ASCO GI 2022 | Exploring real-world biomarker testing for patients with advanced esophageal cancers

Rutika Mehta, MD, MPH, Moffit Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, talks on her poster presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium 2022 on real-world immunotherapy biomarker testing patterns for patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancers. The analysis was performed via the Flatiron database on 1142 eligible patients. Dr. Mehta accentuates that at the start of first-line treatment not all patients were tested for PD-L1 or MMR/MSI. Graphs were presented exemplifying that testing patterns had improved from 2017-2020 and the hope that the approval of immunotherapy drugs at the forefront and the data presented at various congress will aid in the appreciation that the addition of immunotherapy is most favorable in a subgroup of patients selected by their PD-L1 score. Limitations of this study include missing data due to lack of documentation. Many treatment regimens were unable to be accurately determined and the study predated the approval of the immunotherapy in the first-line setting. This interview took place at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.