Carmen E. Guerra, MD, MSCE, on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Clinical Trials: Expert Commentary
2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Carmen E. Guerra, MD, MSCE, of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, discusses three key abstracts presented at ASCO: strategies to increase accrual of underrepresented populations in Alliance NCTN trials, how patient-clinician education can strengthen partnerships and improve diversity in breast and lung cancer trials, and mediators of racial and ethnic inequities in clinical trial participation among U.S. patients with cancer from 2011 to 2022 (Abstracts 6509, 6510, 6511).
The ASCO Post Staff
Alicia K. Morgans, MD, MPH, and Praful Ravi, MRCP, MBBChir, both of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss an individual patient-data analysis of randomized trials from the ICECAP collaborative. A PSA nadir of ≥ 0.1 ng/mL within 6 months after radiotherapy completion was prognostic for prostate cancer–specific, metastasis-free, and overall survival in patients receiving radiotherapy plus androgen-deprivation therapy for localized prostate cancer. These findings may help identify patients for therapy de-escalation trials (Abstract 5002).
The ASCO Post Staff
Reid Merryman, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses his findings on the regimen of epcoritamab plus rituximab and lenalidomide for patients with high-risk follicular lymphoma. Regardless of whether their disease progressed within 24 months of first-line chemoimmunotherapy, this regimen showed antitumor activity and a manageable safety profile in patients with relapsed or refractory disease. Epcoritamab, a subcutaneous T-cell–engaging bispecific antibody, may abrogate the negative effects of high-risk features (Abstract 7506).
The ASCO Post Staff
Thierry Conroy, MD, of the Institut de Cancérologie de Lorraine, discusses phase III findings from the PRODIGE 23 trial, showing that neoadjuvant chemotherapy with mFOLFIRINOX followed by chemoradiotherapy, surgery, and adjuvant chemotherapy improved all outcomes, including overall survival, in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer compared with standard chemoradiotherapy, surgery, and adjuvant chemotherapy (Abstract LBA3504).
The ASCO Post Staff
Georgina V. Long, MD, PhD, of Melanoma Institute Australia and The University of Sydney, discusses new data showing that patients with resected stage IIB/C melanoma who were treated with adjuvant nivolumab had prolonged recurrence-free survival compared with placebo across all biomarker subgroups. The baseline biomarkers most predictive of prolonged recurrence-free survival with nivolumab were high interferon gamma score, high tumor mutational burden, CD8 T-cell infiltration, and low C-reactive protein (Abstract 9504).
The ASCO Post Staff
Narjust Florez, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Ticiana Leal, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, discuss the use of tumor treating fields therapy, in which electric fields disrupt processes critical for cancer cell viability. Already approved by the FDA to treat glioblastoma and mesothelioma, the treatment has extended overall survival in this phase III study of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy, without exacerbating systemic toxicities (Abstract LBA9005).
