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Ivonescimab in Combination with a Standard Chemotherapy Regimen (FOLFOX) for Controlling Disease Progression in Patients with HER2 Negative Esophageal, Gastric, or Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma

Trial Status: active

This phase II trial tests how well adding ivonescimab to standard fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and leucovorin (FOLFOX) works to control disease progression in patients with HER2 negative (HER2-) esophageal, gastric, or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma that has spread from where it first started to nearby tissue, lymph nodes, or distant parts of the body (advanced), that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes and cannot be removed by surgery (locally advanced unresectable), or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Tumors use many ways to hide from the immune system and one of the more common ways in gastric and esophageal cancers is by increasing a protein called programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Ivonescimab blocks PD-L1 and PD-1 interactions and helps the body’s immune system fight cancer. Cancer spreads in the body by escaping the body’s immune system attack. Ivonescimab may help the body’s immune system kill cancer by not allowing the tumor cells to escape attack from the cancer killing immune cells. Many patients with these types of cancer have high levels of activity in pathways that stimulate blood vessel growth in the tumor. A protein called VEGF-A is a key stimulator of this process and helps stimulate tumors to spread to other organs. Ivonescimab also works in part by blocking VEGF-A to reduce the ability of tumors to grow. Fluorouracil stops cells from making deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and may kill tumor cells. Oxaliplatin is in a class of medications called platinum-containing antineoplastic agents. It damages the cell’s DNA and may kill tumor cells. Leucovorin is a form of folic acid. It can enhance the effectiveness of fluorouracil and protect healthy cells from the toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs. FOLFOX is a Food and Drug Administration-approved chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of esophageal, gastric, and gastroesophageal junction cancers, among others. Adding ivonescimab to FOLFOX may improve tumor control in patients with HER2- advanced, locally advanced unresectable, or metastatic esophageal, gastric, or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.