Allison Betof Warner, MD, PhD, on TIL Therapy for Advanced Melanoma: Innovative Clinical Advances in Treatment
Thematic Newsreels
Allison Betof Warner, MD, PhD, reviews important clinical research in the treatment of advanced melanoma, including tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, the role of this innovative treatment in advanced melanoma, and relevant data, peer-reviewed literature, and FDA approvals in 2024. She also provides a look ahead at what is on the horizon in 2025 with regard to care for patients with advanced melanoma.
Benjamin P. Levy, MD, of Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, discusses research into moving KRAS G12C inhibitors from the second to the first line, as well as combining them with immunotherapies and EGFR antibodies. Some potential combinations under investigation include KRAS G12C inhibitors (such as olomorasib, fulzerasib, divarasib, and adagrasib) and single-agent immunotherapy (pembrolizumab) or EGFR-targeting therapies (cetuximab).
The ASCO Post Staff
Atish D. Choudhury, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and clinical/translational investigator at the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses current guideline recommendations for the use of relugolix and leuprolide, relugolix as a combination backbone, and important considerations when applying these data to clinical practice.
References
1. De La Cerda J, Dunshee C, Gervasi L, et al: A phase I clinical trial evaluating the safety and dosing of relugolix with novel hormonal therapy for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Target Oncol 3:383-390, 2023.
2. George DJ, Saad F, Cookson MS, et al: Impact of concomitant prostate cancer medications on efficacy and safety of relugolix versus leuprolide in men with advanced prostate cancer. Clin Genitourin Cancer 3:383-392, 2023.
3. Brown G, Belkoff L, Hafron JM, et al: Coadministration of apalutamide and relugolix in patients with localized prostate cancer at high risk for metastases. Target Oncol 1:95-103, 2023.
Jennifer Gile, MD, of Willamette Valley Cancer Institute, talks about the first positive phase III trials in the high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) space—POLARIX and frontMIND. POLARIX established the superiority of a modified regimen of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) called pola-R-CHP, in which vincristine was replaced with polatuzumab vedotin, over standard R-CHOP; frontMIND showed that the addition of the CD19 monoclonal antibody tafasitamab plus the immunomodulatory drug lenalidomide to R-CHOP also improved outcomes over standard R-CHOP. Dr. Gile discusses current considerations when choosing between these regimens and how future research may lead to even more refined patient selection.
The ASCO Post Staff
Kent Shih, MD, of Tennessee Oncology, shares three patient cases that illustrate how gene-expression profiling (GEP) in patients with melanoma helps shape the decision to proceed to sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and how often and thorough follow-up should be with medical oncology.
In hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, co-occurring ESR1 and PIK3CA mutations create therapeutic complexity. Oral SERDs, including elacestrant, retain activity despite PIK3CA co-mutation and may offer an efficacy–toxicity balance compared with PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors. Treatment selection should incorporate molecular profile, anticipated efficacy, toxicity, and shared decision-making, states Neil M. Iyengar, MD.
