Of several potential advances in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, four new trials may help change the way several GI cancers are treated. In two trials, investigators looked at approaches to personalize surgery treatment plans for colon and pancreatic cancers. Two other trials evaluated targeted therapies for HER2-positive biliary tract and colorectal cancers, but more research is needed to determine which patients would be best suited to these treatments.
Neoadjuvant Chemo Vs Upfront Surgery For Colon Cancer
In the phase 3 NeoCol trial, neoadjuvant chemotherapy was found to be as good as but not superior to oncologic surgery for colon cancer, but it had the potential for fewer complications, according to lead investigator Lars Henrik Jensen, MD, PhD, an associate professor and a consultant at the Danish Colorectal Cancer Center South and the University Hospital of Southern Denmark, in Vejle.