From the Chairman: Moving Forward With Bold Innovation

Mike Hennessy

As I write this, the 2016 ASCO conference has just concluded in Chicago. And, as is typical with this event, the amount and level of groundbreaking research and information presented at this year’s conference is nothing less than staggering in its scope, innovation, and promise.

This level of discovery could not be achieved without regular, incisive reviews of current research to give us perspective on where we have been and where we are headed in the development of bold, new targeted therapies for a wide variety of tumor types.

The pages ofThe Journal of Targeted Therapies in Cancerdeliver this research in the form of peer-reviewed articles from leading oncology thought leaders.

This issue’s peer-reviewed article section includes “Targeted Therapy for Advanced Squamous Cell Lung Cancer,” which looks at squamous cell, an aggressive subset of lung cancer that presents therapeutic challenges, as it is genetically distinct from adenocarcinoma, with higher incidence of complex mutations. The authors discuss the evaluation of targeted therapies in squamous cell lung cancer, focusing on the rapid development of promising targets and drugs.

“Immune Checkpoint Blockade: A New Strategy for the Treatment of Breast Cancer” reviews the expanding role of immunotherapy as a breast cancer therapeutic. While breast cancer has traditionally not been viewed as immunogenic, recent clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic breast cancer have shown promising anti-tumor activity, and studies are underway to help define the role of immune-targeting drugs in the treatment of this tumor type. The authors describe the immune environment of breast cancer and summarize recently reported clinical trial results of immune checkpoint inhibitors in breast cancer.

In “Efficacy and Safety of High-Dose Interleukin-2 Treatment in Melanoma Patients with a History of Brain Metastases,” the authors evaluate high dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy, which has had infrequent but durable responses in metastatic melanoma (MM), but has been controversial when used in patients with brain metastases (BM) due to safety concerns and limited data on efficacy in this population. This study evaluates tumor response rates and toxicity profiles of IL-2 therapy in a more contemporary cohort of patients with MM and a history of BM.

This issue’s clinical research article section presents a variety of pieces on genitourinary cancers, looking at the effectiveness of abiraterone in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the validity of US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for prostate-specific antigen testing, an observational study of low-risk prostate cancer patients enrolled in active surveillance, the effectiveness of combination therapy on bone pain and quality of life in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and the findings of a study on treatment of patients with early prostate cancer with unilateral high-intensity focused ultrasound.

We hope you enjoy the many relevant, fascinating articles in this issue along with updates on the latest targeted treatment news.