Month: October 2024

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting took place in Washington, D.C., from September 29,2024 to October 2,2024. As one of the most prestigious annual events in radiation oncology, ASTRO offers a platform to share the latest advances, focusing on radiotherapy as a primary treatment for various cancers, alongside key updates in technology and basic research.

The data of the KEYNOTE-A18 study disclosed at the Presidential Symposium I of the 2024 ESMO Congress shows that the overall survival (OS) of newly diagnosed patients with locally advanced cervical cancer who received pembrolizumab and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is significantly improved (abstract number 709O). The 36-month OS rate of pembrolizumab + concurrent CRT treatment is 82.6%, and the 36-month OS rate of placebo + concurrent CRT treatment is 74.8% (hazard ratio [HR]=0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.50–0.90; P=0.0040). The median OS has not been reached in both treatment groups. The survival benefit is consistent in all prespecified subgroups. At a median follow-up of 29.9 months, the 36-month progression-free survival (PFS) rates of the pembrolizumab group and the placebo group are 69.3% and 56.9%, respectively, and the median PFS is still NR (HR=0.68; 95% CI: 0.56-0.84). The incidences of grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events in the two treatment groups are 69.1% and 61.3%, respectively. Quality of life (QOL) is not affected. At week 36, using the EORTC QLQ-C30 quality of life index questionnaire, no clinically significant differences between groups are reported.

Dr. Antonio González-Martín from the Cancer Center Clínica Universidad de Navarra in Spain presented the results of the phase III PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012 study (abstract number LBA29) at the 2024 ESMO Congress. For patients with advanced ovarian cancer with homologous recombination deficiency (HRd), the possibility of progression-free survival after treatment with niraparib is twice that of placebo, although the study did not report long-term overall survival (OS) benefit. Oncology Frontier invited Dr.Antonio González-Martín on site to analyze the clinical significance of this research finding.

The CABINET study (abstract number 11410), presented at the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress (September 13-17, Barcelona), updated the latest results of cabozantinib versus placebo in the treatment of advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) after progression following previous treatment. At the conference site, we specially invited the Principal Investigator, Dr. Jennifer Chan from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, to be interviewed by us on site.

Immunotherapy for advanced liver cancer has advanced rapidly and has become a standard first-line treatment. A HIMALAYA study presented at the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress (September 13-17, Barcelona) evaluated the new immunotherapy combination STRIDE—tremelimumab and durvalumab compared with sorafenib. Dr. Lorenza Rimassa, the Principal Investigator from Humanitas University in Italy, was interviewed by us on site.

We are pleased to share an expert discussion with Dr. Peter Schmid on the findings from the pivotal Keynote 522 trial. This landmark Phase 3 study investigates the impact of combining chemotherapy with immunotherapy (Pembrolizumab) in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The trial’s results highlight a 34% reduction in the risk of death, marking a significant advancement in patient outcomes and offering new hope for TNBC treatment strategies.