ASCO 2015 Highlights

Telehealth is playing a larger role in the delivery of cancer care, but there is more work that needs to be done to permanently increase access, according to a panel of experts during a plenary session at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2022 Annual Conference.

Adjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda) continued to provide a disease-free survival (DFS) benefit in patients with renal-cell carcinoma (RCC) at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence after nephrectomy, according to 30-month follow-up data from the KEYNOTE-564 trial presented at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Treatment with nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) in the neoadjuvant setting plus adjuvant nivolumab resulted in a high rate of pathologic complete response (pCR) in patients with resectable microsatellite instability (MSI)/mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) oeso-gastric junction (OGJ) adenocarcinoma, according to findings from the GERCOR NEONIPIGA clinical trial, which were presented by Thierry André, MD, Professor, Medical Oncology, Sorbonne Université, Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, France, at the 2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Continuous enzalutamide (Xtandi) treatment in combination with docetaxel significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with placebo plus docetaxel in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who had disease progression on enzalutamide alone, according to results from the phase 3b PRESIDE clinical trial.

With better insights into the biology of cancer and other diseases, genetic medicine is entering “a whole new ballgame,” said Scott Gottlieb, MD, Former FDA Commissioner, during the keynote session at the 11th Annual Summit of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care in 2021.

Interim results from a phase 2 clinical trial showed that a novel combination of aldoxorubicin, N-803 (an IL-15 super­agonist), and PD-L1 natural killer cell therapy (Nant Cancer Vaccine) plus low-dose chemotherapy doubled overall survival (OS) compared with historical controls in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The antibody–drug conjugate pol­atuzumab vedotin-piiq (Polivy) added to R-CHP (rituximab [Rituxan], cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone) achieved a 27% reduction in the risk for progression or death compared with the standard regimen of R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) as first-line therapy for patients with intermediate- and high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Community-based providers remain at the core of the oncology care delivery system. A panel moderated by Barbara McAneny, MD, Chief Executive Officer, New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants, Albuquerque, at the 11th Annual Summit of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care in 2021 explored the road ahead for community practices in terms of balancing value and delivering optimal access to care for patients.

The addition of isatuximab (Sarclisa) to the triplet of lenalidomide (Revlimid), bortezomib (Velcade), and dexamethasone (RVd) achieved superior minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity rates versus standard therapy with RVd alone as induction treatment in transplant-eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, according to results of the phase 3 GMMG-HD7 clinical trial presented at the 2021 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.