GI CANCERS

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, John L. Marshall, MD, provided an overview of the evolution of treatments for patients with pancreatic cancer, as well as the current therapeutic approaches for these patients and what’s next for this treatment paradigm.

Three efficacy end points met pre-specified statistical significance in the phase 2 FIGHT study of bemarituzumab plus modified FOLFOX6 in patients with FGFR2b-positive non-HER2-positive frontline advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Anant Ramaswamy, MD, discussed the findings from the phase 2 study of capecitabine plus irinotecan compared with irinotecan alone as treatment of patients with advanced gallbladder cancer.

The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation to CPI-613 for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Historically, in gastrointestinal malignancies, chemotherapy and radiation were utilized to improve outcomes for patients. Although these treatments were effective, disease recurrence was always imminent, demonstrating a need for novel therapies.

During Case Based Peer Perspectives event, Damian Laber, MD, discussed the case of a 53-year-old male patient with stage IV colorectal cancer.

An Orphan Drug Designation had been granted by the FDA to the CD40 antagonistic monoclonal antibody, APX005M for the treatment esophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancer, as well as for the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

At ISGIO 2020, Michael J. Pishvaian, MD, PhD, discussed the importance of using standard-of-care chemotherapy and to test for actionable mutations in patients with pancreatic cancers, which can identify ways to individualize therapy for these patients.

With the number of targets in gastrointestinal cancer growing, particularly KRAS in colorectal cancer and tumor mutational burden across all gastrointestinal tumors, Andrea Cercek, MD, sought to provide an overview of current and emerging targets during the 17th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology following a virtual presentation for the ISGIO 2020, Yelena Janjigian, MD, provided an overview of the role of HER2-targeted therapies in advanced gastric cancer. She also explained the importance of biomarker testing in this space.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology following ISGIO 2020, Elena Chiorean, MD, oncologist, discussed universal genetic testing at the time of diagnosis for patients with pancreatic cancer, a topic she argued on during an ISGIO medical crossfire. She also explained the challenges with execute germline testing setting.

Immunotherapy has demonstrated significant benefits in recent large trials, reaching new survival benchmarks for upper gastrointestinal cancers across various settings of disease, according to Jaffer A. Ajani, MD.

The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation to DKN-01 for the treatment of patients with gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors express the protein DKK1, following disease progression on or after prior treatment with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy and, if appropriate, human epidermal receptor growth factor/neu-targeted therapy.

Frontline nivolumab plus chemotherapy induced a statistically significant survival benefit compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with newly diagnosed PD-L1–positive advanced gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

In the phase 3 KEYNOTE-590 clinical trial, frontline pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates versus chemotherapy only in patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic esophageal cancer, result presented during the 2020 ESMO Virtual Congress show.

In the phase 3 ATTRACTION-4 study, nivolumab added to chemotherapy led to a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival and induced higher overall response rates in patients with previously untreated advanced or recurrent gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer, according to results presented during the 2020 ESMO Virtual Congress.

A statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival was observed with the use of surufatinib compared with placebo in patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, meeting the primary end point of the randomized phase 3 SANET-p study.

For patients with progressive pancreatic or midgut neuroendocrine tumors, improvements in disease-free survival and progression-free survival were seen when the dosing of lanreotide Autogel was increased from 120 mg every 28 days to every 14 days. Data from the phase 2 CLARINET FORTE study suggest that this treatment option can delay switching to a more toxic treatment, which was presented at the 2020 ESMO Virtual Congress.

The combination of dabrafenib and trametinib in patients with biliary tract cancer and BRAF V600E mutations demonstrated clinical activity and a manageable safety profile, according to results from the phase 2 ROAR study.

Futibatinib demonstrated efficacy and tolerability when administered as treatment of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma who harbor FGFR2 fusions/rearrangements, according to interim analysis results presented in a poster during the the European Society of Medical Oncology Virtual Congress 2020

During a debate at the 2020 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Conference, Mehmet Akce, MD and Pretesh Patel, MD, argued their position on whether perioperative therapy for GEJ/gastric cancers should include radiation.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Philip A. Philip, MD, PhD, discussed the current therapeutic options for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and where CPI-613 may fit into this treatment landscape.

Vivek Subbiah, MD, discussed the positive findings from the phase 2 ROAR clinical trial, which evaluated the targeted therapy combination of dabrafenib and trametinib as treatment of patients with cholangiocarcinoma harboring a BRAF V600E mutation.

The primary end point of the phase 3 KEYNOTE-590 trial was met when the combination of pembrolizumab and chemotherapy improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival as initial treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer during an interim analysis of the study.

Positive data from the phase IIa COMBAT clinical trial indicate that CXCR4 and PD-1 blockade with the combination of pembrolizumab and BL-8040 can improved upon the benefit of chemotherapy as treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.