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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2019; 11(7): 518-526
Published online Jul 15, 2019. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v11.i7.518
Recent progress of chemotherapy and biomarkers for gastroesophageal cancer
Osamu Maeda, Yuichi Ando
Osamu Maeda, Yuichi Ando, Department of Clinical Oncology and Chemotherapy, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya 466-8560, Japan
Author contributions: Maeda O wrote the manuscript; Ando Y supervised the review; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Osamu Maeda, MD, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Clinical Oncology and Chemotherapy, Nagoya University Hospital, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8560, Japan. maeda-o@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-52-7441903 Fax: +81-52-7441903
Received: February 20, 2019
Peer-review started: February 22, 2019
First decision: April 16, 2019
Revised: April 17, 2019
Accepted: May 28, 2019
Article in press: May 29, 2019
Published online: July 15, 2019
Processing time: 145 Days and 3.9 Hours
Abstract

Key cytotoxic drugs of chemotherapy for gastroesophageal cancer include fluoropyrimidine, platinum, taxanes and irinotecan. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is one of the main treatment strategies, especially for esophageal cancer. As molecular target agents, the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab for HER2-positive gastric cancer and the anti-angiogenesis agent ramucirumab combined with paclitaxel have been proven to improve the survival of gastric cancer patients. Recently, anti-PD-1 antibodies have become available as second- or later-line chemotherapy. Microsatellite instability is also useful as a biomarker to select patients suitable for immunotherapy. Furthermore, genome-wide analysis has improved our understanding of the biological features and molecular mechanisms of gastroesophageal cancer and will provide optimized treatment selection.

Keywords: Gastroesophageal cancer; Chemotherapy; Biomarker; HER2

Core tip: This article reviewed the current status and recent developments of gastroesophageal cancer and its related biomarkers for treatment selection. Platinum, fluoropyrimidines, taxanes, irinotecan, trastuzumab and ramucirumab are key drugs. Recently, anti-PD-1 antibodies have become available. PD-L1 expression and microsatellite instability are used to predict the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Genome-wide analysis will provide a better understanding of the biology in gastroesophageal cancer.