Author: Editor

Eyal Lebel, MD of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre @pmcancercentre discusses the rare recurrence of cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Read here: https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JOP.19.00581

Sai-Hong Ignatius Ou, MD PhD Health Science Clinical ProfessorChao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center University of California Irvine School of Medicine discusses these topics. NSCLC treatment options (circa February 2020 updated May 2020)Targeted therapy (FDA Approved indication)EGFR classical mutationsEGFR uncommon mutationsALK fusionROS1 fusionBRAF V600EMETex14+ NSCLC (Approved May 6, 2020)RET fusion (Approved May 8, 2020)Immunotherapy (FDA approved)Chemotherapy + IO for first-line treatment of Non-Sq NSCLC, Sq NSCLC, and SCLC. (PD-L1 expression agnostic)Single agent second line (PD-L1 expression agnostic)Chemotherapy (FDA approved)Chemo + anti-angiogenesis mAb (non-Sq NSCLC)Chemo + anti EGFR mAb (Sq NSCLC)Single agent + anti-angiogenesis mAb Sponsors: AbbVie  AMAG AstraZeneca  Bayer  BeiGene  Clovis…

David Hong, MD of MD Anderson Cancer Center @MDAndersonNews discusses at this year’s virtual AACR the efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in patients with cancer and NTRK gene fusions or other alterations.

David Hong, MD of MD Anderson Cancer Center @MDAndersonNews discusses at this year’s virtual AACR the efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in patients with cancer and NTRK gene fusions or other alterations.

Richard Penson, MD of Massachusetts General Hospital @MassGeneralNews discusses a randomized phase III of olaparib versus nonplatinum chemotherapy in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and a germline BRCA1/2 mutation (SOLO3). Read here: https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.19.02745

Richard Penson, MD of Massachusetts General Hospital @MassGeneralNews discusses a randomized phase III of olaparib versus nonplatinum chemotherapy in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and a germline BRCA1/2 mutation (SOLO3). Read here: https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.19.02745

Adilia Hormigo, MD of Mount Sinai Health System @MountSinaiNYC discusses the clinical study of the safety and tolerability of laser interstitial thermal therapy and avelumab for recurrent glioblastoma.

Susan Galbraith, Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Early Development, Oncology R&D discusses preclinical pharmacokinetic and metabolic characterization of the next generation oral SERD AZD9833. AZD9833 is a best in class profile, next generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) with an established pharmacokinetic profile in the clinic – specifically, AZD9833 is a full antagonist and complete degrader of estrogen receptor in all preclinical cell line models tested.

Susan Galbraith, Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Early Development, Oncology R&D discusses preclinical pharmacokinetic and metabolic characterization of the next generation oral SERD AZD9833. AZD9833 is a best in class profile, next generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) with an established pharmacokinetic profile in the clinic – specifically, AZD9833 is a full antagonist and complete degrader of estrogen receptor in all preclinical cell line models tested.

Susan Galbraith, Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Early Development, Oncology R&D discusses preclinical pharmacokinetic and metabolic characterization of the next generation oral SERD AZD9833. AZD9833 is a best in class profile, next generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) with an established pharmacokinetic profile in the clinic – specifically, AZD9833 is a full antagonist and complete degrader of estrogen receptor in all preclinical cell line models tested.

Yuman Fong, MD surgical oncologist at City of Hope @cityofhope discusses the phase 1a/1b, open-label first-in-human study of the safety, tolerability, and feasibility of gene-edited autologous NeoTCR-T cells (NeoTCR-P1) administered to patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

Yuman Fong, MD surgical oncologist at City of Hope @cityofhope discusses the phase 1a/1b, open-label first-in-human study of the safety, tolerability, and feasibility of gene-edited autologous NeoTCR-T cells (NeoTCR-P1) administered to patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

Udai Banerji, MD @udai_banerji of The Institute of Cancer Research and Jonathan Pachter, PhD of Verastem Oncology discuss the new opportunities and RAF-MEK inhibitor CH5126766 and FAK inhibitor defactinib in an intermittent dosing schedule with expansions in KRAS mutant cancers. Read here: https://investor.verastem.com/news-releases/news-release-details/verastem-oncology-announces-preliminary-data-investigator

Philadelphia, PA (May 5, 2020) – Oncoceutics, a clinical-stage drug discovery and development company, commemorates Brain Tumor Awareness Month this May and expresses its support for all those affected by brain tumors. Brain tumors remain one of the greatest current health challenges as there are limited treatment options for patients, and prognoses continue to be poor. “In commemorating this month, we recognize not only the patients currently battling brain cancer, but also the families of those patients, the clinicians and caregivers treating them, the survivors, the patients who have lost their lives, and the researchers working to defeat this disease,” said…

Eyal Lebel, MD of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre @pmcancercentre discusses the rare recurrence of cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Read here: https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JOP.19.00581

