Gastrointestinal Cancer

A test measuring circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream was able to accurately detect early-stage colorectal cancers, according to the results of a new study.

A 56-year-old Caucasian woman presented to her primary care physician with a 3-month history of intermittent bright red rectal blood with defecation. At her initial visit, a digital rectal examination, anoscopy, and a pelvic examination with DNA testing for high-risk HPV were performed; all results were negative. She was referred for a colonoscopy, which revealed an abnormal area with a 3 × 4–cm mass in the rectum at a distance of 10 cm from the anal verge.

Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and high expression of VEGF-D garner more benefit from the VEGFR-2 antibody ramucirumab than those with low VEGF-D expression, according to a new study.

A large meta-analysis found that current and former smoking status was associated with poorer colorectal cancer prognosis compared with never smoking, and that smoking cessation may improve survival over those who continue to smoke.

A previously healthy 36-year-old man initially presented to his primary care physician with occasional bloody stools and dull right upper quadrant pain. Blood was sometimes mixed into his stools but was more often seen on the toilet paper after wiping.

The FDA approved a biosimilar for trastuzumab, Ogivri, for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast and stomach cancer.

The early integration of oncology and palliative care enhanced coping strategies and improved QOL for patients newly diagnosed with incurable lung or GI cancer.

In this interview, we discuss an assay that can detect disease recurrence in colorectal cancer patients.

Treatment with the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab resulted in durable antitumor activity with manageable side effects in patients with heavily pretreated, PD-L1–positive advanced esophageal carcinoma, according to phase IB results of the KEYNOTE-028 study.

The combination of olaparib plus paclitaxel failed to significantly improve overall survival compared with placebo plus paclitaxel in Asian patients with advanced gastric cancer, according to the phase III results of the GOLD study.

Adherence to treatment guidelines for stage II or III colon cancer improved from 2001 to 2011 and resulted in improved survival outcomes.

Utilization of testing for mismatch repair deficiency was poor and underused in a large population of patients with colorectal cancer.

Aprepitant plus palonosetron and dexamethasone showed early promise for preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting among patients with colorectal cancer who are undergoing FOLFOX chemotherapy, according to results of a small pilot study.

Anti-EGFR therapy is a valuable addition to the armamentarium of treatment options for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. However, RAS mutation status is an imperfect biomarker for prediction of therapeutic outcomes in this setting. The recent discovery of tumor sidedness as a predictor of response highlights how little we understand about which patients are the most appropriate to receive drugs that target EGFR.

Adolescent obesity may be associated with an increased risk for non-cardia gastric cancer, according to the results from a cohort of almost 1.8 million men and women.

HER3 messenger RNA expression may serve as a biomarker for patients with RAS wild type colorectal cancer who will benefit from treatment with the anti-EGFR therapy panitumumab, according to the results of a new study.

A combination of oral antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation helped to decrease the rate of surgical site infections in patients undergoing rectal cancer resections.

In this article, we provide a summary of nonoperative management of locally advanced rectal cancer in the modern era. Our focus is on technical details of tumor response and patient assessment after chemoradiotherapy, as well as a review of existing clinical data.

Follow-up intervention by patient navigators or provider reminders may help to improve the number of patients who undergo colonoscopy after positive fecal blood test results.

Treatment with adjuvant chemotherapy improved the overall survival of locally advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma in patients treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy and resection, according to the results of an analysis of the National Cancer Database.

Updated results of the FLOT4-AIO trial confirmed the superiority of a docetaxel-based triplet regimen over the current standard of care in patients with resectable esophagogastric cancer.

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have previously received sorafenib.

A combination of modified vaccinia Ankara-5T4 (MVA-5T4) and low-dose cyclophosphamide, or either treatment given alone, demonstrated significant survival benefit in a small group of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer compared with no treatment.

The FDA has approved the first cancer therapy biosimilar in the United States, a biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab) for the treatment of multiple types of cancer, including colorectal, lung, brain, kidney, and cervical cancers.

Updated results from the KEYNOTE 059 phase II trial showed that pembrolizumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy has promising antitumor activity for patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.