ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress

A geographic analysis of clinical trial results supporting the use of ramucirumab in advanced gastric cancer demonstrated that patients in the United States and other Western nations experienced similar survival gains and adverse events as did their counterparts in two other regions of the world.

Treatment with regorafenib significantly improved OS and PFS in an Asian population of patients with previously treated mCRC.

Second-line treatment with MM-398 plus 5-FU and leucovorin extended OS, PFS, and ORR compared with 5-FU and leucovorin alone for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Marc Peeters, MD, PhD, department of oncology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerpen, Belgium, discusses the frequency of S492R mutations found in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer patients who were treated with panitumumab or cetuximab monotherapy.

Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, head, Medical Oncology Department, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, director, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology, discusses his opinions on which patients with metastatic colorectal cancer should receive aflibercept following bevacizumab.

Adding ruxolitinib to capecitabine as a second-line treatment for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer significantly improved survival for a subgroup with a high degree of local and systemic inflammation compared with capecitabine plus placebo.

Adding cetuximab to concurrent chemoradiotherapy did not improve overall survival in patients with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

Four independent prognostic factors for improved overall survival in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer emerged from an analysis of the LAP 07 phase III trial.

Eileen M. O'Reilly, MD, associate director, David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses using nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine versus FOLFIRINOX as treatment for patients with untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Marc Peeters, MD, PhD, from the Antwerp University Hospital, discusses the importance of properly managing the toxicities associated with aflibercept when treating patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Intravenous calcium plus magnesium given before or after adjuvant FOLFOX chemotherapy has absolutely no effect on the development of sensory neurotoxicity induced by oxaliplatin.

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the potential predictive impact of KRAS and NRAS mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer.

A simple and inexpensive blood test is being developed that can be used to screen patients for premalignant colorectal cancer lesions which, once perfected, will be a real game changer.

Better responders within a cohort of patients from the VELOUR study derive enhanced benefit from aflibercept when combined with FOLFIRI, a post-hoc analysis of the study shows.

Ramucirumab significantly prolongs survival in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma following progression on first-line therapy.

Paul Ruff, MD, from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, elaborates on factors that can be utilized to select an appropriate antiangiogenic therapy as a second-line treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer.

Treatment with weekly nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine remains a strong independent predictor of both OS and PFS in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer compared with gemcitabine alone.

Patients who express low levels of a critical gene involved in transporting gemcitabine into pancreatic tumor cells have virtually no overall survival advantage from treatment with the drug in the adjuvant setting.

Alan P. Venook, MD, from the University of California, San Francisco, describes factors that contribute to the geographic variations seen in therapies utilized to treat cancer in the United States and Europe.