A promising new study finds that an experimental therapy based on immune-system antibodies is helping extend the life of people with advanced stomach cancer.  This is encouraging news as advances in therapeutic approaches for treating this cancer are badly needed.

The antibody creating excitement amongst oncologists treating stomach cancer is called IMAB362.  The phase 2 clinical trial studying 161 patients found that those using the treatment involving the antibody IMAB362 in addition to using chemotherapy had a median survival rate of at least 13 more months compared to patients only receiving chemotherapy but not the antibody who had a median survival rate of 8.4 months.

A focus of the study was on a protein called claudin 18.2 abundantly found in gastric tumors  targeted by the IMAB362 antibody.  This protein is not present in healthy tissue except for the lining of the stomach so that the antibody IMAB362 is able to target specifically the protein claudin 18.2 helping to minimize side effects of healthy tissue.

Also promising was that patients with the highest levels of the protein claudin 18.2 present in their tumors prior to receiving the new treatment had a median survival rate of 17 months, even longer than the other groups studied. 

Claudin 18.2 is also found in other cancers including pancreatic, lung, esophageal, and ovarian tumors but IMAB362 is the first antibody to be able to target directly this protein.  However the use of IMAB362 antibody may have the potential to also improve the outlook of those other hard-to-treat tumors.

What is exciting for researchers from this study is that the experimental therapy tears down the walls that hide cancer from being found by our body’s immune system.  This antibody – IMAB362 – appears to break through that barrier exposing the cancer’s location with a bulls-eye pinpointing to aggressively target the tumor. 

The American Cancer Society estimates for the year 2016 approximately 26,370 cases of stomach cancer will be diagnosed and about 10,730 patients will succumb to the disease.  The average age of when stomach cancer is diagnosed is 69 years with the average risk of a person developing stomach cancer in their lifetime is about 1 in 111.  Men have a higher incidence of stomach cancer than women. 

Stomach cancer ranks 14th in incidence among the major cancer malignancies.  The etiology is unknown but risk factors include:

·         Advanced age

·         Male gender

·         Diet low in fruits and vegetables

·         Diet high in salted, smoked, or preserved foods

·         Chronic atrophic gastritis

·         Intestinal metaplasia

·         Pernicious anemia

·         Cigarette smoking

·         Family history of stomach cancer

In early 2017, a larger phase 3 study in stomach cancer patients is scheduled according to researchers.  With the findings from this recent study to plans of larger more precise trials, there is an anticipation of hopefulness and optimism of effective therapy for treating stomach cancer in the future.