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ASCO18: What talks should you look out for?

Clinical trials For clinicians Immuno-oncology Opinion

All eyes are on Chicago with the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO; 1–5 June 2018, IL, USA) just around the corner.

With over 5000 abstracts accepted for presentation or online publication, it can be a minefield to know which talks to look out for! To help you navigate the largest conference in oncology, we have selected key talks for you to attend.

Highlights include:

Don’t forget to check back on this piece in the days leading up to ASCO, as we will continue to add more talks for you to keep an eye out for.

Breast cancer

World-renowned breast cancer expert and Oncology Central ambassador, Nadia Harbeck (University of München, Germany), picked out the TAILORx and MONALEESA-3 trials as key breast cancer talks to watch out for at this year’s ASCO meeting.

The Trial Assigning IndividuaLized Options for Treatment (Rx), or TAILORx, is the largest adjuvant breast cancer treatment trial ever conducted, and enrolled 10,273 women with early-stage breast cancer across approximately 1200 sites in the USA and five additional countries. You can find out more about the trial in our in-depth news piece here.

Further details of TAILORx (abstract LBA1) will be released during the plenary session on Sunday 3 June, 13:45–14:00 (all timings CDT) in Hall B1.

MONALEESA-3 is the largest industry-sponsored Phase III registration program researching a CDK4/6 inhibitor in HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer. The trial is investigating Kisqali® (ribociclib) plus Faslodex® (fulvestrant) in postmenopausal women with HR+, HER2- advanced breast cancer.

Further details of MONALEESA-3 (abstract 1000) will be released on Sunday 3 June, 8:00–8:12 in Hall D2.

Lung cancer

At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2018 (14–18 April 2018, IL, USA), back-to-back presentations highlighted the advances in immunotherapy treatments for lung cancer and it looks like ASCO is set to follow suit. Read AACR news highlights here.

One of the most eagerly awaited presentations will be on the KEYNOTE-042 open-label Phase III study, investigating Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) versus platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line therapy for advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS) of less than 1%.

You can find out more about KEYNOTE-042 (abstract LBA4) at 15:15–15:30 during the plenary session on Sunday 3 June in Hall B1.

Other notable presentations to look out for include the IMpower131 and IMpower150 studies involving Roche’s (Basel, Switzerland) PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq® (atezolizumab) in first-line squamous NSCLC and first-line non-squamous patients, respectively.  If you would like to find out more about IMpower150, make sure to check out this news piece.

IMpower131 (abstract LBA9000) and IMpower150 (abstract 9002) will be covered on Monday 4 June, 15:00–15:12 and 15:45–15:37, respectively in Hall B1.

Following the release of data for NSCLC patients with a high tumor-mutation burden at AACR, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NY, USA) is set to release the first analysis from part 1b of its CheckMate 227 study at ASCO. The study assesses Opdivo® (nivolumab) plus chemotherapy and Opdivo plus Yervoy® (iIpilimumab) versus chemotherapy in patients with PD-L1 <1% in first-line NSCLC.

Full details (abstract 9001) will be announced on Monday 4 June, 15:12–15:24 in Hall B1.

Meanwhile, Merck & Co.has announced that it has already filed a Keytruda/chemotherapy combination for accelerated approval based on data from the Keynote-407 trial; confirming this combination met its interim overall response rate. The Phase III study evaluates carboplatin-paclitaxel/nab-paclitaxel (chemotherapy) with or without pembrolizumab for patients with metastatic squamous NSCLC.

KEYNOTE-407 (abstract 105) will be covered Sunday 3 June, 10:09– 10:21, in Hall D1 during the ‘Compelling Combinations: Raising the Bar With Immunotherapy’ clinical science symposium.

Melanoma

T.J. Sharpe, a Stage IV melanoma patient who blogs regularly for Oncology Central, shared his thoughts on which melanoma talks to watch out for at ASCO. Key trials he selected are KEYNOTE-006 and CheckMate 238. T.J. will be blogging for Oncology Central at ASCO this year so make sure to check back throughout the meeting for the latest updates!

KEYNOTE-006 explores 4-year survival and outcomes after cessation of pembrolizumab after 2-years in patients with ipilimumab-naive advanced melanoma whilst the CheckMate 238 trial investigates adjuvant therapy with nivolumab versus ipilimumab after complete resection of stage III/IV melanoma.

Initial results from CheckMate 238 demonstrated that at a minimum follow-up of 18 months, nivolumab demonstrated significantly longer recurrence-free survival versus ipilimumab in patients with resected stage III or IV melanoma. The latest, updated efficacy results (with an additional 6 month of follow-up) from this Phase III study will be revealed at ASCO.

Results from both studies will be presented on Monday 4 June in the Arie Crown Theatre; CheckMate 238 (abstract 9502) at 8:24–8:36 and KEYNOTE-006 (abstract 9503) 9:00–9:12.

LOXO-292, CARMENA and more

As investors sifted through ASCO abstracts, Loxo Oncology turned up top trumps. The company’s stock soared 18% overnight when investors noticed a 69% overall response rate among 32 evaluable RET-fusion positive patients taking LOXO-292. Loxo has further fuelled enthusiasm for LOXO-292 by stating that their efficacy data has improved since the January ASCO abstract data; we eagerly await their results.

Discover the latest LOXO-292 data (abstract 102) on Saturday 2 June, 8:36–8:48 in Hall D1.

Meanwhile, in the field of endocrine oncology one trial stood out: CARMENA. The Phase III non-inferiority trial investigates cytoreductive nephrectomy followed by Sutent® (sunitinib) versus sunitinib alone in metastatic renal cell carcinoma

CARMENA (abstract LBA3) will be covered 14:45–15:00 during the plenary session on Sunday 3 June in Hall B1.

Sarcoma data also take center stage at ASCO this year, with a report from the European Paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group (Padua, Italy) being highlighted in the plenary session. The report outlines maintenance low-dose chemotherapy in patients with high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma.

Find out more at 14:15–14:30 during the plenary session on Sunday 3 June in Hall B1 (abstract LBA2).

What do you think of our selection? Comment below to share your thoughts.

We look forward to meeting you in Chicago – if you would like to set up a meeting, do get in touch by emailing Jade Parker, Editor, at [email protected].