Latest Conference Articles

The adoption of intensive pediatric treatment regimens has resulted in improved survival for adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia over the past decade, said Wendy Stock, MD, at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Hydroxyurea has been the primary treatment for polycythemia vera for decades and it works for the majority of patients, said Abdulraheem Yacoub, MD. However, there is a subset of patients who develop resistance or intolerance to hydroxyurea, and investigators are working to find a solution for those patients.

Ruxolitinib (Jakafi) is the only FDA-approved agent for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis, making resistance to this agent a particularly difficult treatment challenge. Combinations with ruxolitinib may reinvigorate the impact of the JAK inhibitor in relapsed, progressive, or intolerant patients, explained Robyn M. Scherber, MD, MPH, in a presentation at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Robyn M. Scherber, MD, MPH, physician, The Mays Cancer Center, the newly named center of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, addresses the management of patients with myelofibrosis after failure on ruxolitinib (Jakafi).<br /> &nbsp;

According to Tony S. Mok, MD, first-line treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors for patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancers harboring uncommon driver mutations can be controversial. Instead, there is more evidence supporting the use of TKIs in the second-line for mutations such as <em>ROS1 </em>and <em>BRAF</em>, he explained during a presentation at the <em>19th Annual </em>International Lung Cancer Congress.<br /> &nbsp;

Further advancements in precision medicine for patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer necessitate the use of more umbrella trials to evaluate therapies based on molecular aberrations versus tumor types, Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, MD, suggested during a presentation at the <em>19th Annual </em>International Lung Cancer Congress.

In a presentation at the&nbsp;<em>19th Annual</em> International Lung Cancer Congress,&nbsp;Tetsuya Mitsudomi, MD, PhD, provided sequencing options to utilize the many available regimens for the best potential survival outcomes for patients with&nbsp;<em>EGFR</em>-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

Laurence J. Heifetz, MD, FACP, medical director, Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, discusses a novel approach to managing disparities in lung cancer care.

The use of checkpoint inhibition in patients with locally advanced non&ndash;small cell lung cancer in combination with chemoradiation, and specifically durvalumab from the PACIFIC trial, has shown the first significant survival benefits in almost 25 years, according to Corey J. Langer, MD.

Combinations with immunotherapy agents have surged ahead with new regimens showing great potential for the treatment of patients with lung cancer, Corey Langer, MD, said during a presentation at the&nbsp;<em>19th Annual </em>International Lung Cancer Congress (ILCC). Knowledge about a growing number of biomarkers are helping to guide treatment decisions with these combination options, he said, but the one standard of care has not yet been determined.

Ignacio I. Wistuba, MD, Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses how clinicians can best integrate molecular pathology into their treatment selection for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>at the 19^thAnnual International Lung Cancer Congress, Bunn, professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, discussed the potential approaches with neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapies for curing patients with lung cancer. He also shares his own opinions on which approaches might be best.

Giorgio Vittorio Scagliotti, MD, PhD, chief of the Medical Oncology Division at the S. Luigi Hospital, Orbassano (Torino), and head of the Department of Oncology at University of Torino, Italy, discusses the utilization of molecular profiling to inform treatment decisions for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

In a keynote address by Frances A. Shepherd, MD, FRCPC, OOnt, OC, during the&nbsp;<em>19th Annual </em>International Lung Cancer Congress, Shepherd expressed that <em>EGFR-</em>mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a model for how far the field of lung cancer has progressed in the past decade, thanks in large part to molecular pathologists.&nbsp;

Several biomarkers are beginning to emerge for immunotherapy in non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, and the collection of these markers, when used together, could further help to predict which patients are likely to respond to these therapies alone or in combination, according to a presentation by Giorgio Scagliotti, MD, PhD, at the <em>19th Annual</em> International Lung Cancer Congress.

Several novel agents are beginning to show promise for new targets in non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, especially <em>NRG1</em> and <em>LKB1,&nbsp;</em>and could be positioned to join&nbsp;already established standard-of-care therapies.

Arlene O. Siefker-Radtke, MD, professor of genitourinary medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the results presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting from a phase II cohort investigating erdafitinib in previously treated patients with urothelial cancer. Erdafitinib is a fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor that targets FGFR 1 through 4 and has previously shown promising activity.&nbsp;

According to a preliminary prospective study presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, half of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer achieved disease control with a treatment combination of a poly polymerase inhibitor and an anti&ndash;PD-1 agent.

Upfront treatment with the combination of bevacizumab (Avastin) and erlotinib (Tarceva) is superior to erlotinib alone as for patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer harboring<em> EGFR</em> mutations, according to results of a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III study known as NEJ026.

Results from a phase II trial demonstrated that&nbsp;cemiplimab, a PD-1 inhibitor, induced an overall response rate (ORR) of 47.5% in patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

According to updated data from the phase I/II PIVOT-02 trial presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, the combination of NKTR-214 plus the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab demonstrated promising antitumor activity in patients with advanced solid tumors, particularly in PD-L1&ndash;negative patients.

Patients with relapsed, advanced, high-grade ovarian cancer achieved durable responses with the PARP inhibitor niraparib (Zejula) as fourth-line therapy and beyond, the phase II QUADRA trial showed.

According to phase III findings presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, a 4-drug chemotherapy combination, modified FOLFIRINOX, dramatically improved survival compared to standard gemcitabine in the postoperative setting for patients with resected pancreatic cancer. This major advance may set a new standard of care in a challenging disease.

According to updated findings from the phase III ASPECT trial presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, a combination of 2 over-the-counter drugs can reduce the risk for high-grade dysplasia or esophageal cancer in patients with&nbsp;Barrett&rsquo;s esophagus if taken for at least 7 years.&nbsp;These results also demonstrated that high-dose esomeprazole in combination with a low-dose aspirin was associated with delaying all-cause mortality.

According to preliminary findings from the phase III PREOPANC-1 trial, preoperative treatment with chemotherapy and radiation improved overall survival for patients with resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer compared to immediate surgery. These data, presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, demonstrated the potential role for neoadjuvant treatment in the pancreatic cancer treatment paradigm.

Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, director, Gynecologic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses results from the phase II open-label, single-arm QUADRA study evaluating niraparib in patients with relapsed ovarian cancer who have received&nbsp;&ge;3 prior chemotherapy regimens during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Durable complete remissions were seen in 46% of patients with&nbsp;high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with the CAR T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel at 6 months.&nbsp;These results come from the updated findings from the phase I, multicenter TRANSCEND trial that were presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, director of Clinical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses overall survival results from the phase III COLUMBUS trial investigating encorafenib plus binimetinib versus vemurafenib (Zelboraf) or encorafenib in BRAF-mutant melanoma during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The multikinase inhibitor entrectinib demonstrated safety and activity in children and young adults with advanced, previously treated central nervous system tumors, according to a phase I study presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.<br /> &nbsp;

According to a phase II study, over 40% of patients with metastatic or unresectable urothelial carcinoma responded to treatment with the investigational fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor erdafitinib. Findings from this study were presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.