Targeted therapy in gastric cancer: Review of literature

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death, and despite having improved treatment modalities over the last decade, for most patients, only modest improvements have been seen in overall survival. Conventional chemotherapy and radiation have shown limited efficacy for advanced gastric cancer, showing an overall survival (OS) rate of ~10 months. Trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody against human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), is the first approved molecularly targeted agent for HER2-overexpressing gastric cancer, which was found to prolong the OS and the progression free survival (PFS) of patients. Angiogenesis is a vital process in the progression and metastasis of solids tumors including gastric adenocarcinoma. Monoclonal antibodies, soluble receptors, and small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been developed to inhibit tumor angiogenesis: The recent REGARD trial RAINBOW trial for advanced pretreated gastric cancer confirmed the survival advantage of this anti-angiogenic agent in gastric cancer.