Dr. Adam Bass on the Origins of Different Gastric Tumor Types

Adam Bass, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the causes for different types of gastric cancer.

Microsatellite unstable cancers have a genetic inability to repair DNA, causing mutations in markers that often respond to new immunotherapy, as seen with microsatellite unstable colon cancer. Virus-derived gastric cancer, Bass says, can also potentially respond well to immunotherapy. Other classes of gastric cancer have abrupt and marked chromosomal abnormalities, which would likely respond to some of the existing or emerging inhibitor therapies.

Since the mechanisms of how these tumors emerge are different, Bass predicts that treatment will become more individualized for each tumor type.

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