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
Nagla Abdel Karim, MD, of the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, University of Virginia, discusses phase II data showing that maintenance atezolizumab plus talazoparib improved progression-free survival in Schlafen-11–selected patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. This study demonstrated the feasibility of conducting biomarker-selected trials in this disease, paving the way for future evaluation of novel therapies in selected populations (Abstract 8504).
The ASCO Post Staff
Alberto Bossi, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, discusses phase III findings showing that combining prostate radiotherapy with systemic treatment did not improve overall survival in men with de novo metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer and low metastatic burden. However, best outcomes (radiographic progression–free-survival and overall survival) were observed in men receiving the standard of care plus abiraterone acetate plus prednisone with radiotherapy (Abstract LBA5000).
The ASCO Post Staff
Manali K. Kamdar, MD, of University of Colorado Hospital, discusses the treatment landscape for the 30% to 40% of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) whose disease will relapse. Patients who experience relapse within 1 year of chemoimmunotherapy have poor outcomes with autotransplantation, but chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy has shown efficacy and manageable toxicity.
The ASCO Post Staff
James Chih-Hsin Yang, MD, PhD, of the National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University Cancer Center, discusses the latest data from the phase III KEYNOTE-789 study, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of pemetrexed plus platinum chemotherapy (carboplatin or cisplatin) with or without pembrolizumab in the treatment of adults with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor–resistant, EGFR–mutated, metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Abstract LBA9000).
The ASCO Post Staff
LaQuisa C. Hill, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, discusses study findings showing that CD5 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells may induce clinical responses in heavily treated patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Manufacturing CD5 CAR T cells with tyrosine kinase inhibitors seemed to improve their potency and antitumor activity (Abstract 7002).
