Research in Focus: Solving the Puzzle of Early-Onset Gastric Cancer

Raghav Sundar, MD, PhD has an ambitious goal of understanding how gastric cancer in young people differs from the disease in older patients—in the hopes that the insights he gains will spur ideas for new treatment approaches. Last year, the Gastric Cancer Foundation backed up this strategy with a $100,000 grant awarded to Sundar, who is an associate professor of medicine (medical oncology) at Yale School of Medicine and member of Yale Cancer Center.

Sundar has made significant progress toward his initial plan of collecting 200 gastric tumor samples and adjacent normal tissue from around the world. His team has started processing 100 of those samples, 30 of which are from people who were diagnosed before the age of 50. They are using advanced imaging technologies to study biomarker expression and the distribution of cells in both cancerous and normal tissues, correlating the data to clinical outcomes.

Now Sundar’s team is expanding their use of a technology known as “tissue microarrays,” which enables the rapid visualization of hundreds of tissue samples simultaneously. In addition to using a microarray developed at Yale, they are intending to study additional microarrays—including one from Massachusetts General Hospital. Read more >>

A Vibrant Veggie Breakfast Hash

Chef Hans welcomes back Stacy Martin, founder of Seahorse Snacks, for a conversation and cooking demo on breakfast after a gastrectomy. Together they prepare a Brussels sprout and bacon hash while sharing practical tips for rebuilding comfort and creativity in the kitchen – making balanced, protein-rich meals that are easy to digest, satisfying, and perfect any time of day.

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, which took place in October in Berlin, featured several encouraging presentations of gastric cancer research.

AstraZeneca announced positive results from a phase 3 clinical trial combining its immunotherapy drug Imfinzi (durvalumab) with chemotherapy in some gastric cancer patients before and after surgery. The combo reduced the risk of death by 22% and more than two-thirds of patients were alive at three years.

A novel drug called domvanalimab, under development from Gilead and Arcus Bioscience, targets TIGIT, a protein on immune cells. At ESMO, researchers presented positive results from a phase 2 trial of domvanalimab combined with an immunotherapy drug and chemotherapy in gastric cancer. The objective response rate among patients treated with the regimen was 59%. A phase 3 trial is now underway. 

An experimental anti-HER2 bispecific antibody anbenitamab (KN026) from Alphamab Oncology, in combination with chemotherapy, had an objective response rate of 55.8% in patients with HER2-positive gastric cancer. The drug, now in phase 2/3 trials in gastric cancer in China, was granted Orphan Drug status by the FDA.