BJMO - 2022, issue SPECIAL, february 2022
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
In this article selected studies influencing therapeutic guidelines in solid tumours, as well as highlights in breast cancer, lung cancer, digestive oncology, genitourinary cancer, biomarkers, and what’s new in rare tumours/histologies are discussed.
Read moreBJMO - 2022, issue SPECIAL, february 2022
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
In the multidisciplinary oncology landscape, radiation oncology is becoming increasingly important in the treatment of many cancer patients. In this light, Prof. Dr. Liv Veldeman (University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium), president of the Belgian Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (BeSTRO), discussed the most important steps in the radiotherapy process. In addition, she shared her experience with modern radiotherapy treatments and addressed how these innovative techniques may further
improve treatment outcomes.
BJMO - 2022, issue SPECIAL, february 2022
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
With the increasing use of immunotherapy, more and more questions rise on the management of specific immune-related adverse events (irAEs) that are associated with these agents. Unfortunately, guidance on long-term irAE management is currently lacking and as patients with auto-immune disease or organ transplants were often excluded from clinical trials, there is also a lack of data on the use of immunotherapy in these setting. As irAEs can affect any organ system, it is not always easy to recognise and manage these adverse events in a timely manner, making multidisciplinary collaboration essential. To address these unmet needs, the Belgian Multidisciplinary Immunotoxicity Board was set up. During their talk at the BSMO annual meeting, Sandrine Aspeslagh, (MD, PhD, University Hospital Brussels, Brussels, Belgium) and Marthe Verhaert (MD, University Hospital Brussels, Brussels, Belgium) discussed the rationale, aim, and first results of this BITOX initiative.
Read moreBJMO - 2022, issue SPECIAL, february 2022
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
Head and neck cancer (HNC) refers to a very heterogeneous group of tumours with different anatomic site, histology, and aetiology. The most common HNCs consist of squamous cell carcinomas of the pharynx, oral cavity, and larynx. As the selection of the best treatment option for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head can be difficult, Prof. Jean-Pascal Machiels (Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels) gave an overview of the currently available and promising treatment combinations under investigation during a Keynote Lecture at the annual BSMO meeting.
Read moreBJMO - 2021, issue BJMO IO Special, december 2021
T. Feys MBA, MSc
Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) marked the start of a new era in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), inducing a durable response in a substantial proportion of patients. The success of ICI in the advanced setting spurred interest to also examine the potential of this treatment modality in patients with early-stage NSCLC. The first success story in this respect came from the phase III PACIFIC trial, establishing consolidation therapy with durvalumab after chemoradiation as the new standard of care for patients with inoperable, locally advanced NSCLC. More recently, ICI also yielded promising results in patients with resectable NSCLC. In fact, the IMpower010 trial showed that adjuvant atezolizumab after 4-cycles of platinumbased chemotherapy significantly improves the disease-free survival (DFS) compared to best supportive care in patients with stage II-IIIA NSCLC. In addition to this, other studies suggest that neoadjuvant treatment with ICI might result in substantial major pathologic response and pathologic complete response rates, and high rates of R0 resection without a significant delay in the time to surgery.
Read moreBJMO - 2021, issue BJMO IO Special, december 2021
T. Feys MBA, MSc
Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a thoracic malignancy that is characterized by a very dismal prognosis. Patients with MPM face a large unmet medical need, with almost no therapeutic advances over the last decade. Recently, however, an important step was made in the management of these patients with the registration of immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) as a new treatment option for treatment-naïve patients with unresectable MPM. Here we summarize the available evidence supporting the use of ICI in MPM. In addition, the article will address remaining issues such as treatment sequencing and optimal first-line treatment selection.
Read moreBJMO - 2021, issue BJMO IO Special, december 2021
T. Feys MBA, MSc, T. Van Meerhaeghe MD
Over the last years, immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) emerged as an important therapeutic modality across a variety of cancer types. However, kidney and other solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) have systematically been excluded from those trials, mainly due to concerns for organ rejection and the use of immunosuppressive therapy in these patients. As a result, little is known about the safety and efficacy of ICI in this setting. Given the increased cancer risk in kidney transplant recipients, with an overrepresentation of certain cancer types for which ICI has become the new standard of care, this represents an important data gap. Based on the scanty data available in the literature, one can conclude that the tumoral response rate to ICI among SOTR suffering from cancer is in line with what is seen in the general cancer population. However, this comes at the cost of an increased risk of allograft rejection and graft loss. This article will briefly discuss the increased cancer risk among kidney transplant recipients after which the available data on the use of ICIs in kidney transplant recipients (KTR) will be summarized, with a particular focus on treatment efficacy and risk factors associated with allograft rejection.
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