Top stories in hematology/oncology: New standard of care for pancreatic cancer, gene test identifies women who can be spared adjuvant chemotherapy

The top stories in hematology/oncology all come from last week’s American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. One trial presented showed that adjuvant FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy improved OS and PFS among patients with surgically removed nonmetastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Another trial showed that adjuvant chemotherapy combined with endocrine therapy did not appear to benefit women with hormone receptor-positive, HER-2-negative, axillary node-negative breast cancer. Other stories include a novel combination of the CD122-based agonist NKTR-214 with nivolumab showed efficacy for advanced solid tumors, JTX-2011 appeared well-tolerated and induced antitumor responses in those previously treated for gastric cancer, and high-dose proton pump inhibitors in combination with low-dose aspirin may prevent the development of esophageal cancer among patients with Barrett’s esophagus.

Adjuvant FOLFIRINOX new standard of care for pancreatic cancer

Adjuvant FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy improved OS and PFS compared with gemcitabine among patients with surgically removed nonmetastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to data from the phase 3 PRODIGE 24/CCTG PA.6 trial. Read More.

Gene test identifies women with early breast cancer who can be spared adjuvant chemotherapy

The addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to endocrine therapy did not appear to benefit women with hormone receptor-positive, HER-2-negative, axillary node-negative breast cancer with a mid-range recurrence score on a 21-tumor gene expression assay, according to results of the phase 3 TAILORx clinical trial. Read More.

Novel nivolumab combination shows efficacy for advanced solid tumors

The combination of the CD122-based agonist NKTR-214 with nivolumab appeared well tolerated with promising efficacy among patients with a variety of advanced tumor types, according to preliminary results of the phase 1/phase 2 open-label PIVOT trial. Read More.

JTX-2011 shows activity for gastric, triple negative breast cancers

JTX-2011 monotherapy or in combination with nivolumab appeared well-tolerated and induced antitumor responses among patients previously treated for gastric cancer and triple-negative breast cancer, according to results presented at ASCO Annual Meeting. Read More.

Antacid, aspirin combination slows disease progression in Barrett’s esophagus

High-dose proton pump inhibitors in combination with low-dose aspirin may prevent the development of esophageal cancer among patients with Barrett’s esophagus, according to findings from the AspECT trial. Read More.