BJMO - volume 9, issue 6, november 2015
J. De Grève MD, PhD
The ECC meeting is mostly focused on clinical results and some translational medicine. Nevertheless a couple of interesting developmental topics were presented.
Identification of primary drivers in all cancer types is moving along and treatments that match these genotypes are available or in development. One of the next challenges is to increase the initial efficacy of these treatments and overcoming secondary resistance. Indeed, all cancers treated with targeted agents, despite impressive results, ultimately become resistant due to secondary resistance mechanisms. In addition there is also something as “innate” resistance: the primary treatments do not achieve a maximal pathway shutdown and therapeutic efficacy. This is in part due to the pharmacological limitations of small molecules and monoclonal antibodies in the inhibition of the pathways they target. Hitting the same target with specific siRNA’s is generally more effective in shutting down the activated pathway. In addition, this innate resistance is also due to functional responsiveness of the cells that results in the activation of alternative pathways that dampen the effect of the primary treatment. Identification of these functional resistance mechanisms is important, as they would be candidate co-targets for primary targeted therapies. Another major void in our cancer armamentarium is the therapeutic exploitation of recessive cancer genes and tumor suppressor genes.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:260–62)
Read moreBJMO - volume 9, issue 5, september 2015
Tom Feys MBA, MSc
From July 1st till July 4th, Barcelona was host to the 17th world congress on gastrointestinal cancer. The meeting again proved to be the premier global event in the field, encompassing malignancies affecting every component of the gastrointestinal tract and aspects related to the care of patients with gastrointestinal cancer, including screening, diagnosis and the latest management options for common and uncommon tumours. This report will touch upon some of the key abstracts presented at the congress. A complete overview of all studies presented during the meeting can be found at www.worldgicancer.com.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9(5):199–201)
Read moreBJMO - volume 9, issue 4, august 2015
V. Surmont MD, PhD
This report will highlight 8 important phase III studies presented during ASCO 2015 and 5 small but promising phase I/II trials. This year’s ASCO will be remembered for the paradigm shift and step forward in the treatment of lung cancer with immunotherapy via checkpoint inhibitors. Two important phase III trials in second-line NSCLC with anti-PD-1 inhibition were presented at ASCO this year and are discussed below. Also in small cell lung cancer and mesothelioma this approach seems promising.
Other highlights of the ASCO 2015 congress in the field of thoracic oncology include new targeted therapies for patients with defined molecular targets and for patients with acquired resistance after first-line first generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) or first generation ALK inhibitors.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:122–7)
Read moreBJMO - volume 9, issue 4, august 2015
J-F. Baurain MD, PhD, A.C. Deswysen , F. Chateau , F. Cornélis MD, I. Tromme
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:132–8)
Read moreBJMO - volume 9, issue 4, august 2015
K. Papadimitriou MD, PhD, M. Rasschaert MD, J. Van den Brande MD, M. Peeters MD, PhD
The 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting represents the 50th anniversary celebration from ASCO’s foundation. This is the beginning of the second half of our first 100 years. We’re going to think about what cancer and cancer care delivery will look like 10, 20, or 30 years from now,” said the 2014– 2015 ASCO President, Peter Paul Yu. The chosen theme of this year’s meeting is “Illumination and Innovation: Transforming Data into Learning” as reflected in Dr. Yu’s question “How do we harness our vastly increasing knowledge base and deliver the fruits of that labor to our patients?”
In gastrointestinal oncology results, updates and sub analyses of phase III trials were presented but also many negative trials. Data from early phase trials in the fields of immunology, incorporating new promising treatments like anti-PD-1, potential related markers and HER2 receptor blockage were also of interest. Furthermore, debates with a focus on financial aspects of treatment approaches, including the innovative, but yet very expensive immune modulation therapies, and comparisons of standard “targeted” approaches were discussed.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:143–8)
Read moreBJMO - volume 9, issue 4, august 2015
J. Kerger MD
The studies in gynaecological cancers presented at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting, although not reporting breakthrough practice-changing results, are in line with the trend towards targeted therapies witnessed in recent years. In addition to this, several studies confirm the potential of immunotherapy in this setting.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:149–53)
Read moreBJMO - volume 9, issue 4, august 2015
J. De Grève MD, PhD
In the previous decade major advances were made in targeted therapies as exemplified by the great progress in lung cancer. Today therapeutic innovation is dominated by the overwhelming breakthroughs in immunotherapy.1 This is particularly great news as these novel immunotherapeutic drugs work best in those cancers in which our targeted therapies fail: cancers with many mutations. There is a strong emerging interaction between targeted therapies and immunotherapy and it appears that targeted therapies silence oncogenic pathways that promote immune tolerance. For example BRAF inhibition with vemurafenib leads to expansion of T-cells infiltrating melanoma, a prerequisite for response to PD1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:154–7)
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