Latest Conference Articles

CtDNA will continue to gain importance in precision oncology as physicians continue to uncover the role and interplay of genomic alterations that promote tumor heterogeneity.

Although the first checkpoint inhibitor has just been approved for patients with breast cancer, findings from dozens of ongoing studies may eventually change the paradigm for large subsets of those with the malignancy.

The development of antibody-drug conjugates represents a promising strategy for patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, with early clinical trial results suggesting that novel agents could eventually change the landscape for this patient population.

With tremendous advances and the accelerated approval of atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer, provider education in identifying associated toxicities from checkpoint inhibitor therapy is critical.

Hope S. Rugo, MD, director, Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education, University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the therapeutic advancements in the breast cancer space in the past 20 years.

Debu Tripathy, MD, professor and chairman, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses combination strategies being investigated with CDK4/6 inhibitors in breast cancer.

The introduction of PARP inhibitors into the breast cancer treatment paradigm is a clinically meaningful advance for patients with germline BRCA1/2 mutations but much more research must be conducted to optimize their use.

The previously demonstrated progression-free survival benefit from the addition of alpelisib to fulvestrant appeared consistent among subgroups of patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who have a PIK3CA mutation.

For more than 100 years, endocrine therapy has been used for the treatment of breast cancer; since that time, we have learned much about the role of estrogen in the biology of normal breast cancer development.

Each gene expression-based test available for risk prediction in patients with breast cancer has unique properties and they are not interchangeable, placing importance on the clinical studies used to validate the clinical utility of each assay.

Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, director of the Breast Immuno-Oncology Program at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, discusses the frontline approval of atezolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1

Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, director of the Breast Oncology Program, medical director of the Clinical Research Unit, University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the recent FDA approval of subcutaneous use of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and hyaluronidase-oysk injection (Herceptin Hylecta) in the HER2-positive breast cancer space.

After nearly 30 years as a breast cancer surgeon, Patrick I. Borgen, MD, finds that the most enduring theme in the field is constant change.

The breast cancer field is experiencing rapid advancements in the understanding of disease biology and the development of novel therapeutic strategies for several subtypes, with a clear direction toward personalized or precision medicine.

Data from the SHAVE and SHAVE2 trials, in terms of long-term outcomes vis-à-vis local recurrence, may lend some insight into the impact of adjuvant therapy on reducing the ramifications of a positive margin.

Morie A. Gertz, MD, MACP, discusses the current outlook for patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

New agents in chronic lymphocytic leukemia are significantly strengthening the armamentarium, particularly next-generation BTK and PI3K inhibitors, and although toxicities remain an issue, tolerability may be improving.

More options are available than ever before for treating older patients with acute myeloid leukemia and fresh hopes are resting on combinations of venetoclax plus hypomethylating agents.

Sagar Lonial, MD, discusses some of the emerging agents for the treatment of patients with late relapse in multiple myeloma.

Prognostic indices for mantle cell lymphoma are good for classifying patients but do little in the way of guiding treatment, and often the best course of action is to watch and wait.

The day is approaching that chemotherapy may be unnecessary for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, discusses how CAR T cells could become more effective in the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Elias Jabbour, MD, discusses the treatment options for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia across these various subgroups.

Saad Z. Usmani, MD, FACP, shares his advice for the management of early relapse in patients with multiple myeloma.

Carla Casulo, MD, discusses several different factors that can help predict outcomes in patients with follicular lymphoma.

Real-world data on the use of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in large B-cell lymphoma bear out the pivotal results from ZUMA-1 and demonstrate not only that the treatment approach is here, but also that it’s time to address issues of efficacy, safety, cost, and moving this approach into earlier lines of therapy.

Jorge E. Cortes, MD, discusses the current treatment options for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, including the use of quizartinib in patients with FLT3 mutations, as well as data from the QuANTUM-R trial.

Naval G. Daver, MD, discusses the role of minimal residual disease assessment in the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies.

Jae H. Park, MD, discusses a particular challenge he sees in using CAR T-cell therapies in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

B-cell maturation antigen-specific chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is delivering impressive results in multiple myeloma, demonstrating durable responses and acceptable toxicities.