John B.A.G. Haanen, MD, PhD, on Solid Tumors: Early Study Results on CAR T Cells and the CARVac Vaccine Strategy
AACR Annual Meeting 2022
John B.A.G. Haanen, MD, PhD, of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses findings from a phase I study designed to test the safety and efficacy of the CARVac (CAR-T cell-amplifying RNA vaccine) strategy to overcome poor CAR T-cell stimulation and responses in patients with CLDN6-positive advanced solid tumors. Men with testicular cancer in particular showed encouraging responses. Overall, some patients showed long-term CAR T-cell persistence more than 150 days post infusion. Partial responses seemed to deepen further over time (Abstract CT002).
The ASCO Post Staff
Maria Elena Martinez, PhD, MPH, of the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center, provides an overview of the key components of the Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening and Follow-up through Implementation Science program, challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and opportunities for overcoming these challenges. Although screening and follow-up may reduce the incidence of and mortality from colorectal cancer, these disparities persist in medically underserved populations (Abstract SY30).
The ASCO Post Staff
David A. Barbie, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses his laboratory’s studies, showing that malignant pleural mesothelioma, an inflamed cancer type with marginal response to immune checkpoint blockade, demonstrated high tumor cell STING expression and response to STING agonists in combination with natural killer cell therapies ex vivo. STING is the tumor cell stimulator of interferon genes (Abstract 4168).
The ASCO Post Staff
Jia Luo, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the emerging class of cancer therapies for allele-specific KRAS inhibitors and the importance of their distinct clinical, genomic, and immunologic features. Because KRAS G12D–mutated non–small cell lung cancer is associated with worse responses to immunotherapy, Dr. Luo believes drug development will need to take these differences into account (Abstract 4117).
The ASCO Post Staff
Charles L. Sawyers, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the battle against treatment resistance and how to overcome it, as well as the power of observational clinical data in precision oncology, derived largely from his experience with Project GENIE, and the role of genetic ancestry (Abstract PL02).
The ASCO Post Staff
Zev Wainberg, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, discusses preliminary data on the safety and efficacy of TTX-030, an anti-CD39 antibody, in combination with budigalimab and FOLFOX for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. The study suggests the regimen may prove to be of benefit as a first-line treatment, regardless of combined positive score status (Abstract CT015).
