Get a quick, expert overview of the latest clinical information and guidelines for cancer checkpoint inhibitors and their implications for specific types of cancers. This practical title by Drs. Fumito Ito and Marc Ernstoff synthesizes the most up-to-date research and clinical guidance available on immune checkpoint inhibitors and presents this information in a compact, easy-to-digest resource. It's an ideal concise reference for trainee and practicing medical oncologists, as well as those in research. - Discusses the current understanding of how to best harness the immune system against different types of cancer at various stages. - Helps you translate current research and literature into practical information for daily practice. - Presents information logically organized by disease site. - Covers tumor immunology and biology; toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors; and future outlooks. - Consolidates today's available information on this timely topic into one convenient resource.

This book is a practical guide on how best to incorporate advanced radiation therapy techniques into the multimodality treatment of a wide range of gastrointestinal tumors, including esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, hepatobiliary malignancies (primary and metastatic liver tumors, intrahepatic, perihilar, and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, and gallbladder cancer), pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, and carcinoma of the anal canal. Practical considerations when treating patients with external beam radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, particle therapy, and stereotactic body radiation therapy are clearly explained. Detailed attention is devoted to the safety and efficacy of radiotherapy in combination with current and emerging systemic therapies (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and biologic agents), surgery, and ablative therapy, and the advantages and disadvantages of alternative treatment approaches for different tumor types are carefully evaluated. The book will benefit radiation oncologists, medical and surgical oncologists, medical physicists, medical dosimetrists, and other oncology professionals.

Handbook of Gastrointestinal Cancers is a practical guide to the management of colorectal, pancreatic, hepatocellular, gastric, and esophageal cancers as well as other cancers of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract. Edited by a multidisciplinary group of oncologists from leading institutions, this book is an essential day-to-day reference for evidence-based treatment and patient care. The handbook focuses on treatment strategies and approaches to cancerous gastrointestinal tumors that are transforming the recent oncological landscape, including expert-given guidance on methods such as neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy, surgical transplant, radiation therapy, molecular diagnostic testing leading to molecularly targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. With so many advances in the current field, it is increasingly difficult for early-career practitioners to grasp the entirety of practices and for seasoned oncologists to keep up with newly approved therapies, side effects to treatments, and special clinical management considerations, but this handbook addresses it all. Organized by major gastrointestinal disease sites and featuring “How I Treat” case vignettes from world experts for common and uncommon management considerations, the handbook brings an experience-based perspective to these tough-to-treat areas. The treatment strategies and applications set forth in the chapters are pertinent to situations and decision-making encountered in practice. Handbook of Gastrointestinal Cancers is a valuable resource for medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and surgeons treating and managing gastrointestinal cancers as well as trainees in medical, radiation, and surgical oncology programs needing an accessible point of care resource. KEY FEATURES: Provides treatment plans and recommendations for each stage of a range of gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, and hepatocellular cancers plus more Includes “How I Treat” patient vignettes told from the physician’s point of view within each clinical chapter Outlines special considerations for the elderly and for survivors of gastrointestinal cancers Highlights important clinical guidance on nutritional and palliative concerns commonly seen in patients with gastrointestinal cancers

This book reviews current immunotherapeutic strategies for gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, including immune composition, immune checkpoint inhibitors, cell therapy, and peptide vaccines used to protect against esophageal, gastric, hepato-biliary, pancreatic and colorectal cancers. It also discusses the current challenges of using immunotherapy for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. The book reviews highly sensitive and specific immunomarkers for the detection of GI malignancies, and examines therapeutic vaccines and the major cytokines involved in GI immunotherapy, as well as their basic biology and clinical applications. In closing, the book explores various aspects of computational biology for the detection and treatment of GI malignancies.

