Precision Medicine in Oncology®

January 28, 2021 - Rapid, high, and uniform brain exposure was seen with [11C]osimertinib, followed by a reduction in total brain metastases volume with oral administration of the EGFR TKI in patients with EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer and brain metastases.

January 28, 2021 - NRG1 fusions are detectable in patients with non–small cell lung cancer, providing a rationale to perform larger, retrospective studies assessing therapeutic outcomes in patients with NRG1 fusion–positive tumors and evaluate afatinib in this patient subgroup.

As new findings emerge in the lung cancer treatment paradigm, innovative strategies have resulted in impressive central nervous system activity and encouraging responses with acceptable tolerability.

The importance of objectively valid data is well established in clinical medicine. Such data include an accurate recording of a patient’s clinical history; evaluation of signs and symptoms of illness; and measurement of various routine indicators, such as granulocyte and platelet counts, serum glucose, electrolytes, and liver function tests.

Joshua K. Sabari, MD, discussed the management of patients with early-stage and metastatic lung cancer, the roles of molecular testing, surgery, staging, and ongoing research efforts in the space.

The sustained overall survival benefit with durvalumab and significant disease-free survival benefit benefit with osimertinib in the adjuvant setting represent major advances in the field of non–small cell lung cancer, fueling research with each modality in localized settings.

The current standard of care for patients with non–small cell lung cancer does not include therapies targeting HER2, a mutation that occurs in up to 4% of cases. However, data from recent studies of antibody-drug conjugates directed at HER2 activity are generating excitement about the potential utility of ADCs in this space.

Timothy F. Burns, MD, PhD, dissects the role of osimertinib in EGFR-mutant NSCLC, sheds light on remaining questions in the field, and speaks to some of the most intriguing emerging agents in the space.

Goutham Narla, MD, PhD, discusses advances made with precision medicine in oncology.

Steven Devine, MD, discusses the non-relapse mortality data with Orca-T and how this technologic approach is changing how providers approach patients with hematologic malignancies following transplant.

Nicholas C. Rohs, MD, discusses the role of molecular testing in patients with lung cancer.

Vivek Subbiah, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the clinical activity of pralsetinib (Gavreto) in RET fusion-positive pancreatic cancer and cholangiocarcinoma.

Bemarituzumab combined with mFOLFOX6 demonstrated a 56% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with placebo and mFOLFOX6 as a frontline treatment in select patients with FGFR2b-positive advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

January 14, 2021 - The FDA has approved crizotinib for the treatment of pediatric patients 1 year of age and older and young adults with ALK-positive relapsed or refractory, systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Despite decades of research and drug development, however, the therapeutic utility of targeting RAS is limited to ruling out treatment with certain drugs in patients without RAS mutations.

Two novel treatments options may shake up the landscape for treating patients with myelodysplasia syndrome.

The field of HER2-positive gastrointestinal malignancies witnessed a surge of data in 2020 regarding investigational agents, such as the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki, that could play a pivotal role in transforming treatment selection in the coming years.

January 11, 2021 - Larotrectinib was found to induce a high response rate with long durability and improve survival in patients with TRK-positive sarcomas, according to results from an analysis of 3 clinical trials.

January 8, 2021 — The combination of osimertinib plus bevacizumab failed to result in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival versus osimertinib alone in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma that harbored an EGFR T790M mutation.

January 8, 2021 — The FDA has granted a fast track designation to zenocutuzumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic solid tumors that harbor NRG1 gene fusions and have progressed on standard-of-care treatment.

January 4th, 2021 - A marketing authorization application has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency for the approval of amivantamab as a treatment for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer that harbors EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations who have experienced disease progression following platinum-based chemotherapy.

January 4, 2021 - A marketing authorization application has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency for the use of sotorasib in patients with KRAS G12C–mutated locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

Rami Manochakian, MD, underscores the importance of looking for actionable alterations in lung cancer, barriers to genetic testing, and what is needed to overcome them.

Leonard G. Gomella, MD, discusses the growing importance of genetic testing in prostate cancer.

Neelima Vidula, MD, discusses the current and future utility of PARP inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer, the promise of sacituzumab govitecan, and the need for germline genetic testing.