Gastrointestinal Cancer

Here we review the evidence supporting current approaches to resectable gastric cancer, including discussion of the optimal extent of surgery and lymphadenectomy, adjuvant chemotherapy, postoperative chemotherapy with chemoradiation, and perioperative chemotherapy.

Current methods of treatment still have a small impact on the survival of patients with localized disease. Improved understanding of the underlying mutations seen in gastric cancer might suggest alternative treatments and ways to better select patients.

Combination treatment with the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib and the anti–PD-L1 drug atezolizumab was active in patients with microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer.

Lymph node status after undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and resection of esophagogastric cancer was the only independent predictor of survival.

A retrospective analysis of a phase III clinical trial found that the physical location of the primary tumor predicts survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

The USPSTF has issued an updated guideline with recommendations regarding screening for colorectal cancer. A systematic review found that screening can be of “substantial net benefit.”

Here we discuss the evolution of standard therapy for rectal cancer patients and the use of preoperative CRT for the treatment of locally advanced disease. Treatment schemes that have attempted to broaden the horizons of standard therapy include the use of induction chemotherapy and “watch-and-wait” approaches.

By adjusting the sequencing of currently available treatments, improved compliance with therapy is ensured, and novel scientific and clinically relevant hypotheses can be further explored.

The ESPAC-4 trial found that adding capecitabine to gemcitabine in patients with resected pancreatic cancer resulted in an improved estimated 5-year survival rate.

In this interview we discuss the CheckMate 142 trial, which looked at nivolumab and ipilimumab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.

A novel first-in-class antibody can significantly extend median survival when added to standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Matching targeted therapies to genetic abnormalities harbored by tumor types for which those therapies are not approved by the FDA might expand treatment options for some patients with advanced cancers.

Use of hypofractionated chemoradiation prior to pancreatoduodenectomy resulted in similar resection rates and outcomes vs standard fractionation.

A new study has identified several trends by race and ethnicity among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States.

Women who have undergone oophorectomy may be at an increased risk for colorectal cancer, according to the results of a recent study.

A new study suggests that cholesterol levels rather than cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may actually be responsible for the decrease in colorectal cancer risk.

Regular use of aspirin may reduce the risk of developing cholangiocarcinoma, according to the results of a new study.

Annual screening of people at high risk for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) because of CDKN2A mutations was relatively successful and allowed for the detection of disease in time to perform surgery.

The use of a noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test called a multi-target stool DNA test (mt-sDNA) detected the disease in patients who had previously avoided more invasive screening procedures.

Researchers have identified two species of bacteria linked with periodontal disease in healthy individuals that are associated with a risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Drinking coffee resulted in a more than 25% decreased risk for developing colorectal cancer, according to the results of a new study.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute are predicting that the rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States will likely decrease by the year 2030.

Higher preoperative levels of serum albumin were significantly associated with greater overall survival among patients undergoing resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The combination use of sulindac and erlotinib significantly reduced the number of small intestine, or duodenal, polyps present in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis.

Results of a new Swedish study have shown that a surgeon needed to perform at least 15 esophagectomies in cancer patients in order to achieve stable survival results in the first months after the operation.

An integrated genomic analysis has found that pancreatic cancer can be divided into four specific subtypes based on molecular characteristics. This division could help guide treatment decisions and future research avenues into this difficult malignancy.

US-born Hispanics are more likely to get hepatocellular carcinoma and to die from chronic liver disease compared with their foreign-born counterparts.

Regular use of aspirin has been linked with a small but significant reduction in the risk for overall cancer, and especially gastrointestinal cancers.

The addition of selective internal radiation therapy with yttrium-90 resin microspheres to standard FOLFOX chemotherapy did not improve progression-free survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, but it did significantly delay disease progression in the liver.

High expression levels of EGFR ligands epiregulin and amphiregulin are associated with increased benefit from panitumumab in patients with RAS wildtype advanced colorectal cancer.