2021 ASCO Annual Meeting
ELEVATE-RR Trial: Acalabrutinib as Effective as Ibrutinib, With Fewer Cardiac Effects, in Resistant CLL
Acalabrutinib was equally efficacious with less toxicity when compared directly with ibrutinib in patients with previously treated relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according ...
Expert Point of View: Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD
Invited discussant of the VISION trial, Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, commented on the study, noting that she was a co-investigator of the trial. “Patients with metas...
VISION Trial: Novel PSMA-Targeted Radiotherapy Improves Outcomes in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Lutetium-177–PSMA-617 (LuPSMA)—an investigational radiolabeled small molecule—significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival when added to the standard of care comp...
KEYNOTE-564: Adjuvant Pembrolizumab Extends Disease-Free Survival in High-Risk Renal Cell Carcinoma
Adjuvant pembrolizumab following surgery significantly improved disease-free survival compared with placebo among patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the intern...
High-Risk Multiple Myeloma: Combination Regimens and CAR T-Cell Therapy
“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” —Mark Twain To complement The ASCO Post’s extensive coverage of the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, here are several abstracts selected from the ...
EA1131 Trial: Platinum Not Equal to Capecitabine for Residual Disease in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
In patients with triple-negative breast cancer who have residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant capecitabine remains the standard of care. In the multicenter randomized noninferiorit...
Neoadjuvant Durvalumab Improves Long-Term Outcomes in the GeparNuevo Trial
In the phase II GeparNuevo trial, patients with early triple-negative breast cancer receiving the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab in addition to chemotherapy as neoadjuvant therapy saw improvements in long...
ADAPT Trial: ‘Excellent’ Outcomes Reported With Neoadjuvant Dual HER2 Therapy in Breast Cancer
The first overall survival analysis of the WGS-ADAPT HER2+/HR– study, which evaluated neoadjuvant therapy in patients with hormone receptor–negative, HER2-positive disease, showed that treatment with ...
ASCO 2021: Roundup of Studies You May Have Missed
As ASCO Annual Meeting attendees know by now, clinicians don’t have to be at McCormick Place to hear practice-changing findings and forward-looking advances in the field of oncology. Interesting conte...
With the Exception of Cervical Cancer, HPV-Associated Cancers Are on the Rise, Especially in Older Adults
Although the incidence of cervical cancer has decreased 1.03% a year over the past 17 years in the United States, likely due to screening or vaccination, other human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated ca...
Expert Point of View: Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, and Lilian T. Gien, MD, MSc
Comments on the OUTBACK trial were provided by invited discussant Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dean for Oncology, and Director of the University of Chicago Medicine C...
OUTBACK: No Benefit for Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer
In women with locally advanced cervical cancer, adjuvant chemotherapy adds no benefit to standard cisplatin-based chemoradiation, results of the international phase III OUTBACK study have shown,1 as r...
Expert Point of View: Mark G. Kris, MD, FASCO
Mark G. Kris, MD, FASCO, Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service and the William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented on the excitemen...
Sotorasib: Subgroup Analysis of Phase II Trial Shows Activity With KRAS Inhibitor in Lung Cancer
The KRAS-specific inhibitor sotorasib achieved responses in patients with KRAS G12C–mutated non–small lung cancer (NSCLC) who had experienced disease progression on platinum-based chemotherapy, immuno...
Atezolizumab Reduces Risk of Disease Progression in Patients With PD-L1–Expressing Early-Stage NSCLC
Atezolizumab given after chemotherapy to patients with resected stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) significantly improved disease-free survival compared with best supportive care alon...
Extended Follow-up of PALOMA-3 Supports Survival Benefit of Palbociclib Plus Fulvestrant in Advanced Breast Cancer
An updated analysis of the PALOMA-3 randomized, placebo-controlled trial demonstrated continued superiority for the combination of palbociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) plus fulvestrant over fulvestrant plus...
Roundup of Notable Abstracts in Hematologic Malignancies
In addition to covering the biggest news from the meeting in other articles, The ASCO Post brings you these brief news summaries of notable abstracts in multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia. Maint...
Expert Point of View: Melinda Telli, MD
EA1131 study discussant, Melinda Telli, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Stanford Cancer Institute, and Associate Director of th...
EA1131 Trial: Platinum Not Equal to Capecitabine for Residual Disease in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
In patients with triple-negative breast cancer who have residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant capecitabine remains the standard of care. In the multicenter randomized noninferiorit...
Fixed-Dose, First-Line Ibrutinib/Venetoclax Combination Achieves Durable Remissions in CLL
The combination of fixed-duration, first-line treatment with ibrutinib plus venetoclax achieved complete responses in more than half of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocyt...
Expert Point of View: Nadine M. Tung, MD
Formal discussant of the OlympiA trial, Nadine M. Tung, MD, Director of Breast Medical Oncology and the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medic...
ELEVATE-RR Trial: Acalabrutinib as Effective as Ibrutinib, With Fewer Cardiac Effects, in Resistant CLL
Acalabrutinib was equally efficacious with less toxicity when compared directly with ibrutinib in patients with previously treated relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according ...
OlympiA Trial: Adjuvant Olaparib Extends Disease-Free Survival in BRCA-Mutated Early Breast Cancer
Adjuvant therapy with the PARP inhibitor olaparib for 1 year extended disease-free survival in patients with high-risk early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer with BRCA1/2 germline (inherited) mutatio...
Highlights From the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting
Despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the practice-changing studies presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting clarified the continuing momentum in the oncology community to improve ...
Bispecific Antibodies Advance in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
For the challenging population of patients with multiple myeloma who have become refractory to essentially all current treatments, new approaches are much needed. Early clinical trials data suggest bi...
