Posts by Andrea Eidelman

Certain cancers and their treatments can lead to heart problems. Generally this occurs in three ways: 1) cancer can metastasize to the heart or its lining 2) certain rare tumors can release chemicals into the bloodstream that damage the heart’s valves and muscles 3) certain white blood cell tumors secrete proteins that become sticky deposits…

The goal of this study was to test the effect of HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy) on survival and postoperative outcomes after complete cytroreductive surgery compared with resection alone. At 3 years, HIPEC significantly improved overall survival with almost 26% of patients alive at 3 years compared with 13% of patients in the surgery alone group.…

John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that can detect for eight common cancer types through assessment of the circulating proteins and mutations in cell-free DNA. The test, called CancerSEEK, is a unique noninvasive, multianalyte test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer proteins and the presence of cancer gene mutations from…

Scientists have found a higher incidence of gastric cancer in patients treated for H. pylori, a bacterium found in the stomach, if they took proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) over extended periods of time. The prolonged use of these antacids may worsen gastric atrophy and promote bacterial overgrowth. The results of the study conducted at the…

Today, Merck announced that the FDA has approved the anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1. This makes Keytruda the first PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor approved in the United States for previously treated gastric or GEJ cancer. Treatment Options…

Scientists have suspected for some time that stomach cancer is mainly caused by a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. Bacteria does not transfer DNA into infected cells, so it is still not well understood as to how H. pylori triggers cancer. While certain viruses are known to cause cancer, such as human papilloma virus (HPV), by…

The standard reconstruction method may affect postoperative bone mineral density (BMD) loss in gastric cancer according to a study published in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In multivariate analysis, researchers found that R-Y reconstruction was an independent risk factor for BMD loss after distal gastrectomy. B-I reconstruction was found to have superiority over R-Y…

A new standard of treatment of care for resectable gastric or gastroesophageal (GEJ) adenocarcinoma is perioperative chemotherapy with docetaxel-based triplet. The MAGIC trial established perioperative epirubicin, cisplatin, and fluorouracil (ECF) as a standard of treatment for patients with operable esophagogastric cancer, but outcomes remain unsatisfactory. With the new method of treatment, docetaxel-based triplet FLOT, the…

Researchers from the University of Quebec and University of Montreal conducted a study on how prolonged exposure to work-related stress can greatly impact an individual’s health and may increase their risks of developing certain kinds of cancers. The results showed that employment in at least one stressful job increase the odds of various cancers, including…

Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH, director, Yale Cancer Center, physician-in-chief, Smillow Cancer Hospital, 2017 Giant of Cancer Care in Gastrointestinal Cancer, and a member of the Debbie’s Dream Foundation Medical Advisory Board discusses new strides in immunotherapy for treating gastric cancer. While therapies are common in the treatment of various cancers, Dr. Fuchs emphasizes the…