Michael A. Thompson, MD, PhD, on Smoldering Multiple Myeloma: Reassessing Risk Stratification Models
2019 ASCO Annual Meeting
Michael A. Thompson, MD, PhD, of Advocate Aurora Health, discusses the implications of the revised diagnostic criteria for multiple myeloma, which removed patients at the highest risk of disease progression from the smoldering group, and a new model for smoldering disease that incorporates revised cutoffs for the previously used parameters (Abstract 8000).
Neeraj Agarwal, MD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah Health Care, and Thomas W. Flaig, MD, of the University of Colorado, discuss phase II findings on a novel predictive biomarker of response to the two accepted neoadjuvant regimens for muscle-invasive bladder cancer: methotrexate/vinblastine/doxorubicin/cisplatin and gemcitabine/cisplatin (Abstract 4506).
Gilberto Lopes, MD, MBA, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, offers commentary on phase III findings from the RELAY study, which showed that erlotinib plus ramucirumab led to superior progression-free survival in previously untreated patients with EGFR mutant–positive NSCLC (Abstract 9000).
Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses his phase II study on the response to avelumab in microsatellite-stable and -instable recurrent or persistent endometrial cancer with a polymerase epsilon mutation (Abstract 5502).
Amy J. Davidoff, PhD, of Yale University School of Public Health, discusses study findings on how expanding access to Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reduced racial disparities among patients with advanced cancer. Before the ACA was implemented in 2014, black patients with cancer were less likely than white patients to receive timely treatment, but in states that did not adopt Medicaid expansion, racial disparities persist (Abstract LBA1).
Åsmund A. Fretland, MD, of Oslo University Hospital, discusses clinical trial findings on survival outcomes after laparoscopic vs open resection for colorectal liver metastases. The study he conducted with his team showed that the laparoscopic procedure did not jeopardize long-term survival (Abstract LBA3516).
