Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD, on Lung Adenocarcinoma: Somatic Mutations, Germline Risk, and Ancestry
AACR Annual Meeting 2022
Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses study findings that suggest the variation in frequency of EGFR and KRAS mutations in lung cancer may be associated with genetic ancestry in patients from Latin America. The results indicate it may be possible to identify germline alleles underpinning this link. Finding a germline locus or loci may impact the development of lung cancers with these mutations and may improve lung cancer prevention and screening for populations of Latin American origin, as well as others.
The ASCO Post Staff
Iván Márquez-Rodas, MD, PhD, of Spain’s Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, discusses final results of the phase II SPOTLIGHT203 study of systemic pembrolizumab in combination with intratumoral BO-112 for patients with advanced melanoma refractory to anti–PD-1–based therapy. The regimen achieved an overall response rate of 25% and a disease control rate of 65% (Abstract CT014).
The ASCO Post Staff
Cheryl L. Willman, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the profound cancer health disparities among Native Americans, exacerbated by low rates of screening and limited access to care. Dr. Willman is heading an effort to promote community engagement in comprehensive genomic sequencing with the hope that researchers will discover novel mutations and genome-wide mutational signatures that can ultimately be translated to improved screening and therapy in this population (Abstract PL03).
The ASCO Post Staff
Lillian L. Siu, MD, of Canada’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, discusses biomarker-driven precision cancer medicine, the optimal sequencing of immunotherapy (IO) with standard treatments in curative settings, IO targets beyond PD-1/PD-L1 and combinatorial strategies, and next-generation adoptive cell therapies (Abstract PL06).
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
Gautam Mehta, MD, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, discusses how accelerated approval of potentially life-saving cancer therapies has been applied in precision oncology. Although “fast-tracking” drugs presents opportunities and challenges, one possible measure of the program’s success is the fact that, to date, no solid tumor accelerated-approval indications have been withdrawn (Abstract DC06).
