GI Cancers Symposium

San Francisco, CA—Increased understanding of tumor genetics and tumor metabolism has led to improved therapies for cancer. The impact of cancer metabolism on tumor pathways is particularly important in pancreatic cancer. A novel tumor metabolism–altering oral drug known as SM-88 combines the investigative tyrosine derivative (D,L-alpha-metyrosine) with 3 repurposed agents—an mTOR inhibitor (sirolimus), a CYP3A4 inducer (phenyt­oin), and an oxidative stress catalyst (methoxsalen).

San Francisco, CA—Updated results from the safety lead-in of the phase 3 BEACON CRC clinical trial show a mature median overall survival (OS) of 15.3 months with the triple-drug regimen of encorafenib (Braftovi), a BRAF inhibitor; binimetinib (Mektovi), a MEK inhibitor; and cetuximab (Erbitux), an EGFR inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) and BRAF V600E mutation.

San Francisco, CA—Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a second-line therapy improved overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer and high PD-L1 expression compared with chemotherapy, according to findings from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-­­­181 study presented at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—Adjuvant treatment with durvalumab (Imfinzi), a checkpoint inhibitor, in patients with residual disease after trimodal therapy for advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adeno­carcinoma was associated with a 79% 1-year relapse-free survival rate in a phase 2 clinical trial. Historically, the 1-year relapse rate has been 50% in patients with GEJ carcinoma who do not achieve a pathologic complete response with trimodal therapy, even with additional chemotherapy, said Hirva Mamdani, MD, Thoracic Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute/Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—Adding vemurafenib (Zelboraf) to cetuximab (Erbitux) and irinotecan (Camptosar) prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and improved the disease control rate in patients with BRAF V600E mutation–positive colorectal cancer (CRC).

San Francisco, CA—The addition of cisplatin to standard therapy with gemci­tabine and nab-paclitaxel was associated with a median overall survival (OS) that “has not been seen in stage IV pancreatic cancer,” according to Gayle Jameson, MSN, ACNP-BC, Nurse Practitioner Investigator of Clinical Trials, HonorHealth Research Institute, Scottsdale, AZ, who reported the results from a phase 1b single-arm pilot study using the triplet at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—Starting at a low dose of sorafenib (Nexavar) and titrating up to the full dose of 800 mg, rather than starting the full dose, does not adversely affect outcomes, while improving tolerability and reducing costs in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This was the conclusion from a review of 4900 veterans diagnosed with HCC who were prescribed sorafenib at Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.

San Francisco, CA—Nivolumab (Opdivo) as salvage treatment significantly reduced the risk for death after second-line or later chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. In a double-blind, randomized phase 3 trial, the median overall survival was improved by 37% in patients assigned to nivolumab versus placebo after previous treatment with at least 2 regimens, reported Yoon-Koo Kang, MD, PhD, Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea, at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—The majority of patients with stage II colorectal cancer (CRC) have a good prognosis with surgery and gain little with adjuvant chemotherapy, said Richard M. Goldberg, MD, Physician-in-Chief, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—A dual-vaccine strategy improved survival more than single vaccination of patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Data from a randomized phase 2 trial were reported by Dung T. Le, MD, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.