Gastrointestinal Cancer

Edith Mitchell, MD, FACP, clinical professor, director, Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities Program Leader, Thomas Jefferson University, discusses an analysis of the VELOUR trial.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals is combining biology, computing, and engineering in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of different types of cancer and then use that information to develop new therapeutics.

S. Gail Eckhardt, MD, professor and head of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Denver and Health Sciences Center, discusses the wnt pathway and its role in colorectal cancer.

The FDA has approved the first generic formulation of capecitabine, an oral chemotherapeutic that is currently approved to treat patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and metastatic breast cancer.

Edith Mitchell, MD, FACP, clinical professor, director, Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities Program Leader, Thomas Jefferson University, talks about the growing number of drugs and regimens for patients with colorectal cancer.

The FDA has approved nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, an area of high unmet need with few effective treatments.

Adding ruxolitinib to capecitabine significantly improved the survival rate of a subgroup of patients with recurrent or treatment-refractory pancreatic cancer compared with patients in the same population who received capecitabine alone.

Gail Eckhardt, MD, from the University of Colorado Denver and Health Sciences Center, discusses the future role of aflibercept for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

PACES trial will evaluate 2 drugs to prevent colon adenomas.

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, believes this is an exciting time in the field of gastrointestinal cancers, as more tools become available to select the most effective treatment for each patient.

The presence or absence of RAS mutations should dictate use of panitumumab in combination with FOLFOX chemotherapy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Alan P. Venook, MD, a professor in the Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology) at the University of California, San Francisco, discusses the importance of utilizing frailty index and geriatric assessments for patients with cancer.

Howard L. Kaufman, MD, Rush University Medical Center, discusses the implications of the Immunoscore for the treatment of patients with cancer.

Charles J. Link, Jr, MD, from the Cancer Center of Iowa and NewLink Genetics, discusses the phase II trial of algenpantucel-L for pancreatic cancer.

Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, from the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, believes that in order to treat patients with gastrointestinal cancers more effectively, researchers must focus on the molecular classification of particular subpopulations.

Marc Peeters, MD, PhD, from the Antwerp University Hospital, discusses the importance of properly managing the toxicities associated with aflibercept when treating patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Intravenous calcium plus magnesium given before or after adjuvant FOLFOX chemotherapy has absolutely no effect on the development of sensory neurotoxicity induced by oxaliplatin.

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the potential predictive impact of KRAS and NRAS mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer.

A simple and inexpensive blood test is being developed that can be used to screen patients for premalignant colorectal cancer lesions which, once perfected, will be a real game changer.

Better responders within a cohort of patients from the VELOUR study derive enhanced benefit from aflibercept when combined with FOLFIRI, a post-hoc analysis of the study shows.

Paul Ruff, MD, from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, elaborates on factors that can be utilized to select an appropriate antiangiogenic therapy as a second-line treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer.

Treatment with weekly nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine remains a strong independent predictor of both OS and PFS in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer compared with gemcitabine alone.

Patients who express low levels of a critical gene involved in transporting gemcitabine into pancreatic tumor cells have virtually no overall survival advantage from treatment with the drug in the adjuvant setting.