GI CANCERS

Using genomic and proteomic characterization of pancreatic cancer tumors, researchers from Vall d

The safety and efficacy profile of regorafenib in patients with previously treated colorectal cancer (CRC) is similar between US patients and the global study population enrolled in the phase IIIb CONSIGN study, according to Udit Verma, MD, at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Avelumab, an investigational anti-PD-L1 antibody, showed clinical activity as both a second-line and maintenance therapy in patients, with unresectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer, according to data from a phase Ib presented at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

An orally administered first-in-class cancer stemness inhibitor, BBI608, administered twice daily with weekly paclitaxel has promising activity in patients with refractory, heavily pretreated metastatic pancreatic cancer; particularly in patients who are taxane naive.

Carboplatin/paclitaxel-based chemoradiotherapy (CarPacRT) has sufficient activity to progress into phase II clinical trials as neoadjuvant treatment for patients with resectable esophageal cancer.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) produced an overall response rate (ORR) of 14% with an acceptable safety profile in patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer, according to data from the phase I/II CheckMate-032 trial.

Combining liposomal irinotecan (nal-IRI; MM-398; Onivyde) with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus leucovorin dropped the risk of death in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer by 25% following progression on a gemcitabine-based regimen, according to updated data from the phase III NAPOLI-1 trial.

Preoperative treatment with short-course radiation therapy plus 3 cycles of chemotherapy boosted overall survival (OS) and generated fewer adverse events (AEs) compared to standard chemoradiation for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Patients with either gastrointestinal (GI) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) or NETs of unknown primary origin experienced a 40% or more decrease in their risk of disease progression when treated with everolimus (Afinitor), according to a subanalysis of the phase III RADIANT-4 trial.

Patients with advanced midgut neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) will continue to see major therapeutic benefits from the peptide receptor radionuclide therapy Lu-Dotatate (Lutathera), including an improvement in overall survival and the reduction of progression or death risk by 79%.

Katherine Van Loon, MD, discusses identifying recurrences in gastrointestinal cancers at a point where patients can receive further therapy.

The FDA has approved a new treatment consisting of a non-alcohol formulation of docetaxel in patients with breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and head and neck cancer.

A new study has analyzed intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) in 12 cancer types and found a "tolerable" level of genomic instability, independent of cancer type, beyond which a cancer may become less aggressive.

The phase III PILLAR trial studying the novel immunotherapy, algenpantucel-L combined with chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced, unresectable pancreatic cancer, has completed enrollment with over 300 patients.

Leonard Saltz, MD, discusses VEGF inhibitors, their history and why oncologists might be overestimating the treatment.

Colin Weekes, MD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Medicine and Medical Oncology, University of Colorado, on molecular phenotyping in pancreatic cancer patients.

Philip Philip, MD, PhD, professor of oncology at Karmanos Cancer Center, Wayne State University School of Medicine, on treatment options for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Dr. John H. Sampson discusses rindopepimut elimiting brain tumor cells that express the epidermal growth factor receptor mutation variant III (EGFRvIII).

Vitamin C, often used to fight colds and other pathogens, may also be a powerful weapon against colorectal cancer (CRC), according to a study published in Science.

A number of colorectal cancer care advocacy groups and the American Cancer of Radiology are lobbying Congress to pass the CT Colonography Screening for Colorectal Cancer Act, an initiative that could lower costs and increase screening rates.

Dead bacteria cells and bacteria excretions from Clostridium sporogenes have successfully been used to kill colorectcal cancer cells in a preclinical study performed by researchers at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

John Zalcberg, PhD, medical oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia, talks about the poor prognosis of refractory advanced oesophago-gastric cancer (AOGC) patients and how regorafenib could benefit those patients.

Dr. Deirdre Cohen talks about the increasingly big role of immunotherapies in the treatment of patients with gastric cancers.

The FDA has granted breakthrough therapy designation to Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a potential therapy for patients with microsatellite instability-high metastatic colorectal cancer.

Frank A. Sinicrope, MD, talks about sporadic mismatch repair deficient colonic cancer tumors compared to familial related to germ line mutations in the setting of Lynch syndrome.