Latest Conference Articles

Women With Menopausal Symptoms Less Likely to Adhere to Breast Cancer Prevention Treatment

Women who are experiencing symptoms of menopause are less likely to adhere to treatment, according to findings presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Ribociclib Shows Consistent Benefit in Advanced Breast Cancer Subgroups

A subgroup analysis of the randomized MONALEESA-2 trial showed that patients with advanced HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, and visceral metastases obtained a significant benefit from treatment with the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib combined with letrozole.

Sacituzumab Govitecan Elicits Durable Responses for Pretreated TNBC

Treatment with sacituzumab govitecan was well-tolerated and induced durable responses, some lasting longer than 1 year, for heavily pretreated patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

More Evidence That Scalp Cooling Devices Work, Especially During Taxane-Based Chemotherapy

Findings from the first prospective, randomized clinical trial to evaluate modern scalp-cooling demonstrate that the system is safe and effective in reducing hair loss in women being treated with chemotherapy for their breast cancer, especially for those on taxane-based regimens.

Dr. Hurvitz on neoMONARCH Trial for HR+ Breast Cancer

​Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, medical oncologist, associate professor of Medicine, medical director, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Clinical Research Unit, UCLA, discusses the findings of the neoMONARCH trial, a neoadjuvant regimen combining the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib with anastrozole, which induced a response rate of 54.7% in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer.

Dr. Robertson on Subgroup Analysis of the FALCON Trial for HR+ Breast Cancer

John Robertson, MD, professor of Surgery, University of Nottingham, Royal Derby Hospital Centre, United Kingdom, discusses a subgroup analysis of the FALCON trial, which compared treatment with fulvestrant (Faslodex) versus anastrozole (Arimidex) in patients with HR-positive advanced breast cancer.

Neoadjuvant Estrogen Attack Falters in High-Risk Breast Cancer Patients

An attempt to strengthen neoadjuvant treatment of patients with locally advanced HR-positive and HER2-positive breast cancer by adding estrogen deprivation therapy to a standard regimen failed to significantly improve response rates but did illustrate the extensive toxicity of the chemotherapy agents used in this setting.

Biomarker Analysis Shows Promise for Predicting Breast Cancer Response

A biomarker analysis of participants in a phase II breast cancer trial demonstrated potential for identifying tumor markers to predict susceptibility to specific therapies.

No Clinical Benefit With Adjuvant Ibandronate in Postmenopausal Breast Cancer

Adjuvant ibandronate (Boniva) added to hormone therapy did not provide a clinical benefit to postmenopausal patients with HR-positive, early-stage breast cancer, according to findings from the phase III TEAM IIB trial.

Neoadjuvant Abemaciclib Active in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer

A neoadjuvant regimen combining the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib with anastrozole induced a response rate of 54.7% in patients with HR+/HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, according to findings from the phase II neoMONARCH trial.

First Steps Taken Toward Harmonization of PD-L1 Immunohistochemistry Testing in France

Determination of the PD-L1 status of a patient’s tumor has become increasingly important for informing the clinical decision whether to offer certain immunotherapeutic agents, making standardization of the tests and antibodies used to determine the PD-L1 status necessary to provide accurate and consistent results.

Buparlisib Combo Modestly Effective in Pretreated HR+ Breast Cancer

Median progression-free survival was improved by 2.1 months with the addition of the pan-PI3K inhibitor buparlisib to fulvestrant for women with HR-positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who received a prior aromatase inhibitor and progressed on or after an mTOR inhibitor.

Multiple Myeloma Transplant Trial Shows No Extra Benefit with Additions to Standard Therapy

According to the results of the phase III StaMINA trial evaluating posttransplant therapy in multiple myeloma, a second a round of chemotherapy or stem cell transplant does not improve progression-free survival or overall survival compared with the current standard course of treatment alone.

Nivolumab-Brentuximab Vedotin Combo Active and Safe in Relapsed Hodgkin Lymphoma

Early data from a phase I/II study suggest that the combination of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) and nivolumab (Opdivo) may be an active and well-tolerated outpatient regimen in patients with relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma after failure of standard frontline chemotherapy.

