Despite declining incidence rates, gastric cancer remains the second most common tumor type and second cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Gastric cancer occurs nearly five times more frequently in Japan than in the West. While early diagnosis and encouraging survival rates are common in Japan, the disease confers greater mortality in the West, thus representing a significant health burden.

• Current diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer, including treatment regimens by stage and ongoing controversies
• Issues and unmet needs in current treatment, screening and geographical treatment variations
• Examination of the gastric cancer pipeline and market opportunities for drug developers
• Stakeholder opinions and interview transcripts based on qualitative interviews with key opinion leaders in the US, Europe and Japan


Highlights



Gastric cancer has never been the most attractive indication for drug developers, which is evidenced by the current lack of approved agents for its treatment. This situation has changed over the past few years and numerous targeted therapies are now in Phase II trials, which are expected to eventually revolutionize treatment of gastric cancer.





The incorporation of neoadjuvant therapy into treatment guidelines is likely to be the next major change to occur in the gastric cancer market. Positive results from the recent MAGIC trial showed the feasibility of neoadjuvant therapy and its advantages over adjuvant therapy, the concept of which is greatly anticipated by key opinion leaders.





At present, the ECF regimen constitutes standard first-line chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer. Several large-scale randomized clinical trials are currently assessing the newer cytotoxics for this treatment setting and despite seemingly positive results, only the REAL-2 study is expected to cause a great impact.



Reasons to Purchase


• Identify the limitations of current therapy available to gastric cancer patients and the potential of future therapy
• Understand current epidemiological trends in gastric cancer and ongoing treatment controversies
• Assess the opportunities for innovative targeted therapies in the gastric cancer market, particularly in metastatic disease