Table 4.
FDA-approved therapeutic drugs for gastrointestinal cancers
| Drug (brand name) | Sponsor | Properties | Indication | Approval date | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porfimer sodium (Photofrin) | Pinnacle Biolgs | A photosensitizer used for photodynamic therapy | Obstructing esophageal cancer | 12/27/1995 | P, O |
| Ramucirumab (Cyramza) | Eli Lilly | VEGFR2-directed mAb | Gastric cancer | 04/21/2014 | P, O |
| Sunitinib malate (Sutent) | CPPI CV | Multitarget TKI (VEGFRs, PDGFRα/β, CSF1R, KIT, and FLT3) | Imatinib-resistant GIST and advanced RCC | 01/26/2006 | P |
| Avapritinib (Ayvakit) | Blueprint | PDGFRα, PDGFRα mutants, and KIT inhibitor | GIST with PDGFRA exon 18 mutations | 01/09/2020 | P, O |
| Ripretinib (Qinlock) | Deciphera | PDGFRα, PDGFRα mutants, and KIT inhibitor | Advanced GIST | 05/15/2020 | P, O |
| Lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lutathera) | AAA USA | Somatostatin receptor-targeted radiopharmaceutical | GEP-NETs | 01/26/2018 | P, O |
| Pemigatinib (Pemazyre) | Incyte | FGFR1-3 inhibitor | Advanced cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusions/rearrangements | 04/17/2020 | P, O |
| Infigratinib phosphate (Truseltiq) | Helsinn Hlthcare | FGFR1-3 inhibitor | Advanced cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusions/rearrangements | 05/28/2021 | P, O |
| Gemcitabine HCl (Gemzar) | Eli Lilly | DNA synthesis inhibitor | Locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer | 05/15/1996 | P |
| Irinotecan HCl (Camptosar) | Pfizer | DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor | Metastatic colorectal cancer | 06/14/1996 | P |
| Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) | Sanofi | Organoplatinum alkylating agent | Colorectal cancer (in combination with 5-FU and leucovorin) | 08/09/2002 | P |
| Cetuximab (Erbitux) | ImClone | EGFR‑directed mAb | Colorectal cancer | 02/12/2004 | N/A |
| Panitumumab (Vectibix) | Amgen | EGFR‑directed mAb | Colorectal cancer | 09/27/2006 | N/A |
| Bevacizumab (Avastin) | Genentech | VEGF‑A-directed mAb | Colorectal cancer | 02/26/2004 | O |
| Ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) | Sanofi | Soluble receptor decoy that binds VEGF-A, VEGF-B, and PlGF | Metastatic colorectal cancer | 08/03/2012 | N/A |
| Regorafenib (Stivarga) | Bayer | Multitarget TKI (RET, VEGFRs, KIT, PDGFRα/β, FGFR1/2, RAF1, BRAF, and BRAFV600E) | Metastatic colorectal cancer | 09/27/2012 | P |
| Tipiracil HCl; Trifluridine (Lonsurf) | Taiho | Thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor plus a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor | Colorectal cancer | 09/22/2015 | S |
EGFR Epidermal growth factor receptor; FGFR1-3 Fibroblast growth factor receptor-1–3; GEP-NET Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor; GIST Gastrointestinal stromal tumor; O Orphan; P Priority; PDGFRα/β Platelet-derived growth factor receptor α/β; PlGF Placenta growth factor; RCC Renal cell carcinoma; RET Rearranged during transfection; S Standard; VEGF Vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGFR Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor