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).
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).
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).
Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses her research on the evolutionary features of advanced stage pancreatic cancers and the insights that may be used to help improve patient outcomes (Abstract PL05).
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.
Alana L. Welm, PhD, of the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute, discusses her findings of a new pathway that regulates the antitumor immune response during metastatic outgrowth. Interfering with a particular isoform of RON kinase may cause metastatic tumors to be swarmed by T cells and killed, suggesting that new approaches to targeting this kinase may be achievable in the near future (Abstract SY32).