This book is about the manipulation of the immune system as a therapeutic approach to gastrointestinal cancer and its clinical applications, exploring therapeutic approaches which might be taken under the broad banner of immunotherapy. Starting by introducing concepts of modern immunology, the clinical applications of immunotherapy are then discussed. The reader will learn about the three broad classes of immune therapeutic agents: cell-based treatment; antibody therapy; cytokine application and the key effector cells and mechanisms which might cause tumour rejection. The reverse side of this equation, the genetic and molecular mechanisms which the tumour can use to escape immune control and regulation, is also discussed. Through reviewing the most up-to-date evidence, this volume provides an overview of the important scientific lessons learned from past failure of immunotherapeutics in the clinic and highlights more positive recent data, coupled to practical guidelines for clinical usage. Written by a team of worldwide experts, this is an indispensable guide for medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, radiation therapists, pharmacists, oncology nurse specialists.

Gastric cancer has been one of the great malignant scourges affecting man kind for as long as medical records have been kept. Until operative resection pioneered by Bilroth and others became available, no effective treatment was feasible and death from cancer was virtually inevitable. Even with resection by total gastrectomy, the chances of tumor eradication remained small. Over recent years, however, the situation has been changing. Some changes have resulted from better understanding of the disease, early detec tion, and better management techniques with applied clinical research, but the reasons for other changes are poorly understood. For example, the incidence of gastric cancer is decreasing, especially in westernized societies, where it has fallen from one of the most common cancers to no longer being in the top five causes of cancer death. Still it remains the number one killer of adult males in Japan and Korea. Whether the reduced incidence in western societies is a result of dietary changes or methods of food preservation, or some other reason, is as yet uncertain. Improvements in outcome have been reported from mass screening and early detection; more refined techniques of establishing early diagnosis, tumor type, and tumor extent; more radical surgical resection; and resection at earlier stages of disease.

This book highlights the importance of understanding gastric and colon cancer metabolism in guiding diagnosis and drug discovery. It summarizes the correlation between adiponectin and matrix metalloproteinase with colorectal cancer. The book also evaluates the divergent role of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 in colorectal cancer growth and metastasis. After discussing the role of genetic polymorphisms in alcohol metabolizing enzymes and EPHX1 with the onset of colorectal cancer, it reviews the molecular mechanisms of chemoresistance in gastric cancer and novel therapeutic strategies to reverse the chemoresistance of tumors. In addition, the book explores the theranostic role of nanoparticles and therapeutic potential of phytochemicals with regard to colorectal cancer. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable guide for oncologists, academic researchers, pharmaceuticals practitioners, and students who are involved in research and treatment of cancer.

This book is a detailed guide to therapy response imaging in cancer patients that fully takes into account the revolutionary progress and paradigm shift in treatment approaches for advanced disease. The opening chapters describe the role of imaging as a “common language” for tumor response evaluation in oncology and address challenges and strategies in the era of precision cancer therapy and cancer immunotherapy. Practical pitfalls are discussed, with emphasis on the importance of approaching cancer as a systemic disease and the need for increased awareness of drug toxicity due to novel therapies. Therapy response imaging in a wide range of cancer types is then comprehensively described and illustrated, using a disease-specific approach. A concluding section focuses on emerging approaches and future directions, including radiomics/radiogenomics, co-clinical imaging, and molecular and functional imaging. Therapy Response Imaging in Oncology will be of high value for radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and oncologists. It will also be of interest to cancer care providers and oncology trial investigators.

Rectal cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers world-wide. It is also a paradigm for multimodal management, as the combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy is often necessary to achieve the optimal outcome. Recently, international experts met in Heidelberg, Germany to discuss the latest developments in the management of rectal cancer, including the anatomic and pathologic basis, staging tools, surgical concepts including fast-track surgery and laparoscopic resection, functional outcome after surgery and the role of radio- and chemotherapy. This monograph summarizes this meeting and gives an extensive overview of the current concepts in management of rectal cancer.

This book reviews current immunotherapeutic strategies for gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, including immune composition, immune checkpoint inhibitors, cell therapy, and peptide vaccines used to protect against esophageal, gastric, hepato-biliary, pancreatic and colorectal cancers. It also discusses the current challenges of using immunotherapy for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. The book reviews highly sensitive and specific immunomarkers for the detection of GI malignancies, and examines therapeutic vaccines and the major cytokines involved in GI immunotherapy, as well as their basic biology and clinical applications. In closing, the book explores various aspects of computational biology for the detection and treatment of GI malignancies.