GI CANCERS

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.

Adjuvant nivolumab prolonged disease-free survival as treatment of patients with resected esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer compared with placebo, meeting the primary end point of the phase 3 CheckMate-577 clinical trial.

Overall survival and progression-free survival were improved with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone as frontline treatment of patients with metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, or esophageal adenocarcinoma.

During a virtual Case Based Peer Perspectives series, Madappa Kundranda, MD, PhD, discussed the case of a 60-year-old male patient diagnosed with poorly differentiated gastric adenocarinoma.

The FDA has granted an Orphan Drug designation to SM-88 for the potential treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

The FDA granted an Orphan Drug designation to zenocutuzumab for the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer, announced Merus in a press release.

Like never before, presentations related to systemic therapies for biliary tract cancers are taking center stage at medical and oncology conferences, generating hope that treating physicians will have multiple options in the near future.

The efficacy of each combination therapy targeting KRAS will likely depend on the tumor lineage, said Gordon Mills, MD, PhD.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Bassel El-Rayes, MD, discussed the treatment options for patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer. He also discussed sequencing the available agents for borderline resectable pancreatic cancer and the role of circulating tumor DNA in guiding individualized treatment of the disease.

Long-term follow-up results from the study were presented in a poster at the virtual 2020 European Society of Medical Oncology World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer meeting.