Van K. Morris, MD, on Colon Cancer: ctDNA as a Predictive Biomarker
2024 ASCO GI Cancers Symposium
Van K. Morris, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase II results on using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a predictive biomarker of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II colon cancer. During the trial, no improvement in ctDNA clearance was observed after 6 months of chemotherapy following resection of disease. Dr. Morris notes that future trials should account for evolving assay performance in patients with colorectal cancer (Abstract 5).
The ASCO Post Staff
Manish A. Shah, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses phase III findings of the KEYNOTE-590 study, which shows that, after 5 years, the use of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy improved survival with durable efficacy, compared with placebo plus chemotherapy, in patients with untreated advanced esophageal cancer (Abstract 250).
The ASCO Post Staff
Milind M. Javle, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase II results on tinengotinib, a next-generation FGFR inhibitor that seems to overcome acquired resistance and shows efficacy in patients with cholangiocarcinoma with other FGFR alterations who are not eligible for FGFR2-targeted treatments. A phase III global study is currently enrolling to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of this agent vs physician’s choice in FGFR-altered, chemotherapy- and FGFR-inhibitor–refractory or relapsed disease.
The ASCO Post Staff
Lorraine A. Chantrill, PhD, MBBS, of Australia’s Wollongong Hospital, New South Wales, discusses phase II findings on the combination of nab-paclitaxel plus carboplatin as a first-line treatment for patients with gastrointestinal neuroendocrine carcinomas. According to Dr. Chantrill, this regimen appears to be active in these tumors and warrants further evaluation in a phase III trial (Abstract 589).
The ASCO Post Staff
Michael K. Gibson, MD, PhD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses phase III findings on chemotherapy plus camrelizumab in the ESCORT-NEO trial of patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; and phase III SKYSCRAPER-08 results on first-line tiragolumab plus atezolizumab and chemotherapy in the same patient population (Abstracts LBA244 and 245).
The ASCO Post Staff
Frank Kullmann, MD, of Germany’s Klinikum Weiden, discusses results from the ALPACA trial, which suggest a dose-reduced regimen with alternating cycles of gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine monotherapy after three induction cycles of standard gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel is feasible and associated with an overall survival comparable to that with standard treatment, as well as improved tolerability (Abstract 605).
