November 1, 2021

According to Andrew S. Barbas, MD, of Duke Health, the scarcity of testing that can provide accurate results in patients with pancreatic cancer contributes to diagnoses in the advanced stages of the disease and consequently to poor prognoses.

In 2019, there were approximately 30,000 new cases of small cell lung cancer diagnosed in the United States with nearly all cases attributable to cigarette smoking.

Results from the phase 3 ESCORT-1st trial have demonstrated promise for the combination of camrelizumab and chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors an induce resistance through activation of additional immune checkpoints such as LAG-3. Research around LAG3 will be important for the future.

Complex challenges have arisen with classifying and treating hematologic malignancies in recent years, according to Jorge E. Cortes, MD.

With standard BTK inhibitor therapy, deep responses are rare for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. A novel agent, TG-1701 is showing promise.

Savolitinib in combination with durvalumab has been dosed to the first patient with MET-driven advanced papillary renal cell carcinoma in a phase 3 study.

Optical genome mapping may help to detect genetic abnormalities in patients with CLL.

In patients with CLL who were treated with venetoclax, acalabrutinib, and obinutuzumab, Cell-free DNA–based minimal residual disease testing was found to be feasible.

Long-lasting responses to the triplet combination of umbralisib, ublituximab, and pembrolizumab were seen in a phase 1/2 study.

Patients treated with acalabrutinib monotherapy had a significantly longer mean duration of time spent without toxicity compared with those treated with chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab in the phase 3 ELEVATE-TN trial.

Genomic testing has grown in importance as the number of targeted anticancer therapies rises. Early genomic testing can help to guide treatment choices.