10 Must-Read Posts in GI Oncology This Week

10 Must-Read Posts in GI Oncology This Week

The second week of December delivered notable advances across GI oncology, covering health equity, real-world evidence, mechanistic immuno-oncology, neoadjuvant strategies, surgical decision-making, and early translational research.

Kennedy Ng, MD, National Cancer Centre Singapore, and colleagues published a systematic review and meta-analysis (15 studies, 199,404 patients) showing lower income and reduced or absent insurance coverage are associated with worse overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma. The authors note most data derive from high-income settings and call for more evidence from low- and middle-income countries and Asian populations. They highlight concerns that rapid therapeutic innovation risks widening survival gaps without targeted equity efforts.

Daisuke Kotani, MD, PhD, reports real-world data from the Flatiron database on ERBB2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer: 144 of 5,545 patients (3.1%). ERBB2 amplification was associated with worse progression-free survival but not overall survival. No significant OS difference was seen between first-line anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody therapy and bevacizumab.

Maen Abdelrahim, MD, Houston Methodist, summarized leadership remarks by HMRI President and CEO Edward Jones at the Houston Methodist GI Oncology Summit 2025 and acknowledged the contributions of speakers, chairs, panelists, and organizers to the meeting’s success.

Nicholas Hornstein, MD, reviews mechanistic data in NEJM that link platelet-derived thromboxane A2 to suppression of antitumor immunity via ARHGEF1 on T cells. The work provides a biological explanation for aspirin’s benefit in colorectal cancer: COX-1 inhibition by low-dose aspirin reduces TXA2 signaling, preserves T-cell activity, and limits metastatic outgrowth, with effects most apparent in immunogenic tumors such as MMR-deficient and PI3K-altered colorectal cancers.

Enes Erul, MD, presented a multidisciplinary tumor-board case on potentially resectable colorectal liver metastases at the 15th International Gastrointestinal Cancers Conference (IGICC) in Belek–Antalya, highlighting practical insights from surgery, radiology, and radiation oncology that may influence clinical practice and foster new collaborations.

Kunal Nandy, MD, reports an analysis of 558 gastric adenocarcinoma patients (2017–2023) examining isolated positive peritoneal cytology after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical gastrectomy. Nodal metastasis was the dominant prognostic factor, and routine prophylactic HIPEC is not supported by current evidence. The authors call for prospective trials, refined risk stratification, and shared decision-making.

Vivek Subbiah, MD, highlights new precision oncology data on DLL3 as a therapeutic and imaging target in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms, reported in JCO Precision Oncology.

Erman Akkus, MD, summarizes phase II data from the PROCEED trial evaluating pembrolizumab combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment for malignant esophagogastric disease, adding evidence on integrating immune checkpoint inhibition into multimodal preoperative therapy.

Nour Bzour, medical student, and colleagues used single-cell analysis to identify epithelial marker genes associated with colorectal cancer survival. SPINK1 correlated with better outcomes, TIMP1 with worse outcomes, and age was an independent predictor. The team combined these features into a risk score to stratify patients.

Mina Yazdi, MSc, reports preclinical data demonstrating synergistic antitumor effects of recombinant interleukin-21 combined with 5-fluorouracil in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells, showing increased cytotoxicity compared with 5-FU alone and low toxicity toward normal L929 cells, supporting further exploration of IL-21–based approaches.

See also the 10 Must-Read Posts in GI Oncology from the first week of December on OncoDaily.