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As January comes to a close, the new year is still fresh, offering a moment to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re heading. Even in the heart of winter, our teams continue moving important work forward, guided by research, collaboration, and the experiences of our patients.
In this issue, we’re pleased to share updates on recent research efforts and clinical studies that are helping us better understand and refine how we treat and care for our patients.
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Read below to catch up on some exciting news presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium that took place earlier this month. We also sat down with Oncology Nurse Navigator Christine Lilienfeld, RN, BSN, to learn more about her role and what inspired her journey at Dana-Farber.
Lastly, we want to hear from you! If you have feedback you’d like to share with our team, a suggestion for content you would like to see, or are interested in sharing your own journey and experience with our center’s community and other patients at Dana-Farber, please email us so that we can connect with you directly: CEGCcenter@dfci.harvard.edu.
As always, we wish you all good health and wellness and a wonderful year ahead.
Sincerely,
Peter Enzinger, MD
Director, Center for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer
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Meet Our Team
Get to know Oncology Nurse Navigator Christine Lilienfeld, RN, BSN
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What does your role entail and what is a typical day in this role like?
Lilienfeld: I like to describe my role as an oncology nurse navigator (ONN) as a jack-of-all-trades. My day is never predictable. I cover three busy doctors, so it can get very busy!
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Most of my day involves phone triage and care coordination as well as working collaboratively with many different members of the team. Phone triage means helping patients who call with symptoms or concerns that need attention quickly. I work with the doctor and the advanced practice provider (nurse practitioner or physician assistant) to create a treatment plan for the patient. That may include having them come into clinic urgently or helping set up support at home, such as visiting nurse services, if needed.
What made you want to pursue a career in nursing, and what drew you to the GI oncology specialty?
Lilienfeld: I had a role model in my life who was a nurse, and she inspired me to go into nursing. My first job was at Milford Hospital where the only oncologist on staff admitted her patients to the floor I worked on. There was a nurse practitioner who would come and administer chemotherapy and provide additional care for our cancer patients. I really loved working with those patients and providers.
In 1989, I decided to come to Dana-Farber, where I knew I could learn from the best. I started out as an inpatient nurse, then moved to infusion and eventually to my current role where I have been for 26 years. I took care of a lot of GI patients in the infusion area and so it made sense for me to specialize in that patient population.
What excites you most about where the research in this field is heading?
Lilienfeld: I have seen so much progress made in cancer treatments over my career at Dana-Farber. The past decade has been particularly exciting with all the new drugs focusing on specific mutations. Our doctors/researchers are tireless in their efforts to discover new treatments. Our patients are living longer because of this.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
Lilienfeld: I love to cook and at one point thought about a career in culinary arts.
Where do you consider to be your hometown?
Lilienfeld: I have lived and raised my family in Brookline for the past 30-plus years.
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Our Research on Esophageal and Gastric Cancer
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Clinical trials are a crucial way to advance treatments and help physicians find answers to questions that arise in the clinic. Our physicians lead and participate in revolutionary worldwide clinical trials to constantly improve the treatment of esophageal and gastric cancer.
This short video highlights some breakthrough trials that have had impactful results for esophageal and gastric cancer patients.
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New Study Shows Promise for HER2-Positive Stomach and Esophageal Cancer
Treatment options for HER2-positive gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas (GEAs) remain limited. Despite recent advances, many patients with metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (mGEA) still experience disease progression within a year of treatment.
HERIZON-GEA-01 was a recent study that sought to test novel monoclonal antibodies; zanidatamab and tislelizumab. These drugs can target specific proteins HER2 and PD-1, respectively, to kill cancer cells and have shown promise in slowing cancer growth in several cancer studies, including stomach and esophageal cancer.
The study included 914 patients which were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups:
- Zanidatamab (anti-HER2) + chemotherapy + immunotherapy (tislelizumab)
- Zanidatamab + chemotherapy
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Trastuzumab (anti-HER2) + chemotherapy (the current standard treatment option)
Here were some of the study’s key findings:
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Patients who received zanidatamab saw a 35% reduction in the risk of their disease worsening.
- Patients who received zanidatamab + chemotherapy + immunotherapy (tislelizumab) saw a 28% reduction in the risk of death.
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Overall, the treatment responses were more significant and prolonged in the zanidatamab-containing groups.
These findings support zanidatamab as a promising new option in HER2+ GEAs, with potential to replace trastuzumab as the current first-line treatment.
These results were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium earlier this month.
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FORTITUDE-101: When a Promising Approach Did Not Lead to Added Benefit
Researchers have been looking for ways to personalize therapy based on tumor biology for gastric (stomach) and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers. One promising target is FGFR2b, a protein found on the surface of tumor cells in a subset of patients. Earlier phase studies, including the FIGHT trial (reported by us in an earlier edition), suggested that adding a targeted antibody called bemarituzumab to standard chemotherapy might improve outcomes in patients whose tumors overexpress FGFR2b. These results provided the rationale for moving into a larger, confirmatory study: FORTITUDE-101.
FORTITUDE-101 was a global clinical trial designed to evaluate whether adding bemarituzumab to standard first-line chemotherapy (mFOLFOX6) could improve survival for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma that overexpresses FGFR2b and is HER2-negative. Here are some key takeaways from this study:
- The addition of bemarituzumab to mFOLFOX6 helped keep the cancer from growing or spreading for longer but did not lead to more tumors shrinking compared with chemotherapy alone.
- With longer follow-up, the difference between the two treatment groups became smaller over time.
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Overall, this study found that FGFR2b remains a promising target with demonstrated activity from the addition of bemarituzumab; however, no meaningful survival benefit was observed.
These results were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting in October 2025.
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In November, we raised awareness for Gastric Cancer Awareness Month and hosted another event as part of our Digesting the Science series. Dr. Enzinger was joined by senior oncology dietitian/nutritionist Julie Bosworth, RD, LDN, to discuss eating after surgery.
Watch the full video here:
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