Oncology On The Go

• S1 Ep186: How Will Gastrointestinal Cancer Standards of Care Change? An ESMO Recap

  Following a fruitful European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025 for gastrointestinal malignancies, CancerNetwork® organized an X Spaces discussion hosted by 3 experts. They were Nicholas J. Hornstein, MD, an assistant professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine of Hofstra University and Northwell Health; Timothy Brown, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the associate program director of the Hematology & Oncology Fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center; and Udhayvir S. Grewal, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Each doctor focused on a specific disease type, highlighting the most important abstracts in colorectal cancer, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), and upper gastrointestinal cancers. The Phase 3 MATTERHORN Trial (NCT04592913) Results from MATTERHORN demonstrated that adding durvalumab (Imfinzi) to 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin (folinic acid), oxaliplatin, and docetaxel (FLOT) improved overall survival (OS) compared with FLOT plus placebo in patients with resectable gastric/gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, regardless of pathological status.1 In the intention-to-treat population, the median OS was not reached in either arm, and the hazard ratio (HR) was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.63-0.96; P = .021). Notably, the improvement was observed regardless of PD-L1 status; in patients with PD-L1–positive disease, the HR was 0.79 (95% CI, 0.63-0.99), and in patients with PD-L1–negative disease, the HR was 0.79 (95% CI, 0.41-1.50). “This, I believe, will seal durvalumab plus FLOT as the standard of care for resectable [gastric/GEJ] cancers,” said Brown. The Observational ASPEN Study (NCT03084770) The ASPEN study showed that active surveillance was a safe approach for patients with low-grade, asymptomatic, nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) fewer than 2 centimeters in size.2 Of the 1000 patients enrolled in the trial, 20 patients died, of whom 18 underwent active surveillance and 2 underwent surgery. Nineteen of the deaths were unrelated to pancreatic NETs; 1 death in the surgery arm was related to a pancreatic NET. After surgery, 5 patients had disease relapse or progression. With a median follow-up of 42 months (IQR, 25-60), the OS analysis showed a P value of 0.530.  “This really settles the debate on whether or not to surgically operate on patients with a [pancreatic NET] size of [fewer] than 2 centimeters and shows that active surveillance is a safe option for these patients with pancreatic NETs [fewer] than 2 centimeters in size and non-functional NETs,” said Grewal.  Data From the Phase 2/3 FOxTROT (NCT00647530) and Phase 2 NICHE-2 (NCT03026140) Trials Neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) achieved a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in long-term outcomes, including responses and survival, compared with chemotherapy strategies in patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) locally advanced colon cancer.3 In NICHE-2, neoadjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab achieved a 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate of 100% compared with 80% (95% CI, 73%-85%) with all chemotherapy strategies in FOxTROT (P <.001). Nivolumab plus ipilimumab maintained a 100% DFS rate in patients with clinical stage T3 and T4 disease in NICHE-2, whereas FOxTROT achieved DFS rates of 84% (95% CI, 76%-90%) and 70% (95% CI, 58%-80%), respectively (P <.001). Additionally, nivolumab plus ipilimumab achieved a pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of 72.3%, with a pathologic partial response (pPR) rate of 25.5% and no response in 1.1%. Chemotherapy achieved a pCR rate of 4.3%, a pathologic pPR rate of 2.6%, and a mild to no response rate of 91.4%. “Overnight, this should change the standard of care, even if the FDA hasn’t caught on yet, at least from my perspective. If I find out about a [patient with] MSI-H disease before they go to the [operating room], I’m probably running [to give them ipilimumab plus nivolumab],” said Hornstein. References Tabernero J, Al-Batran S-E, Wainberg ZA, et al. Final overall survival (OS) and the association of pathological outcomes with event-free survival (EFS) in MATTERHORN: a randomised, phase III study of durvalumab (D) plus 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and docetaxel (FLOT) in resectable gastric / gastroesophageal junction (G / GEJ) adenocarcinoma. Presented at: ESMO 2025 Congress; October 17–21, 2025; Berlin, Germany. Abstract LBA81. 2.        Partelli S, Andreasi V, Zerbi A, et al. Management of asymptomatic sporadic nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms ≤2 cm: a prospective international observational multicentric cohort study ASPEN study. Presented at: ESMO 2025 Congress; October 17–21, 2025; Berlin, Germany. Abstract LBA36. 3.        Seligmann J, van den Dungen LDW, Balduzzi S, et al. Comparison of outcomes in clinical trials of locally advanced dMMR colon cancer: data from the FOxTROT and NICHE-2 trials. Presented at: ESMO 2025 Congress; October 17–21, 2025; Berlin, Germany. Abstract 7240.

