ASCO 2015 Highlights

The first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T) may be a new treatment option for patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), which has a very poor prognosis and few treatment options. Rova-T is particularly promising in SCLC tumors that overexpress the delta-like (DLL) 3 protein, according to first-in-human study results presented at ASCO 2016.

Access and adherence to long-term cancer therapies are emerging as major public health issues around the world, as high out-of-pocket costs for oral oncolytics are linked to nonadherence that can directly affect patient outcomes, said Dawn L. Hershman, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, at ASCO 2016.

In her presidential address, Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, Chief of the Oncology/Hematology Division, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, highlighted the importance of multimodal care and its effect on the quality of care and enhancement of clinical trial participation among patients with cancer.

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD), also known as sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, is a rare and life-threatening liver condition that is characterized by rapid weight gain, ascites, painful hepatomegaly, and jaundice. It is often observed in patients after allogeneic or autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT), and has also been reported during the treatment of Wilms tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma associated with actinomycin D, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

New recommendations issued by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) focus on increasing colorectal cancer screening, which, according to the task force, is “a substantially underused preventive health strategy.” Previous USPSTF guidelines recommended specific screening approaches, including colonoscopy, fecal occult blood testing, or sigmoidoscopy, for adults aged 50 through 75 years.

The multitarget stool DNA test, a noninvasive screening tool for colorectal cancer (CRC), demonstrated potential for identifying cancer and advanced adenomas in community-based individuals who had previously not followed national screening recommendations, reported Mark Prince, MD, MBA, Director of Gastroenterology, USMD Health System, Arlington, TX, at the 2016 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

The multitargeted RAF inhibitor BGB-283 demonstrated activity in several types of advanced solid tumors associated with different mutations in the RAF family of genes, results of a preliminary clinical trial showed.

Holding what was essentially a one-person debate, Michael B. Atkins, MD, Deputy Director of the Georgetown-Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, described strong cases for immunotherapy or molecularly targeted therapy as initial treatment for patients with advanced BRAF mutation–positive melanoma.

When combined with other clinically relevant parameters, a novel protein biomarker called IsoPSA can improve selection of patients with prostate cancer for biopsy. IsoPSA holds promise for improved diagnostic accuracy, said Eric A. Klein, MD, Chairman, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, OH, at the 2016 American Urological Association annual meeting.

A new article by a New York surgical team confirms that there is a survival benefit from an emerging therapy for difficult-to-treat soft-tissue tumors, but that it is not without a steep price for some patients.