Five Under 5: Top Oncology Videos for the Week of 2/16

Welcome to The Five Under 5, your go-to roundup of the top 5 videos of the week.

These short videos are designed for busy oncologists to view on the go, and feature expert insights on breaking news, regulatory updates, practice-changing data shared at medical meetings, and other key topics in the realm of oncology.

Here’s what you may have missed:

Development of Targeted Therapies in Prostate Cancer: William K. Oh, MD

William K. Oh, MD, director, Precision Medicine, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital; service line medical director, Smilow Cancer Hospital, Greenwich Hospital, discusses the advancements in prostate cancer treatment, particularly with the use of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET scans for improved imaging and diagnosis. He highlights the approval of lutetium Lu 177 vipovotide tetraxetan (Pluvicto), a PSMA-targeted therapy offering a new treatment approach for advanced prostate cancer. The FDA's 2022 approval of this therapy, alongside the diagnostic agent gallium Ga 68 gozetotide (Locametz), marks a significant milestone in the field. Oh anticipates further growth in prostate cancer treatments, with targeted therapies potentially extending to antibody-drug conjugates and immunotherapy methods.

Ide-Cel and Lenalidomide Maintenance in Myeloma After Suboptimal ASCT Response: Alfred L. Garfall, MD, MS

Alfred L. Garfall, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine (hematology-oncology) and director, Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Cell Therapy and Transplant Program, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; and section chief, Multiple Myeloma, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania,, discusses the phase 2 BMT CTN 1902 trial (NCT05032820), which evaluated idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; Abecma) followed by lenalidomide (Revlimid) maintenance in patients with multiple myeloma who had a suboptimal response to up-front autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) and lenalidomide maintenance. The trial aimed to increase the complete response (CR) rate to at least 30%, and the results showed that 63% of patients achieved CR, with an additional 24% experiencing an upgraded response, resulting in an 87% overall response improvement rate. These results suggest that ide-cel followed by lenalidomide maintenance offers promising efficacy with manageable safety for patients with suboptimal responses after ASCT.

Real-World Outcomes With First-Line Axitinib Plus Avelumab in RCC: Axel Merseburger, MD, PhD

Axel Merseburger, MD, PhD, professor, urology; chairman, Department of Urology, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein, Campus Lübeck, discusses real-world data from the AVION study, which evaluated the combination of avelumab (Bavencio) and axitinib (Inlyta) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The findings corroborate results from the phase 3 JAVELIN Renal 101 trial (NCT02684006), showing that the combination improves progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rates compared to sunitinib (Sutent). In the AVION study, the 6- and 12-month overall survival rates were 89.1% and 82.7%, respectively, with a median PFS of 11.3 months, consistent with trial data. The combination demonstrated manageable safety, reinforcing its role as a standard-of-care option for this population, including those with poor prognostic factors.

Updated Data With Enfortumab Vedotin Plus Pembrolizumab in Urothelial Cancer: Shilpa Gupta, MD

Shilpa Gupta, MD, director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, co-leader, Genitourinary Oncology Program, Cleveland Clinic, presents updated data from the phase 3 EV-302/KEYNOTE-A39 trial (NCT04223856), which evaluated the combination of enfortumab vedotin-efjv (Padcev) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. The trial’s updated results showed durable efficacy and no new safety concerns, reinforcing this combination as the first-line standard of care. With an additional year of follow-up, the survival advantage achieved with the combination was sustained, with a median overall survival of 33.8 months compared with 15.9 months for chemotherapy. Gupta emphasizes that these findings solidify the regimen’s role as the preferred frontline treatment for urothelial carcinoma.

CRS and Neurotoxicity Beyond 2 Weeks After Axi-Cel Infusion in R/R LBCL: Olalekan Oluwole, MD, MPH

Olalekan Oluwole, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, Division of Hematology Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center,discusses a study on the incidence and resolution of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurological toxicities following axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) infusion in patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma. The study found that although over half of patients experienced CRS or neurotoxicity, most of these events occurred and resolved within the first 2 weeks. Beyond this period, no new instances of CRS or neurological toxicities were reported, and most patients had fully recovered. These findings suggest a potential opportunity to revise post-CAR T-cell therapy monitoring protocols, such as incorporating telemedicine, to allow earlier patient discharge and reduce logistical challenges, particularly for those in rural areas.