Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, and Hope S. Rugo, MD, on Breast Cancer: Next Steps in Immunotherapy
2019 ASCO Annual Meeting
Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, discuss ongoing trials of immunotherapy for early triple-negative breast cancer; immunotherapy in other disease subtypes such as estrogen receptor–positive and HER2-positive; and checkpoint inhibition in PD-L1–negative disease.
Hani M. Babiker, MD, of the The University of Arizona, discusses an emerging treatment that inhibits the mitotic spindle and disrupts tumor cell growth. The method has been approved by the FDA to treat some cancers and data show improved progression-free and overall survival (Abstracts 2055, 8551, e14658, e14668, e15653, e20069, e15766).
Kamal Chamoun, MD, of University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, discusses how better insurance coverage determines not only the ability of patients with multiple myeloma to afford high-priced oral medications, but their survival of the disease (Abstract LBA107).
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).
Manmeet S. Ahluwalia, MD, of the Taussig Center Institute, Cleveland Clinic, discusses phase II findings on the efficacy and immunogenicity of SurVaxM, a novel cancer vaccine targeting the tumor-specific antigen survivin in newly diagnosed glioblastoma (Abstract 2016).
Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD, of the Los Angeles BioMedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, discusses study findings from nearly 2 decades of data, which showed a 21% reduction in deaths from breast cancer among postmenopausal women who adhered to a low-fat diet (Abstract 520).
