GI CANCERS

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Axel Grothey, MD, discussed how HER2 has become an actionable target for gastrointestinal cancers and potential HER2-targeted treatments in the field as well as other interesting studies from the role trastuzumab plays in the space.

A proprietary noninvasive test designed to detect pancreatic cancer has been granted breakthrough device designation by the FDA for patients with new-onset diabetes.

A key advance in treating patients with gastrointestinal cancer is molecular profiling of the tumor that results in specific targets being identified. The standard of care for GI cancer has consisted of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, but these standards have had limited efficacy and considerable toxicity that impact patients’ quality of life.

The use of a fitness tracking device as a prognostic tool was feasible and acceptable in a study evaluating 80 patients with colorectal cancer.

Half of all patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with the combination of regorafenib and nivolumab following progression on 2 lines of chemotherapy achieved disease control, according to initial results from a phase 2 proof-of-concept trial.

The FDA has approved pembrolizumab in combination with platinum and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic or locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction carcinoma who are not eligible for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation.

The modified Appleby procedure, a technique that removes two-thirds of the pancreas, the spleen, and the celiac axis, offers patients with pancreatic cancer another treatment option.

James Harding, MD, discusses the need for genomic testing in biliary tract cancers.

The FDA has approved TheraSphere yttrium-90 glass microspheres for the treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Bintrafusp alfa monotherapy demonstrated efficacy, durability, and a manageable safety profile in patients with locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancer who have progressed or are intolerant to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy in a phase 2 study, but failed to meet the pre-determined threshold for a regulatory filing.

The FDA has granted an orphan drug designation to ARX788 for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive gastric cancer, according to a press release from developer Ambrx.

Despite the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, major progress in cancer research has been made in the past year in the areas of molecular profiling, biomarker-driven treatment approaches, targeted therapies brought into earlier stages of disease, treatment combinations with limited toxicities, and treatments that extend survival for hard-to-treat cancers.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Markus Moehler, MD, PhD, reviewed the potentially practice-changing data from the phase 3 CheckMate 649 clinical trial.

Markus Moehler, MD, PhD, discusses the survival outcomes of nivolumab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

A New Drug Application was submitted to the FDA for ivosidenib tablets as a potential treatment option for patients with previously treated IDH1-mutated cholangiocarcinoma. The company is requesting Priority Review be granted to the application.

Ruth He, MD, grants advice on how to treat patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ruth He, MD, discusses potential options for physicians in their treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ruth He, MD, acknowledges the current struggles experts face in combatting unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ruth He, MD, discusses the approval of frontline atezolizumab-bevacizumab and its relation to subsequent treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ruth He, MD, discusses major takeaways from the phase 3 IMbrave150 trial of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ruth He, MD, highlights factors that influence her use of frontline systemic therapy in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ruth He, MD, discusses the current treatment options for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ping Chi, MD, a medical oncologist, and Geoffrey Beene Junior Faculty chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, reviews the results of a phase 2 study of binimetinib plus imatinib as treatment of patients with untreated advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

In season 2, episode 2 of Targeted Talks, Cathy Eng, MD, speaks with Benjamin Weinberg, MD, about the gut microbiome, and how the presence of certain microbiota impact the onset and intensity of disease as well as the potential response to certain treatments.