The third week of December brought notable updates across gastrointestinal oncology, spanning prognostic biomarkers, precision oncology, translational immunology, and emerging therapies. New data on liver fat, circulating tumor DNA dynamics, intratumoral immune architecture, and cell-based immunotherapies are refining risk stratification and treatment decisions in colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers.
A study led by Deborah Ophoff, PhD candidate at Wageningen University, evaluated liver radiodensity on diagnostic CT as a marker of liver fat in 1,596 patients with stage I–III colorectal cancer. Greater liver fat correlated with higher recurrence risk and worse survival in colon cancer (n=1,080) but not in rectal cancer (n=516), a difference the authors suggest may reflect distinct dissemination patterns. The findings require confirmation in further studies.
Kohei Shitara, medical oncologist at the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Japan, reported 51 cases of durable complete response in metastatic gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer tied to biomarker-driven therapy, underscoring expanding curative possibilities in selected patients.
Researchers including Shivan Sivakumar of the University of Birmingham highlighted a Nature-selected paper on pancreatic cancer that mapped intratumoral immune complexity. The work aims to inform development of more effective immunotherapies by clarifying pancreatic tumor immune architecture.
Annalice Gandini and colleagues published PANICET, assessing a switch from cetuximab to panitumumab during encorafenib-based therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer. Outcomes with the ENCO-PANI combination were comparable to ENCO-CET observed in the BEACON trial, supporting ENCO-PANI as an option for patients who cannot continue cetuximab.
Anirban Maitra summarized an MD Anderson News series showing longer overall survival—about 50 months—and improved post-recurrence survival after neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery for pancreatic cancer, reinforcing the impact of multimodality treatment.
Amy Huang reported a Conquer Cancer Merit Award–winning meta-analysis published in JCO/ASCO on EGFR inhibitor rechallenge in metastatic colorectal cancer. Rechallenge was associated with significantly longer progression-free survival, with the greatest benefit in RAS/RAF wild-type patients confirmed by ctDNA; response rates exceeded historical third-line controls and toxicity was manageable.
At a Paris meeting on the future of medical biology, Catherine Alix-Panabières emphasized elevating biology—and liquid biopsy in particular—to a central, human-centered role in diagnosis and care decisions, advocating faster, more personalized treatment guided by blood-based testing.
Noelia Tarazona and collaborators presented DYNAMIC III data showing that at a single postoperative timepoint, tumor-informed and tumor-agnostic ctDNA assays perform similarly, but serial monitoring markedly increases sensitivity for recurrence detection with tumor-informed assays. The work prioritizes diagnostic accuracy for routine practice.
Nicholas DeVito of Duke University highlighted two investigator-initiated concepts—one neoadjuvant and one for MRD-positive colorectal cancer—presented within the K-SPY platform. He emphasized the importance of clinician-led trials that place patients at the center and noted the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s role in enabling collaborative, investigator-driven research.
Hung Trinh described preclinical results from UCLA on an off-the-shelf CAR-NKT cell therapy for pancreatic cancer. Allogeneic stem cell–engineered mesothelin-directed CAR-NKT cells demonstrated multiple tumor-killing mechanisms, resistance to immune exhaustion, and avoidance of host rejection, effectively controlling orthotopic and metastatic tumors in models and offering a potential scalable next-generation immunotherapy approach.
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