Dr. Javier Cortes discussed the PHERGain clinical study is a phase 2 trial focused on the potential deescalation of chemotherapy in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. The trial utilizes a novel design that adapts the treatment approach based on early metabolic response and subsequent pathological response. This strategy aims to minimize the use of chemotherapy while maintaining effective outcomes. Trastuzumab, a targeted therapy, is known to bind to the HER2 protein. Pertuzumab, another targeted therapy, has shown promise in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. It has been approved for use in metastatic and early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. When…
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At the (ASCO) 2023 conference, Dr. Manmeet Singh Ahluwalla discussed, researchers presented the final trial report on a phase 1 study called EQUILIBRIUM. The study investigated the combination of a BTK inhibitor called Ibrutinib, along with Temozolomide and radiation therapy, in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma tumors. Glioblastoma is a type of brain tumor that has historically had poor prognosis, with patients typically surviving only 14 to 16 months on average, despite advancements in surgery, radiation, and medical therapy. The use of Temozolomide has shown limited benefits in patients with an unmethylated MGMT phenotype, which led to a shift…
HPV Advances: Jill Meyer-Lippert, Dr. Jared Weiss, and Dr. Mary Cooley give an in-depth examination of HPV+ head and neck cancer, including vaccination, treatment options, and managing side effects.In this video, Dr. Jared Weiss discusses how incurable head and neck cancer is generally found, and recent data on life expectancy.Thank you to our sponsors: Merck and Genentech.For more, please visit http://cancerGRACE.org/. To join the conversation, visit https://cancergrace.org/forum. Music Name: Adventure (Bensound.com)Music License Code: LOW8T565IZ6YTXSH
Brain metastases, or secondary brain tumors, occur when cancer cells spread from their original site to the brain. This devastating complication affects around 10-30% of adults with cancer, making it a significant concern in cancer management. One of the greatest challenges in dealing with brain metastases is distinguishing between radiation necrosis and tumor progression post-radiation therapy, a scenario that has been a conundrum for physicians worldwide. Traditional diagnostic methods, including MRI, have limitations when it comes to identifying recurrent brain metastases. The breakthrough we’ve been hoping for may be on the horizon. Thanks to a recent study known as PURSUE.…
Decoding Recurrent Brain Metastases: The Power of 18F-Fluciclovine PET This discusses the challenges in detecting recurrent brain metastases and the potential of 18F-Fluciclovine PET as a diagnostic tool. Brain metastases occur when cancer cells spread from their original site to the brain and effect around 10-30% of adults with cancer. Distinguishing between radiation necrosis and tumor progression post-radiation therapy is a significant challenge for physicians. Traditional methods like MRI have limitations in identifying recurrent brain metastases due to similarities in appearance between radiation necrosis and tumors. The PURSUE study explores the use of 18F-Fluciclovine PET, a novel…
The medical field is abuzz with the exciting announcement of Novartis reporting positive topline results for the NATALEE trial (Phase 3). This pivotal study evaluates the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib marketed as Kisqali in treating early breast cancer, heralding a new era in the field. The primary end point of the study, invasive disease-free survival, was successfully met, indicating a significant step forward in breast cancer treatment. The full results from this study will soon be presented at an upcoming scientific meeting and submitted to regulatory bodies, including the FDA. This innovative trial, named NATALEE, enrolled patients with stage II and…
iFrame is not supported! Lung Cancer: My Top 5 Abstracts to See in Lung Cancer at ASCO 2023 Jack West MD By Jack West, MD, associate professor in medical oncology, focused on thoracic oncology at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Hello, I’m Dr. Jack West, and I’m an associate professor in medical oncology, focused on thoracic oncology at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Los Angeles area, where I also work as a clinical lead for a program called Access Hope that delivers remote case reviews, education and support for patients with cancer who are…
Lung Cancer: My Top 5 Abstracts to See in Lung Cancer at ASCO 2023 By Jack West, MD, associate professor in medical oncology, focused on thoracic oncology at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Dr. Jack West, an associate professor in medical oncology specializing in thoracic oncology at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed his top five abstracts from the lung cancer sessions at ASCO 2023. The first abstract he highlighted was a late-breaking abstract (LBA3) presented by Dr. Roy Herbst on the overall survival benefit of the ADAURA trial. ADAURA tested adjuvant Osimertinib versus placebo in…
