The Targeted Pulse: Explaining Survivorship Care and Other Positive Developments Across Cancers

Survivorship Care: Helping Fulfill Patients’ Emotional, Physical, and Practical Needs

Frank J. Penedo, PhD, discussed the essential aspects of survivorship care, which addresses the emotional, physical, and practical needs of patients with cancer after completing primary treatment. In this program, the patient’s individual cancer care continuum is evaluated, considering factors such as disease severity and potential challenges or adverse events (AEs) resulting from treatment. These may include role strain, such as the difficulty of taking time off from work or managing social roles such as being a parent or caregiver. Penedo emphasized that the additional AEs from treatment can significantly exacerbate role strain, further complicating the patient’s overall well-being.

“We have the mandate to implement patient-centered care. Through that, we have to have very nuanced assessments that address the challenges, including the psychosocial and physical symptoms that are a consequence of cancer and cancer treatments and practical needs,” Penedo explained regarding the program implemented at the University of Miami in Florida. Penedo is the director of Cancer Survivorship and Supportive Care at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami, Florida. For more information about the survivorship program, access the full article here.

Pembrolizumab/Trastuzumab/Chemo Wins Approval in HER2+/PD-L1+ Gastric Cancer

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and chemotherapy received FDA approval for the treatment of HER2-positive locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. This approval is based on data from the multicenter, randomized, double-blind, phase 3 KEYNOTE-811 trial (NCT03615326), which compared the combination with a placebo, trastuzumab, and either fluorouracil plus cisplatin or capecitabine plus oxaliplatin. In the experimental arm patients received a 200 mg dose of pembrolizumab every 3 weeks. In the experimental arm, patients received a 200 mg dose of pembrolizumab every 3 weeks, which is the FDA-recommended dose, or a 400 mg dose every 6 weeks.

“We have improved treatment options for gastric and esophageal cancer. Although they are difficult tumor types to treat given their nature and their impact, there have been big steps forward. We should be treating our patients in the first-, second-, and even third-line setting in the metastatic setting because patients are deriving benefits from some of these treatments,” Ronan Kelly, MD, MBA, said in a press release. Ronan is director of the Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center Baylor University Medical Center, chief of oncology at Baylor Scott & White Health System, clinical professor at Texas A&M University College of Medicine, adjunct associate professor of oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Johns Hopkins, and professor of the clinical sciences division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute.

“Promising Trend in OS, Favoring Amivantamab plus Lazertinib” in EGFR+ NSCLC

The combination of lazertinib (Lazcluze) and amivantamab-vmjw (Rybrevant) demonstrated favorable outcomes in progression-free survival (PFS), intracranial efficacy, and overall survival (OS) for treatment-naive patients with EGFR-mutated advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer. In the MARIPOSA trial (NCT04487080), patients were randomly assigned 2:2:1 to receive either this combination, osimertinib (Tagrisso) alone, or lazertinib alone. In this article, Shirish M. Gadgeel, MD, chief of the division of hematology/oncology at Henry Ford Cancer Institute, Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan, provided a deeper perspective of the MARIPOSA data.

“Based on the MARIPOSA study, amivantamab plus lazertinib was recently approved as a first-line treatment for patients with common EGFR mutation–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer. This long-term follow-up shows that amivantamab plus lazertinib continues to demonstrate improved outcomes compared with patients treated with osimertinib,” Gadgeel said. For the complete interview, access the full article here.

CAR T-Cells Targeting BCMA Show Impressive Outcomes in R/R Myeloma

In this clinician-written perspective, Marc Braunstein, MD, PhD, provided an in-depth overview of the advancements made with BCMA-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. This represents a significant step forward in treating a cancer that requires interventions capable of eliminating heterogeneous clonal plasma cell populations, which have evolved to increasingly resist treatment. Those treatments include combination antimyeloma regimens with or without high-dose chemotherapy, autologous stem cell transplantation, and maintenance therapy.

In the article, Braunstein highlighted findings from the phase 3 trials, KarMMA-3 (NCT03651128) and CARTITUDE-4 (NCT04181827), which showed superior rates of PFS, overall response, and minimal residual disease negativity. In addition, survey results from case-based roundtables showed that clinicians are referring patients for early-line CAR T-cell treatment. Braunstein is associate professor of internal medicine, codirector of the Hematology Organ System, fellowship program director of Hematology-Oncology, NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, in New York. For the complete perspective, access the full article here.

“Mirvetuximab Should be the SOC in Serous Ovarian Cancer,” Expert States

Data show that mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx (Elahere) is superior in OS and sustained clinical benefits compared with the standard investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with folate receptor α–positive, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Finding from the final analysis of the phase 3 MIRASOL trial (NCT04209855) have solidified this agent’s role for this cancer type.

Toon Van Gorp, MD, PhD, of University Hospital Leuven Kefir Cancer Institute and BGOG, in Leuven, Belgium, provided insight on the rationale behind the MIRASOL trial design and explored and further explored the data. “I have to mention that this was, of course, a trial for folate receptor alpha–high ovarian cancer,” Van Gorp explained. “It’s not for all ovarian cancers—it is specifically for patients who have high folate receptor alpha expression. But for these patients, this definitely means that mirvetuximab is the standard of care because it is much better than standard chemotherapy, and this should be offered to patients as soon as they are confronted with platinum-resistant disease.” For the complete interview with Van Gorp, access the full article here.

Thank you for joining us for this week’s Targeted Pulse. Look out for more recaps to come.

In case you missed it, here is last week’s Targeted Pulse.