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Cancer Management: Breast Cancer
What is Breast Cancer? With an estimated 2.26 million new cancer cases and 685 000 deaths in women, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in 2020,...
Comprehensive Ovarian Cancer Treatment and Management
What is Ovarian Cancer? With an estimated 313 959 new cancer cases and 207 252 deaths in women, ovarian cancer is the 7th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 8th cause of cancer death in...
Advanced lung cancer treatment and diagnostic solutions
What is Lung Cancer ? With an estimated 2.2 million new cancer cases and 1.8 million deaths, lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in 2020,...
ctDNA as predictive biomarker of everolimus efficacy in advanced luminal breast cancer
Everolimus in combination with endocrine treatment is a widely-used regimen in the management of ER+ metastatic breast cancer. Considering the toxicity and the costs of this treatment, identifying early on patients who will not derive...
OncoDNA supports the AURORA study to identify molecular changes driving metastatic breast cancer
AURORA, an international molecular screening program conducted by the Breast International Group, has uncovered genetic pattern specific to metastatic breast cancer (MBC). By performing multi-omics profiling on primary tumor and paired metastases, the research program succeeded...
Analysis of prognostic and predictive factors of response in squamous cell carcinoma using comprehensive biomarker testing
In recent years, the diagnosis and treatment of different neoplasms has undergone a great change due to the development of immunotherapy and targeted therapies. Furthermore, the incorporation of massive sequencing techniques (NGS) has made it...
BRCA1/2 mutation detection in breast cancer tumor tissue using NGS and OncoKDM
A study examined the prevalence of pathogenic variants of BRCA1 or BRCA2 among polish patients with breast cancer, using next generation sequencing and data interpretation platforms such as OncoKDM. Due to the high incidence of...
Study assesses the clinical activity of tipifarnib for HNSCC patients with HRAS mutations using OncoKDM
A recent study “Tipifarnib in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma With HRAS Mutations” published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology evaluated the efficacy of the farnesyltransferase inhibitor tipifarnib in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic...
The economics of comprehensive biomarker testing in cancer
Current spending on cancer drugs is not sustainable The cost of treating cancer has been rising steadily over the last two decades. New approved cancer drugs are now significantly more expensive than the drugs they...
When is the optimal time for biomarker testing in the patient pathway?
The two key questions addressed by biomarker testing are (1) is there an approved therapy available, and (2) is there a clinical trial option. Currently, a quarter of patients with advanced cancer will potentially benefit from...
ARID1A genomic alterations driving microsatellite instability through somatic MLH1 methylation with response to immunotherapy in metastatic lung adenocarcinoma: a case report
Authors: Mercedes Durán, Iris Faull, Enrique Lastra, Jean-Francois Laes, Ana Belén Rodrigo & Ricardo Sánchez-Escribano Case presentation A 50-year-old never-smoker Bulgarian woman, with no comorbidities and no family history of cancer, was diagnosed with metastatic...
Something old, something new: when is a new biopsy preferable for biomarker analysis?
Cancer is a disease of the genome. During its lifetime, each cancer accumulates a large amount of genomic damage. Some of this genomic damage will result in mutations that change the behaviour of the cells;...
Patterns of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in association with genomic and clinical features in patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC)
Immunotherapy agents, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), act through different mechanisms compared to conventional chemotherapy and are characterized by unique patterns of response, such as hyperprogression (HPD), which refers to the paradoxical acceleration of...
The evolution of BRCA testing: treatment & prevention opportunities
Mutation of the BRCA genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) is associated with response to PARP inhibitors such as olaparib and rucaparib. PARP inhibitors are currently approved in four cancer types: breast (HER2 negative), ovarian, pancreatic and...
Biomarker testing and horizon scanning help plan future treatments for patients
The recent pan-cancer NTRK inhibitor approval placed molecularly targeted therapies and biomarker testing back in the spotlight. horizon scanning for approaching approvals is helpful in planning future treatments and ensuring the appropriate biomarker testing is...
What’s on the horizon for immunotherapy?
There’s an old adage in medicine that no sick patient should die without a trial of steroids. We are, perhaps, moving towards a similar paradigm in oncology, where everyone with advanced cancer receives a trial...
The current landscape of biomarker directed therapy in oncology
Did you know there are currently more than 70 cancer drugs with required or recommended predictive biomarkers? At present, around a quarter of patients with advanced cancer are potentially eligible for biomarker associated therapy. The...
COVID-19 Pandemic : Determinants of COVID-19 disease severity in patients with cancer
Abstract As of 10 April 2020, New York State had 180,458 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and 9,385 reported deaths. Patients with cancer comprised 8.4% of deceased individuals1. Population-based studies from China...
COVID-19 Pandemic : Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK endoscopic activity and cancer detection: a National Endoscopy Database Analysis
Abstract Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major global impact on endoscopic services. This reduced capacity, along with public reluctance to undergo endoscopy during the pandemic, might result in excess mortality from delayed cancer diagnosis....
Lung Cancer : Making the case for EGFR TKI sequencing in EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC: a GioTag study US patient analysis
Abstract Aim: To assess time-to-treatment failure (TTF) in US patients with EGFR mutation-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received sequential afatinib–osimertinib treatment in the global, observational GioTag study. Patients & methods: Patients had EGFR T790M mutation-positive disease after first-line afatinib and...
