Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, on Exploiting Cancer Biology in Developing New Treatment Paradigms
AACR Annual Meeting 2021
Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, reflects on the ways in which breast cancer research pioneered the targeted treatment approach, as understanding of the basic biology of tumors deepened and new pathways were uncovered. He sees a future ripe with possibilities for new molecular targets to further improve outcomes for patients with breast cancer and other types of tumors.
The ASCO Post Staff
Patrick M. Forde, MD, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, discusses results from the CheckMate 816 trial, which showed that adding nivolumab to chemotherapy as a neoadjuvant treatment for patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer improved the pathologic complete response rate to 24%, compared to 2.2% with chemotherapy alone (Abstract CT003).
The ASCO Post Staff
Charlotte E. Ariyan, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses improved outcomes with metastasectomy in the setting of checkpoint inhibitors, with the removal of residual disease and “escape” lesions. Surgical outcomes may also be better than targeted treatments, although long-term data and biomarkers are needed to confirm these findings.
The ASCO Post Staff
Karen H. Vousden, PhD, of The Francis Crick Institute, and Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, discuss emerging evidence that diet may affect which nutrients are available to tumor cells, which can influence both tumor growth and response to therapy. Clinicians may be able to personalize dietary interventions to optimize patient care.
The ASCO Post Staff
Linda T. Vahdat, MD, MBA, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses results of a phase II trial designed to test the concept that targeting the tumor microenvironment by depleting copper may prevent metastases, essentially disrupting the infrastructure that contributes to tumor spread.
The ASCO Post Staff
Brian I. Rini, MD, of Vanderbilt University, discusses the IMmotion151 trial results on overall survival and the association of gene expression and clinical outcomes with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab vs sunitinib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Abstract CT188).
