Perioperative Tailored Treatments for Gastric Cancer: Times Are Changing.

Resectable gastric or gastroesophageal (G/GEJ) cancer is a heterogeneous disease with no defined molecularly based treatment strategy. Unfortunately, nearly half of patients experience disease recurrence despite standard treatments (neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant chemotherapy/chemoradiotherapy and surgery). In this review, we summarize the evidence of potential tailored approaches in perioperative treatment of G/GEJ cancer, with a special focus on patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2(HER2)-positive and microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) tumors. In patients with resectable MSI-H G/GEJ adenocarcinoma, the ongoing INFINITY trial introduces the concept of non-operative management for patients with complete clinical-pathological-molecular response, and this could be a novel and potential practice changing strategy. Other pathways involving vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), claudin18 isoform 2 (CLDN18.2), and DNA damage repair proteins are also described, with limited evidence until now. Although tailored therapy appears to be a promising strategy for resectable G/GEJ cancer, there are several methodological issues to address: inadequate sample size for pivotal trials, underestimation of subgroup effects, and choice of primary endpoint (tumor-centered vs. patient-centered endpoints). A better optimization of G/GEJ cancer treatment allows maximizing patient outcomes. In the perioperative phase, although caution is mandatory, times are changing and tailored strategies could introduce new treatment concepts. Overall, MSI-H G/GEJ cancer patients possess the characteristics to be the subgroup that could receive the most benefit from a tailored approach.

Correlation Between Tumor Response and Survival Outcomes in Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer Receiving Ramucirumab and Paclitaxel as Second-Line Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The first-line treatment for GC is a combination of platinum and fluoropyrimidine-based therapy. Based on the positive results of RAINBOW and REGARD trials, ramucirumab either alone or in combination with paclitaxel has proved to be a safe and active option for second-line treatment in GC patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Advanced GC patients who received a 28-day cycles of ramucirumab and paclitaxel until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity were evaluated. Eligible patients had ECOG PS ≤ 1 and adequate organ function. Baseline characteristics were assessed for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used for survival analyses. RESULTS: In our single institution experience, we included a total of 67 patients. A median OS of 8 months and a median PFS of 4 months, were recorded. In patients experiencing an initial partial response (PR), we observed a significant association between tumor response and survival outcomes (OS and PFS). The OS and PFS were 15 and 11 months in patients who experienced PR compared to 8 and 4 months in patients without PR (p = 0.02; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Treatment with ramucirumab plus paclitaxel yielded the highest overall response rate reported to date for patients with previously treated advanced GC. In our experience, the initial tumor response is associated with a greater survival benefit which could be further improved by the identification of biomarkers predicting response.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced neurologic toxicity: a case report and literature review.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are approved for the treatment of head and neck carcinoma. They have significantly improved survival in these patients but may cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs), some of which may be serious. The report presents a rare case of a neurologic adverse event associated with programmed death-1 inhibitor monotherapy. Neurologic irAEs (NirAEs) can occur in various and atypical forms, be potentially disabling and occur at various times during and after treatment. Prompt identification and drug withdrawal are essential to improve outcomes. A high dose of systemic corticosteroid has been recommended for the management of NirAEs, although optimal immunomodulatory treatment is still debated.

Current recommendations for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treatments have been significantly modified after the introduction of immunotherapy. Indeed, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are now recommended in localized and metastatic disease. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)-positive tumors can be treated with immunotherapy in the first and second lines regardless of PD-L1 expression. By increasing immune system activity, ICIs can have adverse effects. In most cases, these can be treated with the interruption of treatment and/or supportive therapy, which can include the administration of immunosuppressants. This report describes a case of suspected a neurologic adverse event characterized by trouble with balance and double vision in a person with head and neck cancer treated with nivolumab. This was adverse event was by pausing therapy and low-dose steroid treatment, leading to complete reduction of symptoms. Unfortunately, the laboratory and instrumental investigations could not determine an exact diagnosis or the area of neurological damage.

Ivosidenib in IDH1-mutated cholangiocarcinoma: Clinical evaluation and future directions.

To date, treatment options for patients with chemorefractory cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) are limited. However, the advancements in molecular techniques have recently increased the opportunity to offer molecularly targeted therapies to patients with several cancer types and some targetable oncogenic alterations have been identified also in CCA. Among these potentially actionable molecular alterations, isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutations have been detected in approximately 10-20% of intrahepatic CCA (iCCA). IDH1 is responsible for the accumulation of oncometabolites inducing epigenetic changes that are involved in various signaling pathways. Ivosidenib is the first IDH1 inhibitor which significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) (2.7 vs 1.4 months) and overall survival (OS) (10.3 vs 5.1 months [adjusted median OS]) compared with placebo in chemorefractory IDH1-mutated CCA. The very low incidence of grade (G) 3-4 adverse events (AEs) and treatment discontinuation due to toxicity, associated with a significantly less marked decline in health-related quality of life for patients in the ivosidenib group than in placebo group, facilitates patient adherence and clinician confidence. Here, we review the development of ivosidenib in CCA patients and evaluate the clinical impact of the results of the phase III ClarIDHy trial which was responsible for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for patients with IDH1-mutated CCA whose disease progressed after standard chemotherapy (CT). We also discuss the known primary and secondary resistance mechanisms, including concomitant and acquired mutations in other genes (e.g. IDH2 mutations), second-site mutation in IDH1, and enhanced activation of other pathways (e.g. PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway). Finally we examine the future directions, as the opportunity to combine ivosidenib with other synergistic agents, including standard chemotherapy (CT), immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), and IDH2 inhibitors.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Urothelial Bladder Cancer: State of the Art and Future Perspectives.

Bladder cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy of the genitourinary tract, with high morbidity and mortality rates. Until recently, the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial BC was based on the use of chemotherapy alone. Since 2016, five immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in different settings, i.e., first-line, maintenance and second-line treatment, while several trials are still ongoing in the perioperative context. Lately, pembrolizumab, a programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor, has been approved for Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), using immunotherapy at an early stage of the disease. This review investigates the current state and future perspectives of immunotherapy in BC, focusing on the rationale and results of combining immunotherapy with other therapeutic strategies.