Current Role of Immunotherapy in Gastric, Esophageal and Gastro-Esophageal Junction Cancers—A Report from the Western Canadian Gastrointestinal Cancer Consensus Conference

Abstract

Gastric, esophageal and gastro-esophageal junction cancers are associated with inferior outcomes. For early-stage disease, perioperative chemotherapy or chemoradiation followed by surgery is the standard treatment. For most patients with advanced upper gastrointestinal tract cancers, platinum-based chemotherapy remains a standard treatment. Recently, several randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the benefit of immunotherapy involving checkpoint inhibitors alone or in combination with chemotherapy in patients with gastro-esophageal cancer and have changed the treatment landscape. The Western Canadian Gastrointestinal Cancer Consensus Conference (WCGCCC), involving experts from four Western Canadian provinces, convened virtually on 16 June 2021 and developed the recommendations on the role of immunotherapy in patients with gastro-esophageal cancer.

Keywords

• gastroesophageal cancer
• stomach cancer
• esophageal cancer
• gastroesophageal junction cancer
• immunotherapy
• checkpoint inhibitors