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Avelumab in gastric cancer

    Giandomenico Roviello

    *Author for correspondence:

    E-mail Address: giandomenicoroviello@hotmail.it

    Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini, 6, 50139 Florence, Italy

    ,
    Alberto D’Angelo

    Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom

    ,
    Daniele Generali

    Breast Cancer Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy

    ,
    Matteo Pittacolo

    Department of Orthopedics & Orthopedic Oncology, University of Padova, Italy

    ,
    Monica Ganzinelli

    Thoracic Unit, Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    ,
    Giandomenica Iezzi

    Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    ,
    Nicolò de Manzini

    General Surgery Unit, Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences Cattinara University Hospital, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Integrata di Trieste, Trieste, Italy

    &
    Navid Sobhani

    Breast Cancer Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy

    Published Online:https://doi.org/10.2217/imt-2019-0011

    Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common malignancy and the third cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Currently, surgery and chemotherapy remain the main therapeutic options and the prognosis of the disease is still poor in the metastatic setting. Avelumab is a human IgG1 antibody directed against PD-L1 approved for Merkel cell carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma that could be useful also for the treatment of GC. This review describes the chemical structure, the pharmacologic properties and the current knowledge of the efficacy of avelumab in the treatment of GC from the data available on the first and later phase clinical trials. The ongoing studies testing this drug either alone or in combination with other drugs are also described.

    Papers of special note have been highlighted as: • of interest; •• of considerable interest

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