Gastrointestinal Cancer

Alan P. Venook, MD, professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), University of California, San Francisco, discusses the approval of ramucirumab plus paclitaxel for gastric cancer

The FDA has approved the combination of ramucirumab and paclitaxel as a treatment for patients with previously treated advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

A novel first-in-class covalent KRAS inhibitor SML-8-73-1 has demonstrated promise in preclinical studies, prompting a 3-year research collaboration between the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Astellas Pharma Inc.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasingly being recognized as a heterogeneous disease, with molecular features defining emerging subtypes. Understanding which tests to order in which cases can better direct care for our patients. Increasingly, panel testing has advantages over individual genetic testing.

Nearly two-thirds of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer report experiencing financial burden during their treatment, according to a study from the University of Michigan.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to TAS-102 (tipiracil hydrochloride) as a treatment for patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to an announcement by Taiho Oncology, the company developing the drug in the United States.

Somatostatin analogs remain the mainstay of medical therapy for symptom control in patients with carcinoid syndrome.

The rate of PFS with axitinib in patients with advanced carcinoid tumors is promising.

Treatment with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus improved overall survival by 6.34 months over placebo for patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Selection of first-line treatments and the rational sequencing of therapies are among the unresolved questions in the treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

James C. Yao, MD, professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses key takeaways from the RADIANT-3 trial for a community oncologist.

Pamela L. Kunz, MD, assistant professor, Division of Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses sequencing agents for the treatment of pancreatic NETs.

Tanios Bekaii-Saab, MD, discusses the results of a phase II study of the oncolytic virus reolysin in the first-line treatment metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

All patients with metastatic colorectal cancer should undergo RAS mutation testing to ensure optimal patient selection for EGFR inhibitor therapy.

In patients with advanced gastric cancer expressing PD-L1, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has robust antitumor activity and an acceptable safety profile

Dovitinib, an investigational oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), demonstrated a "manageable" safety profile while controlling disease in about half of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) who had discontinued treatment with imatinib due to disease progression or intolerance

Niraj Mehta, MD, Radiation Oncologist, 21st Century Oncology, discusses the reliability of automated segmentation for lung volumes in breast, lung, and esophageal cancers.

High pretreatment levels of serum VEGF-A and TGF-β1 indicated significantly worse disease-free survival (DFS) following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The combination of chemotherapy and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) may allow patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer to undergo surgery, a procedure that might not have otherwise been an option

Radiotherapy is equally as effective in the palliation of dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) as chemoradiotherapy for patients with advanced esophageal cancer

Alan P. Venook, MD, professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), University of California, San Francisco, discusses the future of colorectal cancer treatment.

The combination of ramucirumab and FOLFIRI significantly improved OS and PFS compared with chemotherapy alone as a second-line treatment for patients with mCRC.

This article reviews up-to-date clinical studies combining chemotherapy with immunotherapy; it also explains the rationale for this combination in treatment of pancreatic cancer.