🍽️ GI Cancer — 2026-W35

What this page is. Every paper the week's monitor reviewed — including the ones that did not go into the digest. Material marked “Not selected” was reviewed and deliberately left out. It has not been fact-checked to digest standard and is not endorsed. For the curated read, see the digest itself.

Phase 3 randomized trial in unresectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after definitive chemoradiotherapy, published in Annals of Oncology. Adding atezolizumab with or without tiragolumab did not meet the primary progression-free or overall survival endpoints versus placebo, informing decisions against routine post-chemoradiation immunotherapy in this setting.

Multicenter randomized phase 3 trial in locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with macrovascular invasion, comparing surgical resection versus continued maintenance therapy after induction atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, published in The Lancet. Results will inform whether adding resection to systemic immunotherapy improves outcomes in select responders, potentially changing management of advanced HCC.

ASCO living guideline update on immunotherapy and targeted therapy for advanced gastroesophageal cancer, published in JCO, providing continuously updated practice recommendations that directly guide systemic therapy selection.

Translational study evaluating an ultrasensitive tumor-informed ctDNA assay for detecting molecular residual disease after curative-intent therapy in locally advanced esophageal cancer, published in Clinical Cancer Research. Improved sensitivity and lead time to recurrence support its potential use in guiding postoperative surveillance and treatment decisions.

Single-arm phase 2 trial in previously-treated advanced biliary cancer (Clin Cancer Res) testing pembrolizumab combined with GM-CSF. Shows modest objective response with an acceptable safety profile and biomarker correlates, suggesting a possible but incremental option in this immunotherapy-resistant tumor type.

Prospective translational study in HCC patients treated with first-line atezolizumab-bevacizumab, published in Clinical Cancer Research. Identifies circulating and tumor immune markers (γδ T cells, CD8+PD1+ dynamics) associated with response and survival, with validation in independent trial cohorts, potentially informing patient selection for this regimen.

Translational/biomarker study using spatial multi-omics in hepatocellular carcinoma, published in Cancer Cell. Identifies a specific immune niche and a bacterial mechanism associated with response to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade, pointing to a potential strategy to enhance checkpoint inhibitor efficacy.

Translational study combining retrospective patient cohort analysis and preclinical mouse models, published in Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, showing DPYD genetic variants predict response to checkpoint inhibitors in MSI-H metastatic colorectal cancer. Suggests DPYD status could help identify patients likely to respond to or resist immunotherapy and points to a potential combination strategy to overcome resistance.

Small pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic sub-study (n=16) of the phase 3 TIGeR-PaC trial comparing intra-arterial versus intravenous gemcitabine in locally advanced pancreatic cancer, published in Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. Suggests a correlation between drug metabolite levels and tumor marker response with intra-arterial delivery, offering mechanistic insight but not yet practice-changing given the small sample.

Population-based case-control study with prospective follow-up in colorectal cancer patients, published in JAMA Network Open. Explores how prediagnostic weight loss contributes to the 'obesity paradox' in survival, offering prognostic insight but no direct therapeutic decision-making implication.

Translational proteogenomic analysis identifying FGFR2b as a common cell-surface isoform target in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, published in Clin Cancer Res, highlighting potential antibody-drug conjugate targeting but without direct patient outcome data tied to a specific therapy.

Preclinical mouse study with correlative human data in advanced pancreatic cancer, published in Nature Cancer. Identifies a microbiota-diet-immune axis that enhances anti-PD1 efficacy, suggesting a novel dietary/microbiome strategy to potentiate immunotherapy, though largely mechanistic with limited direct patient-outcome validation.

Single-arm phase 2 trial in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer testing chemotherapy rechallenge with or without targeted agents, published in Oncology Research. Suggests adding bevacizumab or cetuximab to rechallenge chemotherapy may improve disease control over chemotherapy alone in this late-line setting.

Preclinical xenograft study in Clinical Cancer Research testing an actinium-225-labeled anti-MUC-16 radioimmunoconjugate in ovarian and pancreatic cancer models. Shows durable tumor regression in mouse models, informing future clinical development of MUC-16-targeted radioligand therapy but with no patient data yet.

Methodological analysis using pooled individual-patient data from the ARCAD metastatic colorectal cancer database to test whether synthetic external control arms can reproduce overall survival results from randomized trials, published in JNCI. Supports the feasibility of synthetic control arms for future trial design rather than directly changing current treatment decisions.