Karen’s Club ASCO 2022 Recap
Every May or late June one of the largest gatherings of clinical oncologists takes place in Chicago. The event is known as the American Society of Clinical Oncologist Annual Meeting, better known as ASCO.
Each year these oncologists gather to showcase the latest results in their respective work. In addition scientists, pharmaceutical representatives, educators and patient advocates gather to discuss new initiatives, products, services as well as address issues around the cancer ecosystem.
Here are just a few very interesting highlights from this year's conference.
1 - Congratulations to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC for their surprising and successful results for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Results released at ASCO and quickly spread around the world at the groundbreaking news that indicated that eighteen (18) clinical trial participants had gone into remission (no signs of the disease) after being treated with a drug currently used for the treatment of endometrial cancer! Here is a link to the article that highlights this history making event.
The drug Dostarlimab was used to treat the patients who had a MMRd, a specific mutation called mix matched repaired deficient or MSI (micro-satellite instability). Dr. Diaz, one of the doctors who was involved with the trial, has a special message to patients who have been diagnosed with the disease:
Get tested if you have rectal cancer to see if the tumor is MMRd.
For Karen’s Club members who want to learn more about the importance of genetic and genomic testing and learn more about why participating in clinical research is important, please use the link to book a free 1:1 consultation with a patient advisor.
2- There were a lot of passionate advocates in the building. S402 was the Patient Advocate Lounge where like-minded individuals from around the world, affected by cancer came together to share a meal and swap stories. Issues including financial toxicity, health literacy, social determinants of health and what are true needs facing our communities back at home. I wanted to shed the spotlight on a advocacy organization making a real difference in the lives of of breast cancer patients:
The Pink Fund - A non profit breast cancer organization that provides 90 day non medical cost of living expenses to breast cancer patients in active treatment, so they can focus on healing, raising their families and returning to the workplace. The founder, Molly MacDonald, spoke passionately about her journey as a patient with breast cancer and the financial burden her family faced while Molly underwent treatment to save her life. Determined to make a difference for patients facing similar circumstances, Molly founded The Pink Fund in 2006. The organization has paid over $5.4 million in bills on behalf of breast cancer survivors in active treatment.
3- The ASCO poster board sessions were chock-full of information and clinical findings from the world's best and brightest health care providers. Here a few notable presentations from the conference:
HER2 low Tumors Possible Treatment implications - A study authored by Dr. Hasan via the Proton Center in NYC there is a small but significant association for improved survival for patients diagnosed with HER2 low tumors vs HER2 negative tumors in Metastatic Breast Cancer. Although the study was small the implications may be huge for those patients trying to make an informed decision about their treatment options. Hoping additional studies will continue to further examine whether this subtype warrants different treatment options.
Factors Associated with Short and Long Term Survival in HER 2+ MBC - author Dr. Jose Pablo-Leon at Harvard Medical School indicated some startling but not surprising conclusions. That better overall survival outcomes were based on being younger, white with higher income and few tumors. Factors associated with shorter survival (less than 5 years) included being Black, older, lower income and the cancer spreading to the brain.
Germline Genetic Testing and Its Impact on Prostate Cancer Clinical Decision Making - research by Dr. Neal D. Shore of the Carolina Research Center - study revealed over 1,000 patients with varying stages of Prostate Cancer (stage I,II,III & IV) participated and 21% of those who participated in this study identified as Non White. Dr. Shore indicated that it is important to “Democratize and open up germline testing to anyone diagnosed with Prostate Cancer”. Dr. Shore also indicated that the study showed a two thirds higher number in the Black population who had gene alterations of uncertain variants or VUS. The importance of the study is that men whose genetic tests were positive for germline variants received more recommendations for follow-up treatment and for testing and counseling of relatives.
Last but not least a very interesting study that I believe makes the case for understanding whether or not a drug truly works on all populations if only a certain percentage of the population actually participated in the study. Again the question is asked: “Do We Really Know if This Drug Works for Black and brown folks”? Real-world outcomes of Black women versus non-Hispanic White women with advanced triple-negative breast cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor - Authored by Dr. Jeffrey Aldrich at Emory University. The study showed that Black women had fewer complete responses and a trend towards worse overall survival compared to non hispanic whites. suggesting further investigation of biomarkers, potentially by race, are needed to better identify responders to immune checkpoint inhibitors in mTNBC.
If you want to learn more about how any of this may impact your current diagnosis or that of a family member, don’t hesitate to book a free consultation with me or one of our expert patient advocates below!
