Daniel F. Hayes, MD, of the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, discusses whether liquid biopsies can provide insight into the challenge of curing metastatic breast and possibly other cancers, how oligometastases are similar to a primary cancer, and why some kinds of local therapy for widespread disease might improve survival and lead to a cure.
Daniel J. Ma, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, discusses results from a phase III study of patients with HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Comparing a 2-week course of de-escalated adjuvant radiation therapy with the standard 6-week course, investigators found that the shorter treatment appeared to have less toxicity, higher quality of life, and similar disease control as the longer standard-of-care treatment (Abstract LBA1).
C. Jillian Tsai, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses results from the first randomized trial of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to treat oligoprogressive, metastatic lung and breast cancers. The standard of care for patients with these types of tumors is to switch to a different systemic treatment. Adding local therapy such as SBRT may help treat drug-resistant lesions (Abstract LBA3).
Amar U. Kishan, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses findings from a meta-analysis of clinical trials in patients with localized prostate cancer. The phase III results suggest that the use of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) or prolonged adjuvant ADT with radiotherapy may benefit patients with localized prostate cancer. Further biomarkers are needed to better personalize treatment intensification (Abstract 8).
Howard M. Sandler, MD, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, discusses whether hypofractionation can be safely employed in the post-prostatectomy setting and the role of short-term hormone therapy in the management of intermediate-risk prostate cancer with radiotherapy.
Yongbae Kim, MD, of the Yonsei Cancer Center and Yonsei University College of Medicine, discusses findings that showed the use of internal mammary area irradiation (IMNI) in regional nodal irradiation did not significantly improve disease-free survival for women with node-positive breast cancer. However, patients with medially or centrally located tumors may be considered for treatment with IMNI (Abstract 2).
