A study recently published in JAMA sheds light on cancer risks associated with carrying germline CDH1 mutations, challenging previous, potentially inflated, lifetime cancer risk estimates.
The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion of zolbetuximab, recommending the approval of it in the European Union.
Astellas Pharma Inc. announced that FDA has acknowledged the company’s resubmission of the Biologics License Application for zolbetuximab, a first-in-class investigational claudin 18.2-targeted monoclonal antibody, for the first-line treatment of adults with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors are CLDN18.2 positive.
The phase III KEYNOTE-811 trial evaluating Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with trastuzumab and fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy met its dual primary endpoint of overall survival for the first-line treatment of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
FDA approved Keytruda (pembrolizumab) with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of adults with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
Preliminary data from Arm A1 of the phase II EDGE-Gastric study showed promising overall response rate and six-month progression-free-survival results, irrespective of PD-L1 expression.
FDA revised the existing indication of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) with trastuzumab, fluoropyrimidine, and platinum-containing chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
The phase III MATTERHORN trial showed treatment with Imfinzi (durvalumab) in combination with standard-of-care FLOT neoadjuvant chemotherapy (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel given before surgery) demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the key secondary endpoint of pathologic complete response versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone for patients with resectable, early-stage and locally advanced (stages 2, 3, 4A) gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers.
Scientists at The Wistar Institute have discovered a potential target for gastric cancers associated with Epstein-Barr Virus. In a paper published in the journal mBio, Wistar’s Tempera lab investigates the epigenetic characteristics of gastric cancer associated with the Epstein-Barr Virus. In evaluating EBVaGC’s epigenetics—the series of biological signals associated with the genome that determines whether a given gene is expressed—the Tempera lab highlights a target that could advance as a future treatment for this type of cancer.
The DeGregorio Family Foundation with the support of the Price Family Foundation and the Esophageal Cancer Awareness Association has awarded $87,500 to Dawit Kidane-Mulat, associate professor at Howard University College of Medicine, to complete his grant focused on improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in gastric cancers.



