scholarly journals Disparities and Access to Care: 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting Highlights for the Advanced Practitioner

Author(s):  
Amy Pierre, MSN, ANP-BC

Amy Pierre, MSN, ANP-BC, of Flatiron Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, considers takeaways from a program targeting minority accrual to oncology trials and a study evaluating minority representation in precision oncology trials.

Author(s):  
Elizabeth S. Waxman, RN, MSN, AOCN, ANP-BC

Elizabeth S. Waxman, RN, MSN, AOCN®, ANP-BC, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, reviews important research in thoracic cancers presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, including atezolizumab in early-stage lung cancer, the addition of doublet chemotherapy to doublet immunotherapy in advanced-stage NSCLC, the first-in-class KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib, and the combination of amivantamab and lazertinib. Coverage provided by The ASCO Post.


Author(s):  
Beth Faiman, PhD, MSN, APRN-BC, AOCN®, FAAN

Welcome to our special issue on highlights from the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Annual Meeting, which was ASCO’s second virtual meeting. Taking place from June 4 to 8, 2021, the ASCO Annual Meeting connected around 42,700 attendees from 138 countries to discuss the latest developments in cancer research. These included advances in the treatment of prostate, breast, lung, and renal cancers as well as screening, prevention, access to care, immunotherapy, and precision medicine.


Author(s):  
Abby Fuoto, DNP, ANP-BC, AOCNP ◽  
Mee-young Lee, MSN, ANP-BC

Abby Fuoto, DNP, ANP-BC, AOCNP®, ACHPN, of University of Arizona Cancer Center, considers the implications of a novel monoclonal antibody for nasopharyngeal cancer, and Mee-young Lee, MSN, ANP-BC, of Monter Cancer Center, Northwell, discusses the design of a basket trial for tumors with HER2 amplification or overexpression. Meeting coverage is provided by The ASCO Post.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Pallarz ◽  
Manuela Benary ◽  
Mario Lamping ◽  
Damian Rieke ◽  
Johannes Starlinger ◽  
...  

PURPOSE Precision oncology depends on the availability of up-to-date, comprehensive, and accurate information about associations between genetic variants and therapeutic options. Recently, a number of knowledge bases (KBs) have been developed that gather such information on the basis of expert curation of the scientific literature. We performed a quantitative and qualitative comparison of Clinical Interpretations of Variants in Cancer, OncoKB, Cancer Gene Census, Database of Curated Mutations, CGI Biomarkers (the cancer genome interpreter biomarker database), Tumor Alterations Relevant for Genomics-Driven Therapy, and the Precision Medicine Knowledge Base. METHODS We downloaded each KB and restructured their content to describe variants, genes, drugs, and gene-drug associations in a common format. We normalized gene names to Entrez Gene IDs and drug names to ChEMBL and DrugBank IDs. For the analysis of clinically relevant gene-drug associations, we obtained lists of genes affected by genetic alterations and putative drug therapies for 113 patients with cancer whose cases were presented at the Molecular Tumor Board (MTB) of the Charité Comprehensive Cancer Center. RESULTS Our analysis revealed that the KBs are largely overlapping but also that each source harbors a notable amount of unique information. Although some KBs cover more genes, others contain more data about gene-drug associations. Retrospective comparisons with findings of the Charitè MTB at the gene level showed that use of multiple KBs may considerably improve retrieval results. The relative importance of a KB in terms of cancer genes was assessed in more detail by logistic regression, which revealed that all but one source had a notable impact on result quality. We confirmed these findings using a second data set obtained from an independent MTB. CONCLUSION To date, none of the existing publicly available KBs on gene-drug associations in precision oncology fully subsumes the others, but all of them exhibit specific strengths and weaknesses. Consideration of multiple KBs, therefore, is essential to obtain comprehensive results.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 6544-6544
Author(s):  
Alexandra Bukowski ◽  
Enrique Soto Perez De Celis ◽  
Wendy A Ramos-López ◽  
Patricia Rojo-Castillo ◽  
Jesus Armando Sanchez- Gonzalez ◽  
...  

