Treatment options for oesophagogastric cancers
Cancers of the upper digestive system, including stomach and oesophageal cancers, make up approximately 8% of all cancers diagnosed in Australia and are associated with poor survival outcomes.1 As stomach and oesophageal cancers are often diagnosed once the cancer is advanced or metastasised, patients tend to have a short life expectancy after diagnosis with 5-year survival rates of 37% and 23%, respectively.2,3
In the past decade, there have been few advances in the treatment of gastro-oesophageal cancers, highlighting a significant unmet need for additional therapy options.4 Until recently, chemotherapy was the only first-line treatment option for patients whose tumours do not express the biomarker HER2. Unfortunately, chemotherapy for gastro-oesophageal cancers is associated with poor survival outcomes.4
In the last few years, the addition of immunotherapy to chemotherapy has offered an additional therapeutic option for those patients with HER2 negative disease. Randomised clinical trials of IO therapies, in combination with chemotherapy or as solo treatment, have demonstrated a statistically significant clinical benefit versus chemotherapy alone across both squamous cell carcnioma and adenocarcinoma of the stomach or oesophagous.
IO therapy is approved for use in Australia for various types of gastro-ooesophageal cancers depending on treatment line, biomarker status and histology.
For details on medicines available in Australia refer to the Therapeutics Goods Administration and Pharmaceutical benefits Scheme web sites.
More content on IO therapy and UGI cancers is available on
www.bms-oncall.com.au
Information for Patients
For patient and carer support, PANCARE FOUNDATION are the leading charity committed to improving outcomes for those affected by upper GI cancers including pancreatic, liver, stomach, biliary and oesophageal cancers.
References: 1. Pancare Foundation. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer survival rates and statistics. Available at: www.pancare.org.au/about/cancer-statistics/. Accessed September 2022. 2. Cancer Australia. Stomach Cancer – Statistics. Available at: www.canceraustralia.gov.au/cancer-types/stomach-cancer/statistics. Accessed September 2022.
3. Cancer Australia. Oesophageal Cancer – Statistics. Available at: www.canceraustralia.gov.au/cancer-types/oesophageal-cancer/statistics. Accessed September 2022. 4. Janjigian et al. Lancet 2021;398:27–40. 5. Kato et al. Lancet Oncol 2019;20:1506–17. 6. OPDIVO® (nivolumab) Approved Product Information (www.medicines.org.au/files/bqpopdiv.pdf). 7. Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (www.pbs.gov.au).
IO = immuno-oncology; UGI = upper gastrointestinal.