Lifileucel After Disease Progression in Metastatic Melanoma: Durable Responses Achieved in Phase II Trial
Despite the fact that we have made significant progress in metastatic melanoma with immune checkpoint inhibitors—now the standard of care—most patients experience disease progression and are left with...
Targeting LAG-3 and PD-1 With Relatlimab and Nivolumab: A New Option Under Study in Advanced Melanoma
Immune checkpoint inhibition has been established as an effective treatment for patients with metastatic melanoma. A novel immunotherapeutic combination—this one targeting the LAG-3 (lymphocyte-activa...
Adavosertib Effective in PARP-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
The Wee1 inhibitor adavosertib, given alone or in combination with olaparib, was effective in patients with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-resistant ovarian cancer in the phase II EFFORT trial pr...
OUTBACK: No Benefit for Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Cervical Cancer
In women with locally advanced cervical cancer, adjuvant chemotherapy adds no benefit to standard cisplatin-based chemoradiation, results of the international phase III OUTBACK study have shown,1 as r...
KEYNOTE-564: Adjuvant Pembrolizumab Extends Disease-Free Survival in High-Risk Renal Cell Carcinoma
Adjuvant pembrolizumab following surgery significantly improved disease-free survival compared with placebo among patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the intern...
VISION Trial: Novel PSMA-Targeted Radiotherapy Improves Outcomes in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Lutetium-177–PSMA-617 (LuPSMA)—an investigational radiolabeled small molecule—significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival when added to the standard of care comp...
CheckMate 648: First-Line Nivolumab Regimens Improve Survival in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
As first-line treatment of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, nivolumab-containing regimens improved overall survival over standard-of-care chemotherapy, according to the first results of th...
Novel Monoclonal Antibody Emerges as Potential First-Line Standard in Nasopharyngeal Cancer
A new first-line standard of care may be emerging for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, based on the findings of the global phase III JUPITER-02 trial presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual...
EMPOWER-Lung 1: Cemiplimab-rwlc Improves Outcomes in First-Line Treatment of NSCLC With Brain Metastases
First-line treatment with cemiplimab-rwlc monotherapy improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates compared with chemotherapy in patients with advanced non–small ...
Amivantamab/Lazertinib Combination May Overcome Osimertinib Resistance in Patients With EGFR-Positive NSCLC
Combination targeting of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with amivantamab/lazertinib achieved durable responses in more than one-third of chemotherapy-naive patients with EGFR-mutant non–small...
ELEVATE-RR Trial: Acalabrutinib as Effective as Ibrutinib, With Fewer Cardiac Effects, in Resistant CLL
Acalabrutinib was equally efficacious with less toxicity when compared directly with ibrutinib in patients with previously treated relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according ...
Extended Follow-up of PALOMA-3 Supports Survival Benefit of Palbociclib Plus Fulvestrant in Advanced Breast Cancer
An updated analysis of the PALOMA-3 randomized, placebo-controlled trial demonstrated continued superiority for the combination of palbociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) plus fulvestrant over fulvestrant plus...
Expert Point of View: Nicole Chau, MD
ASCO discussant Nicole Chau, MD, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia/BC Cancer in Vancouver, said the COSMIC-311 trial was “noteworthy for meeting its co-primary endpoin...
Cabozantinib: Potential New Option for Treatment-Refractory Thyroid Cancer
The tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib appears to be an effective new option for treatment-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, according to the phase III COSMIC-311 trial, which was stopped ...
Expert Point of View: Melinda L. Telli, MD
The invited discussant of GeparNuevo,1 Melinda L. Telli, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Stanford Cancer Ins...
Neoadjuvant Durvalumab Improves Long-Term Outcomes in the GeparNuevo Trial
In the phase II GeparNuevo trial, patients with early triple-negative breast cancer receiving the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab in addition to chemotherapy as neoadjuvant therapy saw improvements in long...
2021 ASCO Annual Meeting: Next-Generation Oncology Highlights
The 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting was presented totally virtually again due to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the meeting held widespread interest, and we were able to attend an ev...
2021 ASCO Annual Meeting: Next-Generation Oncology Highlights
The 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting was presented totally virtually again due to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the meeting held widespread interest, and we were able to attend an e...
Expert Point of View: Guru Subramanian Guru Murthy
Invited discussant Guru Subramanian Guru Murthy, MD, MS, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, commented on the study of aspacytarabine in the first-line therapy for patients with acute myel...
Study Finds Cytarabine Prodrug Active and Safe in Older Compromised Patients With AML
Aspacytarabine, a cytarabine prodrug, was reported to be safe and effective as first-line therapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were unfit for intensive induction chemotherapy, ac...
Surbhi Sidana, MD, Comments on CAR T-Cell Therapy and Bispecific Antibodies Targeting Myeloma
The session’s invited discussant Surbhi Sidana, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University, said CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies targeting myeloma are emerging as potentiall...
Bispecific Antibodies Advance in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
For the challenging population of patients with multiple myeloma who have become refractory to essentially all current treatments, new approaches are much needed. Early clinical trials data suggest bi...
Single-Agent Talazoparib Shows Activity in the Neoadjuvant Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
For the neoadjuvant treatment of triple-negative breast cancer, the oral poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor talazoparib yielded promising pathologic complete response rates in the phase II ...
MINDACT Trial Shows ‘Excellent’ Outcomes in Ultra-Low–Risk Breast Cancer
Patients with ultra-low–risk breast cancer, as classified by the MammaPrint 70-gene assay, had “excellent” long-term outcomes regardless of clinical risk or receipt of adjuvant therapy, a new analysis...
Bone-Protecting Agents Shown to Reduce Fracture Rate in Men With Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer experts have often stated it is important to add a bone-protecting agent for patients on treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Recent evidence in support of th...
