AACR Annual Meeting 2018
Expert Point of View: David Rimm, MD, PhD
“TUMOR MUTATIONAL burden is an emerging biomarker independent of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) level. There are a few reasons for enthusiasm. Tumor mutational burden is a compelling biomarke...
Evidence Builds for Tumor Mutational Burden as Biomarker in Lung Cancer
TUMOR MUTATIONAL burden is emerging as a predictive biomarker for the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as other tumor types. Ho...
Expert Point of View: John V. Heymach, MD, PhD
FORMAL DISCUSSANT of this trial, John V. Heymach, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, also was optimistic about these early findings. “This is a proof-of-concept s...
Early Evidence of Neoadjuvant PD-1 Blockade in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
A NOVEL APPROACH using two doses of nivolumab (Opdivo) prior to surgery achieved major pathologic responses in 45% of patients with resectable stages I to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), acco...
New Data on ALK Inhibitors and CAR T-Cell Therapies
The 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting was abuzz with more than 22,000 attendees from around the world who came to Chicago to hear the latest in basic science and cli...
First Selective RET Inhibitor Shows Efficacy in Multiple Cancers
A first-in-human study provides proof of concept that a novel oral agent targeted to RET genetic alterations is safe and active in RET-driven cancers. The agent, called BLU-667, achieved durable dise...
Expert Point of View: Antoni Ribas, MD
FOUR RANDOMIZED trials have shown improvements in recurrence-free survival in patients with high-risk melanoma with the administration of adjuvant therapy over the past 3 years, noted formal discussan...
Adjuvant Pembrolizumab Improves Relapse-Free Survival in High-Risk Stage III Melanoma
ADJUVANT THERAPY with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly prolonged recurrence-free survival compared with placebo for patients with resected high-risk stage III melanoma, according to the results ...
Expert Point of View: Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD
FORMAL DISCUSSANT of the KEYNOTE-189 trial, Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Chief of Medical Oncology at Smilow Cancer Hospital, Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, heartily endorsed the new triplet combination of...
Pembrolizumab Plus Standard Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Newly Diagnosed Metastatic Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
ADDING THE IMMUNE checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to standard chemotherapy with pemetrexed (Alimta) and a platinum as first-line therapy was superior to chemotherapy alone in the KEYNOTE...
AACR 2018: Pilot Study of Neoadjuvant Nivolumab in Resectable NSCLC
In a pilot study reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting (Abstract CT079) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Forde et al, neoadjuvant nivolumab t...
AACR 2018: Boosting T-Cell Memory May Result in Longer-Lasting Responses in Patients Treated With Checkpoint Blockade Immunotherapies
Some T cells have excellent memories. These subtypes—known as memory T cells—may explain why some immunotherapies are more effective than others and could potentially lead to researchers d...
AACR 2018: New Liquid Biopsy–Based Cancer Model Reveals Data on Chemoresistance in SCLC
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 14% of all lung cancers and is often rapidly resistant to chemotherapy, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Treatment has changed little for decades, but a ...
AACR 2018: Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in High-Risk Stage III Melanoma
As reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting (Abstract CT001) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Eggermont et al, the phase III EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE ...
AACR 2018: KEYNOTE-189: Addition of Pembrolizumab to Chemotherapy in Metastatic NSCLC
As reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting (Abstract CT075) in the The New England Journal of Medicine by Gandhi et al, the first interim analysis of the phase III KEYN...
AACR 2018: CheckMate 227: Nivolumab/Ipilimumab vs Chemotherapy in NSCLC With High Tumor Mutational Burden Analysis
As reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting (Abstract CT077) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Hellmann et al, an analysis from the phase III CheckMate ...
AACR 2018: Short-Acting Calcium Channel Blockers Associated With Increased Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in Postmenopausal Women
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs)—specifically the short-acting form of CCBs, which are prescribed to treat high blood pressure—were associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in...
AACR 2018: Dual Inhibition of IDO1 and PD-L1 Safe in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors
Treatment combining the IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat and the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) was found to be safe in patients with advanced solid tumors, with safet...
AACR 2018: TLR9 Agonist CMP-001/Pembrolizumab Combination Shows Early Efficacy in Patients With Metastatic Melanoma Resistant to Anti–PD-1
A combination of CMP-001, an intratumoral Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was well tolerated and had clinical activity in patients with metastatic melanoma resistant ...
AACR 2018: Prototype Assays Suggest Highly Specific Blood Test to Screen for Cancer Is Feasible
Initial findings from the Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study showed that prototype sequencing assays tested in this analysis may facilitate the development of a highly specific blood test...
AACR 2018: Off-the-Shelf, Dual-Targeted CAR T-Cell Product Showed Promising Results in Preclinical Studies
FT819—an off-the-shelf, T-cell receptor–less CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product that could potentially be made more accessible to patients with cancer than conventional CA...
AACR 2018: Selective Inhibitor Shows Early Promise in Patients With RET-Altered Cancers
BLU-667, a next-generation inhibitor that selectively targets the oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase RET, was well tolerated and had broad clinical benefit in patients with advanced cancer that had pr...
AACR 2018: Crizotinib Yielded a High Objective Response Rate for Adult Patients With ALK-Positive Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor
Among patients with inoperable, advanced, or metastatic ALK-positive inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, 50% were confirmed to have partial or complete tumor shrinkage after treatment with the ALK-tar...
AACR 2018: Children With Nonchromosomal Birth Defects May Face Higher Risk of Several Childhood Cancers
Children with nonchromosomal birth defects—such as congenital heart disease—had a significantly higher risk of developing childhood cancer than children who did not have birth defects, acc...
AACR 2018: Acquired HER2 Mutations Confer Resistance to Hormone Therapy in ER-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
Mutations in HER2 were found to confer resistance to hormone therapy in some estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer cases, and resistance could be reversed by dual treatment wit...
AACR 2018: Prior Chemotherapies May Impair Pediatric Patients’ Ability to Develop Effective CAR T Cells
Pediatric patients with solid tumors may have poor quality T cells compared to patients with leukemia, and certain chemotherapies were detrimental to the T cells and their potential to become chimeric...
AACR 2018: Chlamydia Infection May Be Associated With Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer
An antibody that is present in the blood of women previously infected with the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia is associated with a doubling in ovarian cancer risk, according to data presente...
AACR 2018: Underserved Populations Lack Information About Clinical Trials, Biobanking
People in Louisiana communities with cancer health disparities would be interested in participating in clinical trials or submitting samples to biobanks if provided information about these opportuniti...
