Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, on Breast Cancer: Four Major Studies on Trastuzumab, Pertuzumab, Anthracyclines, and Chemotherapy De-escalation
ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program
Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, of UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, summarizes four breast cancer studies: KATHERINE, on adjuvant trastuzumab vs trastuzumab in patients with residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer; KAITLIN, on trastuzumab emtansine and pertuzumab vs trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and taxane after anthracyclines as adjuvant therapy for high-risk HER2-positive early breast cancer; TRAIN-2, on neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without anthracyclines for HER2-positive disease; and PHERGain, on chemotherapy de-escalation using an FDG-PET/CT and pathologic response–adapted strategy in HER2-positive early breast cancer (Abstracts 500, 501, 502, and 503).
The ASCO Post Staff
Andres Poveda, MD, of Initia Oncology, discusses phase III results from the SOLO2 trial, which showed that, compared with placebo, maintenance olaparib improved median overall survival by 12.9 months in patients with platinum-sensitive, relapsed ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation (Abstract 6002).
The ASCO Post Staff
Eric Zhou, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses an existing online program called SHUTi (Sleep Healthy Using the Internet), that he and his team adapted to the needs of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. After six online cognitive behavior therapy sessions delivered over 8 weeks, the 22 patients in the study reported a significant reduction in insomnia severity, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue as well as an overall improvement in quality of life.
The ASCO Post Staff
Jeremy L. Warner, MD, of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, discusses data from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium cohort study, which included patients with active or prior hematologic or invasive solid malignancies, reported across academic and community sites (Abstract LBA110).
The ASCO Post Staff
Christopher Nutting, MD, PhD, of the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research, discusses phase III results from the first study to demonstrate the functional benefit of swallow-sparing intensity-modulated radiotherapy in oro- and hypopharyngeal cancers (Abstract 6508).
The ASCO Post Staff
Professor Lourdes Gil Deza, of the Instituto Oncológico Henry Moore, Buenos Aires, discusses her findings on the shortcomings of medical training when it comes to treating transgender patients, and the need to deepen clinical and communication skills to assist this population (Abstract 11002).
