Mechanism for treatment of gastric cancer: indirect comparison of trastuzumab and apatinib

Abstract

Gastric cancer is the fifth most prevalent type of cancer globally. It is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Gastroscopy serves as a dependable foundation for the medical professional’s diagnostic process. And a biopsy is more accurate. A medical professional utilizes CT, endoscopic ultrasound, PET, and laparoscopy to ascertain the stage of gastric carcinoma. As a disease with macromolecular and phenotypic heterogeneity, the main treatment for gastric cancer in its early stage is endoscopic resection. Advanced gastric cancer is commonly managed through sequential regimens of chemotherapy, initiated with a first-line treatment cocktail comprising platinum and fluorouracil. Targeted therapies approved for the treatment of gastric cancer include trastuzumab (first-line human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) positive patients), Apatinib (oral small molecule vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) inhibitor), Lamuzumab (anti-angiogenesis second-line), and nivolumab or pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1 third-line). Therapeutic modalities approved for the management of gastric cancer encompass trastuzumab (as a first-line agent for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-positive status), Apatinib (an oral small-molecule inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), Lamuzumab (an anti-angiogenic agent for second-line therapy), and nivolumab or pembrolizumab (as third-line treatments targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)). This article reviews the mechanism of action, clinical application and safety of apatinib and trastuzumab. Complexity, diversity of cancer and effect, safety of using drugs make the combination of drugs in trend.