Stomach (gastric) cancer is not very prevalent in the United States, with only 1.5% of all new cancer diagnoses representing the disease. Despite this, data shows minorities — especially Asian Americans — are more vulnerable to stomach cancer.
A new study from Stanford headed by Joo Ha Hwang, MD, Ph.D., professor of gastroenterology and hepatology at Stanford Medicine, explores the prevalence of stomach cancer in U.S. minority communities. Hwang concludes Asian Americans, specifically Korean Americans, are more likely to obtain gastric cancer.
AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) has been approved in the European Union (EU) as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with advanced HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma who have received a prior trastuzumab-based regimen.
Enhertu is a specifically engineered HER2-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) being jointly developed and commercialised by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo.
Re: Consumer Participation on Scientific Peer Review Panels
For Immediate Press Release:
SCIENTIFIC PEER REVIEW OF CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS’ PEER REVIEWED CANCER RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs’ (CDMRP), Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) consumer advocate Amy Jacobs recently participated in the evaluation of research applications submitted to the PRCRP. Amy Jacobs was nominated for participation in the program by Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer. As a consumer reviewer, she was a full voting member, (along with prominent scientists) at meetings to help determine how the $110 million appropriated by Congress for Fiscal Year 2020 will be spent on cancer research.
Consumer reviewers are asked to represent the collective view of patients by preparing comments on the impact of the research on issues such as diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life. When commenting on serving as a consumer reviewer, Amy said that, “this was my second time serving as a Consumer Advocate. It is such a high honor and privilege to participate among these brilliant scientists and medical professionals, giving a Stage 4 Stomach Cancer patient’s insight and views for the subject research applications as to impact on the cancer patient community on diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, etc. It is also rewarding to participate on the “flipside” of what we seek to achieve via our Advocacy Day efforts: Cancer research funding.”
Consumer advocates and scientists have worked together in this unique partnership to evaluate the merit of research applications since FY09. COL Sarah B. Goldman, Director of the CDMRP, expressed her appreciation for the consumer advocates’ hard work. “Integrating consumer perspectives into our decision-making process brings energy and focus to our research programs. Patients, caregivers, family members, and advocates help us keep our efforts centered around what is truly important to those impacted. We very much value this critical input from our consumers who help ensure that CDMRP’s work remains critical and relevant,” she said.
Scientists applying propose to support and promote high-impact research for cancer prevention, detection, treatment, quality of life and survivorship, and decreasing the burden of cancer on Service members, their families and the American public. The PRCRP fills important gaps not addressed by other funding agencies by supporting groundbreaking research while encouraging out-of-the-box thinking.
More information about the CDMRP’s PRCRP is available at the website: https://cdmrp.army.mil/prcrp/default.
Optional: Attached is a recent digital photograph provided by Amy Jacobs that may be used in conjunction with this press release.
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Media Contact:
Kate Poindexter
Public Affairs Specialist
Ripple Effect
Supporting the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs,
USAMRDC
301-619-7783
November 29, 2022 – NICE Recommends Nivolumab/Chemo for HER2- Advanced Stomach and Esophageal Cancer
The United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final guidance recommending the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus chemotherapy as a treatment option for patients with HER2-negative advanced stomach and esophageal cancer.1
SINGAPORE – When Associate Professor Too Heng-Phon was about to start biotechnology firm Mirxes back in 2010, he asked several of his PhD students to join him, but also warned them that it would be tough going.
Two of them decided to help set up the home-grown biotech firm, which went on to develop test kits that use blood-based microRNAs (miRNAs) to serve as biomarkers for early detection of cancers.
Stomach cancer isn’t in the spotlight like other cancers, such as breast and colon cancers. Once the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, has declined steadily over the past century. Today, stomach cancer accounts for about 1.5% of all new cancers in the U.S. each year, according to the American Cancer Society’s estimates for 2022.
James M. Cleary, MD, Ph.D.: Immunotherapy has made a major impact in the treatment of gastroesophageal cancers. The place where it has probably made the biggest impact for the largest number of patients has been in the treatment of locally advanced esophageal and gastroesophageal junctional cancers. For the longest time, we treated patients with neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by surgery. It always felt as if we should be doing something after surgery, but all the trials that looked at giving a certain therapy after surgery failed. We had a huge recurrence rate. We always felt as if we should be doing something, but there was no evidence to tell us what to do. This changed in a big way with the advent of adjuvant nivolumab.
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan resolution authored by U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) marking November 2022 as Stomach Cancer Awareness Month.
The resolution was first introduced in 2018 in memory of Indianapolis Star reporter and columnist Matthew Tully, who lost his battle with stomach cancer that year. The resolution was cosponsored by Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and passed the Senate unanimously.
“Stomach cancer continues to leave a lasting and tragic impact on Hoosiers and their families. For the last five years, we have introduced our annual resolution to bring continued awareness to this heartbreaking disease that has affected too many Americans,” said Senator Young. “The more we can spread the word that early detection is key, the more lives that will be saved.”
Stomach cancer is the fifth most common type of cancer worldwide and one of the most difficult to detect in its early stages. The resolution expresses support for more education of patients and health care providers and more research into early diagnosis, screening, and treatment.
“We must do more to prevent and treat stomach cancer, especially for communities disproportionately impacted by the disease,” said Senator Cardin. “We must dedicate more resources to research and raise awareness of early cancer detection and mitigation measures, particularly for stomach cancer which is hard to identify in its early stages.”
“This year more than 26,000 Americans were diagnosed with stomach cancer. We must continue to raise awareness and support those affected by this deadly disease by designating November as Stomach Cancer Awareness Month. I’m proud to have been an original cosponsor of this legislation each year that I’ve been in the Senate,” said Senator Braun.
Andrea Eidelman, Chief Executive Officer of Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer said, “The symptoms associated with stomach cancer are easily mistaken for other gastrointestinal problems, frequently leading to a late diagnosis. At that late stage, there are few effective treatment options. The need for research to develop new treatments is imperative to give those diagnosed with stomach cancer a fighting chance at long-term survival. Debbie’s Dream Foundation applauds Senators Young, Cardin, Warnock, and Braun for their leadership in raising awareness about this deadly cancer during Stomach Cancer Awareness Month.”
The full text of the resolution can be found here.
TOKYO, November 17, 2022 – Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., “Astellas”) today announced positive topline results from the Phase 3 SPOTLIGHT clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of zolbetuximab in combination with mFOLFOX6 (a combination regimen that includes oxaliplatin, leucovorin and fluorouracil). Zolbetuximab is an investigational first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2), for the first-line treatment of patients with CLDN18.2-positive, HER2-negative, locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma.
An expert panel of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended issuing marketing authorization for Daiichi Sankyo (OTCPK:DSKYF) (OTCPK:DSNKY) to include gastric cancer as an indication for Enhertu, an antibody-drug conjugate the company develops with AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN).