Marcia R. Cruz-Correa, MD, PhD, on a Vision for the Future of Cancer Research and Treatment
AACR Annual Meeting 2022
Marcia R. Cruz-Correa, MD, PhD, of the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a way to possibly transform cancer outcomes by teaming up basic scientists, clinical researchers, and community advocates to work together, decode the complexity of cancer, and find points at which to intervene in the development of tumor cells. One strong focus is on communities disproportionately affected based on their genomic ancestry, geographic location, and ethnicity (Abstract PL06).
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
Gulam A. Manji, MD, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center, discusses phase II results on perioperative combination chemotherapy and pembrolizumab in patients with resectable gastric cancer. The combination appeared to result in many complete pathologic responses (Abstract CT009).
The ASCO Post Staff
Meenakshi Anurag, PhD, of Baylor College of Medicine, discusses results from the ALTERNATE trial, which showed the combination of anastrozole plus fulvestrant was superior to either drug alone in inhibiting tumor proliferation in postmenopausal women with early-stage luminal B breast cancer (Abstract CT026).
The ASCO Post Staff
Timothy A. Yap, MBBS, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses results from the PETRA study, a first-in-class, first-in-human trial of the next-generation PARP1-selective inhibitor AZD5305 in patients with BRCA1/2, PALB2, or RAD51C/D mutations in advanced or metastatic ovarian cancer, HER2-negative breast cancer, pancreatic, or prostate cancer. Target engagement was demonstrated across all dose levels, and antitumor activity was observed in selected tumor and molecular subtypes.
The ASCO Post Staff
Priscilla K. Brastianos, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, talks about her efforts to better understand how brain metastases evolve genomically and to test such agents as abemaciclib, paxalisib, and entrectinib, which may stop their growth. Palbociclib, a CDK inhibitor, has already shown potential benefit. A national cooperative group trial is underway in multiple centers to identify novel treatments for patients with brain metastases, who typically have a poor prognosis (Abstract SY38).
