Katelyn T. Byrne, PhD, of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the first in-depth analysis of the impact of selicrelumab, an anti-CD40 antibody, which was found to enrich T cells in pancreatic tumors, activate the immune system, and alter the tumor stroma (Abstract CT005).
Samra Turajlic, MBBS, PhD, of The Francis Crick Institute, discusses our limited understanding of metastases in terms of the timing of dissemination, the many metastatic phenotypes and varieties of seeding, as well as how the spread of cancer evades the immune system and resists treatment. Expanding this knowledge base is critical to better managing malignant disease.
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.
Georgina V. Long, MD, PhD, of the Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, discusses results of the CheckMate 915 trial, which may reinforce nivolumab as an adjuvant standard of care in patients with stage IIIB–D/IV melanoma, with or without complete lymphadenectomy (Abstract CT004).
Vivek Subbiah, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses data on selpercatinib that showed promising activity across a variety of RET fusion–positive cancers, including treatment-refractory gastrointestinal malignancies. This analysis highlights the need for genomic profiling to identify actionable oncogenic drivers.
