April 2021, Vol 12, No 2

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on healthcare, especially in the management of patients with cancer, who are often not seeking healthcare in the same way as before the pandemic. At the 2021 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) meeting, experts discussed the implications for patients with lung cancer, specifically.

The addition of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to standard endocrine therapy reduced the risk for invasive disease recurrence or death compared with endocrine therapy alone by almost 30% in patients with high-risk, hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer. These results come from the primary analysis of the phase 3 monarchE clinical trial that was presented at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

In patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who received previous therapy, as well as in cisplatin-ineligible patients with this cancer, enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev) improved overall survival (OS), according to new data presented at the 2021 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. The data come from the phase 3 EV-301 study and cohort 2 of the phase 2 EV-201 study. Experts believe this antibody–drug conjugate will become a new standard of care in the treatment of patients with advanced urothelial cancer.

Bemarituzumab, an investigational first-in-class humanized immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to FGFR2b, improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) when added to the modified FOLFOX6 (mFOLFOX6) chemotherapy in patients with FGFR2b-positive advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer in the phase 2 FIGHT randomized clinical trial. The results were presented at the 2021 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

A survey of patients with lung cancer conducted as COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place lockdowns were first easing in June 2020 in the United States revealed substantial anxieties about vulnerability to severe illness and access to care.

Approximately 13% of patients with lung adenocarcinomas harbor KRAS p.G12C mutations. In the phase 2 CodeBreaK 100 clinical trial, the responses to sotorasib in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and KRAS p.G12C mutation were early, deep, and durable, according to Bob T. Li, MD, PhD, MPH, Medical Oncologist, Thoracic Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. He presented the study results at the 2021 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer meeting.

Sexual orientation and assigned sex at birth are significant determinants in the utilization of lung cancer screening, according to an analysis from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2018, a cross-sectional, nationally representative database, that looked at screening among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) populations.

Genomic analysis of lung cancer in women who have never smoked may reveal novel mutations and structural alterations. Such an analysis, said Sitapriya Moorthi, PhD, Human Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, may suggest unique opportunities for future target identification and therapeutic intervention. Dr Moorthi discussed the results of a mutational analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative Cohort that were presented at the 2021 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer meeting.

For patients with relapsed malignant mesothelioma, nivolumab (Opdivo) monotherapy is an effective treatment option, according to preliminary results of the phase 3 CONFIRM study, presented at the 2021 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer meeting.

On March 27, 2021, the FDA approved idecabtagene vicleucel (Abecma; Bristol Myers Squibb/Bluebird Bio), a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed, genetically modified autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, for the treatment of adults with multiple myeloma whose disease did not respond to, or recurred, after ≥4 lines of therapy. Idecabtagene vicleucel is the first cell-based gene therapy approved by the FDA for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The FDA granted this indication orphan drug and breakthrough therapy designations.