Gastrointestinal Cancer News

SAN DIEGO — A messaging program tailored specifically for individual patients helped improve colorectal cancer screening rates compared with usual care, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week.

CHICAGO — Pembrolizumab exhibited an acceptable safety profile among patients with cancer and HIV who had more than 100 CD4 cells/µL and received antiretroviral therapy, according to results of a phase 1 trial presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Perioperative chemotherapy appeared feasible for patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma, according to randomized phase 2 study results presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — States that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act appeared to eliminate disparities in timely treatment for black patients with cancer compared with white patients, according to results of a retrospective observational study presented during the plenary session at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Maintenance therapy with olaparib significantly improved PFS among patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who harbor germline BRCA mutations, according to results of the randomized phase 3 POLO trial presented during the plenary session at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Rivaroxaban thromboprophylaxis greatly reduced venous thromboembolism among ambulatory patients with pancreatic cancer, according to results of a prespecified subgroup analysis of the CASSINI study presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Three-year DFS remained a viable surrogate endpoint for OS in recent adjuvant colon cancer trials, according to study results presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — An alternative dosing strategy of pembrolizumab and nivolumab may substantially reduce pharmaceutical costs without compromising efficacy in treating various cancers, according to results of a retrospective study presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — The addition of nab-paclitaxel to gemcitabine did not significantly extend DFS per independent reviewer assessment among patients with surgically resected pancreatic cancer, according to results of the randomized phase 3 APACT trial presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — First-line pembrolizumab appeared noninferior to chemotherapy for OS among patients with PD-L1-positive, HER2-negative advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer, according to findings from the randomized phase 3 KEYNOTE-062 study presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.