improving outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology during the 2020 Association for Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting, Ozge Ceyhan-Birsoy, PhD, discussed genetic testing methods for patients with hereditary predisposition and the molecular research underway at MSKCC to improve testing in this patient population.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, John L. Marshall, MD, provided an overview of the evolution of treatments for patients with pancreatic cancer, as well as the current therapeutic approaches for these patients and what’s next for this treatment paradigm.

Three efficacy end points met pre-specified statistical significance in the phase 2 FIGHT study of bemarituzumab plus modified FOLFOX6 in patients with FGFR2b-positive non-HER2-positive frontline advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Anant Ramaswamy, MD, discussed the findings from the phase 2 study of capecitabine plus irinotecan compared with irinotecan alone as treatment of patients with advanced gallbladder cancer.

The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation to CPI-613 for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Historically, in gastrointestinal malignancies, chemotherapy and radiation were utilized to improve outcomes for patients. Although these treatments were effective, disease recurrence was always imminent, demonstrating a need for novel therapies.

During Case Based Peer Perspectives event, Damian Laber, MD, discussed the case of a 53-year-old male patient with stage IV colorectal cancer.

An Orphan Drug Designation had been granted by the FDA to the CD40 antagonistic monoclonal antibody, APX005M for the treatment esophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancer, as well as for the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

At ISGIO 2020, Michael J. Pishvaian, MD, PhD, discussed the importance of using standard-of-care chemotherapy and to test for actionable mutations in patients with pancreatic cancers, which can identify ways to individualize therapy for these patients.

With the number of targets in gastrointestinal cancer growing, particularly KRAS in colorectal cancer and tumor mutational burden across all gastrointestinal tumors, Andrea Cercek, MD, sought to provide an overview of current and emerging targets during the 17th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology following a virtual presentation for the ISGIO 2020, Yelena Janjigian, MD, provided an overview of the role of HER2-targeted therapies in advanced gastric cancer. She also explained the importance of biomarker testing in this space.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology following ISGIO 2020, Elena Chiorean, MD, oncologist, discussed universal genetic testing at the time of diagnosis for patients with pancreatic cancer, a topic she argued on during an ISGIO medical crossfire. She also explained the challenges with execute germline testing setting.

Immunotherapy has demonstrated significant benefits in recent large trials, reaching new survival benchmarks for upper gastrointestinal cancers across various settings of disease, according to Jaffer A. Ajani, MD.