Join the 'Gastric Cancer' group to help and get support from people like you. How it works
Gastric Cancer Blog
| Tweet |
Gene Discovery May Move Personalized Stomach Cancer Treatment Forward
Posted 8 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, April 8 – An international team of researchers has identified hundreds of new genes that are mutated in stomach cancer, in a finding they say could lead to treatments tailored to the genetic make-up of individual stomach tumors. Stomach cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide and kills more than 700,000 people a year, according to the World Health Organization. Treatment is often difficult and unsuccessful. In the United States, less than one-quarter of stomach cancer patients survive more than five years after diagnosis. "Until now, the genetic abnormalities that cause stomach cancers are still largely unknown, which partially explain the overall poor treatment outcome," said the study's senior author, Dr. Patrick Tan, an associate professor in the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Program at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, in a Duke University Medical Center ... Read more
Related support groups: Gastric Cancer
Immune-Based Drug Combo Might Extend Cancer Survival
Posted 2 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 2 – Cancer patients who receive a combination of low-dose interleukin-2 and retinoic acid after conventional therapy seem to live longer than those who don't get the combination. These new study findings, slated for presentation this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago, were seen across individuals with many different forms of advanced malignancies, including breast, lung and colon cancers. Retinoic acid is derived from vitamin A. Interleukin-2, a compound that fortifies the immune system, is approved at high doses to treat "metastatic" melanoma and kidney cancer. Metastatic means that a cancer has spread. The study showed that "these biological compounds may work at low doses. Bigger doses are not always better," said lead author Dr. Francesco Recchia, director of the oncology department at Civilian Hospital in Avezzano, ... Read more
Related support groups: Cancer, Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Renal Cell Carcinoma, Pancreatic Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Melanoma, Small Cell Lung Cancer, Melanoma - Metastatic, Gastric Cancer
Stomach Cancer Tumors Have Genetic Differences: Researchers
Posted 3 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 3 – Stomach cancer tumors have genetic differences, which determine how they respond to treatment, researchers have found. In identifying two distinct versions of the disease, scientists found that a certain regimen of chemotherapy is more effective on one tumor type, while another drug works best on the other. The study authors said their findings would help doctors more effectively treat gastric cancer patients. "Our study is the first to show that a proposed molecular classification of gastric cancer can identify genomic subtypes that respond differently to therapies, which is crucial in efforts to customize treatments for patients," study senior author Dr. Patrick Tan, associate professor in the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Program at the Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School, said in a university news release. A microscopic pathology ... Read more
Related support groups: Gastric Cancer
FDA Approves Herceptin For HER2-Positive Metastatic Stomach Cancer
Posted 20 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 20, 2010 - Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Herceptin (trastuzumab) in combination with chemotherapy (cisplatin plus either capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil [5-FU]) for HER2-positive metastatic (cancer that has spread) cancer of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction, in men and women who have not received prior medicines for their metastatic disease. People diagnosed with metastatic stomach cancer should have the HER2 status of their tumors determined with FDA-approved diagnostic tests, as only people with HER2-positive disease are eligible for treatment with Herceptin plus chemotherapy. "Since Herceptin's approval in HER2-positive advanced breast cancer more than a decade ago, we have continued to study how the HER2 pathway contributes to the growth and ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer, Metastatic, Herceptin, Gastric Cancer, Trastuzumab
Drug Appears to Prolong Survival in Stomach Cancer Patients
Posted 21 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Aug. 19 – Use of the drug trastuzumab in addition to chemotherapy can extend stomach cancer patients' survival by nearly three months, a new study has found. However, an editorial accompanying the study questions whether the treatment is cost-effective. The study and comment were both published in the Aug. 19 online edition of The Lancet. The ToGA study, which included 584 patients at 122 centers in 24 countries with HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer, found that the addition of trastuzumab to standard cisplatin/fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy resulted in a median survival of 13.8 months, compared with 11.1 months for patients who received chemotherapy alone – a 26 percent difference. The findings of the phase 3 clinical trial suggest that using trastuzumab with chemotherapy should be considered a new standard option for patients with this type of stomach cancer, said ... Read more
Related support groups: Herceptin, Gastric Cancer, Trastuzumab
Stomach Cancer on the Rise Among Young, White Adults
Posted 4 May 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 4 – While rates of lower stomach cancer continue to decline for most groups in the United States, a new study finds that among young, white men and women the rate is increasing. The main cause of lower stomach cancer is infection with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, while cancer in the upper stomach is often caused by acid reflux. Most stomach cancers are found in those aged 65 and older. In the United States, blacks, Asian Americans and Hispanics have the highest rates of stomach cancer, according to the researchers. "We confirmed what had been previously understood about gastric cancer, that in most groups it has been declining over the last 30 years," said lead researcher Dr. Charles Rabkin, a senior investigator at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. "We found one exception to that trend, which was that young, white Americans, ages 25 to 39, actually had increasing ... Read more
Related support groups: Helicobacter Pylori Infection, Gastric Cancer
Gene Variation May Speed Recurrence of Stomach Cancer
Posted 22 Jan 2010 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Jan. 22 – An inherited genetic trait may be linked to more aggressive cases of stomach cancer, researchers say. The new findings don't prove that the gene variation actually causes stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, but those who have the variation, which is found on a gene called CD44, experienced recurrence of the disease more than three times sooner than others with the disease. The findings are scheduled to be presented Friday at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Fla. "If our findings are confirmed in larger, prospective clinical trials, testing for the CD44 variation could help us identify patients who would benefit from more aggressive treatment, as well as facilitate the development of therapies targeting this genetic variation," the study's lead author, Dr. Thomas Winder, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Southern ... Read more
Related support groups: Gastric Cancer
Ask a Question
Further Information
Related Condition Support Groups
Related Drug Support Groups
methotrexate, Herceptin, Taxotere, Methotrexate LPF Sodium, Folex PFS, trastuzumab, Trexall, docetaxel