Erika Hamilton, MD, on ER-Positive HER2-Negative Advanced Breast Cancer: Vepdegestrant vs Fulvestrant
2025 ASCO Annual Meeting
Erika Hamilton, MD, Director, Breast Cancer Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, reviews data from the global, randomized, phase III VERITAC-2 study, which compared vepdegestrant, an oral PROTAC (PROteolysis TArgeting Chimera) estrogen receptor degrader, to fulvestrant among patients with ER-positive HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. Vepdegestrant is the first PROTAC to be evaluated in a phase III trial (Abstract LBA1000).
The ASCO Post Staff
William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reviews the final analysis of phase II CAPTIVATE study demonstrating the long-term efficacy and safety of ibrutinib plus venetoclax for previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), including in patients with high-risk genomic features. The 5.5-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 66% and 97%, respectively (Abstract 7036).
The ASCO Post Staff
Elena Elez, MD, PhD, of Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, presents updated overall survival data as well as progression-free survival data from the BREAKWATER trial of the first-line use of encorafenib, cetuximab, and mFOLFOX6 in BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (LBA3500).
The ASCO Post Staff
Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, of City of Hope, and Rebecca Alexandra Dent, MD, FASCO, of National Cancer Centre Singapore, review the results of a biomarker analysis of the DESTINY-Breast06 trial, which evaluated trastuzumab deruxtecan after endocrine therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer (Abstract 1013). They also discuss findings from the SERENA-6 and EMBER-3 trials, also presented at ASCO 2025, and what all this new data means for the sequencing of endocrine therapy in patients with breast cancer.
The ASCO Post Staff
Martin Reck, MD, PhD, of LungenClinic Grosshansdorf, Germany, discusses data from the phase III AEGEAN trial that studied perioperative durvalumab and neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients who were MRD-positive after surgery had significantly worse disease-free survival compared to MRD-negative patients. In addition, mutations in KEAP1 and KMT2C were associated with MRD positivity and reduced benefit from the regimen, identifying a small high-risk subgroup with poor prognosis (Abstract 8009).
The ASCO Post Staff
Sameek Roychowdhury, MD, PhD, of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, discusses a recently opened telemedicine clinical trial of pemigatinib in patients with advanced or metastatic FGFR-mutated pancreatic cancer, and the germination of a new initiative, TNT Cancer, which focuses on leveraging telemedicine to bring trials nationwide.