6544 Background: High cancer mortality rates in developing nations are partially driven by advanced stages at diagnosis and limited access to care. In Mexico, the interval from problem identification to start of treatment can be up to 7 months, mostly due to healthcare system delays. We implemented a patient navigation (PN) program aimed at reducing time to referral to cancer centers for patients (pts) with a suspicion or a diagnosis of cancer seen at a public general hospital in Mexico City. Methods: Pts age > 18 seen at Hospital General Ajusco Medio in Mexico City who required referral to a cancer center were enrolled. Baseline demographic, economic and psychosocial data were collected. A Patient Navigator assisted pts with scheduling; paperwork; obtaining results in a timely manner; transportation; and with other cultural barriers. The goal of the PN program was for at least 70% of enrolled patients to obtain a specialized appointment at a cancer center within the first 3 months from enrollment. Results: 53 pts (median age 54, range 19-80; 51% female) were included between 01/16 and 12/16. 19% (n = 10) had breast/GYN, 19% (n = 10) GU, 19% (n = 10) endocrine, 19% GI (n = 10) and 14% (n = 13) other tumors. All the pts were uninsured, 59% (n = 30) had less than middle school education, 80% (n = 41) were unemployed and 96% (n = 49) had a monthly household income of < $360 USD. 54% (n = 28) reported deprivation in at least one basic living need (education, running water, toilet, electricity or flooring). The most commonly identified barriers to healthcare access were financial (73%, N = 37), lack of transportation (47%, N = 24), fear (37%, N = 19) and poor communication with healthcare workers (35%, N = 18). Mean time to referral was 11 days (range 0–46, SD 11.2) and mean time to cancer specialist appointment 26 days (range 1–94, SD 21.18). 92% of pts successfully obtained appointments at a cancer center in < 3 months. Conclusions: Compared with previously reported data, this PN program shortened time to referral to a cancer center for pts with a suspicion or diagnosis of cancer in Mexico City. PN represents a potential solution to overcome barriers to healthcare access for underserved pts with cancer in developing countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 3629-3629
Author(s):  
Patrick Glen Pilie ◽  
Jinesh S. Gheeya ◽  
Keith Kyewalabye ◽  
Rohit Vivek Goswamy ◽  
Khalida M Wani ◽  
...  

3629 Background: ATM is frequently mutated in cancer, and defects may serve as a putative predictive biomarker. However, the functional impact of most ATM variants is not well known. In this study, we examined the relationship between ATM variants and ATM protein expression to better discern ATM functional defects in patients (pts) with advanced cancer. Methods: We retrospectively identified pts seen at MD Anderson Cancer Center who had ATM variants detected on CLIA-certified next generation sequencing (NGS) assays. ATM immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on available tumors. We then prospectively assessed ATM IHC on tumors from pts who were referred for DNA damage repair inhibitor (DDRi) trials. Functional classification of the variants was performed via published in silico tools and/or precision oncology decision support (PODS). An IHC cut-off of 100% loss in tumor cell nuclei defined ATM loss of protein (LOP). Results: Of 1394 ATM-mutant tumors identified retrospectively, ATM alterations were classified as 16% (N = 216) inactivating, 12% (N = 163) potentially inactivating, 71% (N = 993) variant of unknown significance (VUS), and 2% (N = 22) benign. Coding variants were seen across the ATM exonic structure/splice sites, and 20 individual variants were shared in > 10 pts. 263/297 available retrospective tumor samples had interpretable IHC results; 27% (N = 72) had ATM LOP. LOP was most prevalent in tumors with inactivating ATM variants (39/100, 39%); but, importantly, LOP was seen in 20% (N = 33/162) of potentially inactivating/VUS, thus better clarifying their functional impact. In the prospective cohort of 217 pt tumors, 17% (N = 37) had ATM LOP. 29% (N = 62/217) of this cohort also had ATM variants. ATM LOP was seen in 48% of tumors with inactivating variants (N = 14/29), 25% of tumors with potentially/VUS(N = 9/36), and 9% (N = 14/156) of tumors without ATM variants identified. ATM LOP was detected most commonly in colorectal (24%; N = 8/34), cholangiocarcinoma (20%; N = 6/30), prostate (16%; N = 16/104) and pancreatic (9%; N = 1/11) cancers among this cohort of pts referred for DDRi trials. Conclusions: ATM coding variants occurred across the gene, with certain variants shared across tumor types. The functional impact of most ATM variants was VUS, and ATM LOP can help clarify function in up to 25% of these VUS. Also, ATM LOP can be seen even in tumors without ATM variants identified, suggesting epigenetic or post-translational loss. Future prospective studies assessing predictive capability of paired DNA and protein-level profiling of ATM are warranted.


