The Latest in Cancer Research From ASCO20 Virtual

The research presented last week during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program—the Super Bowl of cancer research—gave patients and caregivers a lot to think about.

Here’s a brief breakdown of some of the key scientific abstracts presented during the recent confab of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). This is news you can use during your next clinic visit.

Navigating Cancer Care

Want to sleep better? Try yoga and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. (Abstract 12005)

A geriatric assessment can predict and reduce chemotherapy-related toxicity in adults aged 65 years and older. (Abstract 12010)

Prostate Cancer

Read the great news about a less invasive blood test for biomarkers that may predict outcomes in patients with metastatic castrate sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC). (Abstract 5506)

Lung Cancer

Quit smoking now. This study shows that people who quit right before diagnosis reduce their risk of dying from lung cancer. (Abstract 12)

• People who quit less than 2 years before their diagnosis had a 12 percent reduced risk of dying.

• People who quit between 2 and 5 years before their diagnosis had a 16 percent reduced risk of dying.

• People who quit more than 5 years before their diagnosis had a 20 percent reduced risk of dying.

The ADAURA trial shows good disease-free survival (DFS) rates in treatment after surgery. Osimertinib (Tagrisso) delays recurrence for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with an EGFR mutation. This is an effective new therapy. (Abstract LBA5)

Breast Cancer

Early local therapy (for example, surgery) does not improve outcomes for women diagnosed with stage IV metastatic breast cancer. This finally puts an end to the debate about whether surgery is helpful at this stage, and often it is not. This was a retrospective study (looking back) but it will help patients in the future go through less invasive treatment. (Abstract LBA2)

The HER2CLIMB trial found that tucatinib (Tukysa) with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and capecitabine (Xeloda) reduces the risk of brain metastases progression and death in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. (Abstract 1005) People with all types of brain metastases showed improvement on this treatment.

A Phase I dose escalation and expansion study of the next-generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) AZD9833 in women with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer is helping women have better outcomes. This will enable patients to stay on the endocrine therapy without having to go right into chemotherapy. A Phase II study is planned. (Abstract 1024).

Hematologic Malignancies/Immunotherapies

An interim analysis of the ZUMA-5 study shows that the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta), axi-cel for shorthand, targets the CD19 antigen on B cells and looks promising. This CAR T-cell therapy has had significant activity in some aggressive B-cell lymphomas, as well as in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). (Abstract 8008)

These studies report comparable experiences for patients with multiple myeloma who went through a relapse following treatment. These two abstracts report on different CAR T-cell therapies, both of which target BCMA, the B-cell maturation antigen, a common target now for immunotherapy in multiple myeloma. (Abstracts 8503 and 8504)

There were many more exciting findings that will enhance patient care going forward, but we wanted to bring you the highlights.

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