2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
Future Looks Brighter for Treatment of Cholangiocarcinoma
THE INCIDENCE of cholangiocarcinoma is rising, and effective therapies are urgently needed. Several classes of experimental molecularly targeted agents might meet this challenge, according to Robin Ka...
2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
The 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium is supported by ASCO, the American Society of Radiation Oncology, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the AGA Institute. Over 3,700 physicians, researche...
Emerging Thoughts About the Immune Landscape in Pancreatic Cancer
LONG-TERM SURVIVORS of pancreatic cancer display evidence of enhanced tumor-specific T-cell responses that are associated with unique neoepitope quality but not quantity, according to Steven D. Leach...
Triplet Therapy Poses a Triple Threat to BRAF-Mutated Colorectal Cancers
Triplet therapy that inhibits the BRAF, MEK, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways appears promising in BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer, a malignancy that typically does not respond to B...
Studies Explore Colon Tumor Sidedness, Lung Radiation Dose in Esophageal Cancer, Pembrolizumab in Liver Cancer, and More
Along with full coverage of key presentations from the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, The ASCO Post brings our readers this additional news roundup. Side Matters in Colon Cancer One of the ...
EXPERT POINT OF VIEW: Jordi Bruix, MD, PhD, and Flavio G. Rocha, MD
THE STUDY’S invited discussant, Jordi Bruix, MD, PhD, of the University of Barcelona, Spain, said one of the benefits of the TACTICS study was to evaluate the use of the new unTACEable-based endpoint,...
In Unresectable Liver Cancer, Progression-Free Survival Doubled When Sorafenib Added to TACE
SORAFENIB (Nexavar) added to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) doubled the median progression-free survival over TACE alone in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, Japanese invest...
EXPERT POINT OF VIEW: Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP
WAFIK S. EL-DEIRY, MD, PhD, FACP, Deputy Cancer Center Director for Translational Research, and Co-Leader of the Molecular Therapeutics Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, shared his th...
Small Study Evaluates Treatment Sequencing in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
THE OPTIMAL treatment sequence for two approved agents in metastatic colorectal cancer may be regorafenib (Stivarga) before cetuximab (Erbitux), according to results from the small randomized Japanese...
Investigational Genomic Tool Identifies Consensus Molecular Subtype of Colon Tumor and May Predict Risk of Recurrence
AN INVESTIGATIONAL TOOL called ColotypeR classifies colon cancers by molecular subtype and creates a subtype-specific risk of recurrence, according to research. Developers of the tool say it will be a...
Small Study Evaluates Novel Immunotherapeutic in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
IN PATIENTS WITH metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, 1-year survival reached 43% following treatment with a novel immunotherapy—PEGylated human IL-10 (AM0010, pegilodecakin)—plus chemotherapy, in a ...
LAPACT Trial Confirms Efficacy of Nab-Paclitaxel Plus Gemcitabine as Induction Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer
Patients newly diagnosed with locally advanced pancreatic cancer who received induction therapy with nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) and gemcitabine achieved a time to treatment...
Use of Circulating Tumor Cells to Detect Colorectal Cancer and Adenomas
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood had an accuracy of up to 88% in detecting colorectal cancer and 84% in identifying adenomas, in a study from Taiwan presented at the 2018 Gastrointestinal C...
Cabozantinib Improves Survival in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Patients with previously treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma derived a survival benefit from cabozantinib (Cabometyx), in the phase III CELESTIAL trial.1 “Cabozantinib represents a new treatment...
Photos From the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, San Francisco
The 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was held recently in San Francisco. Watch for coverage of these sessions and more in upcoming issues of The ASCO Post or on ASCOPost.com. The 2018 Gastr...
EXPERT POINT OF VIEW: Stephen Leong, MD
STEPHEN LEONG, MD, of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center, Aurora, discussed the RAINFALL findings at the symposium, commenting, “The study did meet its primary endpoint of progres...
Ramucirumab/Chemotherapy in Gastric Cancer: ‘Positive’ Trial but Insufficient Benefit
BASED ON EFFICACY seen in the second-line setting for the treatment of metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, ramucirumab (Cyramza) was evaluated as first-line therapy in the ...
EXPERT POINT OF VIEW: Zsofia Kinga Stadler, MD
DISCUSSANT ZSOFIA KINGA STADLER, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, found the nivolumab (Opdivo)/ipilimumab (Yervoy) combination results very encouraging but was also impressed with the mo...
Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab Improves Outcomes in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
IN THE FIRST REPORT of the full cohort of CheckMate-142, nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) led to a 1-year overall survival rate of 85% in previously treated patients with metastatic colore...
2018 GI CANCERS SYMPOSIUM: Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab Yields Survival Benefit in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) led to a 1-year overall survival rate of 85% in previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer patients with DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) or ...
2018 GI CANCERS SYMPOSIUM: First-Line Lenvatinib vs Sorafenib in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma
The results of an analysis of the phase III REFLECT trial of lenvatinib mesylate (Lenvima) vs sorafenib (Nexavar) as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma based on independent...
