Ready. Raise. Rise.

June 2018

To kick off the summer, Gastric Cancer Foundation is participating in Ready. Raise. Rise., a campaign sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb to raise awareness of Immuno-Oncology (I-O) research, including the emerging area of biomarkers.

This year, Ready. Raise. Rise. is introducing the Pic Your Power challenge. The campaign is asking you to share how you harness your unique inner power to rise up against the disease.

To participate in the Pic Your Power challenge go on Facebook and share a photo holding a sign that says #ReadyRaiseRise. 100 photo submissions will result in a donation from Bristol-Myers Squibb to participating advocacy groups - including Gastric Cancer Foundation! We're proud to be part of a campaign that gives people a new way to feel empowered and to inspire one another. Find more details here.

Gastric Cancer Registry Team Urges Patients and Family Members to Share their Histories

"The value of family members participating in this Registry is incalculable," says Alison Almeda with the Gastric Cancer Registry in this new video about the importance of patient and family member participation. The Registry, housed at Stanford University and headed by Hanlee P. Ji, MD, is receiving widespread support from around the country and will be announcing international collaborations later this year. View this video to learn more about how enrolling in the Registry will help researchers find a cure.

Views from Digestive Disease Week

The first two recipients of the Foundation-supported Ben Feinstein Memorial Research Scholar Award were featured at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) in Washington, DC.

Jose Saenz, MD, PhD of Washington University was recognized for his research on H pylori: Host Response and Pathogenesis. His work garnered a Poster of Distinction Award among the more than 4,100 posters received.

Mohamad El-Zaatari MD, PhD of University of Michigan moderated the Funderburg Symposium which included Dr. Avery Posey, an investigator from Dr. Carl June's lab, who pioneered CAR-T cell therapy against hematological tumors, at the University of Pennsylvania. One of the major obstacles for this type of therapy against solid organ tumors is the inability of programmed killer T cells to effectively infiltrate into the tissue of solid organs. Dr. El-Zaatari from the University of Michigan has identified a mechanism to enable such killer T cells to potently infiltrate the stomach. Through this DDW panel, a new collaboration among these researchers has been formed to optimize this therapy against stomach cancer.

More News from Cancer Research Conferences

In addition to DDW, the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) conference included researchers from Japan who found doublet chemo with S-1 and cisplatin (CS) first-line chemo improved survival for advanced gastric cancer patients compared with CS alone. They also found the addition of docetaxel to CS did not improve survival for patients with untreated advanced gastric cancer. Read more here.

New research also presented at ASCO's conference shared the comprehensive research program is underway to accelerate development of an investigational HER2-targeting antibody drug conjugate, DS-8201. Read more here.

A third study presented at ASCO provided the latest research on the treatment of HER2 and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. Read more here.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology 20th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona, Spain, good results from a phase 3 trial were presented for the drug Lonsurf for treating metastatic gastric cancer. Read more here.

It's a Date! November 9th in the San Francisco Bay Area

Join the Foundation on November 9th for "A CAUSE FOR HOPE" - our annual event to raise funds for gastric cancer research and the search for a cure. This enjoyable and memorable evening on the San Francisco Peninsula is a great opportunity to gather with friends, family and others to support the Foundation's work to create a world without gastric cancer. Please plan to attend and encourage others to join you. Stay tuned for more details.

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