July 2018

The majority of community oncology practitioners test less than half of patients with early or metastatic breast cancer for germline BRCA1/2 mutations, according to the results of a recent survey by the Association of Community Cancer Centers. Further findings from the survey suggest that this could be due to issues with identifying patients would should be offered BRCA testing, patient concerns, and a lack of access to testing and genetic counseling.

Olaparib in combination with abiraterone acetate improved progression-free survival compared with the antiandrogen agent alone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to findings from a phase II trial presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. The results of the trial were also published the same day in Lancet Oncology.

Several studies presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting helped further refine and inform treatment strategies for the budding class of CAR T-cell therapies, particularly those directed at CD19, in patients with hematologic malignancies, with a focus on predicting adverse events and optimizing efficacy.

Arjun V. Balar, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Targeted Therapies in Oncology, discusses the plenary session at. the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. Findings from the CARMENA trial in metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma were presented.