Gastric Cancer Awareness Month: ‘Disturbing’ increase in metastatic cases among young adults
Gastric Cancer Awareness Month, observed every November, is intended to educate the public about the potential causes and risk factors for the disease.
An estimated 27,000 new cases of gastric cancer — sometimes referred to as stomach cancer — are diagnosed in the United States each year, according to American Cancer Society. Approximately 11,000 people will die of the disease in 2024.
In conjunction with Gastric Cancer Awareness Month, Healio presents nine important updates in treatment and research that may be relevant to your practice.
1. In 2021, Jessica Sheth Bhutada, MD, MS, and colleagues uncovered what she called a “disturbing” uptick in metastatic stomach cancer among young adults, despite declining rates in older adults. Three years later, they are still trying to understand why. Read more.
2. The FDA approved zolbetuximab-clzb (Vyloy, Astellas Pharma) with chemotherapy to treat adults with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Read more.
3. An invitation to screen for Helicobacter pylori along with fecal immunochemical testing did not significantly reduce gastric cancer incidence or mortality over approximately 5 years vs. fecal immunochemical testing alone. Read more.
4. Treatment for H. pylori infection appeared associated with reduced risk for gastric cancer among patients with a high genetic risk, suggesting that chemoprevention should be personalized to genetic risk. Read more.
5. A regimen of pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) plus trastuzumab (Herceptin, Genentech) and chemotherapy extended OS for individuals with HER2-positive locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Read more.
6. Fruquintinib (Fruzaqla, Takeda) plus paclitaxel significantly improved PFS for patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Read more.
7. A regimen of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy given before and after surgery induced pathologic objective response among approximately 60% of patients with advanced gastric cancers. Read more.
8. Adding sintilimab (Innovent Biologics/Eli Lilly) to chemotherapy improved survival compared with placebo among patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Read more.
9. There are significant differences in response to treatment and survival outcomes for certain racial and ethnic groups among patients with resected stage II or stage III gastric cancer. Read more.
Reference:
- American Cancer Society. Key statistics about stomach cancer. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/stomach-cancer/about/key-statistics.html. Accessed Nov. 18, 2024.