ASCO: American Society of Clinical Oncology

Research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting found prostate-specific membrane antigen ligand positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET) to be associated with worse overall survival in prostate cancer without distant metastasis based on conventional imaging.

If payers can agree on consensus criteria to improve care quality or costs, that will help physicians remember and try to be compliant, said Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, incoming medical director at Thyme Care.

While efforts are underway to improve access to cutting-edge oncology clinical trials for underserved patients, more work is needed to get the job done, said a panel of experts at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

The session, “Payment Reform: Lessons Learned from the Oncology Care Model (OCM) and Implications for the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM)," comes less than a month before the EOM is set to begin.

Jason Westin, MD, MS, FACP, director of the Lymphoma Clinical Research Program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, gave insight the ZUMA-7 trial of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) in relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL) and the study's implications in the broader LBCL landscape.

Judy Wang, MD, medical oncologist and clinical trials investigator at Sarah Cannon Research Institute at Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, discussed the mechanism of action and rationale for studying CLN-619, an anti-MICA/B antibody, with and without pembrolizumab in patients with solid tumors.

In early findings, the antibody drug conjugate created strong responses in multiple tumor types where patients have unmet need.

Bhagirathbhai R. Dholaria, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Hematology-Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discussed findings from the phase 2 TRiMM-2 trial of talquetamab plus daratumumab in multiple myeloma.

Barb Kunz, MS, LCGC, senior genetic counselor at the US Oncology Network, shared insight on a study of social determinants of health in the context of germline genetic testing for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in the community oncology setting.

The confirmatory trial showed limited side effects relative to physician's choice of chemotherapy.

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, deputy director of Yale Cancer Center and lead investigator for ADAURA, said the results erase any doubts about the use of osimertinib in early non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for patients with EGFR mutations.

The landmark trial harmonized treatment between adult and pediatric patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma, who historically have received different chemotherapy regimens; young patients have received more treatment with radiation.

Combining talquetamab and daratumumab could create a synergy to get more from talquetamab to attack multiple myeloma.

"It's really important that oncologists are on level footing along with the rest of their medical peers," said Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, incoming medical director at Thyme Care.

Interim findings from the DUO-O trial could signal new options for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer at later stages who do not have a BRCA mutation.

Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD, lead investigator on the NATALEE trial of ribociclib plus hormonal therapy in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, discussed the study's broad population and potential payer reactions.

The trial included patients with earlier stage disease who are normally considered lower risk than the high-risk population.

The cancer care community descends on Chicago this weekend for the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). This year’s theme, “Partnering With Patients: The Cornerstone of Cancer Care and Research,” highlights how recent advances make interactions between clinicians and patients more important than ever, as shared decision-making must be the foundation of the care journey.

Lalan Wilfong, MD, senior vice president of payer and care transformation at The US Oncology Network, shared insight into lessons learned from the Oncology Care Model (OCM) and looked ahead to the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM) ahead of a panel discussion at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Andrew Evens, DO, MBA, MSc, associate director for clinical services at Rutgers Cancer Institute, discussed the ways in which SWOG S1826 trial results will build on current knowledge of Hodgkin lymphoma treatment.

Understanding that patients who are HER2-low are different from patients who are HER2-positive and -negative means having the right way to evaluate and identify these patients, explained Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, executive vice president of Texas Oncology.

Patients with multiple myeloma frequently relapse and experience deteriorating quality of life, according to findings from the LocoMMotion study, which also reported that specific patient and disease characteristics are associated with poor efficacy outcomes.

Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, is professor of medicine and the director of the Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education program at the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She discusses her experience with palbociclib and letrozole in advanced breast cancer.

The results involve a pair of DNA medicines combined with cemiplimab, which is approved as Libtayo to treat other solid tumors. In this study, the regimen is designed to prime a T-cell response before a patient receives radiation.

Kim A. Reiss, MD, assistant program director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program and assistant professor of medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses pancreatic cancer research she presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Joel W. Neal, MD, PhD, associate professor, Division of Oncology, Stanford Cancer Institute, is lead investigator on the COSMIC-021 trial, which is investigating cabozantinib plus atezolizumab vs cabozantinib alone in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as a possible second-line treatment beyond chemotherapy.

Results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting showed a 21.4-month advantage for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) over a common triplet therapy in progression-free survival (PFS) but no advantage in overall survival (OS).

Practice-changing data from the DESTINY-Breast04 study, presented during the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, show that trastuzumab deruxtecan reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 50% compared with chemotherapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)–low patients with both hormone receptor (HR)–positive and HR-negative disease.

Thanos Zomas, MD, global medical lead, Lymphoma and Leukemia, and global medical lead, Adcetris Program, at Takeda Oncology discusses updated results from the ECHELON-1 study.

David R. Penberthy, MD, MBA, is medical director, Radiation Oncology, Bon Secours-Southside Medical Center in Petersburg, Virginia, and president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers for the 2022-2023 term.