Bladder Cancer Test: Does GALEAS Bladder aid in the early detection of bladder cancers? Prof. Bryan Dr. Ward Professor Richard Bryan and Doug Ward, PhD, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham GALEAS Bladder is a DNA based diagnostic urine test for bladder cancer, and it relies upon the targeted deep sequencing of mutations in the most commonly mutated genes in bladder cancer, 23 genes, and in total, within those genes, the test is seeking to identify up to 451 single nucleotide variants. A positive test is signified by any one (or more) of those single nucleotide…
Bladder cancer test called “GALEAS Bladder” is a DNA-based diagnostic urine test designed to aid in the early detection of bladder cancer. Developed by Professor Richard Bryan and Dr. Doug Ward from the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham, the test targets the most commonly mutated genes in bladder cancer, analyzing 23 genes and identifying 400 to 451 single nucleotide variants. Compared to the current method of detecting bladder cancer, which involves outpatient flexible cystoscopy, the GALEAS Bladder test has shown similar or slightly better accuracy. Flexible cystoscopy has a sensitivity and specificity of…
iFrame is not supported! Pembrolizumab combined with CG0070. How can this help patients with NMIBC? Roger Li Roger Li, MD – Genitourinary Oncologist – Moffitt Cancer Center It’s my pleasure to talk to you today about the updated results from the CORE1 trial combining Cretostimogene Grenadorepvec and Pembrolizumab, and the BCG unresponsive CIS containing MIBC setting. As everyone knows, there has been a lack of efficacious bladder sparing, for this disease space with only Pembrolizumab monotherapy, and Nadofaragene Firadenovec-vncg (Adstiladrin) approved in the setting. So we set out to test whether or not the combination of crease imaging, which…
The Roger Li, MD discussed the updated results from the CORE1 trial, which explored the combination of Cretostimogene Grenadorepvec (CG0070), an oncolytic adenovirus, and Pembrolizumab in patients with BCG unresponsive carcinoma in situ (CIS) containing muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The study enrolled patients who had previously received an adequate amount of BCG treatment and had recurrent CIS-containing tumors. The standard treatment for such patients is radical cystectomy, but those who refused or were ineligible for the procedure were included. Exclusion criteria involved autoimmune disease, steroid use, and small bladder capacities. The treatment regimen consisted of intravesical CG0070 induction therapy administered…
iFrame is not supported! Molecule RRx-001 Receives Fast Track Designation From the FDA – EpicentRx By Tony Reid, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, EpicentRx and Bryan Oronsky, MD, PhD, Chief Development Officer, EpicentRx Thank you so much. It’s great to be able to get together with you again and share our recent data. This is actually very critical for us as a company. In late March, the FDA granted us fast track designation for our lead molecule RRx-001. This molecule is very interesting. It’s basically a designer molecule with direct anti-inflammatory activity. It inhibits NLRP3 and also has the interesting…
Molecule, RRx-001, has received fast track designation from the FDA. RRx-001 is a designer molecule with direct anti-inflammatory activity and is known to inhibit NLRP3, upgrade NRF2, and release nitric oxide, which has vascular dilating and anti-inflammatory properties. The FDA granted fast track designation based on the PREVLAR study, which showed a substantial reduction in oral mucositis, a severe side effect of chemotherapy and radiation, in head and neck cancer patients. RRx-001 is unique in its ability to inhibit the inflammatory process through its direct and selective inhibition of NLRP3. This sets it apart from other therapies on the…
Head and Neck Cancer: Discussion on Endocrine Oncology Research Innovations – Moffitt Moffitt Cancer CenterHost: Caitlin McMullen, MD, Member, Department of Head and Neck-Endocrine OncologyPanelists:Kedar Kirtane, MDAssistant Member, Department of Head and Neck-Endocrine Oncology Sarimar Agosto Salgado, MDAssistant Member, Department of Head and Neck-Endocrine Oncology Barb Wampler, RNPatient Navigator Welcome, everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to be here this evening. I’m Dr. Kayla McMullen, a head and neck surgeon and member of the Department of Head and Neck Endocrine Oncology here at Moffitt. I’m excited to introduce my colleagues to you in just a moment.…