Udai Banerji, MD @udai_banerji of The Institute of Cancer Research discusses the phase 1 study of the combination of a RAF-MEK inhibitor CH5126766 and FAK inhibitor defactinib in an intermittent dosing schedule with expansions in KRAS mutant cancers. Read here: https://investor.verastem.com/news-releases/news-release-details/verastem-oncology-announces-preliminary-data-investigator  

Udai Banerji, MD @udai_banerji of The Institute of Cancer Research discusses the phase 1 study of the combination of a RAF-MEK inhibitor CH5126766 and FAK inhibitor defactinib in an intermittent dosing schedule with expansions in KRAS mutant cancers. Read here: https://investor.verastem.com/news-releases/news-release-details/verastem-oncology-announces-preliminary-data-investigator

Rachael Brake @rachael_brake of Takeda @TakedaOncology discusses the therapy designation for mobocertinib (TAK-788) for the treatment of NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations

Rachael Brake @rachael_brake of Takeda @TakedaOncology discusses the therapy designation for mobocertinib (TAK-788) for the treatment of NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations

Rachael Brake @rachael_brake of Takeda @TakedaOncology discusses the therapy designation for mobocertinib (TAK-788) for the treatment of NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations __________ The Breakthrough Therapy Designation is based on the overall response rate (ORR) and the long-term benefit seen in patients who responded in a Phase 1/2 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of mobocertinib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC whose tumors harbor EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations and have been previously treated with systemic chemotherapy. This signals a potential advancement in addressing the needs of patients for whom no targeted therapies exist…

Ecaterina Dumbrava, MD of MD Anderson Cancer Center @MDAndersonNews discusses the phase I trial of COM701 presented at the virtual AACR 2020. Read here: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03667716?term=NCT+03667716&draw=2&rank=1  

Ecaterina Dumbrava, MD of MD Anderson Cancer Center @MDAndersonNews discusses the phase I trial of COM701 presented at the virtual AACR 2020. Read here: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03667716?term=NCT+03667716&draw=2&rank=1  

Ecaterina Dumbrava, MD of MD Anderson Cancer Center @MDAndersonNews discusses the phase I trial of COM701 presented at the virtual AACR 2020. Read here: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03667716?term=NCT+03667716&draw=2&rank=1

Enrique Soto, MD @EnriqueSoto8 of Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán @incmnszmx discusses the importance of real world outcomes among older women with breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Read here: https://theoncologist.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0891

Enrique Soto, MD @EnriqueSoto8 of Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán @incmnszmx discusses the real world outcomes among older women with breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. What advantages can this type of study give us? Read here: https://theoncologist.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0891

Enrique Soto, MD @EnriqueSoto8 of Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán @incmnszmx discusses the real world outcomes among older women with breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Read here: https://theoncologist.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0891

Himisha Beltran, MD of Dana Farber @DanaFarber discusses circulating tumor DNA profile recognizes transformation to castration-resistant neuroendocrine prostate cancer and patients as they progress on treatment. Read here; https://www.jci.org/articles/view/131041  

Matthew Galsky, MD of Mount Sinai Health System @IcahnMountSinai @MountSinaiNYC discusses if switch maintenance immunotherapy is a standard base treatment for urothelial cancer yet. ___________ The study is the first to show that this approach to therapy, called switch maintenance immunotherapy, significantly slows the worsening of a type of bladder cancer called urothelial cancer. The randomized Phase 2 trial tested this treatment in 108 patients. “This trial, along with another recent study testing a similar approach, bolster the use of switch maintenance treatment, which will likely become a standard of care for metastatic urothelial cancer, a disease characterized by a…

Himisha Beltran, MD of Dana Farber @DanaFarber discusses circulating tumor DNA profile recognizes transformation to castration-resistant neuroendocrine prostate cancer. How do we identify a subgroup of patients? Read here: https://www.jci.org/articles/view/131041  

Matthew Galsky, MD of Mount Sinai Health System @IcahnMountSinai @MountSinaiNYC answers what is the role of a switch maintenance immune checkpoint blockade approach? What does this mean for standard practice? _____________ The study is the first to show that this approach to therapy, called switch maintenance immunotherapy, significantly slows the worsening of a type of bladder cancer called urothelial cancer. The randomized Phase 2 trial tested this treatment in 108 patients. “This trial, along with another recent study testing a similar approach, bolster the use of switch maintenance treatment, which will likely become a standard of care for metastatic urothelial…

Andrea Wang-Gillam, MD, PhD of Washington University School of Medicine @WUSTLmed answers if the phase I study of defactinib combined with pembrolizumab and gemcitabine in patients with advanced cancer can be expanded. Presented at this year’s AACR Annual Meeting.

