Merry-Jennifer Markham, MD, ASCO’s Cancer Communications Chair, gives her views on key papers presented at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, addressing gynecologic malignancies and COVID-19.
Rachel E. Sanborn, MD, of the Providence Cancer Institute, discusses three key abstracts on EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer: a final overall survival analysis of bevacizumab plus erlotinib; concurrent osimertinib plus gefitinib for first-line treatment; and first-line treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with or without aggressive upfront local radiation therapy (Abstracts 9506, 9507, 9508).
Thierry André, MD, of Hôpital Saint-Antoine, discusses the phase III results from KEYNOTE-177, which showed that, compared with standard chemotherapy of FOLFOX or FOLFIRI, pembrolizumab doubled median progression-free survival, from 8.2 months to 16.5 months, in patients with microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair–deficient metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract LBA4).
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, of Yale Cancer Center, discusses data from the ADAURA study, which showed that compared with placebo, osimertinib as adjuvant therapy after complete tumor resection reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death by 79% in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract LBA5).
Shaji Kumar, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses findings from the ENDURANCE trial, which showed bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone should remain the standard of care in patients with newly diagnosed standard- or intermediate-risk multiple myeloma, for whom early autologous stem cell transplant is not intended (Abstract LBA3).
David C. Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, of the University of Pennsylvania, who trained as an oncologist, summarizes his opening lecture, a dramatic story of his battle against Castleman, a disease of the lymph nodes, his multiple near-death experiences, and the path that led him to develop a cooperative research effort making a difference for him and other patients with this idiopathic orphan illness.
