GI CANCERS

Lenvatinib (Lenvima) has been granted approval by the FDA as a first-line treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, based on data from the phase III REFLECT trial.

John L. Marshall, MD, chief of the  Division of Hematology/Oncology at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, Otto J. Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancer, discusses the use of chemotherapy in patients with colorectal or other gastrointestinal cancers. He also highlights the importance of understanding each individual patient’s needs before making a treatment decision. 

Patients with cholangiocarcinoma harboring <em>FGFR2 </em>gene fusions, including patients&nbsp;who had progressed on an FGFR inhibitor, saw a clinically meaningful benefit with TAS-120, according to&nbsp;phase I results presented at the 2018 World Congress on GI Cancer.&nbsp;

The triplet combination of&nbsp;the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib, the MEK inhibitor binimetinib, and the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for the&nbsp;treatment of patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600E&ndash;mutant metastatic colorectal cancer following 1 or 2 prior lines of treatment in the metastatic setting.&nbsp;The designation will expedite the development and review of the novel triplet in this setting.

Compared with sorafenib (Nexavar) alone, sorafenib in combination with selective internal radiation therapy did not provide a significant survival improvement for patients with&nbsp;advanced hepatocellular carcinoma,&nbsp;according to results from the palliative cohort of the SORAMIC trial presented at the 2018 World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona, Spain. However, overall survival improvements were seen with the combination in select subgroup analyses.

The Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center has established a cancer care model to address disparities in lung cancer in rural areas. By partnering with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and their UC Davis Cancer Care Network, they have been able to address a large issue in cancer care, where 20% of the American population is living in a rural area without access to a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center.

Diane Simeone, MD, director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center and associate director of Translational Research at NYU Langone&rsquo;s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses the current state of the pancreatic cancer treatment paradigm. She says it is a very exciting time for this field as there is a large body of researchers now involved.

The European Union has approved&nbsp;PF-05280014 (Trazimera), a biosimilar for trastuzumab (Herceptin), to treat&nbsp;patients with HER2 overexpressing metastatic or early breast cancer and HER2 overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

The FDA issued several approvals in July, including in colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and acute myeloid leukemia.&nbsp;Here&rsquo;s a look back on the FDA happenings for the month of July 2018.

Therapeutic Approach for Stage 4 Gastric Cancer

Atezolizumab (Tecentriq) has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for use in combination with&nbsp;bevacizumab (Avastin) as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

Richard Kim, MD, recently shared his treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal cancer. Kim explained his treatment decisions based on 2 gastrointestinal case scenarios during a <em>Targeted Oncology</em> live case-based peer perspectives program.