Gastrointestinal Cancer

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for use in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The addition of heated chemotherapy delivered to the abdomen during surgery delivered no survival benefit to patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis, according to phase III study results presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The FDA granted a priority review to pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an anti-PD-1 therapy, for the treatment of previously treated patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

In a major advance that set a new standard of care for the treatment of patients with resected pancreatic cancer, a modified FOLFIRINOX regimen (mFOLFIRINOX) dramatically improved survival compared with standard gemcitabine as postoperative therapy.

Patients with heavily pretreated metastatic or advanced gastric cancer who received TAS-102 (trifluridine/tipiracil; Lonsurf) saw a significant overall survival benefit, according to phase III study findings presented at the 2018 World Gastrointestinal Cancer Congress.

A recent Dutch study of patients with colon and rectal cancer who underwent surgery suggests that outcomes from emergency weekend surgeries may be worse compared with those who had surgery on weekdays.

The American Cancer Society recently updated its guidelines to lower the age to start colorectal cancer screening to 45. Nurses will play a vital role in implementing this important change.

This year, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) awarded 9 grants to 12 researchers at 11 institutions in the US, Canada, and France, totaling $4.2 million.

The Colorectal Cancer Alliance has opened its third annual survey of young-onset colorectal cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers, with the intent of learning about and tracking the medical and psycho-social experiences of this often overlooked group, which comprises 11 percent of colorectal cancer patients today.

CE lesson worth 1 contact hour that is intended to advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, and other healthcare professionals who care for patients with cancer.

The partnership aims to raise awareness and advance research for liver cancer.

Immuno-Oncology (IO) and novel agents targeting the microenvironment were the focus of the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

While the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) shows promise for a subgroup of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), 32% still experienced a treatment-related adverse effect.

CE lesson worth 1 contact hour that is intended to advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, and other healthcare professionals who care for patients with cancer.

Codman pumps, manufactured by Cerenovus, are no longer being produced as of April 1, because of manufacturing issues, however, there are other ways to deliver possibly life-extending intrahepatic treatment.

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable has created a special toolkit to help physicians successfully determine and evaluate family history to detect colorectal cancer at an earlier age.

CE lesson worth 1 contact hour that is intended to advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, and other healthcare professionals who care for patients with cancer.

BLU-667 appeared to be well-tolerated and had broad clinical benefit among patients with advanced, RET-altered solid tumors who progressed on prior therapies, according to study findings from a phase I clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2018.

Patients with stage III colon cancer who ate at least 2 servings of nuts per week had superior disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), according to results from the CALGB 8903 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

John Marshall, MD, explains that health care providers need to retool their thinking when young people present with GI complaints, and be open to the possibility that these could indicate colon cancer.

The FDA has granted a priority review to the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of adult patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) following progression on a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.

Nurses can help coach and push patients and their physicians along to do the steps that are needed to get good screening, says John Marshall, MD.

CE lesson worth 1 contact hour that is intended to advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, and other healthcare professionals who care for patients with cancer.

It is important for nurses to help patients implement physical interventions that are feasible and acceptable for those with colorectal cancer diagnoses.

Genetic changes that occur during DNA cloning in people with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer may affect the efficacy of targeted and immunologic therapies. Repeated testing may be necessary to ensure that targeted treatments keep up with the changes in DNA.

According to results from an analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database of the National Cancer Institute, older adults with colorectal cancer are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and congestive heart failure.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a risk factor for cancer, according to a recent report about a 7.5-year Korean study.

PEGPH20 (pegvorhyaluronidase alfa), a novel formulation of a naturally occurring enzyme, is being investigated as a biomarker-driven treatment for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.