Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, on Racism and Racial Inequities in Cancer Research
AACR Virtual Annual Meeting 2020 II
Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, summarizes a special panel discussion on ways to eliminate cancer health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. Increasing minority representation in clinical trials, thus ensuring diversity, and recognizing the accomplishments of minority scientists and clinicians in the cancer workforce are among the solutions discussed (Session VSS08).
The ASCO Post Staff
Adam C. Palmer, PhD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discusses combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with other cancer therapies to provide patients with more chances of a response. In principle, similar benefits may result from sequential or biomarker-stratified treatments, which could be valuable in cases where toxicities may prevent full-dose combinations (Abstract 1047).
The ASCO Post Staff
Ralph R. Weichselbaum, MD, of the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center, explores the question of whether radiotherapy is the principal curative treatment with immunotherapy or activates immunotherapy. He also discussed how to improve the interaction of these treatments, perhaps with vaccination, transfer of genetically engineered T cells, or checkpoint inhibitors (Session ED37).
The ASCO Post Staff
Kala Visvanathan, MD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discusses her analysis of data from more than 10,000 women with ovarian cancer. The results suggest that atorvastatin and simvastatin, lipophilic statin cholesterol-lowering drugs, reduced ovarian cancer death rates (Abstract 5782).
The ASCO Post Staff
Alfonso Bencomo Álvarez, PhD, of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, discusses his retrospective study of the incidence and survival for patients with hematologic malignancies residing at the United States/Mexico border. The analysis showed that 10-year survival rates for Hispanic patients with ALL, AML, and CML were significantly lower for those who lived in El Paso than for those who lived elsewhere in Texas (Abstract 4343).
The ASCO Post Staff
Robert A. Winn, MD, of Virginia Commonwealth University and the Massey Cancer Center, discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is exacerbating disparities in cancer care among racial and ethnic minorities and the medically underserved who are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus (Session VSS06).