Ovarian Cancer Treatment: What to Watch for In New and Novel Trials Shannon Westin MD By Shannon Westin, MD, MPH from MD Anderson Cancer Center I’m so excited to be here. I love these virtual meetings, but I miss seeing all of you in person. I hope to be, uh, actually at the actual meeting next time. But without further ado, I’m really excited to review quite a bit of data with you today. I think that we’ve got lots of information and lots of exciting things. It’s really going to dovetail nicely with Dr. Cabelli’s talk. So, without delaying…
Breast Cancer Treatment: How is Biology’s Integration into the Clinic Transforming Healthcare? Hope Rugo By Hope Rugo, MD, FASCO, Professor, Medicine at Professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology); Director, Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education; and Medical Director of Cancer Infusion Services, UCSF Good afternoon. Welcome to UCSF Department of Medicine Grand Rounds. I’m Bob Walker, Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF. I’m really thrilled today to introduce our speaker and topic. The topic is “New Directions in the Treatment of Breast Cancer: Bringing Biology to the Clinic and Back.” The speaker is Hope Rugo, who is a Professor…
iFrame is not supported! Spatial Biology: Lunaphore’s COMET Portfolio Becomes the First Complete and Inclusive Solution Déborah Heintze By Déborah Heintze, MSBME, Co-Founder & CMO at Lunaphore We have our COMET instruments available on the market for a year. These are fully automated, high-performing instruments. To further enhance our portfolio, we have introduced reagents and software solutions. Our goal is to provide our customers with a one-stop-shop solution. Our aim is to ensure that everyone can have the best experience in spatial biology. We are striving to make the experience as easy as possible. To achieve this, we have introduced…
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A new CAR T-cell therapy strategy has shown significant effectiveness against small cell lung cancer, according to a preclinical study conducted by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read more about the potential breakthrough in small cell lung cancer treatment here. CAR T-cell therapy, small cell lung cancer, preclinical study, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, breakthrough, treatment, effectiveness
iFrame is not supported! CAR T-Cell Therapy: Promising Results Against Small Cell Lung Cancer Renier Brentjens MD By Reiner Brentjens, MD, PhD from Roswell Comprehensive Cancer Center The basic platform on which we have been working for over two decades involves taking a patient’s own immune cells, T-cells, and genetically engineering them in the laboratory to express what we termed 15 years ago a CAR T-cell or chimeric antigen receptor. A modified T-cell and a CAR are like Frankenstein-like molecules made up of a binding domain usually derived from a monoclonal antibody and the signaling domain of a T-cell receptor.…
iFrame is not supported! Breyanzi: CAR T-cell Therapy Gets Positive CHMP Opinion for R/R Large B-Cell Lymphoma Manali Kamdar MD By Manali Kamdar, MD from University of Colorado In March of this year, Bristol Myers Squibb announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had approved the use of Breyanzi, also known as Lisocabtagene Maraleucel, for the treatment of adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, high-grade B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma grade 3B who had relapsed within 12 months of completing or were refractory to…
Manali Kamdar, MD from University of Colorado Bristol Myers Squibb has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s CHMP for their CAR T cell therapy, Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel), as a treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma who have undergone one prior therapy. Breyanzi, CAR T-cell therapy, positive CHMP opinion, R/R large B-cell lymphoma, Manali Kamdar, MD, University of Colorado, European Medicines Agency, chimeric antigen receptors, CD19 cells, TRANSFORM study, autotransplant, salvage chemotherapy, event-free survival, progression-free survival, overall response rate, complete response rate
Ethnic Minorities: Empowering to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Through Community Outreach Kimlin Ashing PhD By Kimlin Tam Ashing, PhDProfessor, Department of Population Sciences, City of Hope Community outreach and engagement are truly at the heart of the work we do because we know that cancer disparities exist and persist. One way to address this issue is by engaging with community leaders, who are trusted informants and gatekeepers in the community and can help address the burden of cancer and its disparities. What were the main objectives of your research, and how did you go about achieving them? One of…
Cell Death: Drug Combo Restores Signaling Ability of Leading Treatment for Blood Cancer Christina Glytsou PhD By Christina Glytsou, PhDAssistant Professor at Rutgers University In this study, we focused on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a type of blood cancer where the bone marrow produces a large number of abnormal blood cells. AML is the most common form of leukemia in adults and is responsible for over 11,000 deaths per year in the United States. Treating AML is challenging, as fewer than one-third of those affected live longer than five years after diagnosis. For decades, treatment options for this disease have…
Gamma Delta: Two Phase 1 INDs Approved Announces Jeff Liter CEO Luminary Therapeutics By Jeff Liter, MBS, CEO of Luminary Therapeutics We currently have two Phase 1 INDs approved: one for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the other for multiple myeloma. The CAR we’re using for these therapies is very unique and novel, as we are using a ligand-based CAR instead of a single-chain CAR. Our CAR is called a BAFF CAR, which has three different antigen receptors (T-cell receptors). We designed this CAR construct to overcome the primary reason for relapse in many blood tumors, which is antigen escape. In fact,…
SOX9: Can this protein enable a molecular reversal that could lead to colorectal cancer? Nilay Sethi MD By Nilay Sethi, MD, PhD Assistant Professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute SOX9 (gene) is a developmental transcription factor that is usually active in the stem cell compartment of colon tissue. However, when cancer initiates with the loss of APC (the most common first mutation in colon cancer), levels and expression of SOX9 increase. This is what cancer prefers, and we have elucidated the reasons for this in our recent study. How does the SOX9 protein enable molecular time travel, and what does…
CAR T-cell: Advances in Adoptive Therapies for Targeting Heterogeneity in mCRPC Lupita Lopez By Lupita Lopez, BS Ph.D. candidate at the City of Hope Campus There are two distinct subtypes of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (MCRPC): prostate adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine prostate cancer. At City of Hope, under the leadership of Dr. Priceman, we are studying the targeting of PSCA with a PSCA CAR, which would target prostate adenocarcinoma. My focus is on combining this approach with targeting CEA in neuroendocrine prostate cancer. The literature suggests that up to 20% of MCRPC can be NEPC in nature, but we have observed…
Polatuzumab Vedotin: How can the POLARIX trial help us comprehend DLBCL? Connor Johnson MD By P. Connor Johnson, MD My name is Connor Johnson, and I am the medical oncologist at the Center for Lymphoma in the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. It is my privilege today to discuss the POLARIX trial, which potentially changes the standard of care for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common lymphoma. The key takeaways from this talk are to review the current standard of care for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and to recognize the significance of the POLARIX Phase III,…
Diabetes Cancer: Racial Disparities In Prevention An Epidemiological Perspective By Gaole Song By Gaole Song, DrPH From the City of Hope So far, for my research, I’m very interested in cancer prevention, cancer promotion, and also diabetes prevention from an epidemiological perspective. Cancer and diabetes are both serious public health issues in California State and Los Angeles County. Cancer is a leading cause of death in Los Angeles, and diabetes ranks sixth. These two diseases are very important, and both have obesity as an important cancer risk factors. Minority patients have a higher risk of developing cancer and diabetes…
Tafasitamab: Final Results of Five-Year Safety and Efficacy Study (Phase II L-MIND) Prof. Kalakonda By Professor Nagesh Kalakonda Thank you for this opportunity to talk about the L-MIND study. The study itself was initiated in 2016 and targeted relapsed refractory patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. It was an open-label phase 2 study conducted in 10 countries and at 39 sites. The study was specifically targeted towards patients who were not eligible for an autologous stem cell transplantation, either with one previous line of therapy or multiple previous lines of therapy. This represents a population with an unmet need and…
Focal Adhesion Kinase: Can Adding Fibroblasts and C-X-C Chemokine Help With Suppression? Arsen Osipov MD By Arsen Osipov, MD In our study, we wanted to further investigate specific proteins in the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer to understand their implications, particularly in a unique subset of patients. As we all know, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a very treatment-resistant tumor, and this is due to many mechanisms of resistance, mainly related to the tumor microenvironment, which is very dismal and immunosuppressive. One protein that our lab is interested in is focal adhesion kinase, a non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase that is abundantly…
Cancer Drug Research: Expanded Phase 1 Program to the Dallas Area Anthony Tolcher MD By Anthony Tolcher, MD One of the challenges that we all face right now is we are in this golden age of drug development where there’s so many new molecules being developed and we probably don’t have enough proficient and high quality phase 1 sites in the United States, Europe, and probably the world. So the issue here is that we are developing in our network multiple sites where we have professional phase 1 programs and clinics so that patients can access them through referral…
CD70: How Does ALLO-316 Eliminate or Destroy Malignancies in the TRAVERSE Trial? Samer Srour, MB ChB, MS By Samer Srour, MB ChB, MSs So the ALLO-316 is, it’s very novel agent to treat, kidney cancer and hopefully will expand to other cancers. It’s first of all, it’s take CAR T-cell Therapy antigen receptor, T-cell engineered treatment. The CAR T-cell therapy is groundbreaking right now and practice changing for those similar malignancies. We have FDA approved products for these malignancies. We are trying to pass on on this success for these solid tumors. And that’s where it comes to idea to…
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy: A Longitudinal Study Conner Johnson MD By Conner Johnson, MD Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is an immunotherapy treatment that has transformed the landscape for those with relapsed refractory hematologic malignancies. It is a treatment where we take white blood cells from a patient and create an autologous product that is an altered version of T-cells, which express an antigen receptor targeting the cancer. Then, those cells are rein-fused back into the patient. This treatment is approved in the relapse refractory setting for certain subtypes of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.…
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Lisaftoclax (APG-2575): In CLL / SLL Treatment: Safety and Efficacy as Monotherapy or Combined with Acalabrutinib or Rituximab Matthew Davids By Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc So this is a brand new drug called Lisaftoclax, which is a BCL-2 inhibitor. BCL-2 inhibitors have also been developed, of course, like Venetoclax in the past, but this is a newer BCL-2 inhibitor that we’ve only seen very minimal data for in the past. There was a all-comer study of different hematologic malignancies small group of patients were presented last year. One of the things that was noted in that early phase one experience…
Trimodality: In addition to Trastuzumab for HER2+ Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: NRG Oncology RTOG 1010 Phase III Trial Lisa Kachnic MD By Lisa Kachnic, MD, FASTRO Good afternoon. Today I’m going to discuss the patient reported outcomes from NRG Oncology RTOG 1010 that I was delighted to talk about at our recent ASTRO Radiation Oncology meeting. And, NRG Oncology RTOG 1010 was a phase 3 randomized trial and it evaluated the addition of Trastuzumab or Herceptin the monoclonal antibody used to treat HER2+ receptor cancers, such as breast or metastatic stomach, and that was added to trimodality treatment of HER2 over expressing…
Acalabrutinib (AVO): A Promising New Triplet Treatment Option for High-Risk CLL Patients Phase 2 Study Results Matthew Davids By Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc This is a phase 2 investigator initiated clinical trial of a triplet regimen for the frontline treatment of CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia). And the 3 drugs are all FDA-approved already, including acalabrutinib. Venetoclax and Obinutuzumab, we call this the AVO (Acalabrutinib, Venetoclax, Obinutuzumab) study. And these drugs although approved in other combinations, are not approved together. So ours is one of the first studies to look at this triplet combination. We had actually previously published a paper…
Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: How Can the ASAP Trial Help Relapsed or Refractory AML? Johannes Schetelig By Prof. Dr. med. Johannes Schetelig So I’m going to tell you about the ASAP trial. This was not a trial about a new compound. It was a trial about a strategy, how to bring patients to a transplantation. Patients who either failed chemotherapy due to relapse of AML or poor response of the first induction of chemotherapy and had an intermediate or high risk genetic risk profile have a clear indication for transplantation. The question was, as we addressed in this trial, how…
Treatment Patterns and Overall Survival (OS) Among Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Treated in the US Community Oncology Setting: A Real-World Retrospective Ontada Observational Study by: Ira Zackon, MD – USOncology Network So our study is a retrospective we call descriptive study, really looking at treatment patterns and improve patient outcomes with myelodysplastic syndromes or MDS. So this is leveraging the data within the electronic health record called Ontada, which is within USOncology. 1,400 physicians taking care of advance cancer care patients So again, reflective of the community based real world setting and it’s a large database with over 1,400…