Gastrointestinal Cancers (Issue 1)

Pamela L. Kunz, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, discusses the need to identify molecular subtypes of gastric cancer.

In the largest gastric cancer second-line trial, the VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab combined with paclitaxel demonstrated a significant increase in survival.

RAS mutations beyond KRAS exon 2 are negative predictive biomarkers for panitumumab in mCRC, according to an analysis of phase III, second-line data, which are consistent with previously reported data in first-line mCRC.

Findings from the NSABP R-04 trial demonstrated that neoadjuvant capecitabine combined with radiation therapy had outcomes similar to previously established standards of care for stage II or III rectal cancer.

Robert L. Fine, MD, from Columbia University, discusses reducing the risk of relapse in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Add-on treatment with the hedgehog pathway inhibitor vismodegib demonstrated encouraging activity in patients with untreated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to preliminary data from an ongoing trial.

Roberto Bordonaro, MD, chair, medical oncology, Garibaldi Hospital, Catania, Italy, discusses the treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Studies presented at the 2014 GI Cancers Symposium emphasized the need for full RAS mutational analyses in the management of mCRC prior to initiating treatment with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies

Treatment with an inhibitor of TGF-β led to significant reductions in a prespecified biomarker that correlated with increased TTP and OS in patients with advanced HCC, according to results of a phase II clinical trial.