GI CANCERS

The differentiation between squamous and adenocarcinomas in GI cancer could revolutionize the disease's treatment paradigm, according to John Marshall, MD.

Not all gastroesophageal junction cancers should be treated the same, according to Richard J. Bold, MD.

It's been an exciting year thus far for patients with neuroendocrine tumors, with the FDA approving a new treatment regimen and more advancements on the horizon.

An increasing number of investigators are focused on developing therapies specifically for cholangiocarcinoma as rates for the disease are rising. 

Christopher Heery, MD, medical oncologist, National Cancer Institute, discusses the potential underlying benefits of combination therapy in the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.

Treatment with ARQ-087 demonstrated promising signs of clinical activity with a manageable safety profile for patients with FGFR2 fusion-positive advanced and/or metastatic intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, according to findings from an ongoing phase I/II study presented at the 2016 World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.

Precision oncology should play a vital role in the shift toward value-based medicine by helping to deliver more effective therapies with more manageable pricing profiles, according to John L. Marshall, MD.

Patients with nonfunctioning neuroendocrine tumors of gastrointestinal or lung origin continued to live longer when treated with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor everolimus than with placebo, ongoing follow-up in a randomized trial showed.

The advent of targeted inhibitors that work on the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) pathway may alter the disease course and outcomes in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, suggests data from a four-center retrospective study. Lead investigator Apurva Jain, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented the findings at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Infusion with 19-28z chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T-cells led to complete response (CR) rates of 77% to 90% and minimal residual disease (MRD)-CR rates of 68% to 70% in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL).

Neratinib, an experimental TKI being developed for breast cancer, achieved a 36% clinical benefit rate in a phase II trial, according to a poster presented June 5, 2016 at the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.

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

John L. Marshall, MD, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Georgetown University Hospital, discusses the challenges faced with treating patients who have gastrointestinal cancers and the significance of molecular profiling.

Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering, discusses what is on the horizon for the use of PD-L1 agents in liver cancer.

Precision oncology should play a vital role in the shift toward value-based medicine by helping to deliver more effective therapies with more manageable pricing profiles.

Novel therapy with indoximod, an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) pathway inhibitor, in combination with standard chemotherapy, yielded a response rate of 42% as first-line therapy for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Mahmoud Al-Hawary, MD, discusses the current NCCN guidelines for imaging and how they play a role in patients with pancreatic cancer.

A new drug application (NDA) has been submitted to the FDA for telotristat etiprate as a treatment for carcinoid syndrome in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), according to a statement from the drug's developer, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.

The FDA has approved defibrotide sodium (Defitelio) as a treatment for severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) with associated kidney or lung abnormalities following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), based on data from the collection of 3 studies.