Content - Key Studies in GI Malignancies From ESMO 2025

Introduction

In this text-based module, Samuel J. Klempner, MD, FASCO, and Zev A. Wainberg, MD, summarize and review the clinical implications of key studies in gastrointestinal malignancies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2025 Congress.

The key points discussed in this module are illustrated with thumbnails from the accompanying downloadable PowerPoint slidesets, which can be found here or downloaded by clicking any of the slide thumbnails in the module alongside the expert commentary.

Decera Clinical Eduction plans to measure the educational impact of this activity. Some questions will be asked twice: once at the beginning of the activity and then once again after the discussion that informs the best choice. Your responses will be aggregated for analysis, and your specific responses will not be shared.

Before continuing with this educational activity, please take a moment to answer the following questions.

How many people with gastrointestinal malignancies do you provide care for in a typical month?

A.
1-4
B.
5-10
C.
11-15
D.
16-20
E.
>20
F.
Not applicable

For a patient with resectable gastric cancer and PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) ≥1%, how should the results of the MATTERHORN trial influence your perioperative treatment plan?

A.
Continue standard fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel (FLOT) chemotherapy alone, as immunotherapy has not shown benefit in this setting
B.
Add durvalumab to perioperative FLOT, given demonstrated improvements in both event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS)
C.
Replace FLOT with durvalumab monotherapy to reduce chemotherapy-related toxicity
D.
Add durvalumab only in the adjuvant setting after surgery to minimize preoperative risk

Which of the following best describes a key finding from the phase II EDGE-Gastric Arm A1 trial evaluating the addition of domvanalimab and zimberelimab to FOLFOX for patients with untreated metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, or esophageal adenocarcinoma?

A.
Significantly improved median progression-free survival (PFS) in tumor PD-L1 expression 5% compared to 1%
B.
Similar objective response rate (ORR) regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression level
C.
Higher ORR with tumor PD-L1 expression 1% compared to <1%
D.
Approximately half of patients experienced an immune-related treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE)

Which of the following biomarkers identified by tumor biopsy next-generation sequencing testing would identify a patient with previously treated pancreatic cancer as a potential candidate for a clinical trial evaluating the novel agent INCB161734?

A.
FGFR2b
B.
HER2
C.
KRAS G12D
D.
NRG1

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Key Studies in Gastrointestinal Malignancies: Independent Conference Coverage of the ESMO 2025 Congress

Samuel J. Klempner, MD, FASCO

Zev A. Wainberg, MD

Activity

Introduction

How many people with gastrointestinal malignancies do you provide care for in a typical month?

For a patient with resectable gastric cancer and PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) ≥1%, how should the results of the MATTERHORN trial influence your perioperative treatment plan?

Which of the following best describes a key finding from the phase II EDGE-Gastric Arm A1 trial evaluating the addition of domvanalimab and zimberelimab to FOLFOX for patients with untreated metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, or esophageal adenocarcinoma?

Which of the following biomarkers identified by tumor biopsy next-generation sequencing testing would identify a patient with previously treated pancreatic cancer as a potential candidate for a clinical trial evaluating the novel agent INCB161734?