Gastrointestinal Cancer

Deficiency in the protein NOD-like receptor X1 (NLRX1) could represent a potential biomarker to predict response to therapies in patients with colorectal cancer.

Zsofia K. Stadler, MD, provides extensive insight on microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer, the biology of and screening for MSI tumors, and the potential impact immunotherapy could have on the treatment paradigm.

Treatment with ensituximab (NPC-1C), a chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody, induced stable disease in nearly half of patients with chemotherapy-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer without contributing significant toxicity.

Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma enrolled on clinical trials have “profoundly improved survival” compared with patients in the general population, suggesting that oncologists who use trial data to prognosticate may be missing the mark.

Genomic and proteomic characterization of pancreatic cancer tumors can effectively be used to prescreen patients for clinical trials exploring molecularly matched targeted therapies.

Deirdre J. Cohen, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses emerging agents for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer.

Colin Weekes, MD, PhD, gives insight into the current state and future directions for neoadjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer.

Many patients with metastatic colorectal cancer will ultimately progress on standard first- and second-line therapy while maintaining a good performance status, placing importance on the optimal use of third-line treatments.

A bevy of clinical trials exploring the use of nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) in various combinations and treatment settings aim to uncover future strategies for treating patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, which remains one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

Locoregional therapies are now considered potentially curable options that should be considered alongside transplant and resection for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Anne Covey, MD, interventional radiologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses recent and future changes to locoregional treatment approaches for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Alan P. Venook, MD, shares insight into the evolving treatment paradigm for colorectal cancer.

To address the unmet need for better diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in pancreatic cancer, investigators at the Indiana University School of Medicine have established the Pancreatic Cancer Signature Center at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.

The combination of liposomal irinotecan (irinotecan liposome injection; Onivyde), fluorouracil, and leucovorin has been added to the 2016 NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology as a second-line treatment for patients with gemcitabine-refractory metastatic pancreatic cancer.

David C. Madoff, MD, professor of Radiology, vice chairman for Academic Affairs at Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses selecting patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who are candidates for minimally invasive therapy.

The novel therapeutic vaccine algenpantucel-L, which is genetically engineered from human cell lines, is being evaluated in two phase III trials in patients with resected pancreatic cancer (IMPRESS) and borderline resectable or locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer (PILLAR).

James L. Abbruzzese, MD, discusses the underlying disparity between high-volume centers and community medical centers affecting patients with pancreatic cancer.

Tanios Bekaii-Saab, MD, associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the benefits patients receive with regorafenib for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

The FDA has approved everolimus for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, well-differentiated non-functional, locally advanced or metastatic gastrointestinal or lung neuroendocrine tumors.