BJMO - volume 16, issue 5, september 2022
W. Lybaert MD
The ASCO Annual Meeting was held from 3–7 June 2022 in a live and virtual format. During this Meeting, de-escalation and intensifying strategies were shown in different stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). More data were presented regarding radiosensitising options during adjuvant/definitive radiotherapy. The position of immunotherapy in relation to radiotherapy remains a big question anno 2022. New first-line recurrent/metastatic treatment options of combining immunotherapy and a tyrosine kinase inhibitor are on the horizon, and also the liquid biopsy technology is of high interest in the field of HNSCC. Supportive care of severe oral mucositis was addressed with a new product. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are looking for their exact place in salivary gland tumours. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.
(Belg J Med Oncol 2022;16(5):236–45)
Read moreBJMO - volume 16, issue 4, june 2022
W. Lybaert MD, R. de Bree MD, PhD, J. Meulemans MD, PhD, J-F. Daisne MD, PhD, F. Duprez MD, PhD, D. Nevens MD, PhD, R. Van Hoeyweghen MD, PhD, K. Boeykens RN , J. De Ceulaer MD, W. Huvenne MD, PhD, O. Lenssen MD
The annual winter meeting of the ‘Vlaamse Werkgroep Hoofd-Hals Tumoren’ on 11 December 2021 handled the different possible de-escalation strategies in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region (SCCHN) in anno 2022. Which surgical techniques can be used nowadays to diminish long-term morbidities in SCCHN? To which extent can we lower radiotherapy doses and regions in the treatment planning of SCCHN? Are the systemic treatment options of SCCHN always radical for each patient or more personalised? Is a comprehensive geriatric assessment feasible and already used in our head and neck oncology practice? Last but not least, how can we optimally sustain our patients with nutrition before, during and after treatment of head and neck cancer?
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2022;16(4):198–208)
Read moreBJMO - volume 16, issue 3, may 2022
W. Lybaert MD, A. Demols MD, PhD
One year after the virtual ASCO GI 2021 meeting, this year’s conference was organised in San Francisco from 20 till 22 January 2022, as a hybrid event in the background of a rising Omicron gulf in Europe and the United States. It was an excellent meeting with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in oesophageal and gastric cancer brought in a more critical perspective. Immunotherapy is also pushing forward in the first-line treatment of biliary tract cancer, and combination immunotherapy in the first phase 3 first-line study in hepatocellular carcinoma. Immunotherapy as a neoadjuvant approach in MSI-high local gastric/GEJ tumours and locally advanced rectal cancer seems to start up as a possible new paradigm in the near future. A lot of running studies are looking for the exact place of circulating tumour DNA as a tool in the management of colorectal cancer. Trastuzumab-deruxtecan is flying over from breast cancer in the field of digestive oncology as a very active new kid on the block. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2022;16(3):142–53)
Read moreBJMO - volume 15, issue 8, december 2021
W. Lybaert MD
ESMO Congress 2021 was held from the 16th till the 21st of September, once again in a virtual format. During this congress, more immunotherapy data were shown in the neoadjuvant setting of resectable head and neck cancer, in the concomitant radiotherapy setting and first-line recurrent/metastatic disease. In addition, a nomogram was created for patients undergoing concomitant chemoradiotherapy that can be used as a web-based tool for our clinic. Other data underscore that treatment of elderly patients with a head and neck cancer nowadays require a comprehensive geriatric assessment. In this report, these and other important studies related to head-and-neck cancer will be discussed, together with some comments on the clinical relevance of these findings.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2021;15(8):421–7)
Read moreBJMO - volume 15, issue 6, october 2021
W. Lybaert MD, A. Demols MD, PhD, I. Dero MD, I. Borbath MD, PhD, J. Collignon MD
The annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was held from 15 till 17 January 2021 in a virtual format. During this meeting, evolving immunotherapy options were shown in the upper digestive tractus, already presented at ESMO 2020. Besides immunotherapy, also the total neoadjuvant treatment approach (TNT) in rectal cancer reached sufficient attention, changing our current standard of practice in 2021. Targeted therapies for different gastrointestinal (GI) tumour locations showed promising results, paving the way for more personalised medicine.
In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2021;15(6):331-9)
Read moreBJMO - volume 15, issue 5, september 2021
W. Lybaert MD
The ASCO Annual Meeting was held from 4 till 8 June 2021 in a virtual format. During this meeting, immunotherapy arrived in first-line recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant capecitabine enters prudently the treatment algorithm of nasopharyngeal cancer, results of de-escalation studies in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer are promising and forwarding to phase III studies, cabozantinib shows impressive results in later-line radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, and immunotherapy tries to find a place in recurrent/metastatic salivary gland tumours, a tumour type without a uniform standard of care anno 2021. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2021;15(5):226-33)
Read moreBJMO - volume 14, issue 6, october 2020
W. Lybaert MD, T. Vandamme MD, PhD, G. Boons , L. De Backer , M. Peeters MD, PhD, NETwerk Antwerpen-Waasland , ENETS Centre of Excellence
The 17th Annual European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) Congress took place as a virtual meeting from March 11th until March 13th, 2020. This article will provide you with the highlights discussed at the meeting.
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