Current status of immunotherapy and immune biomarkers in gastro-esophageal cancers

Abstract

Gastroesophageal (GE) cancers continue to be a significant cause of mortality globally. Despite therapeutic advances in oncology, the prognosis of advanced GE cancer remains exceedingly poor. Immunotherapy has caused a major paradigm shift in the field of oncology. Not all patients benefit from these agents and several studies are trying to identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers to better inform and guide treatment decisions. The potential role of immunotherapy in GE cancers is emerging. These cancer types are molecularly and immunologically heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity influences the tumor microenvironment posing a significant challenge to studying biomarkers of response to immunotherapy. Here in this article, we discuss the need for new therapeutic approaches in GE cancers, review the emerging data on the activity of checkpoint inhibitors and the role of biomarkers in this setting.

Perioperative changes of inflammation-based biomarker for predicting the prognosis in colorectal cancer patients: a retrospective analysis

“…Various studies have indicated that changes in immune cellular components in peripheral venous blood could reflect the inflammation status of the tumour, which is valuable in predicting survival prognosis [12,13]. It is increasingly speculated that the inflammation and tumour are correlated, resulting in the establishment of novel biomarkers of cancer for the evaluation of the prognostic significance [14]. Reportedly, neutrophils reflect the status of the systematic inflammation and accelerate the remodelling of the extracellular matrix [15].…”

A good start of immunotherapy in esophageal cancer

“…Tremelimumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against CTLA4, was tested in metastatic melanoma as the second‐line setting. Although its efficacy is not ideal, its combination with PD‐1 inhibitors has indeed attracted attention . Ipilimumab，another monoclonal antibody, activates the immune system by targeting CTLA4.…”

“…57 It has been reported that the expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells is significantly associated with good overall survival, however, some reports are just the opposite. 6,8,37,42,58,59 The better the tumor differentiation, the negative lymph node metastasis and the early stage tumors have a higher expression rate of PD-L1. But some reports are just the opposite.…”

“…The emergency of immunotherapy has gradually attracted oncologists' attention, and its application in melanoma, lung cancer, and kidney cancer has revolutionized their management. 8 We expect that immunotherapy is also applicable in the treatment of esophageal cancer. However, there are still some problems in the application of immunotherapy to esophageal cancer.…”

Case Report: Epstein-Barr virus Positive Gastric Carcinoma

“…Cytotoxic chemotherapy provides only modest benefit, with median overall survival (OS) reported in the range of 9-11 months. Until recently, only two targeted treatment options were available: firstline setting: Trastuzumab (for Her-2 positive GC) and second-line setting: Ramucirumab [4,5].…”