ASCO-GI 2023 – zolbetuximab opens up a stomach cancer niche

Last year saw Claudin18.2 emerge as a sought-after novel oncology target. Now here come positive survival data in the first setting in which the most advanced anti-Claudin18.2 antibody, Astellas’s zolbetuximab, might be approved.

The results, from the Spotlight chemo combo study in front-line gastric/gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer, have just been unveiled in a late-breaking abstract at the Asco Gastrointestinal Cancers symposium. On the face of it zolbetuximab looks approvable, but the data raise several questions, most notably about the need for mandatory Claudin18.2 testing.