On Apr. 16, 2021, the FDA approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’ s Opdivo (nivolumab), in combination with certain types of chemotherapy, for the initial treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

This was the first FDA-approved immunotherapy for the first-line treatment of gastric cancer. Opdivo is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits tumor growth by enhancing T-cell function.