CONGRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights in gastrointestinal cancers

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

H. Prenen MD, PhD, H. Oliveres MD, T. Vandamme MD, PhD

SUMMARY

The European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual meeting, which took place in Madrid, featured important clinical updates in cancer treatment and research. This article summarises the takeaways for the gastrointestinal oncology community.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2023;17(8):319–22)

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Highlights in genitourinary cancers

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

T. Vermassen PhD, A. Decruyenaere MD, D. De Maeseneer MD, S. Rottey MD, PhD

SUMMARY

The 2023 annual ESMO meeting again offered striking presentations about the latest 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 2023;17(8):313–8)

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Highlights in breast cancer

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

A. Enguita PhD, T. Feys MBA, MSc, H. Wildiers MD, PhD

SUMMARY

At ESMO 2023, updated results of monarchE and NATALEE further reinforced the efficacy and safety of combining a CDK4/6 inhibitor with endocrine therapy (ET) in patients with early-stage hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer (BC). In addition to this, the CheckMate 7FL and KEYNOTE-756 studies demonstrated a potential clinical benefit of adding an immune checkpoint inhibitor to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant ET in this setting. In early-stage triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), updated results of the KEYNOTE-522 study confirmed the benefit of perioperative pembrolizumab, while the NeoTRiP trial, assessing the addition of atezolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, did not show a significant benefit in event-free survival (EFS). In metastatic disease, promising results were obtained with new selective oestrogen receptor degraders (SERD) and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). In addition, results of a real-world study indicate that patients with HER2-/ER-low disease should preferably be treated as TNBC.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2023;17(8):304–12)

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Highlights in gynaecological cancers

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

C. Gennigens MD, PhD, A. Enguita PhD, T. Feys MBA, MSc

SUMMARY

The 2023 annual ESMO meeting featured several presentations with the potential to reshape the standard of care in gynaecological cancers. New approaches emerged as promising treatments in cervical cancer, such as chemoradiotherapy combined with induction chemotherapy or pembrolizumab in patients with newly diagnosed locally advanced cervical cancer, or the antibody-drug conjugate tisotumab vedotin in the recurrent or metastatic setting. In addition, several trials further solidified the efficacy and safety of combining immunotherapy (durvalumab, atezolizumab, dostarlimab or pembrolizumab) with chemotherapy, in the treatment of advanced or recurrent mismatch repair deficient (MMRd) endometrial cancer. In contrast, the combination of atezolizumab plus chemotherapy followed by niraparib maintenance failed to demonstrate clinical benefits in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2023;17(8):298–303)

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Highlights in lung cancer

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

L. Decoster MD, PhD

SUMMARY

Lung cancer was a hot topic at ESMO 2023 accounting for seven abstracts in the three presidential sessions.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2023;17(8):292–5)

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Highlights in head and neck cancer

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

W. Lybaert MD

SUMMARY

The ESMO Congress was held from 20 until 24th October 2023 in a live and virtual format. During this Congress, the selective RET inhibitor selpercatinib in comparison with cabozantinib or vandetanib settled a new standard-of-care in the first-line treatment of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer. A meta-analysis of the use of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies refined the place of cetuximab in locally advanced (LA) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Pembrolizumab seems more efficacious and less immunosuppressive in an adjuvant compared to concomitant setting in LA HNSCC. Detection of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) seems feasible before and after curative-intent treatment for LA HNSCC and is strongly correlated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2023;17(8):286–91)

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Highlights in melanoma

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

B. Neyns MD, PhD

SUMMARY

At ESMO 2023, important advances in the (neo-)adjuvant treatment for patients with cutaneous melanoma were presented, including an exploratory analysis of the SWOG S1801 trial and the results from the phase II Keynote-942 trial. Furthermore, there were some interesting updates on the progress in the treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma and some of the emerging new cellular therapies for metastatic melanoma.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2023;17(8):281–5)

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