Clinical Roundup

Using fewer—but higher—doses of radiation to treat men with prostate cancer who had their prostates removed does not increase long-term side effects or lower their quality of life compared to conventional radiation treatment, a multi-institutional clinical trial showed. 

The Accountability for Cancer Care through Undoing Racism and Equity (ACCURE) clinical trial—a prospective study designed to reduce gaps in cancer treatment completion and survival among Black and white patient populations— found that identifying and addressing obstacles that kept patients from finishing radiation treatments improved five-year survival rates for all patients and erased the survival gap between Black and white patients.

A new meta-analysis found that a genetic biomarker test accurately predicts how men with high-risk prostate cancer will respond to treatment with radiation and hormone therapy. 

A study presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting found that high-dose radiation therapy can be used to lengthen progression-free survival for people with advanced lung cancer when systemic therapy has not fully halted the growth or spread of metastases. 

The time required to secure prior authorization approvals for radiation therapy treatments equates to a financial impact of more than $40 million annually for academic medical centers, according to a Vanderbilt University study. 

Updated results from the TRACERx (Tracking Cancer Evolution through therapy (Rx)) lung cancer study further validated the value of liquid biopsy as a less invasive and more comprehensive approach to guiding personalized cancer treatment in the absence of detectable disease by clinical imaging. 

A single, high priming dose of tremelimumab added to Imfinzi (durvalumab) demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful overall survival benefit versus Nexavar (sorafenib) as a first-line treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who had not received prior systemic therapy and were not eligible for localized treatment. 

The phase III EMERALD study found that when used as a monotherapy for the treatment of ER+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer, elacestrant significantly improved progression-free survival in the overall population and in patients with tumors harboring estrogen receptor 1 mutations, compared to the standard of care.

CoImmune, Inc. and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center entered a license and collaboration agreement to accelerate the adaptation of CoImmune’s proprietary allogeneic CAR-CIK technology platform to treat solid tumors.  

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center researchers assessed patient satisfaction and preferences for telemedicine, finding that 45% of people with cancer preferred telemedicine, while 34% preferred office visits and 21% had no preference.