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.
Jennifer L. Crombie, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the historically poor outcomes for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Her study examined real-world data on the use of novel therapies in this population and found that outcomes with second- and third-line regimens of polatuzumab vedotin-piiq plus bendamustine and rituximab and tafasitamab plus lenalidomide remain suboptimal, with worse outcomes particularly after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (Abstract 7552).
Paula Aristizabal, MD, MAS, of the University of California, San Diego, and Rady Children’s Hospital, talks about using a health systems strengthening approach to improve leukemia care and survival in a public Mexican hospital in the region of the border between the United States and Mexico. The demonstrated increase in overall survival across a decade after implementation of the program seems to validate the use of such models, not only to improve clinical outcomes, but also to build sustainable hospital capacity, financially and organizationally (Abstract 1502).
Rana R. McKay, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, and Brian I. Rini, MD, of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, discuss the 5-year follow-up results with the combination of a checkpoint inhibitor plus a VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor as first-line treatment for patients with advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Pembrolizumab plus axitinib continued to demonstrate improved survival outcomes as well as overall response rate vs sunitinib for patients with previously untreated disease (Abstract LBA4501).
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.
Muhit Özcan, MD, of Turkey’s Ankara University School of Medicine, discusses phase II findings from the waveLINE-004 study. It showed that the antibody-drug conjugate zilovertamab vedotin had clinically meaningful antitumor activity in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who experienced disease progression after, or have been ineligible for, autologous stem cell transplantation and/or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (Abstract 7531).
