Courtney Flaherty

Danielle K. DePalo, MD, explains the lack of research directly comparing first-line treatment options for patients with unresectable melanoma in-transit metastases, expands on the safety and efficacy of 3 treatment modalities for these patients, and underscores the need for more data to inform the management of these patients.

Uwe Platzbecker, MD, discusses how to navigate decisions for the first-line treatment of anemia in patients with lower-risk MDS in light of luspatercept’s approval, expands on key data from the COMMANDS trial, and addresses potential concerns from clinicians who are uncertain about when to utilize this agent in the frontline setting in clinical practice.

Vivek K. Narayan, MD, MS, spotlights 3 case studies of patients with metastatic prostate cancer, delving into the influence of their unique mutational status on treatment decisions, scenarios in which to utilize PARP inhibitor monotherapy vs combination regimens, and key trials that support the use of each approach.

Joachim G. J. V. Aerts, MD, PhD, discusses how dendritic cell vaccines could bolster historically poor responses to immunotherapy in patients with mesothelioma, reports and provides potential explanations for negative results from the DENIM trial, and details a potential role for this therapy in earlier lines of mesothelioma treatment.

Administration of acalabrutinib to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with or without cardiovascular disorders at baseline results in a numerically decreased incidence of overall treatment-related cardiac toxicities and a comparable safety profile vs comparator CLL therapies such as ibrutinib.

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who experience disease progression during treatment with either covalent or noncovalent BTK inhibitors displayed a higher frequency of BTK mutations in L528W as well as RAS/RAF/MAPK pathway alterations, indicating that these alterations may play a role in the development of BTK inhibitor resistance.

Shortages of cisplatin and carboplatin have continued at the majority of National Cancer Center Network (NCCN) institutions, according to data from a follow-up survey conducted by NCCN.

Patients with multiple myeloma exhibiting poor prognostic features, such as high-risk cytogenetics, soft-tissue plasmacytoma, ISS stage III disease, and triple-class exposure, experienced significant progression-free survival benefit with ciltacabtagene autoleucel.

Amy W. Zhou, MD, highlights the unique mechanism of action of the JAK1/2 and ACVR1 inhibitor momelotinib and the importance of ongoing investigations of JAK inhibitor combination therapies in myelofibrosis.

Ezra Rosen, MD, PhD, highlights the early-phase investigation of zotatifin in estrogen receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, explains the agent’s unique mechanism of action as well as its efficacy and safety in a heavily pretreated population, and underscores the need for improved sequencing of the myriad of treatment options in the post–CDK4/6 inhibitor space.

Melissa L. Johnson, MD, spotlights the early-phase investigation of ifinatamab deruxtecan in advanced solid tumors, discusses the efficacy and safety of the agent in patients with small cell lung cancer, and emphasizes how results from a subgroup analysis support its continued investigation.

Uwe Platzbecker, MD, discusses the efficacy and safety data from the COMMANDS trial that supported the approval, and the next steps planned for luspatercept’s investigation in patients with lower-risk MDS who are transfusion independent.

The addition of toripalimab to standard-of-care sorafenib in the frontline setting demonstrated preliminary efficacy and tolerability in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

The use of an immuno-oncology regimen as systemic therapy was found to be an independent prognostic factor and was associated with improved long-term survival for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, regardless of IO’s sequencing in the first and later lines of treatment.

Daneng Li, MD, highlights the importance of biomarker testing in gastroesophageal and biliary tract cancers, the potential role for targeted therapy in first-line CRC treatment, and when to choose neoadjuvant therapy over upfront surgery and adjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer.

R. Lor Randall, MD, FACS, discusses the process of organizing the symposium, key surgical and non-surgical advancements as well as socioeconomic disparities identified in these papers, and the importance of this information for both surgical and medical oncologists.

The addition of atezolizumab to bevacizumab, carboplatin, and pemetrexed or paclitaxel (ABCP) did not result in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival vs BCP for patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer in the first line, missing the primary end point of the phase 3 IMpower151 study.

Heather R. Williams, MD, expands on updated data from the the phase 3 PRIMA trial initially supporting the use of frontline PARP inhibitor maintenance in ovarian cancer, as well as changing indications for niraparib based on data from the NOVA trial.

Administration of the anti–PD-1 antibody prolgolimab in combination with bevacizumab and platinum-doublet chemotherapy resulted in high response rates and a favorable safety profile in patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.

The efficacy of maintenance mirvetuximab soravtansine plus bevacizumab is being compared with bevacizumab alone in patients with folate receptor alpha–positive recurrent platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancers that did not progress on second-line triplet therapy in the phase 3 GLORIOSA study.

Bernard Doger de Spéville, MD, PhD, discusses the investigation of eftilagimod alpha plus pembrolizumab in the TACTI-002 trial, including prior evidence supporting this approach, the trial’s design and primary objective, and the combination’s efficacy and safety in both the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and non–small cell lung cancer cohorts.

Thierry André, MD, discusses the investigation of trifluridine/tipiracil plus bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, including how its use as a standard of care in the third line supported its investigation in the first-line setting, the regimen’s efficacy and safety in the SOLSTICE trial, and the importance of this combination for patients in this space despite negative trial results.

The novel anti-PD-1 antibody geptanolimab demonstrated durable antitumor activity and favorable tolerability in patients with recurrent or metastatic PD-L1–positive cervical cancer who previously progressed on a platinum-based regimen.

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, highlights updated survival and safety data seen with sacituzumab govitecan in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer; underscores how Trop-2 and HER2 testing is not necessarily needed for this agent in this population at this time; and shares how ongoing efforts are exploring the utilization of this agent earlier in the treatment course.

Funda Meric-Bernstam, MD, discusses the design of the DESTINY-PanTumor02 trial, details the antitumor activity and safety of T-DXd in HER2-expressing solid tumors, and shares additional analyses that will be coming down the pike.

Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, discusses strategies he and his colleagues at Yale Cancer Center have employed to reduce the effect of the current chemotherapy shortage on patients, and emphasizes the need to reassess current manufacturing strategies in an effort to potentially mitigate future drug shortages.

Michael Cecchini, MD, expands on key updates in gastrointestinal cancer from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, including the clinical significance of findings from the PROSPECT and phase 3 PRODIGE 23 trials of perioperative chemotherapy vs selective standard chemoradiation.

Marios Giannakis, MD, PhD, discusses how targeting the WNT signaling pathway could harness a previously underutilized pathway involved in GI tumor development, spotlights the activity and safety of CGX1321 with or without pembrolizumab in phase 1 studies, and emphasizes the need for continued investigation of CGX1321 to further validate this precision medicine approach.

Ajai Chari, MD, discusses how the FDA approval of talquetamab addresses several unmet needs in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and expands on the agent’s efficacy data and safety profile observed in MonumenTAL-1.

R. Lor Randall, MD, FACS, explains the difference between noncancerous chondroblastoma and other bone neoplasms, details the typical diagnosis and treatment of this rare condition, and emphasizes the importance of pediatric and medical oncologists being able to identify it in clinic.