  --------  

  29:03

  --------

  29:03
• S1 Ep185: What Were the Key Presentations at ESMO 2025? Oncology Experts Discuss

  As part of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025, CancerNetwork® spoke with a variety of experts about key takeaways from different late-breaking abstracts, oral presentations, and other sessions focused on potential advancements across cancer care. Presenting investigators highlighted updated results from clinical trials evaluating novel therapeutic strategies across different cancer populations, including breast cancer and lung cancer.  Phase 3 VIKTORIA-1 Trial Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, FACP, the Smith Family Endowed Chair in Women’s Health and senior vice president and director of the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and tumor chair in breast oncology for the ONCOLOGY® editorial advisory board, first discussed findings from the phase 3 VIKTORIA-1 trial (NCT05501886). Her presentation highlighted how VIKTORIA-1 was “the first study to demonstrate a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival [PFS] with PAM inhibition” for patients with PIK3CA wild-type advanced breast cancer. Data from the trial showed that gedatolisib plus fulvestrant (Faslodex) and palbociclib (Ibrance) produced a median PFS of 9.3 months (95% CI, 7.2-16.6) vs 2.0 months (95% CI, 1.8-2.3) with fulvestrant alone (HR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.17-0.35; P <.0001). Additionally, gedatolisib plus fulvestrant yielded a median PFS of 7.4 months (95% CI, 5.5-9.9), reducing the risk of progression or death by 67% vs fulvestrant monotherapy (HR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.24-0.48; P <.0001). Phase 1/2 SOHO-01 Trial Next, Xiuning Le, MD, PhD, spoke about her presentation on data from the phase 1/2 SOHO-01 trial (NCT05099172). In her presentation, Le, an associate professor in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology of the Division of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, described sevabertinib as a “potential new targeted therapy for patients with HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer [NSCLC].” Among 81 patients with previously treated HER2-mutated advanced NSCLC who received sevabertinib in cohort D, the study treatment produced an overall response rate (ORR) of 64% (95% CI, 53%-75%) and a median duration of response (DOR) of 9.2 months (95% CI, 6.3-13.5). Among 55 patients who received prior HER2 antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) in cohort E, the ORR was 38% (95% CI, 25%-52%), and the median DOR was 8.5 months (95% CI, 5.6-16.4). Moreover, regarding 73 patients with treatment-naive disease in cohort F, these respective values were 71% (95% CI, 59%-81%) and 11.0 months (95% CI, 8.1-not evaluable). Phase 3 evERA Trial Finally, Erica Mayer, MD, MPH, director of breast cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, detailed results from the phase 3 evERA trial (NCT05306340). In her presentation, Mayer stated that giredestrant plus everolimus (Afinitor) may “represent a new, effective, all-oral treatment option in the post-CDK 4/6 inhibitor setting” for those with estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. Across the intent-to-treat population, data revealed a median PFS of 8.77 months (95% CI, 6.60-9.59) with giredestrant plus everolimus vs 5.49 months (95% CI, 4.01-5.59) with standard endocrine therapy plus everolimus (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.44-0.71; P <.0001). Among patients with ESR1-mutated disease, the median PFS was 9.99 months (95% CI, 8.08-12.94) vs 5.45 months (95% CI, 3.75-5.62) in each respective arm (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.27-0.54; P <.0001). References Hurvitz SA, Layman RM, Curigliano G, et al. Gedatolisib plus fulvestrant, with & without palbociclib, vs fulvestrant in patients with HR+/HER2-/PIK3CA wild-type advanced breast cancer: first results from VIKTORIA-1. Presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025; October 17-21, 2025; Berlin, Germany. Abstract LBA17. Le X, Kim TM, Dong X, et al. Sevabertinib (BAY 2927088) in advanced HER2-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): results from the SOHO-01 study. Presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2025; October 17-21, 2025; Berlin, Germany. Abstract LBA75. Mayer E, Tolaney SM, Martin M, et al. Giredestrant (GIRE), an oral selective oestrogen receptor (ER) antagonist and degrader, + everolimus (E) in patients (pts) with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer (ER+, HER2– aBC) previously treated with a CDK4/6 inhibitor (i): Primary results of the phase III evERA BC trial. Presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2025; October 17-21, 2025; Berlin, Germany. Abstract LBA16.

  --------  

  11:31

  --------

  11:31
• S1 Ep184: Leveraging Biology to Advance the Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment Paradigm

  In a discussion with CancerNetwork®, Anne Chiang, MD, PhD, spoke about the current treatment landscape for those with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) as well as next steps for elevating the quality of care among patients. She began by outlining the evolution of therapeutic standards in the field, with atezolizumab (Tecentriq)- and durvalumab (Imfinzi)-based regimens emerging as key frontline strategies and lurbinectedin (Zepzelca) and tarlatamab-dlle (Imdelltra) demonstrating utility as second-line therapies.  Regarding novel treatments that may hold promise in the SCLC field, Chiang, an associate professor of medicine in the Section of Medical Oncology at Yale School of Medicine, highlighted her work on the phase 2 SWOG S2409 PRISM trial (NCT06769126). Here, Chiang and colleagues plan to collect tissue from more than 800 patients undergoing frontline induction therapy with chemoimmunotherapy to inform subsequent biomarker-directed treatment, which may help elucidate factors of disease heterogeneity in the process. The conversation also focused on considerations for improving the care of those with lung cancer in community-based settings, as Chiang emphasized spreading knowledge of therapeutic advances to a broader patient population. She noted that there is “still a bit of nihilism about the prognosis” of patients with SCLC, describing a need to further leverage the field’s understanding of biology to impart the benefits of immunotherapy to more patients. Chiang also detailed the importance of employing patient-reported outcomes to hear directly from the patient, which may ensure their inclusion in the shared decision-making process and optimize strategies for mitigating potential adverse effects during treatment. “Understanding and leveraging the biology is important. We are going to need to understand how to sequence therapies, and that involves understanding which patients are at higher risk,” Chiang stated regarding future initiatives in the field. “We need to look at high-risk populations—for example, patients with brain metastases—and understand which therapies are especially useful for them.”

