Gastrointestinal Cancer

To date, oncologists have not seen much success with immunotherapy for neuroendocrine tumors.

The FDA has approved nivolumab in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy and nivolumab plus ipilimumab as a first-line treatment for adult patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, irrespective of PD-L1 status.

A panel of hepatobiliary tumor experts discuss several pivotal phase 3 clinical trials examining combination approaches that have expanded or are anticipated to expand the treatment armamentarium for treatment-naïve patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

The FDA has granted an orphan drug designation to XMT-2056 for use as a potential therapeutic option for patients with gastric cancer.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy in combination with nivolumab and ipilimumab demonstrated clinically meaningful antitumor activity with a favorable toxicity profile in difficult-to-treat patients with refractory metastatic pancreatic cancer, although the contribution of SBRT is still unclear.

Jonathan Mizrahi, MD, discusses updates from the meeting in pancreatic cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma, the growing role of immunotherapy in GI cancer, and the ‘watch and wait’ protocol seen in rectal cancer

Rates of negative surgical margins and adequate lymphadenectomies were lower in Black patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer compared with White patients, according to data from a retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Network Open.

Eric Liu, MD, FACS, reviews treatment options, pitfalls of diagnoses, and the importance of involving specialists and advocates early in neuroendocrine tumors.

Sajid A. Khan MD, FACS, FSSO, discusses findings from the study on racial disparities in surgical outcomes and quality of care for GI tract cancer, plus what issues need to be addressed to close the gap in care.

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has temporarily halted radioligand therapy production at sites in Millburn, New Jersey, and Ivrea, Italy, citing potential quality issues in its manufacturing processes.

A novel combination comprised of the investigational bispecific antibody CTX-009 and paclitaxel was found to produce responses in 4 subtypes of biliary tract cancer with favorable safety and tolerability, according to interim results from an ongoing phase 2 trial.

The FDA has accepted a supplemental biologics license application and granted priority review to durvalumab in combination with standard gemcitabine and cisplatin for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancer.

The FDA has issued a complete response letter to the new drug application seeking the approval of surufatinib for the treatment of patients with pancreatic and extra-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has released new guidelines for ampullary adenocarcinoma, a disease accounting for just 0.2% of all gastrointestinal malignancies.

Adjuvant capecitabine continues to demonstrate an improvement in overall survival compared with observation following curative-intent resection in patients with biliary tract cancer.

The European Commission has granted an approval to pembrolizumab for the treatment of patients with select microsatellite instability–high or deficient mismatch repair solid tumors.

Steven Maron, MD, MSc, discusses sequencing considerations in the frontline treatment of gastrointestinal cancers.

Sajid A Khan MD, FACS, FSSO, discusses racial disparities with patient surgical outcomes in gastrointestinal tract cancer.

The combination of tislelizumab and chemotherapy resulted in a significant improvement in overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, irrespective of PD-L1 expression.

The FDA has accepted for priority review a biologics license application seeking the approval of a single priming dose of tremelimumab added to regular interval durvalumab in the treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Short-term radiotherapy followed by total neoadjuvant chemotherapy was found to be noninferior to long-term chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, according to findings from the phase 3 STELLAR study.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to the antibody-drug conjugate CMG901 as a single-agent treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer that is relapsed or refractory to approved therapies.

The safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of the irreversible, small molecule pan-FGFR inhibitor KIN-3248 is under investigation in adult patients with advanced tumors harboring FGFR2 and/or FGFR3 gene alterations, as part of the phase 1 KN-4802 trial.

Traditional eligibility criteria for pancreatic cancer clinical trials reinforce underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in clinical trial candidacy and skew standards of care in favor of non-Hispanic White participants.

Drs Anthony B. El-Khoueiry, Daneng Li, Nicole Rich, and Pierre Gholam share treatment approaches for a 63-year-old woman who received an advanced HCC diagnosis with Child-Pugh A liver function.