Peer-Spectives

Data on the use of durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy transformed the standard of care for patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). “This is a real practice-changing observation from the PACIFIC trial,” said Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. He recently spoke with Meghan Mooradian, MD, an instructor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, about her team’s recent research assessing the protocol established by the PACIFIC study. “We really are hoping for a cure,” she said in describing how she makes decisions related to the timing of durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy. Dr. Mooradian also addressed toxicity concerns and shared what she sees as lingering questions related to disease progression. “What should we really be using next?” she asked.

Dr. Mooradian reported consulting or advisory roles with AstraZeneca, the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Istari Oncology, Regeneron, and Xilio Therapeutics; and other relationships with Aptitude Health, Curio Science, DAVA Oncology, and OncLive/MJH Life Sciences.

Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

Results of the phase 3 LAURA clinical trial, presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, showed that osimertinib significantly improves progression-free survival in patients with unresectable stage III EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after chemoradiotherapy. “The benefits of osimertinib in this patient population when compared to placebo are just incredibly dramatic,” noted Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. He spoke with lead study author Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, the Roberto C. Goizueta Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research and the executive director at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, about how oncologists should adjust their practice in the wake of these key findings. Dr. Ramalingam tackled questions about the optimal duration of osimertinib therapy, toxicity concerns, and notable benefits seen in the LAURA data. “Osimertinib reduced both intrathoracic progression and extrathoracic progression, particularly intracranial progression,” he noted.

Dr. Ramalingam reported research funding from Amgen, AstraZeneca/MedImmune, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, and Takeda; travel, accommodations, and other expenses from AbbVie; and a relationship with the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

“I think the antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for physicians, and certainly patients too, are a little bit tough to wrap your head around,” says Erika P. Hamilton, MD, the director of breast cancer and gynecologic cancer research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville. She discusses how TROP2-targeting ADCs currently fit into practice with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. From how to “choose the right patient for the right treatment at the right time” to important toxicity concerns, Dr. Hamilton shares her “elevator pitch” to patients when it comes to ADCs. “I think a very easy way to really talk about the activity at this point is just the fact that they’re beating naked chemotherapy. So they are performing better than chemotherapy and, for the most part, comparing favorably in terms of side effects for patients as well.”

Dr. Hamilton reported various financial relationships.

Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

Various survivorship guidelines for pediatric patients have been established, but “such guidelines do not exist in the adult world,” says Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship and the Gay and Bew White Endowed Professor in Pediatric Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. With the number of adult cancer survivors rapidly rising, the time is now for major oncology societies to help create long-term health recommendations, she tells Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Bhatia and Dr. Figlin discuss the critical need to explore how recent advances in cancer care, such as targeted treatments and immunotherapies, may affect the future health of survivors. “If we don’t start by constructing large cohorts and following them long term, we will have lost this opportunity that exists right now,” she explains.

Dr. Bhatia is an Associate Editor for Journal of Clinical Oncology. Journal policy recused the author from having any role in the peer review of the manuscript discussed.

Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

Obstacles to “achieving a good, peaceful death” prevent many patients with cancer from the “dignified end” that they deserve, says Sunita Puri, MD, a palliative care physician and author. She and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, discuss frustrations and concerns about systemic failures in cancer care when it comes to death and dying. “We need to have this national dialogue around this topic,” argues Dr. Figlin. “It can’t be under the covers, where we don’t talk about it.”

Dr. Puri reported no relevant financial disclosures.

Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

When it comes to the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), "within the last eight months or so, we have had some exciting new events," says Daniel A. Ermann, MD, a hematologist-oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved pirtobrutinib for previously treated CLL in December 2023 and approved the CAR-T therapy lisocabtagene ciloleucel for relapsed/refractory disease in March 2024. These new options for patients with unmet needs present "a difficult choice, and it is a little bit of a balance," Dr. Ermann explains. He discusses key considerations for treatment selection with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

Oncologists are struggling with the rising cancer mortality rate among millennial patients. "I think treating people our own age is definitely a trigger for a lot of people," said Sunita Puri, MD, a palliative-care physician and author. She spoke with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, about her recent article in The Atlantic, "The Silence Doctors Are Keeping About Millennial Deaths." Dr. Puri explained how age bias and other factors have led to challenges in providing the care that younger adults with terminal cancer both want and need. "We should be matching up medical treatment with the values of the patient. Younger people, in my experience, don't want to be protected from the truth," she said.

Dr. Puri and Dr. Figlin discussed how certain training can help and which misperceptions should be challenged. "I think we're socialized as doctors to equate treatment, survival, benefit, and cure as our scope of care. But part of our care is absolutely seeing and hearing the person in front of us and understanding that person as a distinct individual."

Thoracic oncology was a major focus of the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, says Sandip P. Patel, MD, a medical oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego. Practice-changing data were presented in both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), Dr. Patel told Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

The biggest data at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in kidney cancer focused on biomarkers, says Brian I. Rini, MD, chief of clinical trials and the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. He discussed data from KEYNOTE-426 and several other key trials with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

Enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab (EV/pembro) has “become the elephant in the room” when it comes to bladder cancer care, says Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD, chief of genitourinary oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. At the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, he discussed recent key advances in urothelial carcinoma treatment with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles.