Latest Conference Articles

Our top coverage from this year’s Community Oncology Conference, hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, included discussions around alternative payment models, shifts in the community oncology landscape in recent decades, and the need for reform in several areas.

In a packed session Monday at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, California, Anita Kumar, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, presented phase 2 results for 25 patients with TP53 mutations.

Patients with B-cell malignancies who were intolerant to treatment with acalabrutinib experienced clinically meaningful benefits when treated with zanubrutinib, suggesting zanubrutinib may be a viable treatment option for this population.

David J. Andorsky, MD, board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist at Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, discussed findings from a study on patterns of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor care use and social determinants of health (SDOH) among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

Use of an antibody drug conjugate and a PD-1 inhibitor brings complementary mechanisms together while eliminating the most toxic agent that has been used in combinations to treat classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL).

The administration of axicabtagene ciloleucel in the second-line setting improved overall survival and progression-free survival vs standard-of-care treatment in patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma who are at least 65 years of age.

This year’s top content from the fall meeting of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) highlights both treatment gains made through innovative referral, screening, and assistance initiatives and the ongoing need to improve health equity and research inclusivity.

Presenters at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition agreed that novel strategies, such as CRISPR and base editing, have potential to fine-tune the latest immunotherapy advancements to increase the efficacy and durability of a range of treatments.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) is not accepted by regulators as a surrogate end point, but a commenter at the American Society of Hematology plenary session said one is needed.

Andrew Srisuwananukorn, MD, of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, explained the potential of artificial intelligence (AI)-based support tools for differentiating primary myelofibrosis (prePMF) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) in the community setting.

Recent decades have seen marked improvements in hematological cancer outcomes and an expanded armamentarium of therapies, but novel treatments require updated strategies that are not always easy to fine-tune, according to presenters at the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Preliminary results showed a small group of patients with CLL had 100% progression-free survival at 9.7 months when taking an investigational BCL2 inhibitor, sonrotoclax, with zanubrutinib.

Jennifer R. Brown, MD, PhD, director of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Center of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discussed the updated findings from the phase 3 ALPINE trial of zanubrutinib vs ibrutinib in relapsed/refractory CLL (R/R CLL) at 39 months of follow-up.

Extended follow-up data presented at the American Society of Hematology show the advantage seen a year ago has held up for the second-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Ana Ferrigno Guajardo, MD, discusses lingering questions following the results of a study on taxane chemotherapy interventions in patients with breast cancer during pregnancy.

Siddhartha Yadav, MD, discusses real-world data demonstrating the mass underutilization of BRCA testing in patients with breast cancer.

This phase 3 study investigated sacituzumab govitecan, a Trop-2–directed antibody-drug conjugate, vs treatment of physician’s choice in pretreated patients who have endocrine-resistant hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer, the most common form of breast cancer.

At last year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, POSITIVE trial primary outcome data were presented on breast cancer–free interval, with women who paused endocrine therapy to attempt pregnancy having a similarly small rate of recurrence vs external controls from the SOFT and TEXT trials: 8.9% vs 9.2%.

Gabriel Hortobagyi, MD, FACP, talks about the potential for further studies in HR-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer following the results of the NATALEE trial.

Stephanie Graff, MD, details insights from a study evaluating the perspectives and perceptions on clinical meaningfulness from patients, clinicians, and caregivers.

Despite there being a great demand for data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity in the cancer space, individuals who identify as a sexual and gender minority remain poorly represented.

Many questions remain surrounding accurately classifying the risk of developing invasive breast cancer associated with the benign breast disease diagnoses of nonproliferative lesions and proliferative changes without atypia.

Two posters set to be presented at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition met their primary and secondary end points regarding exagamglogene autotemcel therapy for sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia.

Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, chief of the Division of Hematology at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, and chair of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Committee on Communications, discusses the themes of the upcoming ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition 2023.

Kelly-Anne Phillips, MD, shares new findings suggesting that hormonal contraceptive use can increase the risk for breast cancer in those with genetic variants of BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Jennifer R. Brown, MD, PhD, director of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Center of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, previewed her presentation of extended follow-up data from the phase 3 ALPINE trial and other studies of interest to CLL specialists at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.

Sara Hurvitz, MD, FACP, shares insights into the results of the HER2CLIMB-02 trial, which saw patients with HER2-positive breast cancer benefit from the addition of tucatinib to trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1).

The 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, which runs Friday through Tuesday in the San Diego Convention Center, will showcase the growing number of treatment choices in blood cancers and disorders.

Disparities in 10-year local recurrence following breast-conserving surgery were seen among women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) treated over a nearly 4-decade span at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with Black women having the highest rate.

A trio of speakers addressed the importance of social determinants of health (SDOH) in cancer care on day 1 of the 46th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in the session, “Social Determinants of Health: Impact on Cancer Care.”