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
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
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).
The ASCO Post Staff
Enrique Grande, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses new findings that show initial responses to induction therapy with atezolizumab plus platinum and gemcitabine did not seem to impact overall survival for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Cisplatin-treated patients appeared to derive a greater benefit with atezolizumab than did carboplatin-treated patients (Abstract 4503).
Ajay K. Nooka, MBBS, of Winship Cancer Center of Emory University, discusses findings from a pooled analysis of MagnetisMM studies. The data showed that, in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have not yet been treated with B-cell maturation antigen–directed therapies, elranatamab was efficacious and well tolerated.
The ASCO Post Staff
Rana R. McKay, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, and Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, discuss results from the phase III CONTACT-03 study, showing that, for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), adding the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab to cabozantinib did not improve clinical outcomes compared with treatment with cabozantinib alone. In addition, higher toxicities were observed in the combination arm (Abstract LBA4500).
