From the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Nashville, TN
Author's disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
Address reprint requests to Johanna C. Bendell, MD, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, 3322 West End Ave, Suite 900, Nashville, TN 37203; e-mail: jbendell{at}tnonc.com
Overview: Multiple trials in the past year have given us new information on how to optimize treatment for patients with cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Particularly, data on the treatment of localized esophagogastric cancers with neoadjuvant treatment and chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy have emerged. For metastatic gastric cancers, there have been new data on the use of oral fluoropyrimidine S-1, which may become a new standard therapy for this disease. Continued unfavorable data for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancers exists, although there is new information on the development of biomarker studies to determine the patients who will benefit from a specific therapy. For patients with hepatocellular cancers, we have the first data that indicate a significant improvement in survival with a systemic therapy. This overview discusses the latest trials in relation to historical data and treatment options and how these trials affect treatment of these patients.
