Gastrointestinal Cancer News

Exciting developments in molecular oncology within the past few months include impressive clinical results of a novel drug that targets RET fusions, evidence for variability in gene mutation allele-specific therapy responses, a novel MEK1 resistance mechanism, and an emerging complexity about differences between oncogenic driver mutations regarding the biology of cancer in a given tissue of origin.

The FDA awarded 12 grants worth more than $15 million to fund clinical trials of medical products intended to treat patients with rare diseases.

BARCELONA, Spain — Ivosidenib improved outcomes among patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase-mutated advanced cholangiocarcinoma, according to the results of the randomized phase 3 ClarIDHy study presented at European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

BARCELONA, Spain — Nivolumab extended survival compared with chemotherapy among patients with advanced or recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma regardless of PD-L1 expression, according to results of the randomized phase 3 ATTRACTION study presented at European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

BARCELONA, Spain — Triplet therapy with encorafenib, cetuximab and binimetinib significantly extended OS compared with standard treatment for patients with BRAF V600E mutation-positive metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results of the phase 3 BEACON CRC trial presented at European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

BARCELONA, Spain — Rivoceranib failed to significantly improve OS in an overall study population with advanced gastric cancers, according to results of the randomized phase 3 ANGEL study presented at European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

BARCELONA, Spain — Four months of induction combination chemotherapy followed by surgical exploration made secondary resection feasible for about one-third of patients with nonresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer, according to results of the randomized phase 2 NEOLAP trial presented at European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

BARCELONA, Spain — Nivolumab did not significantly extend OS compared with sorafenib as first-line therapy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, according to results of the randomized phase 3 CheckMate 459 trial presented at European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

Many LGBTQI+ Latinx individuals are afraid to share their gender identity and sexual orientation with a health care provider, and the vast majority do not receive tailored information on cancer screening and prevention, according to results of a survey-based study presented at American Association for Cancer Research Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.

Patients with pancreatic cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy before pancreatoduodenectomy exhibited biliary microbiome alterations, according to study results.