Perioperative Therapy of Oesophagogastric Adenocarcinoma: Mainstay and Future Directions

Outcomes of locally advanced gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma cancers treated with neoadjuvant FLOT in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

Background and aim

Docetaxel, oxaliplatin, leucovorin and 5-fluorouracil (FLOT) may improve overall survival (OS) in patients with locally advanced gastric and gastroesophageal cancer. Our study aims to determine the pathological response in these patients with the FLOT chemotherapy in the Neoadjuvant setting. This is the first study conducted in our country.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study from March 2018 to December 2020. After ethical review committee approval, all patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and received treatment at our tertiary care center were included in the study. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for categorical. Values were presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) for continuous variables. The chi-square test was used to determine the difference between categorical variables. A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered the level of significance. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to calculate survival analysis.

Results

Out of 41, 35 patients with locally advanced resectable gastric or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma were included in our study analysis. The entire cohort had a male predominance, with a mean age of 59. All patients received neoadjuvant FLOT. Pathological treatment response achieved was 77%, of which 66% had partial and 11% had complete response. There is a significant association of pathological response with age, gender, stage, grade, co-morbid and number of chemotherapy cycles received (p-value =<0.05). The OS was 80% with the mean OS was 2.6 years (31 months).

Conclusion

Our study shows comparable response rates to other studies conducted internationally. Our findings confirm that FLOT is an effective and well-tolerated perioperative regimen with reasonable response rates in the Pakistani population. A more extensive longitudinal study would ensure these preliminary results in the local patient population.

Role of prophylactic HIPEC in non-metastatic, serosa-invasive gastric cancer: a literature review

The role of prophylactic hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (p-HIPEC) in serosa invasive gastric cancers without gross or microscopic peritoneal disease, to reduce the rate of peritoneal relapse is an area of ongoing research. Although p-HIPEC is effective in reducing the rate of peritoneal relapse and improving disease free and overall survival with or without adjuvant chemotherapy, when added to curative surgery in locally advanced, non-metastatic gastric cancers, the available literature is at best, heterogeneous, centre-specific and skewed. Apart from that, variations in the systemic therapy used, and the presence of the associated nodal disease further complicate this picture. To evaluate the role of p-HIPEC the PubMed, Cochrane central register of clinical trials, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting library were searched with the search terms, “gastric”, “cancer”, “hyperthermic”, “intraperitoneal”, “chemotherapy”, prophylactic”, “HIPEC” in various combinations, and a critical review of the available evidence was done. Although p-HIPEC is a promising therapy in the management of locally advanced gastric cancers, the current evidence is insufficient to recommend its inclusion into routine clinical practice. Future research should be directed towards identification of the appropriate patient subset and towards redefining its role with current peri-operative systemic therapies.

Histone Modifying Enzymes as Targets for Therapeutic Intervention in Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma

Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) has a dismal prognosis, where curable disease occurs in less than 40% of patients, and many of those with incurable disease survive for less than a year from diagnosis. Despite the widespread use of systematic chemotherapy in OAC treatment, many patients receive no benefit. New treatments are urgently needed for OAC patients. There is an emerging interest in epigenetic regulators in cancer pathogenesis, which are now translating into novel cancer therapeutic strategies. Histone-modifying enzymes (HMEs) are key epigenetic regulators responsible for dynamic covalent histone modifications that play roles in both normal and dysregulated cellular processes including tumorigenesis. Several HME inhibitors are in clinical use for haematological malignancies and sarcomas, with numerous on-going clinical trials for their use in solid tumours. This review discusses the current literature surrounding HMEs in OAC pathogenesis and their potential use in targeted therapies for this disease.

Long-Term Outcomes of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer/Esophagogastric Junction Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has been defined as any preoperative chemotherapy scheme aiming to reduce tumor staging and to control preoperative micrometastasis, which has been extensively used as a treatment for resectable gastric cancer. However, its effect on the long-term survival of patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (AGC) or esophagogastric junction cancer (EGC) remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed at investigating the long-term efficacy of NAC in locally AGC/EGC.

METHODS

The following databases were searched for articles published from their inception up to April 2020: PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).

