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
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
Nirav N. Shah, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses phase II results showing that split-dose R-CHOP offers older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) an equivalent dose intensity as R-CHOP-21 through a fractionated dosing schedule, improving tolerability. At the end of treatment for these older patients, a complete response rate of 71% was comparable to outcomes with R-CHOP in younger patients with the disease (Abstract 7554).
The ASCO Post Staff
Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses results of a phase III study showing that progression-free survival with ibrutinib plus obinutuzumab plus venetoclax is not superior to ibrutinib plus obinutuzumab for treatment-naive older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. Long-term follow-up will determine whether there are advantages to obinutuzumab plus venetoclax, with special attention to measurable residual disease and therapy discontinuation (Abstract 7500).
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 Filippo Gustavo Dall’Olio, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, discuss circulating tumor DNA tumor fraction, and its link to survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with maintenance durvalumab in the UNICANCER SAFIR02-Lung/IFCT1301 trial. Tumor fraction was positive in 16% of patients randomly assigned to receive durvalumab in the study. This population seems to have a limited benefit from maintenance durvalumab after induction chemotherapy (Abstract 2516).
