Abstract
Aim:
Patients with advanced gastric cancer have a relatively poor prognosis with few therapeutic alternatives beyond first-line therapy. The purpose of this manuscript is to highlight the potential for prolonged responses in patients with HER-2-positive disease. Patients, materials & methods: We analyzed the data of patients diagnosed with HER-2-positive-advanced gastric cancer who progressed on trastuzumab-based combination therapy and subsequently received second-line therapy consisting of ramucirumab in combination with paclitaxel.
Results:
Most patients had a stable disease after ramucirumab-based therapy (50%, 5/10), median duration to disease control was 8 months.
Conclusion:
The prolonged duration of response that we observed indicates that an interaction between the EGF pathway and the angiogenesis pathway requires further clinical investigations.
Keywords:
HER-2; VEGF; VEGF-R2; advanced gastric cancer; angiogenesis; crosstalk; gastroesophageal cancer; ramucirumab; second-line therapy; trastuzumab.
MeSH terms
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Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy*
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Adenocarcinoma / genetics
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Adenocarcinoma / pathology
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Aged
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Antibodies, Monoclonal / administration & dosage
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Antibodies, Monoclonal / adverse effects
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Antibodies, Monoclonal / therapeutic use*
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Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
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Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / administration & dosage
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Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / adverse effects
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Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / therapeutic use*
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Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / adverse effects
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Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
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Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
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Esophageal Neoplasms / drug therapy*
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Esophageal Neoplasms / genetics
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Esophageal Neoplasms / pathology
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Esophagogastric Junction / pathology*
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Molecular Targeted Therapy
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Ramucirumab
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Receptor, ErbB-2 / genetics
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Retreatment
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Stomach Neoplasms / drug therapy*
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Stomach Neoplasms / genetics
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Stomach Neoplasms / pathology
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Trastuzumab / therapeutic use
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Treatment Outcome
Substances
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Antibodies, Monoclonal
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Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
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Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
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ERBB2 protein, human
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Receptor, ErbB-2
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Trastuzumab