BJMO - volume 16, issue 4, june 2022
M. Rouprêt MD, PhD
The 19th Meeting of the EAU Section of Oncological Urology (ESOU22) delivered imperative updates on genitourinary (GU) cancers and expert insights to participants in Madrid, Spain and online from 21 to 23 January 2022. This report provides some of the conclusions and highlights of the recently-concluded hybrid meeting.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2022;16(4):196–7)
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 16, issue 2, march 2022
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc, H. Wildiers MD, PhD, K. Punie MD
The hybrid SABCS 2021 could only attract a few hundred life attendees, but like every year, several key abstracts were presented. In early stage, a meta-analysis on aromatase inhibitor versus tamoxifen in premenopausal ER+ patients showed lower recurrence with aromatase inhibitors, while the impact on overall survival remains unclear. An EBCTCG meta-analysis showed no benefit for an anthracycline-taxane adjuvant chemotherapy regimen compared to a taxane only regimen, if the taxane was given sequentially after the anthracycline, confirming the role of anthracycline-free chemotherapy regimens in a large proportion of patients with early breast cancer. In ER+ metastatic disease, the new SERD elacestrant was more potent than classical endocrine therapy after progression on first/second line endocrine therapy. Datopotamab deruxtecan is a promising new ADC targeting TROP2 with clear activity in triple negative disease. In HER2 positive disease, T-DXd displayed substantial antitumour effect on brain metastases, and pyrotinib can be added to the list of highly potent HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In patients with HER2 mutations, neratinib showed clear antitumour activity both in ER positive and triple negative metastatic breast cancer. In the surgery field, black and Hispanic women were shown to be at higher risk for breast cancer related lymphedema after axillary lymph node dissection. The Italian SINODAR-ONE trial built further on the Z0011 trial and confirmed that axillary surgery can be omitted in patients with breast cancer patients and one or two macro metastatic sentinel nodes.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2022;16(2):79–87)
Read moreBJMO - volume 16, issue 2, march 2022
T. Feys MBA, MSc
In light of the ongoing global pandemic, the 15th BSMO-Bordet symposium meeting went virtual in 2021. This did not detract from the engaging lineup of presentations, emphasising treatment breakthroughs in various cancers. In addition to this, several projects with a local impact on the Belgian oncology landscape were presented.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2022;16(2):88–96)
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
J.B. Vermorken MD, PhD
“The United States is a long way from achieving clinical equity among its people” said Joe Elia, editor of NEJM Group in the introduction of the eBook on Racial Disparities in Clinical Medicine which was distributed among all ASCO members in June 2021. It is not without reason that this eBook is coming out now. In the President’s Address, Lori J Pierce mentioned how segregation impacts on health care. “Today”, she said, “ensuring equity of care – that is our good fight, this is the foundation of ASCO”. It was interesting to notice that this topic also got attention in the Gynaecological Cancer track of the meeting. Overall, ASCO 2021 featured 14 presentations on cervical cancer, 32 on uterine cancer and 60 on ovarian cancer. The most important messages of these different presentations will be discussed in this article.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2021;15(5):197-205)
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