2018 GI CANCERS SYMPOSIUM: Novel Triplet Combination Improves Progression-Free Survival in Patients With BRAF-Mutant Colorectal Cancer
Updated results were recently reported from the 30 patient safety lead-in of the phase III BEACON CRC trial evaluating the triplet combination of encorafenib (a BRAF inhibitor), binimetinib (an MEK in...
Ramesh K. Ramanathan, MD, on Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: Results From a SWOG Study
Ramesh K. Ramanathan, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses early-phase study findings on mFOLFIRINOX (mFFOX) plus pegylated recombinant human hyaluronidase vs mFFOX alone in patients with a good performa...
Mark Saunders, MD, PhD, on Colorectal Cancer: Results From the SCOT Trial
Mark Saunders, MD, PhD, of Christie Hospital, discusses study findings on tumor sidedness and the influence of chemotherapy duration on disease-free survival (Abstract 558).
Andrew X. Zhu, MD, PhD, on HCC: Results From KEYNOTE-224
Andrew X. Zhu, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses study findings on pembrolizumab in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma previously treated with sorafenib (Abstract 209)...
Thierry André, MD, and Michael J. Overman, MD, on Colorectal Cancer: Results From Two CheckMate-142 Trials
Thierry André, MD, of Hôpital Saint-Antoine, and Michael J. Overman, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discuss findings from their respective CheckMate-142 studies on nivolumab...
Abraham J. Wu, MD, on Esophageal Cancer: Impact of Lung and Heart Dose on Survival After Radiotherapy
Abraham J. Wu, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses his findings that suggest efforts to reduce lung dose, such as shrinking the treatment volumes or using proton therapy, may impr...
Maria Svensson, MD, PhD Candidate, on Esophageal and Gastric Cancers: Significance of PD-1 and PD-L1 Expression
Maria Svensson, MD, PhD Candidate, of Lund University, discusses high expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in chemotherapy-naive esophageal and gastric adenocarcinomas, the implications for survival, and the ...
Pieter van der Sluis, MD, PhD, on Esophageal Cancer: Results From a Surgical Treatment Trial
Pieter van der Sluis, MD, PhD, of the University Medical Center Utrecht, discusses study findings that compared robot-assisted minimally invasive thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy vs open transthoraci...
Manish A. Shah, MD, on Gastric Cancer: Results From the RAINFALL Trial
Manish A. Shah, MD, of Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses phase III study findings on cisplatin plus capecitabine or fluorouracil with or without ramucirumab as first-line therapy in patients with meta...
Florian Lordick, MD, on Gastric Cancer: Final Results From the AIO Trial
Florian Lordick, MD, of the University Medicine Leipzig, discusses study findings on intraperitoneal immunotherapy with the antibody catumaxomab for patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from gastri...
Steven D. Leach, MD, on Pancreatic Cancer: Keynote Lecture
Steven D. Leach, MD, of Dartmouth University’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center, discusses the personalized approach that GI cancers will require to make rational use of immunotherapy—including a subset of...
David H. Ilson, MD, PhD, on Improving Esophageal Cancer Outcomes: Future Directions
David H. Ilson, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the merits of preoperative chemotherapy vs chemoradiotherapy, the role of targeted agents, recent results from genomic pro...
Basem Azab, MD, on Esophageal Cancer: Study Survival Results
Basem Azab, MD, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, discusses the impact on overall survival when more than 2 months elapse between finishing neoadjuvant therapy and und...
Kyaw L. Aung, MBBS, PhD, on Pancreatic Cancer: Results From the COMPASS Trial
Kyaw L. Aung, MBBS, PhD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, discusses early study findings on genomics-driven precision medicine for advanced pancreatic ductal carcinoma (Abstract 211).
Khaldoun Almhanna, MD, MPH, on Gastric Cancer: Results From the CCOG 1102 Trial
Khaldoun Almhanna, MD, MPH, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the long-term outcome of a phase III study that explored the significance of extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage in ad...
Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, on HCC: Results From the CELESTIAL Trial
Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses phase III study findings on cabozantinib vs placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who have received ...
2018 GI CANCERS SYMPOSIUM: Cabozantinib Demonstrates Significant Overall Survival Benefit in Patients With Previously Treated Advanced HCC
Detailed results of the phase III CELESTIAL trial in patients with previously treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were presented in a late-breaking oral session by Abou-Alfa et al at the 2...
2018 GI CANCERS SYMPOSIUM: KEYNOTE-224 Trial: Pembrolizumab in Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Previously Treated With Sorafenib
Findings from the phase II KEYNOTE-224 trial investigating the use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who were previously treated with sorafenib (Nexavar) w...
2018 GI CANCERS SYMPOSIUM: Liquid Biopsy Test May Detect Early-Stage Colorectal Cancer
A new study has found that a test that identifies circulating tumor cells (CTCs) present in the bloodstream can detect colorectal cancer at an early stage, with accuracy ranging from 84% to 88%. Most ...
