ESMO Congress

In patients with previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer, ^ superior progression-free survival was induced with continuous treatment with nivolumab until disease progression compared with a 1-year fixed duration treatment.

Median overall survival findings from treatment with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) were significantly longer compared with chemotherapy in patients with recurrent, advanced urothelial carcinoma, according to mature results from the phase III KEYNOTE-045 study. 

Joshua Bauml, MD, assistant professor, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, discusses the randomized phase III FLAURA study of frontline osimertinib (Tagrisso) in patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer.

When abemaciclib was added to a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor in treatment-naive patients with HER2-negative, HR-positive advanced breast cancer, the combination reduced the risk of progression of disease or death by 46% compared with either anastrozole or letrozole alone, according to findings from the phase III MONARCH 3 trial.

Andrea Apolo, MD, medical oncologist at the National Cancer Institute and chief of the bladder cancer section of the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, discusses the recent updates presented at the 2017 ESMO Annual Congress regarding avelumab (Bavencio) monotherapy for patients with urothelial carcinoma. 

The combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and bevacizumab (Avastin) demonstrated greater progression-free survival in patients with untreated metatatic renal cell carcinoma compared with standard sunitinib (Sutent), according to findings presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress held in Madrid, Spain. 

Celeste Lebbé, MD, from the Hôpital Saint Louis, in Paris, France, discusses avelumab treatment in chemotherapy-naive patients with distant metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma during the 2017 ESMO Annual Congress.

In findings reported at the 2017 ESMO Annual congress in Madrid, a majority of patients with advanced melanoma responded to the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and the investigational IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat.

In patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer, turning a nonimmunogenic (“cold”) tumor into an immunogenic (“hot”) tumor appears to be feasible, thereby improving sensitivity to immune therapy with nivolumab.

According to a retrospective analysis of a randomized study presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress, a liquid biopsy that measures tumor mutational burden showed promise for predicting benefit in patients with non–small cell lung cancer treated with a checkpoint inhibitor. 

For patients with <em>BRAF</em>-mutant advanced melanoma, the&nbsp;BRAF inhibitor encorafenib combined with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib demonstrated significant improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with single-agent vemurafenib or encorafenib, according to updated findings from the phase III COLUMBUS trial presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress.

Treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) improved median PFS by 11.2 months compared with placebo for patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage III non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who had not progressed following chemoradiotherapy, according to phase III results from the PACIFIC trial presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress.

In results from the phase III FLAURA study of frontline osimertinib (Tagrisso) in patients with <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, osimertinib demonstrated a progression-free survival &nbsp;rate of 18.9 months (95% CI, 12.5-21.4), which was significantly improved over standard therapy.&nbsp;

Jason J. Luke, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, The University of Chicago Medicine, discusses the combination of epacadostat and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of melanoma during the 2017 ESMO Annual Congress.

According to findings from the phase III ALUR and ALEX studies announced ahead of the 2017 ESMO Congress,^&nbsp;Alectinib demonstrated promising efficacy for patients with <em>ALK</em>-translocated non&ndash;small cell lung cancer with central nervous system metastases in both the first- and second-line setting.

The combination of taselisib and standard letrozole improved the objective response rate compared to letrozole with a placebo in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive and HER2-negative early breast cancer, according to findings from the LORELEI study presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress in Madrid, Spain.

The PARP inhibitor Rucaparib (Rubraca) improved median progression-free survival by 11.2 months compared with placebo as a maintenance treatment for patients with <em>BRCA</em>-mutant platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, according to findings from the phase III ARIEL3 trial presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress.&nbsp;

Jonathan Ledermann, MD, professor of medical oncology in the University College London Cancer Institute and director of Cancer Research UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre, discusses the toxicities associated with rucaparib (Rubraca) for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

The 2017 ESMO Annual Congress, taking place September 8 to 12 in Madrid, Spain, will feature several late-breaking abstracts that are poised to change the future of treatment for patients with lung cancer, pending their results, including the&nbsp;phase III PACIFIC and FLAURA studies.

Omid Hamid, MD, shares&nbsp;the top melanoma abstracts to look out for at the 2017 ESMO Annual Congress, which is taking place September 8 to 12 in Madrid, Spain, as well as some background on the promising phase I/II results he will be presenting for the combination of epacadostat plus pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma.

Lars Bastholt, MD, clinical oncologist, Odense University Hospital, discusses the role of lenvatinib in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Adding a Toll-like receptor 8 agonist (TLR8) to standard care for patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) failed to improve progression-free survival (PFS).

In a recent study, abemaciclib demonstrated clinical activity both alone and in combinations in women with HR+ metastatic breast cancer.

Matthew Galsky, MD, professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, discusses the significant findings in, and the rationale behind conducting the CheckMate-275 trial during an interview at the 2016 ESMO Congress.

Combined ipilimumab and nivolumab administered pre- and post-surgery reduced the tumor burden in patients with Stage III B/C melanoma, according to first results from the OpACIN trial reported at the ESMO 2016 Annual Congress.&nbsp;

Results of a recent randomized trial showed first-line therapy with nivolumab failed to improve progression-free survival (PFS) in PD-L1&ndash;positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with standard chemotherapy.

Safety, efficacy, and biomarker results from the phase II CheckMate-275 trial of the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) that support FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA) applications were reported at the 2016 ESMO Congress.

Almost 40% of patients with resected early-stage non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had evidence of tumor regression following neoadjuvant treatment with nivolumab (Opdivo) in a preliminary clinical trial.

Cabozantinib (Cabometyx) reduced the risk of progression or death by 31% compared with sunitinib (Sutent) in the frontline setting for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Adjuvant sunitinib (Sutent) prolonged disease-free survival (DFS) by 1.2 years compared with placebo following nephrectomy for patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC).