ASCO Annual Meeting | Conference

Process Unclear on How to Identify Mutations in Non-Lynch Syndrome Patients With CRC

June 9th 2016

Results of an analysis presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting demonstrate the difficulty in determining the prevalence of germline cancer susceptibility gene mutations in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) who do not harbor Lynch syndrome.

Electric Field Treatment Shows Early Efficacy, Safety in Frontline Pancreatic Cancer

June 9th 2016

A device using tumor treating fields that was administered to patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer showed early signs of tolerability and safety when in combination with gemcitabine in the frontline setting.

Cabozantinib Improves Survival in Renal Cell Carcinoma

June 9th 2016

Cabozantinib reduced the risk of death by 34% compared with everolimus in patients with previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma, according to updated data from the phase III METEOR trial.

Dr. Edward Kim on ASCO's TAPUR Trial

June 9th 2016

Edward S. Kim, MD, chair, Solid Tumor Oncology and Investigational Therapeutics, Donald S. Kim Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research, Levine Cancer Institute, Carolinas HealthCare System, discusses the significance of the TAPUR clinical trial, which is being conducted by ASCO.

CAR Therapy Achieves Durable Responses in Refractory Lymphoma

June 8th 2016

Three-fourths of patients with advanced lymphoma achieved durable objective responses to treatment with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy targeting CD19 even after a low-dose chemotherapy conditioning regimen.

Pembrolizumab/Bevacizumab Combo Passes Safety Test in Recurrent Glioblastoma

June 8th 2016

An immunotherapy/antiangiogenesis combination proved to be safe and tolerable for patients with recurrent glioblastoma, preliminary data from an ongoing trial showed.

Avelumab Highly Effective in Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma

June 8th 2016

The PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab demonstrated durable responses and promising early survival data for patients with pretreated metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

High Response Rates Achieved with Pembrolizumab in Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma

June 7th 2016

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is associated with an exceptional overall response rate in patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.

Dr. Ferris on Significance of CheckMate-141 Trial for Head and Neck Cancer

June 7th 2016

Robert Ferris, MD, PhD, vice chair for Clinical Operations, associate director for Translational Research, and coleader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, discusses the CheckMate-141 trial, which found that treatment with single-agent nivolumab (Opdivo) reduced the risk of death by 30% and doubled 1-year overall survival (OS) rates compared with investigator's choice of therapy for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCCHN).

Dr. Dickler on MONARCH 1 Results in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer

June 7th 2016

Maura N. Dickler, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the results of the single-arm MONARCH 1 trial, which examined the efficacy of the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib in heavily pretreated patients with refractory, hormone-receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Impressive Upfront Palbociclib PFS Benefit Confirmed in ER+/HER2- Breast Cancer

June 7th 2016

Adding the CDK 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance) to letrozole reduced the risk of disease progression by 42% compared with letrozole alone in patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Long-Term Data Deepen Dabrafenib/Trametinib Benefit in Melanoma

June 7th 2016

The combination of dabrafenib and trametinib continued to demonstrate impressive overall survival and progression-free survival findings for patients with BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma in 3-year follow-up data from the phase III COMBI-d study.

Dr. Dummer on NEMO Trial for NRAS-Mutant Melanoma

June 7th 2016

Reinhard Dummer, MD, professor, Department of Dermatology, University of Zurich Hospital, discusses the results of the phase III NEMO trial, which compared the efficacy of binimetinib with dacarbazine in patients with NRAS-mutant metastatic melanoma.

Alectinib Could Represent First-Line Standard in ALK-Positive NSCLC

June 7th 2016

Alectinib improved progression-free survival by 66% compared with the current standard crizotinib as initial inhibitor therapy in patients with advanced or recurrent ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer.

Long-Term Follow-up Sustains Frontline Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Benefit in Melanoma

June 7th 2016

At a minimum follow-up of 18 months, the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab reduced the risk of disease progression by 58% compared with ipilimumab alone, and single-agent nivolumab lowered the risk of progression by 45% versus ipilimumab monotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma.

Dr. Reardon on Nivolumab/Ipilimumab in Glioblastoma

June 7th 2016

David A. Reardon, MD, discusses results of a cohort from the open-label CheckMate-143 trial, which explored the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

Binimetinib Shows Rare PFS Benefit in NRAS-Mutant Melanoma

June 7th 2016

The MEK inhibitor binimetinib reduced the risk of progression or death by 38% compared with dacarbazine in patients with NRAS-mutant metastatic melanoma.

PD-L1 Inhibitor Avelumab Active in Advanced Mesothelioma

June 7th 2016

Avelumab demonstrated clinical activity in patients with advanced or unresectable mesothelioma, with an overall response rate of 14.3%.

Nivolumab Improves OS, ORR in Phase III Head and Neck Cancer Study

June 7th 2016

Treatment with single-agent nivolumab improved overall survival and objective response rates compared with investigator's choice of therapy for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Black Women Who Are BRCA Carriers Less Likely to Pursue Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Reduction

June 7th 2016

Young black women with breast cancer are much less likely to have BRCA testing or, if they carry a BRCA mutation, to undergo risk-reducing prophylactic mastectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy.