GIST

Patients with heavily pretreated gastrointestinal stromal tumors responded to treatment with nivolumab (Opdivo) alone and in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy), according to findings of a randomized phase II study presented at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Madappa Kundranda, MD, PhD, recently discussed the cases of 2 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the treatment considerations and decisions he would make when treating these patients. Dr. Kundranda, Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Phoenix discussed these cases during a <em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;live case-based peer perspectives dinner.

A novel circulating tumor cell assay has demonstrated a high accuracy of up to 88% for detecting early-stage colorectal cancer, according to the results of a prospective study from Taiwan released ahead of a presentation at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California. The study marks the first to show a high sensitivity for detecting precancerous lesions, as prior studies tended to identify later-stage CRCs.

In results from the&nbsp;phase III CROSS trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,&nbsp;</em>neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy failed to lower postoperative health-related quality of life compared with surgery alone for patients with&nbsp;esophageal or junctional cancer.<br /> &nbsp;

Jesper B. Andersen, MSc, PhD, discusses a study that shows&nbsp;using a single-gene dissection approach in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma can characterize divergent cancer programs and drug vulnerabilities.

Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses ongoing clinical trials in the <em>BRAF</em>-mutant colorectal cancer patient population.

Eileen O&rsquo;Reilly, MD, associate director for clinical research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses areas she believes will be the focus of future research in pancreatic cancer.

John L. Marshall, MD,&nbsp;recaps some of the biggest CRC advancements of 2017, and explained what those successes mean for the treatment paradigm moving forward.

According to findings from the phase III TERRA trial published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology, </em>previously treated Asian patients with metastatic colorectal cancer saw a significant survival benefit with TAS-102&nbsp;(trifluridine and tipiracil; Lonsurf) compared with placebo.

Boston University Medical Center has announced that Matthew Kulke, MD, will serve as its chief of the Section of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine, effective March 1, 2018. Kulke will also obtain the roles of deputy director of the BU-BMC Cancer Center, medical director of the Clinical Cancer Center at BMC, and the Zoltan Kohn Professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Howard S. Hochster, MD, an internationally recognized leader in the development of cancer clinical trials, gastrointestinal oncology, and early phase cancer drugs, has joined Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey as associate director for clinical research and chief of gastrointestinal medical oncology.

John L. Marshall, MD,&nbsp;chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, director, Otto J. Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancer, discusses the progress that has been made with immunotherapy in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Hans-Joachim Schmoll, MD,&nbsp;discusses updated CHARTA findings, the current role of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic CRC, and his predictions for the future CRC treatment landscape.

Leonard Saltz, MD,&nbsp;highlights the current go-to therapies and overarching questions for mCRC treatment.

Shubham Pant, MD,&nbsp;discusses therapeutic options for patients with metastatic CRC, while&nbsp;stressing the importance of clinical trials as an avenue to establish more novel treatment decisions in this setting.

John L. Marshall, MD,&nbsp;chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, director, Otto J. Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancer, discusses when to order next-generation sequencing for a patient with metastatic colon cancer.

A novel kinase switch control inhibitor, DCC-2618, demonstrated an encouraging disease control rate (DCR) of 76% at 12 weeks in heavily pretreated patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) treated with a daily &ge;100-mg dose, according to findings of a phase I first-in-human, dose-escalation trial.

George P. Kim, MD, recently shared the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Kim, a medical oncologist at 21st Century Oncology in Jacksonville, Florida, explained his treatment decisions based on 2 case scenarios during a&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;live case-based peer perspectives dinner.

Alan P. Venook, MD, recently discussed 2 cases of patients with colorectal cancer, and the treatment treatment considerations and decisions he would make when treating these patients. Venook, Shorenstein Associate Director for Program Development, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and professor, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, discussed these cases during a&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;live case-based peer perspectives dinner.<br /> &nbsp;

Tim G. Larson, MD, discusses&nbsp;emerging data involving immunotherapy for patients with microsatellite instability (MSI)/microsatellite stable (MSS) CRC and highlights some of the identified molecular mutations in patients with CRC.

The use of targeted therapies in colon cancer has become increasingly important, with several options available for clinicans to choose between. In a review of recent updates incorporating molecularly targeted therapy use in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, the evidence for these new recommendations are detailed in support of their use in patients with colon cancer.

A. David McCollum, MD, discusses&nbsp;the optimal management of CRC in the first-line setting and the ongoing research with checkpoint inhibitors designed to benefit larger groups of patients.<br /> &nbsp;

Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses choosing between TAS-102 (Lonsurf) and regorafenib (Stivarga) in colorectal cancer.

In findings from the phase III JAVELIN Gastric 300 trial, survival was not improved with the anti&ndash;PD-L1 agent avelumab compared with chemotherapy in previously treated patients with gastric&nbsp;or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.<br /> &nbsp;

In patients with&nbsp;hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), pill burden and treatment costs were reduced, with a trend toward improved treatment completion, by lowering the dose of&nbsp;sorafenib (Nexavar), according to results from a&nbsp;retrospective, multi-institutional study.