  --------  

  13:12

  --------

  13:12
• S1 Ep183: Charting the Evolution of TKIs and Finding the Next Breakthrough in CML

  In a conversation with CancerNetwork®, Jorge Cortes, MD, explored the evolution of the chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) landscape. Specifically, he highlighted how the development of ibrutinib (Gleevec) paved the way for other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and described where research must go next in terms of implementing fixed-duration therapy and targeting genetic abnormalities. Cortes, the director, and Cecil F. Whitaker Jr., GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Cancer at the Georgia Cancer Center, began by detailing the standards of care that existed before the development of imatinib. He noted that many patients did “not have great options,” as neither interferon nor transplant was associated with “good” outcomes.  Following its approval for patients with CML in 2001, imatinib became what Cortes described as a “groundbreaker” in the field. He explained how imatinib’s newfound status as a standard of care in CML would signal the advancement of a second generation of TKIs, which included agents like dasatinib (Sprycel), nilotinib (Tasigna), and bosutinib (Bosulif). Even with the subsequent development of third-generation TKIs, Cortes stated that researchers are continuing to improve and innovate to help provide patients with enhanced quality of life. Looking towards the future, Cortes observed 2 major goals to achieve in CML research. The first objective is to stop therapy more effectively and give a greater portion of patients a more precisely defined duration of treatment. He noted that approximately 25% to 30% of patients today can effectively discontinue therapy without having to resume treatment, which wasn’t even considered a possibility in the field 20 years ago. Moreover, he emphasized that finding the therapeutic options that work best in a subset of patients with recently discovered genetic abnormalities may yield a breakthrough. “In terms of whether we are getting closer to a cure, I think we are. We can stop therapy effectively in some patients, which is equivalent to a cure,” Cortes said. “If [a patient has] done well, and you can stop therapy and the disease doesn't come back, that's essentially what we think about as a cure. We are there, just not on as many patients as we want.” Reference Center for Drug Evaluation and Research: Application Number: NDA 21-335. FDA. May 10, 2001. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/44xh2u9j

  --------  

  17:57

  --------

  17:57
• S1 Ep182: Optimizing Care for TILs, Cellular Therapy in Melanoma and Solid Tumors

  In a special co-branded episode between Oncology On the Go, hosted by CancerNetwork®, and the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT)’s program, ASTCT Talks, for American Pharmacists Month, a panel of oncology pharmacists discussed optimal strategies for using cellular therapies as treatment for patients with solid tumors. The panel included Brooke Adams, PharmD, BCOP, a board-certified oncology pharmacist specializing in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy at the Orlando Health Cancer Institute in Orlando, Florida; Natalie Brumwell, PharmD, BCOP, a board-certified oncology pharmacist specializing in cellular therapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York; and Bryant A. Clemons, PharmD, a board-certified oncology pharmacist specializing in hematology, blood and marrow transplantation, and cellular therapy at the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center in Lexington, Kentucky. The discussion focused on the use of the first commercially available tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, lifileucel (Amtagvi), which the FDA granted accelerated approval status to in February 2024.1 The panelists first reviewed supporting data from the phase 2 C-144-01 trial (NCT02360579), in which lifileucel demonstrated an objective response rate of 31.5% (95% CI, 21.1%-43.4%), and a median duration of response that was not reached (NR; 95% CI, 4.1 months-NR) at the time of the approval. Additionally, the group highlighted considerations for dosing interleukin-2 (IL-2), including management of toxicities and when to hold or discontinue further doses.  Following a thorough breakdown of the proper conditions for using lifileucel in melanoma, the panelists concluded by discussing how to build upon an “exciting time for cellular therapy in solid tumors.” As part of optimizing the dosing of lifileucel and other cellular therapies in these patient populations, the experts exchanged ideas on how practices can collaborate across institutions and departments to expand access to novel treatments while helping providers develop comfort in administering these agents. Reference FDA grants accelerated approval to lifileucel for unresectable or metastatic melanoma. News release. FDA. February 16, 2024. Accessed September 30, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/2kweca6x

  --------  

  26:30

  --------

  26:30

Weitere Gesundheit und Fitness Podcasts

Trending Gesundheit und Fitness Podcasts

Über Oncology On The Go