In this section of the BJMO, we provide a snapshot of pivotal studies published in recent issues of the most important international journals focusing on oncology. Importantly, the selection of the studies discussed here was made by Prof. François Duhoux (Medical Oncologist at Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc and member of the BJMO editorial board), based on the added value of the studies in daily clinical practice.
TRASTUZUMAB DERUXTECAN IN PREVIOUSLY TREATED HER2-LOW ADVANCED BREAST CANCER
DESTINY-Breast04 is the first phase III trial of a HER2-directed therapy, trastuzumab deruxtecan, in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer to show a statistically significant and clinically meaningful benefit in progression-free survival and overall survival compared to standard-of-care treatment, regardless of HR status, with a manageable safety profile… Read more
PEMBROLIZUMAB PLUS CHEMOTHERAPY IN ADVANCED TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER
The final overall survival (OS) results of the phase III KEYNOTE-355 trial demonstrated that first-line treatment with pembrolizumab–chemotherapy resulted in significantly longer overall survival than chemotherapy alone among patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer whose tumours expressed PD-L1 with a combined positive score (CPS) of 10 or more… Read more
TWENTY-YEAR BENEFIT FROM ADJUVANT GOSERELIN AND TAMOXIFEN IN PREMENOPAUSAL PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER
To gain information on the long-term benefit of endocrine therapy in premenopausal patients with breast cancer, the STO-5 trial randomly assigned oestrogen receptor–positive premenopausal patients to adjuvant goserelin, tamoxifen, combined goserelin-tamoxifen therapy, or no endocrine therapy. After 20 years of follow-up, the results show long-term benefit from two years of adjuvant endocrine therapy and suggest differential treatment benefit on the basis of tumour genomic characteristics... Read more
NEOADJUVANT DURVALUMAB IMPROVES SURVIVAL IN EARLY TNBC INDEPENDANT OF PATHOLOGICAL COMPLETE RESPONSE
The addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is a promising strategy in early breast cancer but the optimal duration of therapy is currently unknown. In the GeparNuevo trial, the addition of durvalumab to NACT significantly improved survival despite a modest pathological complete response (pCR) increase. Interestingly, this improvement occurred in both pCR and non-pCR patients and without adjuvant durvalumab therapy… Read more
CIRCULATING L-ARGININE PREDICTS THE SURVIVAL OF PATIENTS TREATED WITH IMMUNE CHECKPOINT INHIBITORS
As only few patients derive benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), it is crucial to identify reliable predictive biomarkers of response. One important pathway in regulating immune cell reactivity is L-arginine (ARG) metabolism. The present study investigated the impact of baseline plasma ARG levels on clinical outcomes of cancer patients treated with ICIs and found that elevated plasma ARG levels were associated with durable clinical benefits, while low levels were associated with poor outcomes… Read more
Top
