Overexpression of PIEZO2 stood out as an independent risk factor for men with gastric cancer (GC) who had poor overall survival in a study led by researchers from Tongji University School of Medicine and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Interestingly, the biomarker did not have the same impact in…

A new multicenter research effort in Japan, published in the journal Science Signaling, suggests that infection with Helicobacter pylori cagA+ strains significantly increases the risk of developing gastric cancer.  The preclinical in vitro and vivo study, in multiple models, offers up a potential target for preventing gastric cancer development by H.…

A new study in Cancer Cell reveals evolutionary clues in the tumor microenvironment during gastric cancer progression. Researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center learned that the presence of certain types of cell groupings were linked with clinical outcomes. The study provides a high-resolution gastric cancer tumor…

New evidence finds nine germline pathogenic variants, combined with H. pylori infection, raise gastric cancer risk considerably. Several of these variants are involved in homologous-recombination. It has been estimated that germline mutations cause only one to three percent of gastric cancers. These new findings suggest hereditary risk is more important…

One of the top selling drugs in the world, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumal), is moving into new territory. The company just reported positive topline results from a phase III trial of KEYTRUDA in combination with chemotherapy for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative gastric or gastroesophageal…

Scientists at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Florida say a recent study is validating the use of genomic sequencing to predict the likelihood that patients with gastric cancer will derive benefit from chemotherapy or from immunotherapy. Their paper (“Development and validation of a prognostic and predictive 32-gene signature for…

A gene signature generated from a machine learning algorithm appears to predict the likelihood of which patients with gastric cancer will benefit from chemotherapy or immunotherapy, according to a new study. “We were pleased that our 32-gene signature provided not only prognostic information, but also predicted patient benefit from chemotherapy…

Leap Therapeutics and Flagship Bioscience have developed an image analysis RNAscope assay that is being used for prospective patient enrollment in a clinical trial. The companies believe this is the first example of an RNAscope assay using a digital image analysis solution for patient enrollment. They describe how to the…

The FDA has approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’s monoclonal antibody Opdivo (nivolumab) for first-line treatment of gastric cancer in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy. Cancer cells release proteins that can protect themselves from immune T cells that are seeking to destroy them. Nivolumab is a checkpoint inhibitor drug and acts by…

Use of a highly personalized approach to treatment including specific monoclonal antibodies tailored to a patient’s biomarker profile improves outcomes for patients with metastatic gastroesophageal cancers, shows research from the University of Chicago. The phase II trial split patients into eight groups depending on the biomarker profile of their individual…

A blood test to predict recurrence of gastric cancer post-surgery has been developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore and colleagues in the Netherlands. A description of their test, which is still experimental, was published online Jan. 27 in the journal Nature Communications. Alessandro Leal,…

One of the hottest biomarkers in cancer research, CLDN18.2, just got another major nod. Astellas Pharma has announced positive results from a large Phase III trial (SPOTLIGHT) of zolbetuximab in CLDN18.2-positive and HER2-negative advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma. Full data from the trial was not released. Astellas bought…

A study led by researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute has uncovered new insights into the role of estrogens in cancer growth, particularly in breast cancers that lack estrogen receptors. The research, published in Science Advances, describes how estrogens not only decrease the ability of the immune system to attack…

More than 250 putative CRC driver genes, many not previously implicated in colorectal or other cancers, were found by an English collaboration that sequenced samples from the U.K. 100,000 Genomes Project.   Their report was published this month in Nature. The lead author is Alex J. Cornish, of the division of…

A small research study carried out in Seoul in South Korea suggests transplanting fecal microbes from cancer patients who respond to immunotherapy could help improve the treatment response in non-responders. The small study, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, showed improved therapy responses in six out of thirteen…