Avastin Fails to Prolong Survival in Stomach Cancer (3/5/2010)
Avastin® (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy does not extend overall survival in patients with inoperable, advanced, or metastatic stomach cancer, according to the results of a Phase III trial released by Roche.

Addition of Herceptin® to Chemotherapy Does Not Compromise Quality of Life in HER2+ Gastric Cancer (2/26/2010)
Researchers involved in an international randomized Phase III clinical trial have reported that treatment with Herceptin® (trastuzumab) improves survival without compromising quality of life (QoL) in patients with HER2-positive, advanced and inoperable gastric and gastroesophageal (GE) junction cancer.

Effects Defined of Alcohol and Smoking on Development of Esophageal and Gastric Cancer (1/20/2010)
Researchers from the Netherlands have reported that alcohol consumption increases the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, while smoking increases the risk of squamous cell and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, and gastric non-cardia adenocarcinoma. The details of this study appeared in the January, 2010 issue of Gut.

Oral S-1 Can Substitute for 5-FU for Treatment of Metastatic Gastric Cancer (10/16/2009)
Researchers from Japan involved in a multicenter clinical trial have reported that oral S-1 is non-inferior to 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) or Camptosar® (irinotecan) and Platinol® (cisplatin) for treatment of metastatic gastric cancer. The details of this randomized study were published early on-line in Lancet Oncology on October 8, 2009.

Herceptin Improves Outcome of HER2-positive Stomach Cancer (10/1/2009)
Researchers involved in an international randomized Phase III clinical trial have reported that treatment with Herceptin® (trastuzumab) improves survival among patients with HER2-positive, advanced and inoperable stomach cancer. These results were presented at the Joint ECCO 15 – 34^th ESMO Multidisciplinary Congress in Berlin, September 20-24, 2009.