Himisha Beltran, MD of Dana Farber @DanaFarber discusses circulating tumor DNA profile recognizes transformation to castration-resistant neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Read here: https://www.jci.org/articles/view/131041  

Matthew Galsky, MD of Mount Sinai Health System @IcahnMountSinai @MountSinaiNYC discusses switch maintenance immunotherapy, significantly slows the worsening of a type of bladder cancer called urothelial cancer. _________ The study is the first to show that this approach to therapy, called switch maintenance immunotherapy, significantly slows the worsening of a type of bladder cancer called urothelial cancer. The randomized Phase 2 trial tested this treatment in 108 patients. “This trial, along with another recent study testing a similar approach, bolster the use of switch maintenance treatment, which will likely become a standard of care for metastatic urothelial cancer, a disease…

Andrea Wang-Gillam, MD, PhD of Washington University School of Medicine @WUSTLmed discusses the phase I study of defactinib combined with pembrolizumab and gemcitabine in patients with advanced cancer presented at this year’s AACR Annual Meeting.

Rebecca Nagy of Guardant Health Inc. discusses women with metastatic hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer having experienced improved clinical outcomes with the recent introduction of alpelisib, a PIK3CA inhibitor. Read here: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/04/09/2014287/0/en/Study-Shows-Guardant360-Test-Identifies-Predictors-of-Response-to-PIK3CA-Inhibitors-in-Women-with-HR-Metastatic-Breast-Cancer.html  

Michael Gnant, MD of University of Vienna @MedUni_Vienna discusses the impact of multigenomic assays in premenopausal patients and those with node-positive breast cancer. Read here: https://dailynews.ascopubs.org/do/10.1200/ADN.20.200006/full/?cid=DM4922&bid=42056373&

Rebecca Nagy of Guardant Health Inc. discusses women with metastatic hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer having experienced improved clinical outcomes with the recent introduction of alpelisib, a PIK3CA inhibitor. Read here: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/04/09/2014287/0/en/Study-Shows-Guardant360-Test-Identifies-Predictors-of-Response-to-PIK3CA-Inhibitors-in-Women-with-HR-Metastatic-Breast-Cancer.html

Michael Gnant, MD of University of Vienna @MedUni_Vienna discusses using multigenomic assays in premenopausal patients and those with node-positive breast cancer. Read here: https://dailynews.ascopubs.org/do/10.1200/ADN.20.200006/full/?cid=DM4922&bid=42056373&

Michael Gnant, MD of University of Vienna @MedUni_Vienna discusses using multigenomic assays in premenopausal patients and those with node-positive breast cancer. Read here: https://dailynews.ascopubs.org/do/10.1200/ADN.20.200006/full/?cid=DM4922&bid=42056373&

Rebecca Nagy of Guardant Health Inc. discusses women with metastatic hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer having experienced improved clinical outcomes with the recent introduction of alpelisib, a PIK3CA inhibitor. Read here: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/04/09/2014287/0/en/Study-Shows-Guardant360-Test-Identifies-Predictors-of-Response-to-PIK3CA-Inhibitors-in-Women-with-HR-Metastatic-Breast-Cancer.html

Brenda De Keersmaecker of eTheRNA Immunotherapies discusses a strong link between T cell activation and durable clinical benefit (DCB) in late stage melanoma patients following vaccination with TriMix and tumor associated antigen mRNA modified dendritic cells plus ipilimumab. __________ For four cycles, monocyte-derived dendritic cells electroporated with mRNA encoding CD70, CD40 ligand, and constitutively active TLR4 (TriMix), as well as TAAs tyrosinase, gp100, MAGE-A3, and MAGE-C2 were administered along with ipilimumab. A supplementary vaccine was provided for 18/39 patients prior to the first administration of ipilimumab. In previously collected peripheral mononuclear blood cells, which were available for 15 of the…

Laurie Schenkel of Ribon Therapeutics @RibonTx discusses a potent and selective PARP14 inhibitor decreases pro-tumor macrophage function and elicits inflammatory responses in tumor explants. __________ PARPs (poly-ADP-ribose polymerases) are a family of enzymes that regulate a wide variety of important cellular processes including cellular stress signaling pathways implicated in inflammation and cancer. PARP14 is a member of the monoPARP sub-family of PARPs, which catalyze transfer of a single ADP ribose unit (mono-ADP-ribosylation or MARylation) to their substrates, unlike their polyPARP counterparts which construct chains of ADP ribose units (poly-ADP-ribosylation or PARylation). PARP14 is an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) that is overexpressed…

Melissa Vasbinder of Ribon Therapeutics @RibonTx discusses a first-in-class PARP7 inhibitor targeting a newly discovered cancer vulnerability in stress-signaling pathways: is this going to affect clinicians and treatment today? ________________ PARP7 is a monoPARP that catalyzes the transfer of single units of ADP-ribose onto substrates to change their function (MARylation). PARP7 expression is increased by cellular stresses, including aromatic hydrocarbons and the PARP7 gene is amplified in cancers, especially in those of the upper aerodigestive tract. PARP7 has also been reported to negatively regulate the Type I interferon (IFN) response by interacting with TBK1 during viral infection. As part of…

Laurie Schenkel of Ribon Therapeutics @RibonTx discusses a potent and selective PARP14 inhibitor decreases pro-tumor macrophage function and elicits inflammatory responses in tumor explants. __________ PARPs (poly-ADP-ribose polymerases) are a family of enzymes that regulate a wide variety of important cellular processes including cellular stress signaling pathways implicated in inflammation and cancer. PARP14 is a member of the monoPARP sub-family of PARPs, which catalyze transfer of a single ADP ribose unit (mono-ADP-ribosylation or MARylation) to their substrates, unlike their polyPARP counterparts which construct chains of ADP ribose units (poly-ADP-ribosylation or PARylation). PARP14 is an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) that is overexpressed…

Brenda De Keersmaecker of eTheRNA Immunotherapies discusses a strong link between T cell activation and durable clinical benefit (DCB) in late stage melanoma patients following vaccination with TriMix and tumor associated antigen mRNA modified dendritic cells plus ipilimumab. __________ For four cycles, monocyte-derived dendritic cells electroporated with mRNA encoding CD70, CD40 ligand, and constitutively active TLR4 (TriMix), as well as TAAs tyrosinase, gp100, MAGE-A3, and MAGE-C2 were administered along with ipilimumab. A supplementary vaccine was provided for 18/39 patients prior to the first administration of ipilimumab. In previously collected peripheral mononuclear blood cells, which were available for 15 of the…

Melissa Vasbinder of Ribon Therapeutics @RibonTx discusses a first-in-class PARP7 inhibitor targeting a newly discovered cancer vulnerability in stress-signaling pathways. ________________ PARP7 is a monoPARP that catalyzes the transfer of single units of ADP-ribose onto substrates to change their function (MARylation). PARP7 expression is increased by cellular stresses, including aromatic hydrocarbons and the PARP7 gene is amplified in cancers, especially in those of the upper aerodigestive tract. PARP7 has also been reported to negatively regulate the Type I interferon (IFN) response by interacting with TBK1 during viral infection. As part of our drug discovery efforts to identify inhibitors of PARP7,…

Brenda De Keersmaecker of eTheRNA Immunotherapies discusses a strong link between T cell activation and durable clinical benefit (DCB) in late stage melanoma patients following vaccination with TriMix and tumor associated antigen mRNA modified dendritic cells plus ipilimumab. __________ For four cycles, monocyte-derived dendritic cells electroporated with mRNA encoding CD70, CD40 ligand, and constitutively active TLR4 (TriMix), as well as TAAs tyrosinase, gp100, MAGE-A3, and MAGE-C2 were administered along with ipilimumab. A supplementary vaccine was provided for 18/39 patients prior to the first administration of ipilimumab. In previously collected peripheral mononuclear blood cells, which were available for 15 of the…

Melissa Vasbinder of Ribon Therapeutics @RibonTx discusses a first-in-class PARP7 inhibitor targeting a newly discovered cancer vulnerability in stress-signaling pathways. ________________ PARP7 is a monoPARP that catalyzes the transfer of single units of ADP-ribose onto substrates to change their function (MARylation). PARP7 expression is increased by cellular stresses, including aromatic hydrocarbons and the PARP7 gene is amplified in cancers, especially in those of the upper aerodigestive tract. PARP7 has also been reported to negatively regulate the Type I interferon (IFN) response by interacting with TBK1 during viral infection. As part of our drug discovery efforts to identify inhibitors of PARP7,…

Rumela Chakrabarti, PhD of Penn Medicine @PennMedicine explains how important it is to tailor treatment for triple-negative breast cancer patients. _____________ Immunotherapies have revolutionized care for people with multiple cancers. But when offered to those with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an particularly aggressive type of the disease, fewer than 20 percent respond. “A big question in the field has been, Why are the rest not responding?” says Rumela Chakrabarti, an assistant professor at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine. Chakrabarti and the colleagues illuminate the nature of the molecules at play. We identified a signaling mechanism that could be used for…

Rumela Chakrabarti, PhD of Penn Medicine @PennMedicine answers how come interferon gamma is acting differently? _____________ Immunotherapies have revolutionized care for people with multiple cancers. But when offered to those with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an particularly aggressive type of the disease, fewer than 20 percent respond. “A big question in the field has been, Why are the rest not responding?” says Rumela Chakrabarti, an assistant professor at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine. Chakrabarti and the colleagues illuminate the nature of the molecules at play. We identified a signaling mechanism that could be used for potential improved target therapies in…