Issue 43 – The Cancer Letter

Artificial intelligence can entrench disparities—here’s what we must do
Heinz Von Foerster, the renowned Austrian-American physicist and cybernetics scholar, declared that “information can be considered as order wrenched from disorder.1” Ever-increasing amounts of digital data and new computational tools promise that technological developments such as artificial intelligence (AI) will bring order, clarity, and new solutions in multiple areas—from transportation to criminal justice.
Guest Editorial
Trump pricing plans are pretentious, could impede access, and will not help much
Oct. 25, we heard more about President Trump’s plan to save health care dollars through a variety of Medicare pilot programs and index pricing.
In Brief
- Cornelis Melief receives 2018 ESMO Immuno-Oncology Award
- Roswell Park partners with Jagiellonian University in Kraków
- NCCS presents third annual Ellen Stovall Award to Gay Crawford and Norman Coleman
- IU researchers awarded $2.3 million to continue studies on CIPN
- UVA researchers awarded $1.8 million to test breast cancer approach
Trials & Tribulations
Deciphering genomic testing options for diverse patient populations in early-stage breast cancer
In my twenty-two years of practicing medicine, I have observed the evolution of genomic testing and its increasing utility in oncology.
With the growing interest in precision medicine for breast cancer patients, I have found it important to decipher the differences between the two most clinically validated genomic tests, MammaPrint and Oncotype DX, and their phase III trials, MINDACT and TAILORx, respectively.
Clinical Roundup
- Cardiovascular toxicities seen early in treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors
- Breast screening linked to 60 percent lower risk of breast cancer death in first 10 years
- Fecal transplant effective against immunotherapy-induced colitis
- Biodesix test predicts response to atezolizumab in lung cancer
- Keytruda significantly improved OS compared to chemotherapy in PD-L1 advanced esophageal or esophagogastric junction carcinoma
- Pfizer introduces biosimilar Retacrit injection in the U.S. at a substantial discount
- Initial data from AMBER trial of TSR-022 + TSR-042 demonstrates clinical activity in progression following anti-PD-1 treatment
- Zymeworks announces updated clinical data for novel bispecific antibody, ZW25
- Gradalis presents initial data from phase II U.S. trial for Ewing’s sarcoma
Drugs & Targets
- Using review pilot program, FDA takes two weeks to approve first-line treatment for peripheral T-cell lymphoma
- FDA accepts novel clinical trial endpoint in approving Erleada for prostate cancer
- CHMP gives positive opinion for Kisqali combination therapy for all women with HR+/HER2- locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer
- FDA grants priority review for Tecentriq + Abraxane for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer
- Immunomedics expands clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca to include metastatic NSCLC
- Ziopharm Oncology announces Immuno-oncology Clinical Supply Agreement with Regeneron to evaluate combination therapy for brain cancer