Gastrointestinal Cancer

While Lynch syndrome may be more common than originally thought, research continues to move forward to improve the outcomes of this patient population.

The FDA approved ramucirumab (Cyramza) as a single-agent treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with an alpha fetoprotein (AFP) of ≥ 400 ng/mL and have been previously treated with sorafenib (Nexavar).

Healthcare providers of all disciplines should work together to educate individuals about the symptoms of colorectal cancer.

Certain patients with colorectal cancer may see a cure thanks to new, tailored approaches.

Wells A. Messersmith, MD, co-director of the developmental therapeutics program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, said work in this area is needed to fill the knowledge gaps in metastatic CRC, which has a 5-year survival rate of just 11%.

The FDA has granted an approval to PF-05280014 (Trazimera; trastuzumab-qyyp), a trastuzumab (Herceptin) biosimilar, to treat patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer as well as HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma

Alex Trebek, the long-time host of the popular game show Jeopardy!, announced that he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Many younger patients see more than one doctor and face misdiagnoses before being given a diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), according to recent research presented during a webcast ahead of the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting.

The Food and Drug Administration approved TAS-102 (Lonsurf; trifluridine/tipiracil) for the treatment of patients with pretreated metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma or gastroesophageal junction cancer.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was found to reduce the risk of death by 31% in patients with PD-L1–positive (combined positive score [CPS] ≥10) advanced or metastatic esophageal or esophageal junction carcinoma who progressed on standard therapy, according to phase III findings of the KEYNOTE-181 trial.

Patients with previously untreated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lived twice as long if they responded to TKI therapy vs. patients who did not achieve an objective response.

Overall survival in metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer improved significantly with the use of TAS-102 combination therapy.

Two-thirds of patients with untreated metastatic HER2-positive esophagogastric adenocarcinoma remained free of disease progression at 6 months with a combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), trastuzumab (Herceptin), and chemotherapy, a small clinical trial showed.

Preliminary findings from the SLI phase of the BEACON CRC trial show tri-drug combo has durable response in patients with BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic CRC.

The FDA has approved cabozantinib (Cabometyx) to treat hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who previously received sorafenib (Nexavar).

A large pivotal phase III trial has been initiated to evaluate the potential for the first-line combination of cabozantinib (Cabometyx) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in comparison with standard-of-care sorafenib (Nexavar) for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Investigators are evaluating whether eryaspase (Graspa), an L-asparaginase-based therapy that triggers tumor cell death, can extend survival for patients with pancreatic cancer.

The FDA has granted pembrolizumab (Keytruda) an accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have previously received sorafenib (Nexavar), according to Merck, the manufacturer of the PD-1 inhibitor.

Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI; Lonsurf) reduced the risk of death in patients with heavily pretreated gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer by 31% compared with placebo, according to data from the phase III TAGS trial.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Khapzory (levoleucovorin) injection, a folate analog for 3 indications.

Nurses can take part in turning the tide against the disease.

Ascertaining family history and promoting screening are key.

Experts call for liver disease patients to get screened for cancer every 6 months.

Regorafenib (Stivarga) maintained a prolonged overall survival (OS) benefit as second-line therapy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a 2-year updated analysis of key findings from the pivotal RESORCE trial.

Safety and efficacy findings for regorafenib (Stivarga) in patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) were consistent with previous phase III results, according to findings from the phase IIIb CONSIGN trial.