ASCO 2015 Highlights

The number of cancer survivors continues to increase in the United States, which can be attributed to a growing and aging population, as well as recent advances in diagnosis and treatment. The Institute of Medicine advises that every cancer survivor receive a survivorship care plan summarizing his or her diagnosis, treatment, and recommendations regarding follow-up care.

Combining the PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) with abir­aterone acetate (Zytiga) led to a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in radiographic progression-free survival (PFS) versus abiraterone alone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), regardless of homologous recombination repair (HRR) status, according to results of the phase 3 PROpel trial.

The addition of the PARP inhibitor niraparib (Zejula) to abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone (AAP) led to a significant improvement in radiographic progression-free survival (PFS) versus AAP alone in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) harboring homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene alterations, according to the final analysis of the primary end point of a phase 3 trial.

The addition of sacituzumab govitecan (Trodelvy), an antibody–drug conjugate, to the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed encouraging antitumor activity in checkpoint inhibitor–naïve patients with metastatic urothelial cancer, according to an analysis of the results of cohort 3 from the phase 2 TROPHY-U-01 clinical trial.

Treatment with acalabrutinib (Calquence) elicited a complete or partial response in more than 50% of patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma (MZL), according to interim results of a phase 2 study.

MM is a clonal malignancy of terminally differentiated plasma cells, characterized by the accumulation of malignant cells in the bone marrow.

Isatuximab is 1 of the 2 FDA-approved anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies used to treat patients with multiple myeloma.

As providers and payers, we recognize that the costs of treating multiple myeloma are some of the highest among all disease states.

The phase 3 CheckMate-816 trial establishes a new standard of care for resectable non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) plus chemotherapy.

Treatment with the androgen receptor inhibitor darolutamide (Nubeqa), in combination with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) and docetaxel, significantly improved overall survival (OS) compared with ADT and docetaxel alone in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC), according to recent results from the phase 3 ARASENS clinical trial, which were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.