Ramucirumab for the treatment of gastroesophageal cancers.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ramucirumab for use in the second line setting of advanced or metastatic, gastric or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEAC) based on the result of Phase III clinical trials; REGARD and RAINBOW.

Areas covered

We briefly review the mechanisms of angiogenesis, anti-angiogenic therapy, and current status of advanced GEAC treatment then highlight the challenges and future prospects of novel molecular targeted agents.

Expert opinion

Although both the REGARD and RAINBOW trials met their primary endpoints of significantly prolonged overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), the magnitude of the difference is still relatively modest. Given that ramucirumab alone has a marginal effect, a

SUBMITTER: Shimodaira Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5001688 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature