Every year, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) hosts a meeting in Chicago to bring together oncology experts from around the world to spotlight groundbreaking research and innovations. Below are some of the updates in gastric cancer care that you should know about.
A clinical trial has shown that a new form of immunotherapy, CAR T-cell therapy, extends the lives of patients with advanced stomach or gastro-esophageal junction cancer by 40% compared to standard treatment. This is a significant breakthrough because while CAR T-cell therapy has been successful in blood cancers, this trial is the first time it’s shown success in solid tumors.
The phase III MATTERHORN trial found that adding the immunotherapy drug durvalumab to 5-FU, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel (FLOT) improved event-free survival in patients with, early-stage gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer that can be removed by surgery. The study showed that durvalumab plus FLOT yielded better results than FLOT plus placebo in all patient subgroups. These findings are significant because they demonstrate that giving durvalumab plus FLOT before and after surgery could become a new global standard of care.
The phase III DESTINY-Gastric04 trial found that trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) extends survival by about 3 months for patients with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer whose disease progressed after first-line treatment. This is the first phase III trial that directly compares trastuzumab deruxtecan against paclitaxel with ramucirumab. The results are significant because they suggest trastuzumab deruxtecan can be a valuable treatment option for a cancer that is associated with a poor prognosis.
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