GI CANCERS

The GI Cancers Symposium revealed new therapies for specific cancer subsets and progress in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies for solid tumors.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy shows antitumor activity in mismatch repair deficient/MSI gastric/gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

Jennifer Chan, MD, MPH, discussed the recent FDA approval of cabozantinib in pancreatic and extrapancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

PEP-010 was granted FDA orphan drug designation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The combination of pembrolizumab, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy is now approved in HER2-positive advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

The FDA granted orphan drug designation to HLX22 for gastric cancer, advancing global phase 3 trials to improve first-line treatment.

A phase 3 trial plans to evaluate Pro-ocular for the treatment of patients with ocular graft-vs-host disease.

Ken Kato, MD, discussed the FDA approval of tislelizumab for the first-line treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The TEDOPaM trial evaluating a novel maintenance therapy approach for advanced/metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has met its primary end point.

MATTERHORN is the first global phase 3 trial to show improved event-free survival with an immunotherapy combo vs standard care in this patient population.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan demonstrated a significant survival benefit in HER2-positive metastatic gastric cancer in the phase 3 DESTINY-Gastric04 trial.

Tislelizumab plus chemotherapy is now FDA-approved for metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with a tumor PD-L1 expression of 1 or higher.

David Zhen, MD, discussed the relevance of nivolumab in the upper gastrointestinal cancer population.

The FDA granted RMAT designation to nogapendekin alfa and CAR-NK for reversing lymphopenia in patients with cancer, with promising survival data in metastatic pancreatic cancer and non–small cell lung cancer.

T-DM1 was tolerable in HER2-positive biliary tract adenocarcinoma but did not significantly improve progression-free survival.

Alexander I. Spira, MD, PhD, FACP, discusses the clinical implications of ctDNA for treatment decisions and monitoring in patients with KRAS G12D pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma treated with zoldonrasib.

Dose reductions of liposomal irinotecan and oxaliplatin did not compromise overall survival in patients with metastatic PDAC on NALIRIFOX.

NALRIFOX showed numerically better overall survival vs FOLFIRINOX as frontline treatment in PDAC, per real-world analysis results.

Certepetide plus chemotherapy showed signs of efficacy but failed to improve progression-free survival in metastatic PDAC in the ASCEND trial.

Adding CRT to chemotherapy did not improve RFS in resected gallbladder cancer in the phase 3 ACCELERATE trial.

The combination of pelareorep and modified FOLFIRINOX with or without atezolizumab had an acceptable safety in newly diagnosed metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Zoldonrasib showed preliminary antitumor activity and manageable adverse events in KRAS G12D–mutated PDAC, per phase 1 trial data.

Baseline geriatric assessment vulnerabilities and quality of life scores correlate with overall survival in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma receiving chemotherapy.

Surufatinib plus TAS-102 showed promising survival benefits with manageable toxicity in refractory metastatic PDAC patients, per phase 2 trial data.

Cabozantinib improved PFS in GI extrapancreatic NETs, except for non-midgut tumors, per CABINET trial results.

Sintilimab plus neoadjuvant CRT improved pathological complete response rates in resectable, locally advanced ESCC, per phase 3 SCIENCE trial.

Patients with appendiceal adenocarcinoma face increased risk of secondary cancers, including colorectal, within 10 years, per 2025 ASCO GI findings.

Ajay Goel, PhD, AGAF, discusses how the development and validation of novel non-invasive biomarkers can improve early detection and ultimately impact patient outcomes for patients.

Tislelizumab combined with irinotecan, paclitaxel, oxaliplatin, and 5-FU/leucovorin proved effective with manageable safety as frontline therapy for advanced HER2-negative, mismatch repair–proficient gastric and GEJ adenocarcinoma in the SYLT-023 trial.

Trastuzumab with chemotherapy showed numerical improvements in overall survival and progression-free survival in HER2-positive gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers.