ASCO Annual Meeting

Research into 6 drugs scheduled to be presented during the upcoming 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting stand out as the most noteworthy abstracts on the docket this year because of their potential to influence clinical practice in the near future.

Forty percent of patients with advanced melanoma who started taking pembrolizumab during the clinical trial that led to its initial approval were still alive after 3 years, with many responders in remission even after stopping treatment.

Early findings from a phase III clinical trial suggest that patients with multiple myeloma who receive upfront autologous stem cell transplant survive longer without disease progression than those who receive chemotherapy alone.

Survival outcomes in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were significantly longer among those with tumors originating on the left versus the right side of the colon, according to a retrospective analysis of the phase III 80405 trial.

Early palliative care integrated with oncology care benefits not only patients with cancer but also family caregivers.

Outcomes were significantly better in clinical trials that utilized a biomarker-based treatment selection strategy compared with non-personalized approaches.

For clinicians, a central message from 2015 ASCO is that a framework for managing immune-related adverse events in patients who receive these immune checkpoint agents is taking shape.

The ASCO annual meeting has retained its core purpose of providing a unique platform for oncologists to interact and exchange the latest practice-changing research.

Combination MEK/BRAF inhibition with trametinib and dabrafenib reduced the risk of death by 29% in patients with BRAF-mutant advanced melanoma.

Angus Dalgleish, MD, FRCP, FRACP, FRCPath, FMedSci, professor, Department of Oncology, St. George's, University of London, discusses a study that examined the combination of an immunomodulator with gemcitabine in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Kari Wisinski, MD, medical oncologist with University Of Wisconsin Health and the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, discusses the use of palbociclib for patients with ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer.

Jerome G. Kim, MD, medical oncologist, hematologist, Kaiser Permanente, discusses the feasibility of an assessment tool for older adults with cancer using web-based platforms.

Stefani Spranger, PhD, University Chicago Melanoma Intrinsic β-Catenin Committee, discusses the effect of melanoma intrinsic β-catenin signaling on immune exclusion and resistance to immunotherapies.

The combination of dabrafenib, trametinib, and panitumumab showed promising clinical activity in BRAFV600E-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer.

Ruben A. Mesa, MD, deputy director, Mayo Clinic, discusses PERSIST-1, a phase III study which examined pacribitinib as a treatment of myelofibrosis.

William Tap, MD, Medical Oncologist, Chief, Sarcoma Medical Oncology Service Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center discusses the benefits of a olaratumab and doxorubicin combination treatment for advanced soft tissue sarcomas.

The combination of lenvatinib and everolimus more than doubled progression-free survival and extended overall survival by 10.1 months compared with everolimus alone as a second-line treatment for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Philip McCarthy, MD, Professor of Oncology, Director, Blood and Marrow Transplant Center, Department of Medicine Roswell Park Cancer Institute, discusses the impact of the CALGB 100104 study which looked at lenalidomide maintenance following single autologous stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma.

Dung T. Lee, MD, assistant professor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses a biomarker for PD-1 agents in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Manish A. Shah, MD, medical oncology, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, discusses the METGastric study.

Brian A. Van Tine, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor Department of Medicine Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, discusses trabectedin (Yondelis) for the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas.

Progression-free survival in relapsed myeloma doubled among patients treated with carfilzomib, rather than bortezomib, in combination with dexamethasone, a randomized trial showed.

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine, associate chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology, co-director, Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center, associate director, Clinical Investigation, University of Pittsburgh, compares the use of anastrozole to tamoxifen in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, Jefferson University Physician, professor, director, Breast Care Center, discusses the PALOMA3 trial.

Monoclonal antibodies against PD-1 and PD-L1 have demonstrated encouraging signs of antitumor activity for patients with pretreated advanced ovarian cancer.

Trabectedin reduced the risk of disease progression by 45% versus dacarbazine in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma.

Howard Sandler, MD, MS, FASTRO, chair, Radiation Oncology, Ronald H. Bloom Family Chair in Cancer Therapeutics, discusses results from a phase III study on docetaxel with hormonal and radiation therapy in prostate cancer.

Mark A. Socinski, MD, professor of Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery, director, Lung Cancer Section, Division of Hematology/Oncology, clinical associate director, Lung SPORE, co-director, UPMC Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, co-leader, UPCI Lung Cancer Program, discusses a phase III study which examined nivolumab in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).