Emerging Research and Novel Targeted Therapies for the Treatment of Advanced Gastric Cancer (Rush)

Chicago, IL US
April 2, 2014

Remarkable advances have been made during the past several years in the management of gastric cancer with the advent of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeted agents. HER2 is overexpressed in 10–25% of gastric cancers. Although there is currently no approved second-line therapy for advanced cancers of the esophagus and stomach, a novel monoclonal antibody targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) shows potential for filling this treatment gap as it is the first single agent in clinical trials to show improvement in overall survival in gastric cancer. Many other targeted agents are also currently being investigated in clinical trials for first and second-line treatment. Clinicians need to stay abreast of an overwhelming amount of new and complex data offering additional treatment options for gastric cancer, making clinical decision-making more difficult. This series of grand rounds and webinars seeks to address these educational needs while bridging existing knowledge and performance gaps, and as a result help participants to make more informed treatment decisions and improve the clinical outcomes of patients with gastric cancer.

 

Target Audience

This activity is designed for medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, gastroenterologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and other healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of patients with gastric cancer.

 

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to:

  • Describe the role of HER2 in gastric cancer and the importance of HER2 testing in selecting treatment for HER2-positive gastric cancer patients
  • Assess current evidence supporting the use of HER2-targeted agents for the treatment of gastric cancer
  • Evaluate recent trial data for novel targeted agents being explored for the first and second-line treatment of patients with gastric cancer
  • Describe how novel targeted agents may be integrated into treatment strategies for patients with advanced gastric cancer
  • Identify current clinical trials with novel targeted agents for gastric cancer
Additional information

Contact

Name: 
Linda Caples
Phone Number: 
+1 (414) 955-4900
Email: 
cme@mcw.edu
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
    AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
  • 1.00 Hours of Participation
    Hours of Participation credit.
Course opens: 
04/02/2014
Course expires: 
04/02/2014
Event starts: 
04/02/2014 - 8:00am CDT
Event ends: 
04/02/2014 - 9:00am CDT
Cost:
$0.00
Add to calendar: 
Rush University Medical Center
1725 W. Harrison Street
Chicago, IL 60612
United States

Chairperson
Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH
Harvard Medical School
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA

Dr. Charles S. Fuchs is Director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He also leads the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Center Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program and the DF/HCC SPORE Grant in Gastrointestinal Cancers, and he served as the extramural leader for the NCI-sponsored Genome-Wide Association Study in Pancreatic Cancer (PanScan). Dr. Fuchs splits his time between laboratory-based research, clinical research, and clinical care. His laboratory focuses on biochemical markers of gastrointestinal cancer risk, molecular predictors of patient prognosis in colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers, and the discovery of novel targets for cancer therapy. Dr. Fuchs has also led numerous national and international clinical trials assessing novel targeted therapies for GI malignancies. Dr. Fuchs is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer and a cadre member of GI Committee for Alliance. He has over 400 scientific publications in such journals as The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cell, and Nature.

Faculty

David H. Ilson, MD, PhD
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Weill Cornell Medical Center
New York, NY

 

Dr. David H. Ilson is an attending physician and member at Memorial Hospital, and is professor of medicine at Weill- Cornell Medical College in New York, New York. His area of research interest is upper gastrointestinal cancer with a focus on esophageal cancer. He is a nationally recognized authority in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer. Dr. Ilson’s research has focused on the study of new agents in advanced esophageal cancer, and the evaluation of novel agents in combined modality therapy programs in locally advanced disease. He sits on the GI committees of CALGB and RTOG, and the Upper GI Cancer Guidelines Committee of NCCN. Dr. Ilson currently chairs or co-chairs several national clinical trials in esophageal cancer, including RTOG 0436 and CALGB 80803.

Dr. Ilson received his Doctor of Medicine degree from New York University. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital at NYU in New York. He then moved to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and completed a fellowship in medical oncology and hematology, including a third year fellowship as the Brian Piccolo research fellow. Dr. Ilson joined the staff at MSKCC in 1992, becoming a member of the GI Oncology Service in the Department of Medicine, under the direction of Dr. David Kelsen. He was a recipient of the American Cancer Society Career Development Award. 

 

Available Credit

  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
    AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
  • 1.00 Hours of Participation
    Hours of Participation credit.

Price

Cost:
$0.00
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