CONGRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights in gastrointestinal cancer

The European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022 was held in Paris, France, between the 9^th and 13^th of September 2022. The main goal of this overview is to highlight the most relevant findings in the field of digestive oncology that could impact daily clinical practice. First, the upper gastrointestinal tract tumours will be discussed, followed by an overview of the congress highlights related to cancers of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2022;16(8):412–20)

Highlights in head and neck cancer

The ESMO Congress 2022 was held from 9 to 13 September 2022 in a hybrid format. During this congress, more immunotherapy data were shown in the neoadjuvant setting of head and neck cancer, concomitantly with radiotherapy and updates in first- and second-line recurrent/metastatic disease. Also, this treatment modality is intruding into the field of thyroid cancer. 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(8):404–11)

Highlights in lung cancer

The 2022 annual ESMO meeting again featured a long list of interesting lung cancer-related abstracts, ranging from long-term updates of pivotal studies to preliminary data of studies assessing novel treatment strategies for lung cancer. This article will give an overview of the key highlights in lung cancer presented during this meeting. We are grateful to Prof. Lore Decoster, from the University Hospital Brussels, for helping us I selecting the abstracts for this overview and for providing her expert opinion on the different studies.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2022;16(8):395–403)

Highlights in breast cancer

The 2022 annual ESMO meeting featured a plethora of interesting presentations in the field of breast cancer (BC). In the hormone-sensitive setting, data were presented on the effect of extending adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy in patients with early-stage disease. In the metastatic setting, interesting updates were presented with CDK4/6 inhibitors, while other abstracts reported the potential of selective oestrogen receptor modulators or degraders. In addition, updated results were presented for the TROPiCS-02 study evaluating the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan in pre-treated patients with HR+/HER2− metastatic breast cancer. Finally, metronomic treatment with vinorelbine plus cyclophosphamide and capecitabine proved to be another feasible treatment strategy in this setting. In triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), (neo)adjuvant data with pembrolizumab were presented together with emerging results on the use of the anti-CD73 agent oleclumab in patients with advanced TNBC. We are very grateful to Prof. Hans Wildiers and Dr. Kevin Punie for their help in making the abstract selection for this article.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2022;16(8):387–94)

Highlights in gynaecological cancers

The 2022 annual meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) was a grand cru when it comes to ovarian cancer, with the presentation of long-term data of several pivotal studies evaluating firstline maintenance therapy with a PARP inhibitor. Also, in the recurrent ovarian cancer setting, there was some interesting PARP news. In addition to this, ESMO featured the presentation of multiple studies evaluating checkpoint inhibitors in the management of ovarian cancer, endometrium and cervical cancer.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2022;16(8):380–6)

Highlights in genitourinary cancers

The 2022 annual ESMO meeting again offered striking presentations about the last trial updates in genitourinary cancers, including prostate, renal cell and urothelial cell carcinomas. This article will give an overview of the key highlights presented during this meeting in this setting.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2022;16(8):372–9)

Highlights in head and neck cancer

SUMMARY

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)