Zev A. Wainberg, MD, on Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma: Follow-up Data on Pembrolizumab and Chemotherapy
2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
Zev A. Wainberg, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses an update, of 25 additional months, on phase III safety and efficacy results from the KEYNOTE-062 trial. This study compared pembrolizumab with or without chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone for patients with PD-L1–positive advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (Abstract 243).
The ASCO Post Staff
Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne University and Saint-Antoine Hospital, discusses phase II results from the GERCOR NEONIPIGA study, which suggests neoadjuvant therapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab may be associated with a high pathologic complete response rate in patients with localized microsatellite instability–high or mismatch repair–deficient esophagogastric adenocarcinoma. This study raises the question of whether surgery could be delayed or avoided for some patients (Abstract 244).
The ASCO Post Staff
Romain Cohen, MD, PhD, of Sorbonne University and Saint-Antoine Hospital, discusses phase II results of the GERCOR NIPICOL study, which suggests nivolumab plus ipilimumab at a fixed duration of 1 year continued to show durable activity in patients with chemoresistant microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair–deficient metastatic colorectal cancer after 3 years of follow-up. Dr. Cohen points out there is now some question as to whether all patients need 2 years of therapy (Abstract 13).
The ASCO Post Staff
Melissa Amy Lumish, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses new findings showing a 100% complete response rate to PD-1 blockade alone among the first 11 patients with locally advanced mismatch repair–deficient rectal cancer treated with this approach. None of the patients required chemoradiation or surgery, thus avoiding their attendant morbidities, and so PD-1 blockade may represent a new treatment paradigm. Follow-up on the durability of response is needed (Abstract 16).
The ASCO Post Staff
Yu Sunakawa, MD, PhD, of Japan’s St. Marianna University School of Medicine, discusses his findings from the DELIVER trial, which suggest the gut microbiome may predict skin toxicities in patients with advanced gastric cancer who are treated with nivolumab. In addition, some single nucleotide polymorphisms, such as NOTCH1, SEMA4D, NLRC5, and IL-6R genes, may potentially become markers for diarrhea and skin toxicities with this agent.
The ASCO Post Staff
Afsaneh Barzi, MD, PhD, of City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center and AccessHope, discusses results from a phase I/II study of regorafenib and pembrolizumab in refractory microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer. Although the trial did not meet its primary endpoint, the median overall survival is “provocative,” says Dr. Barzi. An analysis of biomarkers to identify patients with a longer duration of benefit is ongoing (Abstract 15).
