Gastrointestinal Cancer

Diwakar Davar, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, discusses the rationale for the combination of anti-TIM-3 and anti-PD-1 in multiple tumor types.

Patients with previously untreated hepatocellular carcinoma lived twice as long if they responded to TKI therapy as compared with patients who did not achieve an objective response.

The combination use of durvalumab and tremelimumab plus best supportive care prolonged median overall survival by 2.5 months compared with supportive care alone in patients with advanced refractory colorectal cancer.

The PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab achieved objective responses in about a fourth of patients with microsatellite instability-high advanced solid tumors, including colorectal cancer.

Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses how the FDA approval of cabozantinib (Cabometyx) is likely to shake up the landscape and impact sequencing for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The oral multi-kinase inhibitor regorafenib extended progression-free survival in patients with metastatic or unresectable biliary tract cancer who were previously treated with gemcitabine and a platinum-based chemotherapy.

Josep M. Llovet, MD, PhD, discusses the results from the phase III REACH-2 study of ramucirumab as a second-line treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

The combination of dabrafenib and trametinib induced responses in nearly half of patients with BRAF V600E–mutated biliary tract cancer who participated in a phase II basket trial that enrolled patients with BRAF V600E–mutated rare cancers.

The novel oral anticancer regimen known as SM-88, which consists of a tyrosine derivative, an mTOR inhibitor, a CYP3a4 inducer, and an oxidative stress catalyst, has promising efficacy with no meaningful toxicity in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have progressed on at least 1 prior line of therapy.

Daniela Molena, MD, discusses what she believes is the Achilles heel of endoscopic resection in patients with esophageal cancer.

Overall survival in metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer improved significantly in patients who received the combination therapy TAS-102, irrespective of prior gastrectomy.

Stephanie K. Dougan, PhD, assistant professor, microbiology and immunobiology, Division of Immunology, Harvard Medical School, researcher, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses ways to extend the promise of immunotherapy to the field of pancreatic cancer.

Marcus Noel, MD, discusses the data of SM-88 and how it will impact the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The combination of nivolumab and ramucirumab has activity in patients with previously treated advanced gastric adenocarcinoma, investigators reported at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Allyson J. Ocean, MD, discusses her experiences with SM-88 in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Two-thirds of patients with untreated metastatic HER2-positive esophagogastric adenocarcinoma remained free of disease progression at 6 months with a combination of pembrolizumab, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy.

Pembrolizumab was found to reduce the risk of death by 31% in patients with PD-L1–positive advanced or metastatic esophageal or esophageal junction carcinoma who progressed on standard therapy.

Amol K. Narang, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses the role of radiation therapy in the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Peter O’Donnell, MD, associate professor of medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, discusses the importance of identifying molecular subsets in urothelial cancer.

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, FACP, associate professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the rarity of fusions in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, discusses the rapidly evolving treatment options in hepatocellular carcinoma and other developments in gastrointestinal cancers.

Michael A. Choti, MD, chief of surgery, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the role of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Amit G. Singal, MD, associate professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center, discusses the FDA approval of cabozantinib (Cabometyx) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who previously received sorafenib (Nexavar).

Weijing Sun, MD, gastrointestinal oncologist at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, discusses the debate between the use of radiation and chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma.

The FDA has approved cabozantinib as a treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who previously received sorafenib.