GIE Senior Associate Editor, Dr. John R. Saltzman, MD, FASGE, highlights this article from the February issue “TTC-325 hemostatic powder versus current standard of care in managing malignant GI bleeding” by Yen-I Chen, MD, et al. 

Gastrointestinal bleeding from a malignancy is a difficult management challenge as no current endoscopic therapy has been proven effective. Bleeding from tumors is often from multiple areas with active oozing of blood, and thus targeting by standard endoscopic therapies may not be feasible. The recent availability of TC-325 hemostatic spray is a possible treatment option, and this is the first randomized comparative crossover trial of its use in malignant bleeding.

Although designed as a pilot trial, the study showed the benefit of TC-325 in immediate bleeding control and reduced rebleeding compared to standard of care therapies. Although larger controlled studies are needed to confirm this finding, this study suggests efficacy and safety of TC-325 in malignant GI bleeding. There is an excellent editorial by physicians from the Prince of Wales Hospital at the Chinese University of Hong Kong that is well worth reading. Given the poor responses to traditional endoscopic therapies, TC-325 should be considered as an option to treat GI bleeding from malignancies.

Read the article abstract here.

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