title: Targeted therapies for metastatic esophagogastric cancer.
abstract: The prognosis and long-term survival for patients with metastatic esophagogastric cancer (EGC) is poor. Historically, the mainstay of treatment has been combination chemotherapy. More recently, a number of targeted therapies have been developed and are being studied with the goal of improving response rate and survival in patients with metastatic EGC. To date, the only targeted therapy which has been clinically approved is trastuzumab which targets the HER2/Neu oncogene. However, only a small group of patients with EGCs are HER2 amplified, and there are other important targets/pathways which play a role in the development of these cancers that are currently being studied. With the identification of these other clinically relevant pathways, it is anticipated that several other therapies will be approved in the future.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Hematology and Oncology, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Zev A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Wainberg
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents