Esophageal and gastric adenocarcinomas are frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage and have a dismal prognosis. Even in patients with potentially curative cancer, nearly 50% will develop recurrent disease despite aggressive treatments. A number of biomarkers currently guide treatment decisions for patients with esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma and include human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) amplification, mismatch repair deficiency/microsatellite instability (dMMR/MSI-H) and program death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. This review will focus on the function, testing and FDA-approved targeted therapies for HER2, dMMR/MSI-H and PD-L1. In addition, a number of novel targets in esophageal and gastric cancer are being studied in clinical trials. Neurotrophic-tropomyosin receptor kinase (NTRK), claudin-18 (CLDN18)/Rho GTPase activating protein 26 (ARHGAP26) gene fusion, fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG3) and T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3 (TIM3) will be briefly reviewed. Despite several biomarkers used in the selection of treatment therapies, treatment outcomes remain poor. Future research efforts will focus on the identification of new biomarkers, moving existing biomarkers into earlier lines of therapy, and evaluating new combinations of existing biomarkers and therapies.
Advanced gastroesophageal cancer in which surgical resection is no longer appropriate is an aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis. This review provides an overview of the key trials that have led to the current standard of care, both highlighting progress with systemic cytotoxic and biological therapies, but also calling attention to pitfalls to assist practitioners in optimizing currently available treatments for their patients. This review surveys recent and ongoing trials and biomarker studies regarding the use of anti-HER2 agents, with increased recognition of molecular intratumoral heterogeneity confounding such targeted therapy strategies. We conclude with an overview of recent major trials incorporating immune checkpoint inhibitors among patients with metastatic and locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer and providing a framework for the discriminate application of these new therapies.