Dr. Lindeman on RANK Ligand as Breast Cancer Prevention Target in BRCA1 Carriers

Geoffrey Lindeman, MD, joint head, Stem Cells and Cancer Division at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, discusses a study exploring RANK ligand as a target for breast cancer prevention in patients who harbor the BRCA1 mutation.

Dr. Kornblum on Impact of PrECOG 0102 Trial for HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer

Noah S. Kornblum, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and attending physician of medicine, Montefiore-Einstein Center for Cancer Care, discusses the phase II PrECOG 0102 trial, which explored the addition of everolimus (Afinitor) to fulvestrant (Faslodex) as a treatment for patients with metastatic hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Six Years of Anastrozole After Adjuvant Tamoxifen Not Better Than 3 Years

First results from the phase III DATA study show no advantage to extending anastrozole therapy from 3 years to 6 for the primary endpoint of 5-year adapted disease-free survival.

Mixed Results on Benefit of Extending Letrozole Beyond 5 Years of Prior Endocrine Therapy

Extending letrozole therapy in women with early-stage, HR-positive breast cancer who completed 5 years of prior hormone therapy did not yield a statistically significant improvement in either disease-free or overall survival, but prolonged use of the aromatase inhibitor may be beneficial in some subgroups of women with a higher risk of recurrence.

Genomic Study Uncovers Resistance Mutations in ER+ Breast Cancer

The genomic landscape of recurrent metastatic estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer differed significantly from the mutational profile of primary disease in a study that sheds light on acquired resistance mechanisms to anticancer therapies.

Durvalumab Provides Durable Response in Heavily Pretreated Metastatic NSCLC

Durvalumab treatment in the second-line setting or beyond demonstrated clinical benefit and led to durable responses in heavily pretreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Veliparib Regimen Nears 80% Response Rate in BRCA+ Breast Cancer

Adding the PARP inhibitor veliparib to carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy induced a response rate of 77.8% in patients with advanced BRCA-positive breast cancer.

Atezolizumab Improves Survival in Second-Line NSCLC

Treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab significantly improved overall survival compared to standard chemotherapy in patients with non–small lung cancer who progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy.

Frontline Pembrolizumab Shows Superior Health-Related QoL in NSCLC

Patients with non–small cell lung cancer treated in the pembrolizumab arm of the KEYNOTE-024 trial experienced improved quality of life compared with patients who were treated with standard chemotherapy.

Dr. Wakelee on Detection of EGFR T790M Mutation in NSCLC

Heather Wakelee, MD, medical oncologist, Stanford University Medical Center, discusses a next-generation sequencing platform for the detection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) EGFR T790M mutation in urine and plasma samples, during an interview at the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Vienna, Austria.

Everolimus Added to Fulvestrant Doubles PFS in HR+ Breast Cancer

The addition of everolimus (Afinitor) to fulvestrant (Faslodex) significantly improved progression-free survival rates in postmenopausal patients with metastatic hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who are resistant to aromatase inhibitor therapy.

Dr. Ramalingam on the Role of Osimertinib in EGFR T790M-Positive Advanced NSCLC

Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Deputy Director, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, discusses the role of osimertinib in the treatment of patients with EGFR T790M-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer, during an interview at the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. Jackson on Lenalidomide as a Highly-Effective Maintenance Therapy in Myeloma

Graham Jackson, MD, PhD, Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Newcastle University, discusses results of a study that determined lenalidomide (Revlimid) is a highly-effective maintenance therapy in myeloma patients of all ages.

KTE-C19 Leads to High Response Rates in Refractory NHL

Almost 80% of patients with treatment-refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma had objective responses following treatment with KTE-C19, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy targeting CD19.

Ibrutinib Shows Promise in Treating GVHD After Stem Cell Transplant

An FDA-approved blood cancer drug has demonstrated encouraging findings, including an overall response rate of 67%, in treatment of patients with chronic graft-versus-host-disease that was not resolved by corticosteroids.

Dr. Woyach on a Study Combining MOR208 With Lenalidomide for the Treatment of CLL

Jennifer Woyach, MD, associate professor, Ohio State University, discusses a study examining the use of MOR208 combined with lenalidomide (Revlimid) for the treatment of chronic lymphotic leukemia (CLL) during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.