For Gastric Cancer Foundation grant recipient Dr. Kishore Guda, one big benefit of early-stage research funding from private foundations is that it offers the freedom to pivot when initial hypotheses don’t pan out as expected. That’s what happened to Guda and his team at the Digestive Health Research Institute of Case Western Reserve’s School of Medicine, where he is an associate professor.

Guda’s pivot turned out to be a productive one. Initially, his plan for the $100,000 grant he received from the foundation in 2023 was to investigate the potential of vactosertib, a drug that targets a protein called transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), in treating gastric cancer. The drug had shown some promise in esophageal cancer, but Guda’s initial studies demonstrated that it wasn’t as effective in preclinical models of gastric cancer.

So Guda’s team decided to see if they could find something better. They started with a list of about 3,000 compounds that are currently in clinical trials or approved to treat other diseases. After testing them in gastric cancer cells and organoids—tiny, live models of the stomach—they found 10 compounds that showed efficacy against the disease. Further testing in mouse models helped them narrow the list to four drug candidates. Read the full article >>

Feed Your Recovery: Understanding Digestion After Surgery

Hans Rueffert joins Alison DeVries, a clinical oncology dietitian at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, GA, to discuss practical nutrition strategies for people undergoing cancer treatment – offering guidance on maintaining strength, managing side-effects, and eating well throughout your health journey.

The detection of gastric cancer in its earliest stages, when the probability of treatment success is highest, has increased by more than 50% in the last 20 years, according to a recent analysis of 20 years of disease-surveillance data. In fact, 2021 was the first year in which early-stage gastric cancer was the most common stage diagnosed, surpassing advanced-stage diagnoses. The findings highlight the importance of early detection, the researchers concluded. Read more >>

Mutations in four genes have been linked to poor prognoses in gastric cancer. The discovery, made by researchers in Brazil, will allow clinicians to identify high-risk patients and could in the future guide personalized treatments, they said. Read more >>

A study by Cleveland Clinic found that many early-onset gastric cancers occur in the “lumen,” the inner passage through which food travels. This trend was previously known in colorectal cancer, but not in gastric cancer—until now—the researchers said. The discovery highlights the importance of understanding how diet, environment and other factors might influence risk, they added. Read more >>