Latest Conference Articles

During the 2018 Association of Community Cancer Centers National Oncology Conference, Olalekan Oluwole, MBBS, MPH, discusses some of the challenges he has encountered with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.

An analysis of patients who presented to MD Anderson Cancer Center’s dermatology clinic following treatment with anti–PD-1/PD-L1 treatment suggests a potential association between the development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma lesions and PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibition.

An analysis of immunologic biomarkers in a phase II trial of patients with advanced colorectal cancer treated with chemotherapy and PD-1 checkpoint inhibition identified several factors associated with a patient’s beneficial response to the chemo-immunotherapy regimen, according to findings presented during the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.

Results from a two-part, phase I dose-escalation and -expansion trial involving mogamulizumab in combination with durvalumab or tremelimumab for the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors demonstrated mild-to-moderate adverse events that were tolerable and manageable, according to Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD, medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, during his presentation at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.

A peptide-based personalized vaccine demonstrated encouraging signals of efficacy and was well tolerated in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, according to the results of the phase I GAPVAC-101 trial.

Stephanie K. Dougan, MD, assistant professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, discusses the idea of augmenting T cell immunity in tumors that are poorly immunogenic, such as pancreatic cancer.

The CD8-tracer 89Zr-IAB22M2C, an anti-CD8 radiolabeled minibody, was found to be safe, well-tolerated, and demonstrated whole-body biodistribution of CD8-positive T cells in tumors and reference tissues, according to first-in-human results presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.

D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, director of thoracic oncology, University of Colorado, discusses mechanisms of resistance to TKIs in oncogene-driven non–small cell lung cancer.

In an effort to determine best practices and ensure consistent clinical interpretation of tumor mutational burden assessment for patients with cancer, a group of diagnostic test partners conducted an in silico analysis and found that panel-derived TMB strongly correlated with whole-exome sequencing data provided from The Cancer Genome Atlas. 

Matthew Farren, PhD, post-doctoral fellow, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, discusses immunologic biomarker findings in a study of mFOLFOX6 plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in colorectal cancer.

There has been a rapid expansion to the treatment landscape for adjuvant melanoma and there is no head-to-head comparative data for the challenge of selecting between immunotherapy and targeted therapy. When selecting a type of therapy, communicating relative merits and risks of both options to patients is necessary in making a shared decision, said Hussein Tawbi, MD, PhD.

According to Anna C. Pavlick, BSM, MS, DO, MBA, the treatment landscape for&nbsp;cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma has changed dramatically in September 2018. During her session at the&nbsp;<em>36th Annual</em> CFS^&reg;, she said this is due to PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab, the first agent approved specifically for advanced CSCC.

Personalized immunotherapy regimens for patients with cancer is a long-term goal of the immuno-oncology field, yet progress toward this goal necessitates the discovery of an effective biomarker for guiding treatment decision making, according to Jason Luke, MD.&nbsp;

Robert A. Figlin, MD, director, Division of Hematology/Oncology, professor of biomedical sciences and medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, discusses the potential for immunotherapy/TKI combinations in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Richard Furman, MD, discusses how survival times for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia have increased dramatically in the past decade, thanks to an ever-expanding armamentarium of novel agents and more patients now being diagnosed earlier.

Novel agents and treatment strategies continue to expand the armamentarium in follicular lymphoma, explained John P. Leonard, MD, in a session at the <em>36th Annual </em>CFS<span style="font-size:10.8333px">.</span>

The high durable response rates seen with CAR T-cell therapies have helped fill a high unmet need for patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with questions remaining on the optimal way to use these agents following the FDA approval of 2 therapies in the past year, explained Anas Younes, MD, during a presentation at the <em>36th Annual </em>CFS.

During a presentation at the 2018 International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology Annual Meeting,&nbsp;Dustin Deming, MD, discussed treatment options showing promise for patients with&nbsp;<em>BRAF</em> V600E&ndash;mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.

Anthony F. Shields, MD, PhD, discusses pivotal data from the IDEA pooled analysis, consisting of 6 international, noninferiority, phase III colon cancer studies.

Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP, FASCO,&nbsp;discusses the treatment landscape for advanced and metastatic CRC and how molecular profiling can play a vital role in selecting the optimal treatment plan for each patient. He also emphasizes the importance of participation in clinical trials to further understand these patients.

In a presentation at the 2018 International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology Annual Meeting, Yung-Jue Bang, MD, PhD, discusses the most promising biomarkers and treatment approaches for patients with GEJ cancer, highlighting recent and ongoing trials of immunotherapy.

Ben George, MD,&nbsp;discusses the findings from the phase III TAGS study and how these data can impact the treatment landscape of metastatic gastric cancers.

Thor Halfdanarson, MD, discusses his takeaway message on neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) at the 2018 ISGIO Annual Conference.

Kabir Mody, MD, discusses the evolution of the hepatocellular carcinoma treatment landscape over the past year&nbsp;during a presentation at the 2018 International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology.

Weijing Sun, MD, discusses a major topic in locally advanced gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma covered at the 2018 ISGIO Annual Conference in Arlington, Virginia.

During a presentation at the Association of Community Cancer Centers&rsquo; 35th National Oncology Conference,&nbsp;Marc Matrana, MD, discussed the development of the Ochsner Health System&rsquo;s Precision Cancer Therapies Program to provide early phase clinical trials in the community setting across the state.<br /> &nbsp;

During a preconference presentation at the Association of Community Cancer Centers 35th National Oncology Conference in Phoenix, a panel of experts discussed the challenges they foresee with the wave of new biosimilar launches expected in 2019.

James L. Wade III, MD, FACP, FASCO, discusses the importance of clinical trials in the community.

In a presentation during the Association of Community Cancer Centers 35th National Oncology Conference (NOC) in Phoenix, Arizona, featured speaker Vicki Hess, RN, MS, discussed how oncology teams can become more resilient in the face of challenges.

Groundbreaking developments in cancer therapies can change lives, extending survival and sending patients who previously thought their chances were slim into remission. But these therapies come at a cost, and many patients reel at the prospect of heavy financial burdens. To help patients and programs meet the challenges of affording cancer treatments, community cancer centers are expanding the role of financial advocates in their organizations.