American Society of Clinical Oncology 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI 2020)

CheckMate 040: Nivolumab, cabozantinib ± ipilimumab improves outcomes in aHCC

Elaine Soliven, 20200303000000

The combination therapy of nivolumab (NIVO) and cabozantinib (CABO) with or without ipilimumab (IPI) demonstrates activity in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC), according to the CheckMate 040* study presented at ASCO GI 2020.

Extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage of no benefit for gastric cancer patients

Pearl Toh, 20200228190000

Not only does washing away free tumour cells in the peritoneum with extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage (EIPL) during gastrectomy confer no survival benefit nor prevent disease recurrence compared with surgery alone, it may come with an increased risk of side effects, according to the phase III EXPEL* study presented at GICS 2020.

Targeted combo therapies improve QoL, atop survival benefit for patients with BRAF+ CRC

Pearl Toh, 20200227190000

In addition to survival benefit, the BEACON CRC trial has now shown that a targeted drug combination of encorafenib plus cetuximab with or without binimetinib led to longer maintenance of quality of life (QoL) for patients with BRAF V600E metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) compared with standard chemotherapy.

Primary tumour resection not recommended for asymptomatic advanced CRC

Roshini Claire Anthony, 20200225140101

Primary tumour resection (PTR) prior to a chemotherapy regimen does not improve survival outcomes in patients with asymptomatic unresectable stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC), according to the phase III JCOG1007* trial.

Neoadjuvant SOX presents as option for advanced gastric cancer

Roshini Claire Anthony, 20200217140102

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with S-1 and oxaliplatin (SOX) may be a suitable treatment measure for patients with advanced gastric or esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma, according to the RESONANCE* trial presented at ASCO GI 2020.

Adding pegylated IL-10 to second-line FOLFOX does not improve OS in advanced pancreatic cancer

Christina Lau, 20200210090755

Adding pegilodecakin, a pegylated form of interleukin-10 (IL-10), to second-line FOLFOX chemotherapy does not significantly improve overall survival (OS) or other outcomes in patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) as compared with FOLFOX alone, results of the phase III SEQUOIA trial have shown.

Atezolizumab-bevacizumab combo maintains QoL in liver cancer patients

Audrey Abella, 20200207100000

The combination of the PD-L1* inhibitor atezolizumab and the VEGF** inhibitor bevacizumab generated substantial and consistent benefits in terms of quality of life (QoL) compared with standard-of-care sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have not received prior systemic therapy, according to the patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from the IMbrave150*** trial presented at ASCO GI 2020.

TAPUR study may identify new biomarker-based therapies for heavily-pretreated CRC

Christina Lau, 20200203000000

The TAPUR study – the first clinical trial conducted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) – may help identify new biomarker-based therapies for patients with heavily-pretreated colorectal cancer (CRC) who have HER2-positive or BRAF^V600E-mutated tumours or a high tumour mutation burden (TMB) and have no standard treatment options.