Raji Shameem, MD

Panelists discuss how the CheckMate649 study was a randomized trial that compared nivolumab plus FOLFOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin) chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone for treating advanced gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and esophageal adenocarcinoma. The study results found that nivolumab plus chemotherapy improved overall survival and progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone.

Panelists discuss how advanced gastric cancer treatments currently include surgery, chemotherapy (primarily platinum/fluoropyrimidine combinations), targeted therapies (trastuzumab for HER2-positive disease, ramucirumab), and immunotherapy (pembrolizumab and nivolumab in select patients). Despite these options, major unmet needs persist, with low survival rates, lack of predictive biomarkers beyond HER2, limited effective treatments after first-line therapy, poor response rates to immunotherapy, and high treatment toxicity affecting quality of life. Many patients also present with late-stage disease due to delayed diagnosis.