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
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, ASCO Chief Executive Officer, talks about extending the reach and impact of ASCO by partnering with patients who play a key role in advancing science through clinical trial participation. With near-record numbers of registered attendees, the 2023 Annual Meeting fostered new connections and plans for collaborations.
The ASCO Post Staff
Shilpa Gupta, MD, of Cleveland Clinic, discusses the results from the EV-103 study and the unmet need for effective first-line therapies in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. After nearly 4 years of follow-up, the trial findings showed that enfortumab vedotin-ejfv plus pembrolizumab continues to demonstrate promising survival trends with rapid and durable responses in this population (Abstract 4505).
The ASCO Post Staff
Alicia K. Morgans, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Karim Fizazi, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, University of Paris-Saclay, discuss findings from the TALAPRO-2 study, which showed that talazoparib plus enzalutamide improved radiographic progression–free survival over standard-of-care enzalutamide as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and HRR gene alterations. This regimen also delayed the time to deterioration in global health status and quality of life (Abstract 5004).
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
Shailender Bhatia, MD, of the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, discusses phase I/II results on the efficacy of nivolumab with or without ipilimumab in patients with recurrent or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma. The study found that, for this rare and aggressive skin cancer, nivolumab showed clinical activity in advanced disease. However, these results from CheckMate 358 do not suggest an additional benefit with ipilimumab added to nivolumab (Abstract 9506).
