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Miscellaneous news from SABCS 2020

We want you to be completely up to date on the results presented at SABCS 2020, hence this article will focus on three presentations that were not previously addressed in the congress highlights. A first presentation reported on the high rate of persistent controlled substance use following mastectomy with reconstruction surgery. Results of a large systematic review and meta-analysis provide solid evidence on the chance of pregnancy after breast cancer and underscores the importance of oncofertility counselling. A third interesting study performed a large, pooled analysis to further define and explore the role of circulating tumor cell count as a tool for early treatment monitoring in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

PSMA PET/CT imaging for the primary staging of prostate cancer

In recent years, PSMA PET/CT imaging has emerged as one of the hottest topics in prostate cancer. In this respect, results of the proPSMA trial that were published earlier this year have the potential to be a real gamechanger in the primary staging of prostate cancer. Nowadays, CT and bone scans are the preferred imaging tools in primary staging, but the results of this trial now indicate that PSMA PET/CT can potentially replace this standard of care. However, many questions remain to be answered: can we forego on CT and bone scan and routinely opt for a one-stop-shop with PSMA PET/CT? Are there specific pitfalls with this technique? What should be the conclusion after a positive/negative result on PSMA PET/CT? In a first session of the 2020 annual BMUC meeting, the results obtained with PSMA PET/CT in the context of primary prostate cancer were critically reviewed with a specific focus on some of these unanswered questions. During this session Dr. Siska van Bruwaene (AZ Groeninge, Kortrijk, Belgium) zoomed in on PSMA PET/CT in the context of lymph node staging after which Prof. Dr. Karolien Goffin (University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium) turned the attention to distant disease staging with this imaging technique.

High-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: What are the options?

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) makes up about 75% of all bladder cancers. Unfortunately, the majority of patients with NMIBC will experience a disease recurrence and a substantial proportion of them (~20–25%) will progress to muscle-invasive disease. Patients with high-risk NMIBC represent a particularly challenging patient group that is confronted with an increased 5-year risk of recurrence (up to 80 %) and progression (up to 50 %).¹ At BMUC 2020, an entire session was dedicated to the different treatment options for these patients: Dr. Tim Muilwijk (University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium) discussed BCG therapy, Prof. Dr. Joan Palou Redorta (Fundació Puigvert, Barcelona, Spain) talked about the potential of early cytoreductive therapy, Prof. Dr. Anthony Zietman (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA) made a case for the use of radiotherapy in high-risk NMIBC patients and Prof. Dr. Yohann Loriot (Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Paris, France) provided an overview of the data generated with targeted therapy in this setting.

What is new in renal cell carcinoma?

Over the course of 2020, updates were presented of several pivotal randomised controlled trials in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). During the 2020 annual BMUC meeting, Prof. Dr. Axel Bex (UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, London, UK. The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) provided an overview of the most important novelties in the field of RCC and gave us a look into the future.

Poster Awards

Out of the fourteen posters submitted to the BMUC contest session, the board selected three posters based on their high-quality work. Award winners were given the opportunity to discuss their work in a short oral presentation at the BMUC 2020 meeting. In addition, Guillaume Grisay (Jolimont Hospital, Haine Saint-Paul, Belgium) was selected as a fourth winner by voting from the audience for his poster on the ‘Impact of modern imaging tools on management of prostate cancer, a single centre evaluation’.

Congress highlights 2020

In line with the tradition, the BMUC scientific committee asked a urologist, a radiation oncologist and a medical oncologist to summarise the top stories that were presented during the large urology and oncology meetings of the previous year. In addition, this year’s Congress Highlights also included presentations discussing congress highlights in imaging and genomics.

What’s new for patients with oncogenedriven non-small-cell lung cancer?

Summary

Over the last decades, the comprehensive molecular characterization of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has expanded our understanding of the cellular origins and molecular pathways affected in this lung cancer subtype. Many of these genetic alterations represent potential therapeutic targets for which new drugs are constantly under development. As such, targeted therapy has emerged as the therapeutic cornerstone for patients with oncogene-driven advanced NSCLC. This personalized treatment strategy not only improved the treatment outcomes compared to traditional chemotherapy, it also had a significant impact on the quality of life of patients. Nowadays, targeted agents directed against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase rearrangements have become standard therapy for patients harbouring these genetic aberrations. In addition to this, targeted agents directed against other, more rare, genetic aberrations (e.g. ROS1, NTRK, MET, RET, etc.) have generated promising results and several of these agents will enter the NSCLC treatment arsenal in the near future. This article provides an overview of key studies in patients with oncogene-driven NSCLC that were presented in the past year.