From May 30 to June 3, more than 30,000 oncologists from across the globe will convene in Chicago, IL, for the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) 50th annual meeting. We’ll be highlighting the biggest news stories from each day, along with expert commentary from physicians at Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute attending the conference.
Cancer Drug Helps Preserve Fertility in Breast Cancer Patients
Dr. Edward KimResults from a key trial suggest that the hormone suppressor, Zoladex, can help preserve fertility in women with breast cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment. For women trying to get pregnant after chemo, infertility and early menopause are major concerns, as these are frequent side effects. “Findings from the study are promising, and perhaps offers improved hope for women who wish to preserve fertility after fighting cancer," said Edward Kim, chair of Solid Tumor Oncology and Investigational Therapeutics at Levine Cancer Institute. The study demonstrates how shutting down the ovaries temporarily can boost the odds that they will work after treatment ends, and could possibly even improve survival. Read More.
Reassuring Results when Comparing Treatments for Colorectal Cancer
Dr. Reza NazemzadehResults presented at today’s plenary session comparing two methods of treatment for patients with colorectal (or colon) cancer demonstrated that both options are equally effective in terms of prolonging survival. The trial was conducted in patients who had metastatic (stage 4) colon cancer, without a mutation known as “KRAS.” The current standard of care for these patients is a combination of FOLFOX or FOLIRI (both of which are chemotherapy regimens) and bevacizumab (antibody). However, there has been some question as to whether the outcomes for this group of patients would be improved with a different treatment regimen consisting of FOLFOX or FOLFIRI (chemotherapy)+ cetuximab (antibody), a therapy that only works in patients who do not have the KRAS mutation. The key takeaway from the results is that there is little difference among the two treatment options, and that any combination of the two chemotherapy regimens and antibody products seem equal in terms of prolonging survival. Additionally, the overall survival resulting from both treatments showed a median survival of more than 29 months, which sets a new benchmark for this group of patients. However, oncologists acknowledge that there are limitations to the study in terms of patient population that should be addressed moving forward. “There needs to be further research conducted comparing the two treatment options that excludes patients who we have recently discovered may have a mutation (expanded RAS mutation) that makes them unresponsive to cetuximab. These are among the patients that were included in the original trial that had no chance of responding to cetuximab,” said Reza Nazemzadeh, MD, gastrointestinal oncologist at Levine Cancer Institute. Read More.
To keep up with the latest news as it happens, be sure to follow the hashtags #ASCO14 and #LCI on Twitter.
