Dr. Ahn on Novel Biomarkers in Gastric Cancer

Daniel H. Ahn, DO, internist, Mayo Clinic, discusses the identification of novel biomarkers in gastric cancer during the 2017 OncLive State of the Science Summit on Gastrointestinal Malignancies.

It has been determined that there are several relevant and active targets in esophageal and gastric cancer, providing treatment options for patients, explains Ahn. One of these targets is VEGFR-2. While the AVAGAST study was negative with bevacizumab (Avastin) in the first-line setting, researchers have seen that VEGFR-2 is a relevant target in the second-line setting.

This has been seen with other agents, such as apatinib and ramucirumab (Cyramza). Based on this, there are ongoing studies such as INTEGRATE II, which is looking at regorafenib (Stivarga) in the refractory setting. Earlier data have shown that this is an agent that could improve progression-free survival as well as overall survival.