01 Jun Potential New Treatment for Poor Prognosis Gastric Cancer Identified

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Nicholas Turner
Academic Consultant Medical Oncologist
Team leader at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre
Institute of Cancer Research, London

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Dr. Turner: Prior laboratory research had identified that gastric cancers with a particular mutation, amplification of the gene FGFR2, were potential sensitive to a drug that inhibits FGFR2. We conducted a trial and showed that gastric cancers with this FGFR2 amplification respond to FGFR inhibition with a drug AZD4547. The amplification is rare, occurring in only a few percent of gastric cancers, so we designed a blood test to identify which patients have the amplification in their cancer, and we are not using the blood test to screen patients for the study.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Dr. Turner: We identify a potential new treatment option for these poor prognosis gastric cancers.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Turner: We identify in the research a complication for treating patients with FGFR2 amplification. The FGFR2 amplification can show heterogeneity in the cancer, may only be present in part of the cancer and not in other parts. We show that FGFR inhibition only has a long lasting response when the FGFR2 amplification is homogeneous, present in all of the cancer.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation: High-level clonal FGFR amplification and response to FGFR inhibition in a translational clinical trial.
Pearson A1, Smyth E2, Babina IS1, Herrera-Abreu MT1, Tarazona N1, Peckitt C2, Kilgour E3, Smith NR3, Geh C3, Rooney C3, Cutts R1, Campbell J1, Ning J4,Fenwick K4, Swain A4, Brown G5, Chua S6, Thomas A7, Johnston SR8, Ajaz M9, Sumpter K10, Gillbanks A2, Watkins D2, Chau I2, Popat S11, Cunningham D2, Turner NC12.
Cancer Discov. 2016 May 13. pii: CD-15-1246. [Epub ahead of print

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Last Updated on June 1, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD