As we launch into the new year, we want to thank you for your support of the Gastric Cancer Foundation in 2020. It was an extremely challenging time, but that made it even more important to continue our work to fuel new research and provide hope to all who are touched by stomach cancer. Although we could not gather together for our annual gala, the outpouring of generosity for our CHOOSE HOPE campaign was tremendous - raising $125,000. This exceeded our goal and gives us continued strength to fund our research and patient resource programs that have such a positive impact. Thank you for your generosity.

We will continue to push forward aggressively in 2021. Please continue to join us in this crucial journey of hope - as we break new ground and create a path to a cure for gastric cancer.
Foundation Funds Major Expansion of Gastric Cancer Registry
The Gastric Cancer Foundation has committed $257,856 to fund a transformative expansion of the Gastric Cancer Registry in 2021. The funding will cover the first expansion phase of the registry, which will ultimately house 500 gastric cancer samples. It will allow the GCR research team to sequence the first tranche of samples and add the genomic data to the recently launched Genome Explorer, a secure, HIPAA-compliant web portal that allows scientists to perform genomic analyses and to map associations between genetic abnormalities and patient symptoms.

“I am incredibly honored to receive support from the Gastric Cancer Foundation to expand the Gastric Cancer Registry Genome Explorer,” says GCR principal investigator, Dr. Hanlee Ji. “This additional funding enables the investigations of hundreds of tumor samples and will allow my team to build a clinical genomic database, which will be available for use by the entire biomedical research community. This resource will help in our fight against gastric cancer.”

This phase will incorporate 200 gastric tumor samples collected by the Intermountain Healthcare Biorepository (IMH-BR). The first iteration of the Genome Explorer, which was built using samples from patients around the world who volunteered to participate in the GCR, contains data on mutations, chromosomal copy number variations, and gene expression. Ji’s team is working on a second version, which will include clinical information, as well as the types of types of immune-infiltrating cells and microbes found in the tumors.
Talking Avocado Tabbouleh

Foundation board member and "Chef without a Stomach," Hans Rueffert, shares a delicious tabbouleh recipe that is rich in flavor with help from the versatile avocado. Not sure how to tell when an avocado is ready? Hans also gives us a crash course in how to time your avocado picking just right - but also remember to have backups.

Have you tried one of Hans' recipes? Share it with us! Find more episodes at the Gesundheit Kitchen on gastriccancer.org.
Research Roundup
antigens
The new year is off to a great start in gastric cancer research. Here are some exciting new developments in the field.

Enhertu from Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca was approved by the FDA for patients with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer. In a phase 2 trial, the response rate to Enhertu was 40%, versus 11% for chemotherapy. It is the first antibody drug conjugate approved in the U.S. to treat metastatic gastric cancer and the first HER2-directed drug to hit the market in 10 years.

Taiho Oncology presented three studies at the ASCO GI conference on its drug Lonsurf, including one that found that treating gastric cancer patients in the second or third-line settings with the drug was effective regardless of which prior treatments they received.

Eli Lilly’s EGFR-targeted drug Cyramza combined with chemotherapy produced a disease-control rate of 81% in a trial of previously treated gastric cancer patients. The combination is a recognized standard of care for patients with advanced gastric cancer due to the recognition that it improves survival, but this trial also showed a positive association between tumor shrinkage and symptom relief.
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