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
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
Bobbie J. Rimel, MD, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Kathleen N. Moore, MD, of the Stephenson Oklahoma Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma, discuss phase III results from the MIRASOL trial, which showed that mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx prolonged overall survival vs investigator’s choice chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer with high folate receptor-alpha expression. The findings suggest a new standard of care for this disease (Abstract LBA5507).
The ASCO Post Staff
Amer Methqal Zeidan, MBBS, MHS, of Yale University and Yale Cancer Center, discusses phase III findings on the first-in-class telomerase inhibitor imetelstat, which was given to patients with heavily transfusion-dependent non-del(5q) lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes that are resistant to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Imetelstat resulted in a significant and sustained red blood cell (RBC) transfusion independence in 40% of these heavily transfused patients. The response was also durable and accompanied by an impressive median hemoglobin rise of 3.6 g/dL, and seen in patients with and without ring sideroblasts. Importantly, reduced variant allele frequency was observed in the most commonly mutated myeloid genes which correlated with duration of transfusion independence and hemoglobin rise, therefore suggesting a disease-modifying potential of this agent (Abstract 7004).
The ASCO Post Staff
Cathy Eng, MD, of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Thejus Jayakrishnan, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, discuss significant differences in the citrate cycle, a core pathway of cellular metabolism associated with colorectal cancer. Metabolomic differences impacted by environmental exposures (arginine biosynthesis and dietary red meat) were also noted, suggesting possible links with younger age of onset in this disease (Abstract 3510).
The ASCO Post Staff
Aaron T. Gerds, MD, of Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, talks about treating the anemia many patients with myelofibrosis experience because of JAK inhibitor therapy. The ACE-536-MF-001 study showed that luspatercept improved anemia and transfusion burden in this population, with a safety profile consistent with that in previous studies (Abstract 7016).
