Key clinical point: New lesions in different organs and appearance/increase in ascites, but not the originally defined characteristics of hyperprogressive disease (HPD), are disease progression patterns associated with poor prognosis in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) and progressive disease (PD) as the best response to nivolumab therapy.
Major finding: Overall survival was comparable between patients with HPD and those with PD other than HPD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.0; P = 1.0) but significantly shorter in patients who did vs did not develop new lesions in different organs (HR 1.8; P = .0031) and in patients with appearance or increase in ascites vs those with stable or decreased ascites (HR 2.6; P < .0001).
Study details: This multicenter retrospective study included 245 patients with AGC and ≥1 measurable lesion who received nivolumab as a third-line or later treatment.
Disclosures: No source of funding was reported. Some authors declared serving on data safety monitoring or advisory boards or receiving research grants, honoraria, or consulting fees from various sources.
Source: Aoki M et al. Pattern of disease progression during third-line or later chemotherapy with nivolumab associated with poor prognosis in advanced gastric cancer: A multicenter retrospective study in Japan. Gastric Cancer. 2022 (Nov 1). Doi: 10.1007/s10120-022-01349-y