Expression data from gastroesphageal cancers and adjascent normal tissue

The primary objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of bortezomib alone or in combination with irinotecan in patients with advanced gastric and gastroesphageal cancer. A secondary objecitve was to determine whether treatment was associated with changes in gene expression in the tumor and normal adjascent tissue. Tumor biopsies and biopsies of normal adjascent tissue were obtained before therapy and 24 hours after therapy. Differences in gene expression were evaluated between tumor and normal tissue (N=8 patients), and between post-treatment and pretreatment specimens for bortezomib alone (N=2 patients) and bortezomib plus irinotecan (N=10 patients).