Posts by Mourabit Halima

Traditionally, decisions regarding adjuvant chemotherapy after colorectal cancer surgery have been based on a patient's risk of recurrence, determined by TNM staging and histopathological features. However, emerging evidence suggests that these guidelines, in place since 2004, may not be the most effective approach and could be inadequate. In fact, surgery alone has already achieved high cure rates, preventing recurrence in 80% of stage II and 50% of stage III patients. Although adjuvant chemotherapy moderately improves disease-free survival (5–10% in stage II and 15–20% in stage III patients), many patients are exposed to unnecessary toxicity. Notably, even with adjuvant therapy, 15% of stage II and 30% of stage III patients still experience recurrence. This growing evidence highlights the relatively limited absolute benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy. Precisely predicting which patients will benefit from adjuvant therapy remains a significant challenge, underscoring the importance of developing more accurate biomarkers to guide treatment decisions.

The decision on whether high-risk MSI-H (microsatellite instability-high) stage II colorectal cancer patients should receive adjuvant therapy remains controversial. Dr. Ashwin Somasundaram, a medical professor at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, shares his insights on this complex issue.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide, with approximately 5% to 10% of patients carrying BRCA gene mutations. These patients often present with more advanced disease, face a higher risk of recurrence, and have poorer prognoses. For patients with germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCA) triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), platinum-based chemotherapy remains the standard treatment but offers limited survival benefits and comes with significant side effects. Meanwhile, for hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer patients, endocrine therapy combined with CDK4/6 inhibitors is the first-line standard treatment. However, the optimal therapy after progression on CDK4/6 inhibitors is still unclear. In this era of precision medicine, there is a pressing need for more effective treatments for gBRCA-mutated HER2-negative breast cancer. At the 2024 Cross-Strait Breast Cancer Forum and the Annual Academic Conference of the Fujian Medical Association Breast Disease Branch, Oncology Frontier invited Dr. Huiping Li from Peking University Cancer Hospital to discuss the latest progress in precision treatment for BRCA-mutated breast cancer.

Previous Phase II NEOTAX study results demonstrated that neoadjuvant therapy with toripalimab combined with axitinib effectively downstaged inferior vena cava tumor thrombi in some patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), significantly improving perioperative outcomes. However, resistance to therapy remains a challenge for some patients, necessitating further investigation. At the 2024 ESMO ASIA Congress, Dr. Liangyou Gu and Dr. Yaohui Wang from the Department of Urology at the Chinese PLA General Hospital shared insights into overcoming treatment resistance, providing valuable strategies for improving patient prognosis. Urology Frontier invited Dr. Yaohui Wang to offer an in-depth perspective.

Facing the global challenge of breast cancer in women’s health, China is advancing the standardization and quality control of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment with unprecedented determination. At the recent 2024 Straits Breast Cancer Forum and the Annual Meeting of the Breast Disease Branch of the Fujian Medical Association, Oncology Frontier invited Dr. Fei Ma, Vice Chair and Secretary-General of the Breast Cancer Committee of the National Cancer Quality Control Center and a leading expert from the National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Professor Ma shared insights into the significant progress China has made in improving standardized breast cancer treatment and reducing disparities between urban and rural areas. He also discussed future directions for breast cancer quality control initiatives.

Precision treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer has long been a focal point and challenge in breast cancer research. Recently, the DTP study (Abstract No.: RF1-07), presented at the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), offers new insights into addressing this challenge. This study aims to explore the efficacy and safety of combining durvalumab immunotherapy with dual-targeted therapy in the neoadjuvant treatment of early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. The goal is to discover new diagnostic and therapeutic directions for HER2-enriched breast cancer driven by precision medicine. Oncology Frontier invited Professor Feng Jin fromThe First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University and Dr. Xiaoman Jiang from The Second Hospital of Jilin University to provide an in-depth analysis and commentary on the DTP study.

Breast cancer patients may experience overweight or obesity during treatment due to medication side effects and hormonal fluctuations. What impact does being overweight or obese have on patient prognosis? At the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), numerous new research findings, clinical practices, and treatment advancements were presented. One study from the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) analyzed the relationship between overweight/obesity and prognosis in early-stage breast cancer patients. Oncology Frontier invited Dr. Cuizhi Geng from The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University to summarize this relationship and share clinical intervention strategies.

At the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), Dr. Icro Meattini from the University of Florence, Italy, presented significant findings from the EUROPA trial. This Phase III randomized controlled trial focused on women aged 70 and above with Stage I Luminal breast cancer. The study aimed to compare the effects of radiation therapy (RT) alone versus endocrine therapy (ET) alone on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR). Oncology Frontier interviewed Dr. Icro Meattini to discuss the study design and future research directions.

At the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), a study led by Professor Noor Wortelboer from Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam was presented during the "Poster Spotlight 2: Personalizing CDK 4/6 Inhibitor Therapy for Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Survival, QOL, and Biomarkers" session. This research, based on the SONIA trial data, provided an in-depth analysis of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes in patients using CDK4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) at different treatment lines. The findings offer crucial insights into how CDK4/6i impacts patients’ quality of life and serve as valuable guidance for optimizing treatment strategies in advanced breast cancer. Oncology Frontier invited Dr. Yan Xue from Xi’an International Medical Center Oncology Hospital to interpret and comment on the study's data.