Abstract
Treatment options for locally advanced and metastatic esophageal and gastric tumors are primarily based on palliative systemic chemotherapy +- radiotherapy. The treatment of metastatic disease consists of doublets (platinum derivative in combination with fluoropyrimidine, possibly with a taxane).
However, the effectiveness of palliative chemotherapy is limited and there is no apparent shift in the median survival of these patients, which is around 12 months in metastatic disease. In the last two years, immunotherapy has come into play, either as monotherapy or in combination.
The results of studies that demonstrated the benefit of immunotherapy both in adjuvant administration and in the treatment of metastatic disease in the first or higher line have been recently published. The aim of this review article is to show the current possibilities of immunotherapy in the treatment of tumors of the esophagus, gastroesophageal junction and stomach.