Five Under 5: Top Oncology Videos for the Week of 3/30

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:

Kiavasch Mohammad Nejad Farid, MD, of Heidelberg University Hospital, discusses the efficacy findings from a study of the novel second-generation BCMA-directed CAR T-cell construct MDC-CAR-BCMA001 in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and systemic light chain (AL) amyloidosis. The novel second-generation CAR T-cell therapy showed promising efficacy and a favorable safety profile, even in those with significant organ dysfunction. Of the 6 patients treated, 5 achieved an overall response—including 4 complete responses—with deep, rapid reductions in disease markers and minimal residual disease negativity. The therapy had manageable toxicity, with low incidence of severe cytokine release syndrome and no neurotoxicity. These encouraging results support further investigation in ongoing and upcoming clinical trials, including CARLOTTA001 (NCT05836896) and the CLEAR AL trial.

Melissa M. Hardesty, MD, of Alaska Women’s Cancer Center, highlights updated results from the phase 2 OVARIO trial (NCT03326193) showing that maintenance therapy with niraparib (Zejula) and bevacizumab (Avastin) led to durable overall survival (OS) in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer who responded to frontline platinum-based chemotherapy. At a median follow-up of 65.7 months, the median OS in the overall population was 61.1 months, with no negative impact on health-related quality of life. Patients with homologous recombination deficiency or BRCA mutations had notably better OS outcomes vs those without these biomarkers. Specifically, median OS was 68.3 months in patients with BRCA-mutant disease, not evaluable in the broader HRD group, and 38.7 months in the homologous recombination–proficient group.

Michael J. Morris, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the FDA’s expanded approval of lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan (Pluvicto) for treating prostate-specific membrane antigen–positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in patients who have progressed on androgen receptor (AR) pathway inhibitors but are eligible to delay chemotherapy. This expanded use is supported by the phase 3 PSMAfore trial (NCT04689828), which showed significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) of 9.3 months with lutetium Lu 177 vs 5.6 months with a switch in AR pathway inhibitor therapy. Previously limited to patients who had already received both AR pathway inhibitors and taxane-based chemotherapy, the treatment can now be used earlier in the disease course. Morris emphasized that this marks an important shift in mCRPC management, allowing for effective treatment before chemotherapy becomes necessary.

Tanya Gupta, MD, of Palo Alto Medical Foundation, emphasized that selecting frontline treatment for metastatic hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer requires careful consideration of disease presentation, prior therapy, and patient characteristics. For de novo metastatic disease, the standard regimen is a CDK4/6 inhibitor with an aromatase inhibitor, along with ovarian suppression in premenopausal patients. In relapsed cases, prior endocrine therapy exposure guides treatment choice, with CDK4/6 inhibitors plus fulvestrant (Faslodex) used for endocrine-sensitive disease and inavolisib (Itovebi)-based combinations preferred for endocrine-resistant, PIK3CA-mutated disease. In patients with high disease burden or visceral crisis, chemotherapy is favored for its rapid response.

Juan P. Alderuccio, MD, of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Health System, shared results from a phase 2 study (NCT04998669) evaluating loncastuximab tesirine (Zynlota) plus rituximab (Rituxan) in patients with high-risk, relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma, showing a 97.4% overall response rate and a 66.7% complete response rate at 12 weeks. The 12-month progression-free survival rate was 94.6%, with the median PFS not yet reached, indicating promising durability of response. The treatment was generally well tolerated, with mostly mild to moderate adverse effects and no unexpected toxicities. These findings support the potential of this fixed-duration combination as an effective second-line or later therapy, warranting further clinical investigation.