Author(s):  
Lisa Kottschade, APRN, MSN, CNP

With coverage from The ASCO Post, Lisa Kottschade, APRN, MSN, CNP, of Mayo Clinic, reviews data on immune therapy after surgery, the combination of the anti–LAG-3 antibody relatlimab and nivolumab, and a 6.5-year update of combination nivolumab and ipilimumab.


Author(s):  
Lisa Nodzon, PhD, ARNP, AOCNP

Lisa Nodzon, PhD, ARNP, AOCNP®, of Moffitt Cancer Center, highlights new therapies in development for myelofibrosis that were discussed by Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, at the 2020 SOHO Annual Meeting.


2021 ◽  
pp. 859-875
Author(s):  
Amanda O. L. Seet ◽  
Aaron C. Tan ◽  
Tira J. Tan ◽  
Matthew C. H. Ng ◽  
David W. M. Tai ◽  
...  

PURPOSE Precision oncology has transformed the management of advanced cancers through implementation of advanced molecular profiling technologies to identify increasingly defined subsets of patients and match them to appropriate therapy. We report outcomes of a prospective molecular profiling study in a high-volume Asian tertiary cancer center. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with advanced cancer were enrolled onto a prospective protocol for genomic profiling, the Individualized Molecular Profiling for Allocation to Clinical Trials Singapore study, at the National Cancer Center Singapore. Primary objective was to identify molecular biomarkers in patient's tumors for allocation to clinical trials. The study commenced in February 2012 and is ongoing, with the results of all patients who underwent multiplex next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing until December 2018 presented here. The results were discussed at a molecular tumor board where recommendations for allocation to biomarker-directed trials or targeted therapies were made. RESULTS One thousand fifteen patients were enrolled with a median age of 58 years (range 20-83 years). Most common tumor types were lung adenocarcinoma (26%), colorectal cancer (15%), and breast cancer (12%). A total of 1,064 NGS assays were performed, on fresh tumor tissue for 369 (35%) and archival tumor tissue for 687 (65%) assays. TP53 (39%) alterations were most common, followed by EGFR (21%), KRAS (14%), and PIK3CA (10%). Of 405 NGS assays with potentially actionable alterations, 111 (27%) were allocated to a clinical trial after molecular tumor board and 20 (4.9%) were enrolled on a molecularly matched clinical trial. Gene fusions were detected in 23 of 311 (7%) patients tested, including rare fusions in new tumor types and known fusions in rare tumors. CONCLUSION Individualized Molecular Profiling for Allocation to Clinical Trials Singapore demonstrates the feasibility of a prospective broad molecular profiling program in an Asian tertiary cancer center, with the ability to develop and adapt to a dynamic landscape of precision oncology.


Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah Raheem ◽  
Pauline Kim ◽  
Meagan Grove ◽  
Patrick J. Kiel

Recent advancements in molecular testing, the availability of cost-effective technology, and novel approaches to clinical trial design have facilitated the implementation of tumor genome sequencing into standard of care oncology practices. Current models of precision oncology practice include specialized clinics or consultation services based on a molecular tumor board (MTB) approach. MTBs are comprised of interprofessional teams of clinicians and scientists who evaluate tumors at the molecular level to guide patient-specific targeted therapy. The practice of precision oncology utilizing MTB-based models is an emerging approach, transforming precision genomics from a novel concept into clinical practice. This rapid shift in practice from cytotoxic therapy to targeted medicine poses challenges, yet brings exciting opportunities to clinical pharmacists practicing in hematology and oncology. Only a few precision genomics programs in the United States have a strong pharmacy presence with oncology pharmacists serving in leadership roles in research, interpreting genomic sequencing, making treatment recommendations, and facilitating off-label drug procurement. This article describes the experience of the precision medicine clinic at the Indiana University Health Simon Cancer Center, with emphasis on the role of the pharmacist in the precision oncology initiative.


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