GI CANCERS

In updated results presented at the 2017 International Liver Congress, Spanish researchers raised a red flag regarding observations of unexpected higher rates of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence following treatment with direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C virus infection.

Researchers have identified higher levels of hepatocytes positive for pERK immunostaining and greater microvascular invasion as independent prognostic factors of recurrence in patients treated with sorafenib Nexavar for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Results from a study of microRNA-34a and natural killer cells presented at the 2017 International Liver Congress suggest that microRNA-34a, one of the most documented tumor suppressor microRNAs, could have a role in regulating cytotoxicity and development of the effector NK cells and their target cells.

Patients were at no elevated risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma after achieving sustained virologic response following treatment with direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C compared to interferon therapy.

Matthew B. Yurgelun, MD, discusses a colorectal cancer study which found nearly 10% of the individuals had an inherited mutation in a cancer susceptibility gene.

Molecular testing of patients with colorectal cancer should be incorporated into standard practice to establish the mutations each patient has that would affect their response to treatment with EGFR-targeted therapies.

John L. Marshall, MD, discusses efforts to determine the underlying molecular basis for the sidedness issue in colorectal cancer.

Manish A. Shah, MD, discusses the HERACLES clinical trial, which explored treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and lapatinib (Tykerb) in patients with HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer.

The PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab showed single-agent activity in previously treated patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal, resulting in an overall response rate of 24.3%.

Manish Shah, MD, discusses ongoing efforts to understand the distinction between early-onset CRC and traditional CRC.

Sequential Therapy for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

Steven H. Lin, MD, PhD, discusses the benefits of advanced radiation technologies, including IMRT and proton therapy.

The combination of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and lapatinib (Tykerb) resulted in a 30% objective response rate (ORR) in heavily pretreated patients with HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), suggesting a new targeted therapy strategy for later lines of treatment that supports testing for the aberration.

The impact of the recent findings regarding tumor sidedness in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer are potentially practice-changing, with data demonstrating that patients with right-sided tumors have a poorer prognosis than those with left-sided tumors. In addition, sidedness could be clinically relevant as a predictive biomarker of response to standard frontline treatments.

Brian Hemphill, MD, provides insight on some of the challenges currently being faced in GI malignancies—specifically, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and gastic cancer—and how molecular profiles of tumors will dramatically change outcomes for these patients.

Ramesh K. Ramanathan, MD, discusses clinical trials investigating combination treatments with standard chemotherapies to improve outcomes in pancreatic cancer.

Jeffrey A. Drebin, MD, PhD, has been named chairman of the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center, MSK has announced.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has announced Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, has been appointed Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer.

Michael J. Overman, MD, medical oncologist, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses updated results from the CheckMate-142 trial, which investigated nivolumab alone or in combination with ipilimumab in patients with DNA mismatch repair deficient/microsatellite instability high metastatic colorectal cancer. 

Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla, MD,&nbsp;the potential role of <em>BRAF</em> and <em>CTNNB1</em> mutations in the survival difference between CRC patients with left- and right-sided tumors.