New trial data showing improvements in the treatment of oesophageal and gastrointestinal cancers were presented at a press conference at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.

The first phase III trial to address the need for second-line treatments in oesophageal cancer shows that gefitinib improves important quality-of-life measures and extends progression-free survival, UK researchers report.

A further study, TRANSCOG, is planned to analyse over 300 patients’ biopsies in an effort to identify a molecularly defined subgroup where the benefit is enriched, said study author Prof David Ferry from New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, UK.