Sherry X. Yang, MD, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses findings from the TAILORx trial, which showed that, despite chemotherapy, patients with high recurrence scores continue to have a poor prognosis. This result suggests the need to develop new management strategies for patients with early-stage breast cancer. (Abstract LB119)
Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, of the Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone, discusses efficacy and safety results from the phase II KEYNOTE-942 trial, which showed that a personalized mRNA-based cancer vaccine, combined with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab, improved recurrence-free survival compared with pembrolizumab alone in patients with high-risk melanoma. The clinical benefit was observed regardless of the tumor mutational burden status. (Abstract CT001)
John V. Heymach, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase III results from the AEGEAN trial, which showed that patients with treatment-naive, resectable, non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received neoadjuvant durvalumab plus chemotherapy and adjuvant durvalumab monotherapy had improved event-free survival and pathologic complete response, compared with those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. (Abstract CT005)
Diana Azzam, PhD, of Florida International University, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, discusses her study results, which showed that treatment protocols guided by functional precision medicine yielded significantly longer progression-free survival and improved overall response in pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory cancer, compared with their previous treatment and standard of care. (Abstract LB358)
Harry Klein, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses MatchMiner, a software platform launched in 2017, that matches patients with appropriate clinical trials of targeted therapies. The platform uses data on the genetic features of a patient’s cancer, as well as clinical data, to identify trials at Dana-Farber for which the patient might be eligible. MatchMiner can also help recruit patients who meet the trial’s eligibility requirements. (Abstract 1067)
Marcus O. Butler, MD, of Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, discusses evidence of tumor response in orbital lesions treated with tebentafusp in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. Tebentafusp is a first-in-class novel bispecific protein, the first therapy to show superior overall survival compared with standard therapy for metastatic uveal melanoma. Based on these study findings, a role for this agent as a neoadjuvant treatment warrants further investigation. (Abstract LB 118/1)