Brain Tumours : MGMT genomic rearrangements contribute to chemotherapy resistance in gliomas
Abstract Temozolomide (TMZ) is an oral alkylating agent used for the treatment of glioblastoma and is now becoming a chemotherapeutic option in patients diagnosed with high-risk low-grade gliomas. The O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is responsible for...
Immunotherapy : Escape from nonsense-mediated decay associates with anti-tumor immunogenicity
Abstract Frameshift insertion/deletions (fs-indels) are an infrequent but highly immunogenic mutation subtype. Although fs-indels are degraded through the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway, we hypothesise that some fs-indels escape degradation and elicit anti-tumor immune responses. Using...
The fluid landscape of liquid biopsy
Analysis of circulating tumour dna (ctDNA), the so-called liquid biopsy, is fast, non-invasive and easy to arrange. So where is this technology best deployed? At diagnosis, liquid biopsy is limited by a lack of sensitivity....
Endometrial Cancer Randomized Phase II Trial of Carboplatin–Paclitaxel Compared with Carboplatin–Paclitaxel–Trastuzumab in Advanced (Stage III–IV) or Recurrent Uterine Serous Carcinomas that Overexpress Her2/Neu (NCT01367002)
Abstract Purpose: Uterine-serous-carcinoma (USC) is an aggressive variant of endometrial cancer. On the basis of preliminary results of a multicenter, randomized phase II trial, trastuzumab (T), a humanized-mAb targeting Her2/Neu, in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (C/P),...
Biliary Tract Cancer Evaluation of Combination Nivolumab and Ipilimumab Immunotherapy in Patients With Advanced Biliary Tract Cancers. Subgroup Analysis of a Phase 2 Nonrandomized Clinical Trial
Oliver Klein, MD1,2; Damien Kee, MD1,3; Adnan Nagrial, MD4; etalBen Markman, MD5,6; Craig Underhill, MD7; Michael Michael, MD3; Louise Jackett, MD8; Caroline Lum, MD5; Andreas Behren, PhD2,9; Jodie Palmer, PhD2,9; Niall C. Tebbutt, MD1,10; Matteo S. Carlino, PhD4; Jonathan Cebon, PhD1,2,9 Author Affiliations JAMA Oncol. Published online July 30, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.2814 Key Points Question: Is combination immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab associated with positive outcomes in patients with advanced biliary tract cancers?...
BREAST CANCER Capivasertib, an AKT Kinase Inhibitor, as Monotherapy or in Combination with Fulvestrant in Patients with AKT1E17K-Mutant, ER-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
Abstract PURPOSE: The activating mutation AKT1E17K occurs in approximately 7% of estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). We report, from a multipart, first-in-human, phase I study, tolerability and activity of capivasertib, an oral AKT inhibitor, as monotherapy...
Oncology in the time of COVID
THE PARTIAL SUSPENSION OF ROUTINE CLINICAL SERVICES HAS IMPACTED THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF CANCER AROUND THE WORLD. In the UK, urgent referrals for suspected cancer are down by 60%1. Delays in diagnosis and surgery...
COVID-19 PANDEMIC: Modelling from the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) predicts the pandemic will result in an excess of over 10,000 deaths from breast and colorectal cancer in the USA, due to missed screening and delayed therapy.
COVID-19 and CANCER With the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), countries and states have instituted lockdowns. These decisions have been difficult and are sometimes described as benefiting the public health at the expense of...
DRUG TARGETS: A novel ATR inhibitor has cleared phase I development with manageable toxicity; responses were seen in tumours harbouring ATM/ARID1A and BRCA1 alteration (colorectal and ovarian respectively)
Phase I Trial of First-in-Class ATR Inhibitor M6620 (VX-970) as Monotherapy or in Combination With Carboplatin in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors Published online June 22, 2020. AbstractPURPOSE Preclinical studies demonstrated that ATR inhibition can...
BLADDER CANCER: In a retrospective analysis, both ARID1A mutation and CXCL13 expression showed positive correlation with response to checkpoint inhibition, including overall survival. Combining the markers improved prediction.
ARID1A mutation plus CXCL13 expression act as combinatorial biomarkers to predict responses to immune checkpoint therapy in mUCC Science Translational Medicine 17 Jun 2020: ABSTRACT Immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) can produce durable antitumor responses in...
GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER: Promising results from a small phase Ib study of regorafenib + nivolumab in advanced gastric or colorectal cancer: ORR 44% & 36% respectively.
Regorafenib Plus Nivolumab in Patients With Advanced Gastric or Colorectal Cancer: An Open-Label, Dose-Escalation, and Dose-Expansion Phase Ib Trial (REGONIVO, EPOC1603) Journal of Clinical Oncology 38, no. 18 (June 20, 2020) PURPOSE This is a...
CANCER PREVENTION The American Cancer Society (ACS) have updated their diet and physical exercise guidelines to advise avoidance of all alcohol, a change from previous guidance advising moderation.
American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention Abstract The American Cancer Society (ACS) publishes the Diet and Physical Activity Guideline to serve as a foundation for its communication, policy, and...
