Caroline Seymour

Tony Philip, MD, provides insight into the utility of ctDNA in the early-stage setting, trials that could determine its role in clinical practice, and detailed the shift toward nonoperative and less-intensive interventions in the early-stage and advanced settings, respectively.

Olaparib and talazoparib didn't show statistically significant improvements in overall survival compared with chemotherapy in certain patients with metastatic breast cancer. However, the results are unlikely to affect the drugs’ utility in practice, given that both agents continue to show favorable tolerability and disease control.

The KATHERINE, FeDeriCa, DESTINY-Breast01, and HER2CLIMB trials have changed practice for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer for the better.

Since the publication of the pivotal ELIANA trial in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the field of CAR T-cell therapy has grown significantly and left providers better equipped to understand and manage treatment-related adverse effects, such as cytokine release syndrome.

Sapanisertib failed to show significant activity and a favorable toxicity profile in patients with refractory metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) regardless of mTOR or PTEN status.

Combinations of JAK inhibitors and novel agents, such as epigenetic regulators, could help prolong survival in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms.

The radiographic and pathologic responses that have been seen with checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer bodes well for the use of neoadjuvant therapy. However, the relationship between response and long-term outcomes, specifically with regard to overall survival, will have to be teased out before they become standard practice, explained David Spigel, MD.

Survival for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) remains poor, and although immunotherapy has been positioned as a holy grail, it would be preemptive to predict its future based on the number of small studies that have been performed to date, according to Amer Zeidan, MD, MHS.

“But our study is pointing to new genes to consider. For example, we found that the BRCA2 gene, typically associated with adult breast and ovarian cancer, may also somehow influence the susceptibility of pediatric RMS.”

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become another potential complication for patients with lung cancer, said Mark G. Kris, MD, who added that although the pandemic has disrupted patient care, it has yet to stunt scientific collaboration.

Cemiplimab (Libtayo) demonstrated clinically meaningful antitumor activity, including durable responses, and acceptable safety in patients with metastatic basal cell carcinoma (mBCC) after progression on or intolerance to hedgehog inhibitors.

Chemoimmunotherapy regimens are showing promise in the treatment of SCLC.

TP53 was found to be the only gene with a germline de novo pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant in pediatric patients with osteosarcoma, according to findings from the Children’s Oncology Group that were published in JCO Precision Oncology.

Clinical trials should not be viewed as a last resort for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, explained Allyson Ocean, MD, who added that even frontline standards of care should be considered after exhausting all available study options.

The paradigm of advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is now one that necessitates discussions regarding the use of combination chemoimmunotherapy, combination immunotherapy, and single-agent immunotherapy, explained Jonathan Dowell, MD.

Bradley McGregor, MD, discusses some of the recent approaches that have emerged in bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma, as well as anticipated developments in each field.

Parameters such as driver alterations, alternative methods for molecular testing, and immunotherapy-related biomarkers are gaining importance in lung cancer.

Liquid biopsy with circulating tumor DNA could help alleviate some of the challenges of tissue biopsy in prostate cancer, and in doing so, lead to a better precision medicine model in the field.

Fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu) could provide patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who harbor HER2 exon 20 insertion mutations and high HER2 expression a more specific and less toxic treatment compared with platinum doublet chemotherapy. However, the jury is still out on whether the agent will be pursued as an alternative frontline therapy and in both patient subsets.

The combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and bevacizumab (Avastin) demonstrated comparable clinical activity and safety versus sorafenib (Nexavar) in older and younger patients with previously untreated, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The pandemic has reduced cancer screening and diagnostic testing as well as clinical trials and research.

The CD71-directed probody-drug conjugate (PDC) of monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) CX-2029 showed tolerability and antitumor activity in patients with advanced cancer, according to findings from the first-in-human phase 1/2 PROCLAIM-CX-2029 trial (NCT03543813) that were presented during the 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program.

A recent survey highlights the multiple barriers to molecular testing in lung cancer, and solutions to overcome them.

Though the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) may not have immediate clinical implications for patients with sarcoma, it can provide valuable information for data collection and position patients for ongoing clinical trials that have the potential to push the needle forward, explained Gina Z. D'Amato, MD.

Containment strategies for patients at greatest risk of developing severe complications from COVID-19 are evolving, says Allyson Ocean, MD.

Patients at risk of developing thrombosis should receive anticoagulants, in the form of Xa inhibitors and, if necessary, andexanet alfa (Andexxa) or prothrombin concentrates to control excessive bleeding, explained Alvin H. Schmaier, MD.

The use of PARP inhibitors against DNA damage repair (DDR) alterations in prostate cancer is the first display of the potential for widespread precision medicine in the field, according to William K. Oh, MD, in a presentation during the 13th Annual Interdisciplinary Prostate Cancer Congress® and Other Genitourinary Malignancies.

In the absence of definitive data regarding the risk of COVID-19 to patients with cancer and information to guide daily treatment decisions in the interim, Petros Grivas, MD, recommended converting the majority of patient visits to telehealth appointments and basing a patient’s need for treatment on their medical comorbidities, performance status, and cancer risk.

Key elements that should inform treatment decisions for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) include molecular profiling, tumor sidedness, and microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H)/mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) status, according to Michael J. Overman, MD.