title: Targeted therapy in the management of advanced gastric cancer: are we making progress in the era of personalized medicine?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. With greater understanding of the molecular basis of carcinogenesis, targeted agents have led to a modest improvement in the outcome of advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We conducted an overview of the published evidence regarding the use of targeted therapy in AGC patients. Thus far, the human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) pathway, angiogenic pathway, and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin pathway have emerged as potential avenues for targeted therapy in AGC patients. The promising efficacy results of the Trastuzumab for Gastric Cancer trial led to the approved use of trastuzumab-based therapy as first-line treatment for patients with HER-2+ AGC. On the other hand, the Avastin® in Gastric Cancer trial evaluating bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy did not meet its primary endpoint of a longer overall survival duration despite a significantly higher response rate and longer progression-free survival time in patients in the bevacizumab arm. Phase III data are awaited for other targeted agents, including cetuximab, panitumumab, lapatinib, and everolimus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recent progress in targeted therapy development for AGC has been modest. Further improvement in the outcome of AGC patients will depend on the identification of biomarkers in different patient populations to facilitate the understanding of gastric carcinogenesis, combining different targeted agents with chemotherapy, and unraveling new molecular targets for therapeutic intervention.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Hilda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yau
mesh_terms: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological / Q000378:metabolism; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000379:methods; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D057285:Precision Medicine; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000068878:Trastuzumab; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D000068878:Trastuzumab; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; C546842:MTOR protein, human; C512478:EGFR protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human