RESULTS

A total of 19 articles were included in this meta-analysis, with a total of 4,446 patients. The results showed that NAC increased the patients' 3-year OS (HR, 0.56; 95%CI, 0.21-0.91; P<0.001), 3-year PFS (HR, 0.76; 95%CI, 0.66-0.87; P<0.001), 5-year OS (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.64-0.78; P<0.001), and 5-year PFS (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.61-0.79; P<0.001) respectively. Besides, subgroup analysis showed that Asian countries have benefited significantly from NAC (HR, 0.65; 95%CI, 0.55-0.74; P<0.001), and other countries have also benefited (HR, 0.79; 95%CI, 0.68-0.89; P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with adjuvant chemotherapy and surgery alone, NAC can improve the long-term survival outcomes (OS and PFS) of patients with resectable AGC or EGC.

S-1 in Patients with Advanced Esophagogastric Adenocarcinoma: Results from the Safety Compliance Observatory on Oral fluoroPyrimidines (SCOOP) Study

Background and Objectives

S-1-based regimens have been shown to be as effective as other fluoropyrimidine-based regimens with a better safety profile in patients with advanced esophagogastric adenocarcinoma. However, real-world data on S-1 in European patients with advanced esophagogastric adenocarcinoma are lacking. The Safety Compliance Observatory on Oral fluoroPyrimidines (SCOOP) study evaluated safety and relative dose intensities for patients treated with S-1-based regimens for advanced esophagogastric adenocarcinoma as part of daily practice.

Methods

Overall, data for 125 patients with advanced esophagogastric adenocarcinoma were collected at 21 centers in five countries in Europe. Demographics, treatment, and adverse-event data were recorded over a planned treatment of six cycles.

Results

Most patients (87%) received combination treatment of S-1 plus a platinum compound. Adverse events related to S-1 treatment were mostly grade 1 or 2 while reported grade 3–4 serious adverse events related to S-1 occurred in 12 patients and were most often grade 3 neutropenia (n = 4, 3.2%) or diarrhea (n = 5, 4%). The most common adverse events of any grade that were attributable to S-1 treatment included neutropenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. No patients experienced mucositis, dehydration, or febrile neutropenia, whereas 2% (3/125) of patients experienced hand-foot syndrome.

Conclusion

The overall relative dose intensity was 70%. In a real-world setting, patients with advanced esophagogastric adenocarcinoma tolerated S-1 treatment well with high compliance rates. The SCOOP study provides valuable information on S-1 relative dose intensity that can be used for treatment decision making.

Impact of perioperative treatment on survival of resectable gastric cancer patients after D2 lymphadenectomy: a single European centre propensity score matching analysis

Background To determine the effects of perioperative treatment of gastric cancer patients, we conducted an analysis with propensity score matched patient groups to determine the role of perioperative chemotherapy in patients after D2 lymphadenectomy. Patients and methods From our database of 1563 patients, 482 patients were selected with propensity score matching and divided into two balanced groups: 241 patients in the surgery only group and 241 patients in the perioperative group. The long-term results of treatment were compared between the two groups. Results Most of the included patients received radio-chemotherapy with capecitabine (n = 111; 46%) and perioperative chemotherapy with epirubicin, oxalliplatin and capecitabine (n = 91; 37.7%). 92.9% of the patients received a D2 lymph node dissection. Perioperative morbidity was similar between surgery only (18.3%) and perioperative treatment groups (20.7%) (p = 0.537). The perioperative mortality was not influenced by perioperative treatment. A pathological response was observed in 12.5% of patients. The overall 5-year and median survivals were significantly higher in the perioperative treatment group (50.5%; 51.7 moths) compared to surgery only group (41.8%; 34.9 months; p = 0.038). The subgroup analysis revealed that only patients with the TNM stages T3 (p = 0.028), N2 (p = 0.009), N3b (p = 0.043), and UICC stages IIIb (p = 0.003) and IIIc (p = 0.03) significantly benefit from perioperative treatment. Conclusions Perioperative treatment in radically resected gastric cancer patients after D2 lymphadenectomy was beneficial in stages IIIb and IIIc. The effects of perioperative treatment in lower stages could be negated by the effects of the radical surgery in lower stages and in higher stages by the biology of the disease.

Gastric cancer: epidemiology, prevention, and therapy

Gastric cancer (GC) is still the third leading cause of cancer death in both sexes worldwide. Helicobacter pylori infection is the most important risk factor for GC and, in spite of the consistent trend of a decreasing incidence, in 2015 approximately 4.4 billion individuals-more than half the world's population-were infected with H. pylori. The birth cohort pattern of decreased H. pylori infection reported in a systematic review contributes to explain the declining GC mortality in Japan. Current trends in estimated annual percentage change of GC incidence foreshadow expected reversals in both falling incidence and male predominance among US non-Hispanic whites. Combining serum pepsinogen 1 and H. pylori serology was shown to be useful for GC risk stratification in a Finnish population. Gastritis staging by operative link on gastritis assessment was confirmed to be reliable in predicting GC risk in a large prospective study. In a randomized trial from South Korea, H. pylori eradication therapy significantly reduced the rates of metachronous GC in patients who received curative endoscopic resection for early GC. A study based on a territory-wide health care database of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority showed that aspirin use is associated with a reduced GC risk. Another study based on the same database showed that proton pump inhibitors increase GC risk, but methodological biases have most likely acted as confounders. Confirmatory data on the role of endoscopic submucosal dissection in patients with early GC have been published. The phase III FLOT4 trial has shown that the FLOT triplet regimen (docetaxel, oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and 5-fluorouracil) improves the outcome of patients with GC and locoregional disease as compared to the ECF triplet (epirubicin, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil). In the phase III ATTRACTION-2 trial, nivolumab was shown to be an effective treatment option with a relative safe profile for heavily pretreated patients with advanced GC.

Recent updates in perioperative chemotherapy and recurrence pattern of gastric cancer

Gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection has become the global standard procedure for locally advanced gastric cancer to maximally reduce locoregional recurrence. In East Asia, based on the evidence of the ACTS‐GC and the CLASSIC trials, postadjuvant chemotherapy with S‐1 monotherapy or capecitabine and oxaliplatin after curative D2 gastrectomy is the current standard strategy. However, approximately 20% to 30% of patients still develop distant recurrence even after these postadjuvant chemotherapies, especially in those with pathological stage III disease. This review summarizes recent (2008‐2018) evidence on the benefits of adjuvant therapy for locally advanced gastric cancer. JACRO GC‐07, a Phase III trial, recently showed a superior 3‐year recurrence‐free survival of the S‐1 plus docetaxel regimen in comparison to S‐1 monotherapy for patients with pathological stage III gastric cancer after curative D2 gastrectomy. With regard to recent new evidence on neoadjuvant strategy, JCOG0501, a Phase III trial, did not show any superiority in 3‐year overall survival (OS) of additional neoadjuvant chemotherapy with S‐1/cisplatin over postadjuvant S‐1 monotherapy in scirrhous type gastric cancer. Further clinical trials of neoadjuvant chemotherapy are ongoing to improve the poor prognosis for gastric cancer with extensive lymph node metastases. These trials could lead to new evidence for improved treatment of gastric cancer in the near future.

Helicobacter Pylori Serology in Relation to Hepatitis C Virus Infection and IL28B Single Nucleotide Polymorphism

The aim of the study was to evaluate the serological rate of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and determine any correlations with liver damage and IL28B single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). One hundred eighty-nine patients with chronic HCV infection were included in the study, and H. pylori status was defined based on anti-H. pylori-IgG or anti-CagA-IgG antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Liver damage was assessed using histology or transient elastography. IL28B C/T polymorphism (rs12979860) was evaluated in circulating blood cells using a PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Overall H. pylori serology was positive in 38.1% of our HCV-infected subjects. Among those, the anti-CagA-IgG positivity rate was 43.1% and was within the range of previously described populations of the same region. Highest prevalence of H. pylori was found in patients between 31 and 40 years compared to other age subgroups. The seropositivity rate was higher in the non-cirrhotic group than the cirrhotic one (45.4% vs. 20.0%, p < 0.05). No difference was found in IL28B genotype between H. pylori-positive and -negative cohorts. However, we observed a trend for the lower anti-CagA-IgG expression level in relation to the IL28B T-allele. Our results do not support an association between HCV and H. pylori infection. Whether IL28B SNP has a functional role in modulation of serological response to H. pylori CagA needs further investigation.