New research into the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers – and novel ways to predict recurrence and response to chemotherapy – was released in advance of the eighth annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, which will be held January 20-22, 2011, at The Moscone West Building in San Francisco, Ca.
Four important studies were highlighted today in a live presscast:
– IMRT Less Toxic and as Effective After Short-Term Follow Up as Conventional Radiation Therapy Against Anal Cancer: A Phase II trial showed that chemotherapy combined with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for treating anal cancer is as effective after two years of follow up as chemotherapy with conventionally delivered radiation therapy. IMRT has fewer significant skin and gastrointestinal side effects, which can limit anal cancer treatment. IMRT is specially designed to focus on the tumor only, sparing surrounding healthy tissue.
– Sorafenib Effective Against Drug-Resistant GIST: Sorafenib (Nexavar), a targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, may be an effective alternative for patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that are resistant to standard therapies. While more than 80 percent of patients can be treated effectively with imatinib, resistance frequently develops, and other treatments are needed. Sorafenib halted disease progression in more than two-thirds of patients, some for as long as three years.
– Gene Signature May Identify Colorectal Cancer Patients at Risk for Recurrence: Researchers have shown that ColoPrint, a gene signature test that analyzes the expression of 18 genes, can identify the risk of recurrence in patients with localized, stage II colorectal cancer. Such a gene signature test could aid in treatment decisions and help identify those patients who do not need chemotherapy. While most stage II colorectal cancer patients do well with surgery alone, the assay also helps to identify about 20 percent who experience cancer recurrences.
– PET-Detected Chemotherapy Responses Aid Prognosis in Rare Esophageal Cancer: Using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to detect responses to chemotherapy prior to surgery can help determine a patient’s prognosis in locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. Those patients responding to chemotherapy had better median event-free and overall survival than non-responders.
“We continue to make outstanding progress against a wide range of gastrointestinal cancers, both in the development of newer therapies and in our understanding of the cancers’ behavior,” said Jennifer Obel, MD, who moderated the presscast. “At this meeting, we will see many examples of how these advances are helping us personalize treatments for our patients, including a gene signature test to identify high-risk individuals with colorectal cancer and the use of PET imaging to determine prognosis in esophageal cancer.”
Gastrointestinal cancers include those of the colon/rectum, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, small intestine, anus and other digestive organs. Nearly 275,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with these cancers this year, and nearly 140,000 will die from them.*
The 2011 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium is co-sponsored by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO).
Source: American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)