ASCO21 Annual Meeting: Editors’ highlights
The American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting took place in a virtual format on 4−8 June 2021. Over the 4 days, pivotal data from trials and labs was presented from across the globe, to continue to advance the oncology field and patient outcomes. Find our highlights from the meeting below.
News highlights
IMpower010: Tecentriq® improves disease-free survival for some early lung cancer patients
Interim data from the IMpower010 Phase III clinical trial demonstrated that Tecentriq (atezolizumab) following surgery and chemotherapy reduces the risk of disease-free survival by 34% in patients with Stage II-IIIA NSCLC, whose tumors express PD-L1 ≥1%, compared with best supportive care.
Find out more in our interview here.
OlympiA: olaparib improves disease-free survival in high-risk, early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer with BRCA 1/2 mutations
The OlympiA Phase III trial has reported that olaparib offered a 3-year invasive disease-free survival of 85.9% in high-risk, early stage HER2-negative breast cancer patients harboring BRCA 1/2 mutations. The positive results may have implications for the standard of care in the adjuvant setting for this patient group.
Phase II trial shows new CAR-T therapy is viable in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients
In a new Phase II ‘ZUMA-3’ study a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy known as Tecartus has been evaluated in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
OUTBACK Phase III trial: stick with standard of care for locally advanced cervical cancer
Adjuvant chemotherapy alongside the standard of care chemoradiation provides no benefit for locally advanced cervical cancer patients.
Targeted radiotherapy for previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer
Targeted radiotherapy lutetium-labeled PSMA-617 (177Lu PSMA-617), significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival when added to standard of care treatment in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
Want regular meeting updates straight to your inbox? Become a member of Oncology Central.
SPEARHEAD-1: engineered TCR therapy yields promising results for synovial sarcoma
Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (UK) reported initial data from its Phase II SPEARHEAD-1 open-label trial evaluating afami-cel for individuals with advanced synovial sarcoma or myxoid/round cell liposarcoma.
CheckMate 648: single and dual immunotherapy improves overall survival for some advanced esophageal cancer patients
The Phase III CheckMate 648 trial has shown that compared to standard of care chemotherapy, both a dual immunotherapy regimen (nivolumab plus ipilimumab) and a single immunotherapy agent (nivolumab) added to chemotherapy extends overall survival for patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, particularly those positive for the immune checkpoint protein PD-L1.
RELATIVITY-047: inhibiting LAG-3 plus PD-1 improves PFS for some melanoma patients
Data from the Phase II/III RELATIVITY-047 trial has demonstrated that a fixed-dose combination of relatlimab (LAG-3-blocking antibody) and nivolumab yields a clinically meaningful progression-free survival benefit compared to Opdivo® (nivolumab) alone in patients with previously untreated metastatic or unresectable melanoma.
KEYNOTE-564 demonstrates that Keytruda® extends disease-free survival in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma
Findings from the Phase III KEYNOTE-564 trial have demonstrated that post-surgery treatment with Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) extends disease-free survival (DFS) for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. The data supports adjuvant pembrolizumab as a potential new standard of care to reduce disease recurrence in patients with fully resected intermediate to high-risk RCC.
JUPITER-02: toripalimab extends progression-free survival in advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma
The addition of the immunotherapy agent toripalimab to emcitabine-cisplatin chemotherapy as first-line treatment significantly delays disease progression for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.
Exclusive insights
Exploring the IMpower010 trial data, an interview with Charlie Fuchs
Social media
My question is to oncologists in general: why this difference in translating clinical trials results to clinical practice depending on subspecialties? #lungcancer #breastcancer #ASCO21 @OncoAlert pic.twitter.com/fPk7BVpikm
— Renata Colombo Bonadio, MD (@renata_bonadio) June 6, 2021
Seeing a lot of exciting #ASCO21 abstracts! Quick reminder to all, including myself – our goal is to improve the overall survival and/or quality of life of our patients.
❌ DFS, Response Rates, MRD, etc. are surrogate endpoints. These improve QOL of KOLs, not patients ❌
— Bernie Marini (@Berninini) June 7, 2021
This was one of the highlights of #ASCO2021 Day 2 for me. It takes strength, courage, resilience and self awareness to do this. Well done @NarjustDumaMD #ASCO21 @ASCO @OncoAlert @COVID19nCCC https://t.co/wm1DrASvN2
— Toni Choueiri, MD (@DrChoueiri) June 6, 2021
For the latest conference news, visit our Events Coverage page now!