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The theme of the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting was “Partnering With Patients: The Cornerstone of Cancer Care and Research.” From June 2 to 6 in Chicago, Illinois, and online, cancer researchers and clinicians from around the world gathered to discuss the latest cancer research and how to ensure that all people receive the cancer care they need.

In the Research Round Up series, members of the Cancer.Net Editorial Board discuss the most exciting and practice-changing research in their field presented at the meeting, and explain what it means for people with cancer. In today’s episode, our guests will discuss new research in breast cancer, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and brain tumors.

First, Dr. Norah Lynn Henry discusses new research in early stage and metastatic breast cancer. Dr. Henry is Professor and Interim Chief of the University of Michigan's Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Breast Oncology Disease Lead at the Rogel Cancer Center. She is also the 2023 Cancer.Net Associate Editor for Breast Cancer.

You can view Dr. Henry’s disclosures at Cancer.Net.

Dr. Henry: Hi, I'm Dr. Lynn Henry, a breast cancer oncologist from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. Welcome to this quick summary of the most exciting new research in breast cancer that was presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. I have no conflicts of interest for any of the trials that I will talk about. First, I'm going to give a very brief overview of the types of breast cancer, then talk about some research that was presented on both early-stage and metastatic breast cancer. As a reminder, there are multiple kinds of breast cancer. Some breast cancers are called hormone receptor-positive or estrogen receptor-positive and are stimulated to grow by the hormone estrogen. We treat those cancers with anti-estrogen or anti-endocrine treatments, which block estrogen or lower estrogen levels. Other breast cancers are called HER2-positive. These are often more aggressive cancers. But because they have extra copies of HER2, they often respond to treatments that block HER2. Finally, there are breast cancers that don't have hormone receptors or HER2. These are called triple-negative breast cancer and are also often aggressive cancers. Most of the results I'm going to highlight today are treatments for estrogen receptor-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer. One of the main stories from the ASCO Annual Meeting was the result of the NATALEE trial. At the present time, for patients with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer who were at high risk of having their breast cancer come back, the currently recommended treatment is anti-endocrine therapy. Based on the results of a prior trial called monarchE, we also consider adding a medicine called abemaciclib, which turns off some enzymes in the cell that are called CDK4 and CDK6, which are known to make estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells grow. Abemaciclib can further reduce the risk of cancer recurrence compared to endocrine therapy alone, but it does have some side effects, most commonly, diarrhea.

In the NATALEE trial, which was presented for the first time at this ASCO meeting, researchers studied a similar type of medication called ribociclib. It acts similarly to abemaciclib, although it is more likely to cause low blood counts and less likely to cause diarrhea. Ribociclib is currently routinely used in combination with anti-endocrine therapy to treat patients with metastatic estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer but is not yet routinely used in the early-stage setting. In the NATALEE trial, patients with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer who are at high risk of breast cancer recurrence were enrolled. Half the patients were treated with just standard anti-endocrine therapy and half also received ribociclib for 3 years. After the 3-year treatment period, those who received both ribociclib and anti-endocrine therapy were about 25% less likely to have their cancer come back compared to those who received only anti-endocrine therapy. Overall, the medication was quite well tolerated. It is important to note that this drug is not yet FDA-approved in the setting.

The remaining trials I will highlight are for treatment of metastatic breast cancer. There were many trials examining how best to use drugs that we are actually already using in the clinic. For example, many presentations were about the CDK4/6 inhibitors that I just mentioned. Typically, patients who have just been diagnosed with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer get treated with anti-endocrine therapy plus a CDK4/6 inhibitor. One trial called SONIA examined whether this is the right approach, or whether patients should just get the anti-endocrine therapy up front and hold off on starting the CDK4/6 inhibitor medication until a later time.

It appears that this delayed approach would reduce symptoms as well as cost of the medication, while not reducing benefit from the treatment. Therefore, it appears it is likely fine for some patients to get just anti-endocrine therapy alone initially. However, we don't know how to identify those patients. Researchers are still figuring out which patients should follow this new treatment plan and which should keep getting the double therapy at the beginning. Some more to come in the future. There was a different trial called PADA-1 that included patients taking anti-endocrine therapy and the CDK4/6 inhibitor, palbociclib, upfront. Those patients were monitored using a blood test, looking for a mutation or a change in the estrogen receptor in the cancer. Patients who had that mutation either remained on the same treatment that they'd been on or switched to the next line of therapy, even though their scans didn't show any progression of their cancer. Overall, this switching strategy looks like a very promising approach for managing patients since it may help patients' cancer respond to treatment for a longer period of time. Although this approach is not yet officially recommended according to our guidelines. In another example, many patients with all types of metastatic breast cancer are treated with a drug called capecitabine, also known as Xeloda. Although this drug is effective for many cancers, many patients experience hand-foot syndrome, nausea, diarrhea, and mouth sores. In the X7-7 clinical trial, the researchers compared the official standard FDA-approved dose based on a patient's height and weight and given for 14 days followed by 7 days off. That was compared to a fixed dose of treatment given 7 days on and 7 days off. The trial found that the fixed-dose regimen was easier to tolerate, but importantly, the benefit from the 2 doses and schedules of treatment appears to be similar.

Therefore, we will likely be using this lower dose, 7 days on and 7 days off, for most of our patients who receive treatment with capecitabine for metastatic breast cancer, since it is likely to improve their quality of life while not negatively impacting the potential benefit they receive from the therapy.

There were a lot of other research findings presented that are related to treatment for both early-stage and metastatic breast cancer at the meeting. Importantly, we got glimpses of the many new drugs on the horizon for treatment of breast cancer, including a new antibody-drug conjugate against HER2, as well as other new anti-endocrine and targeted treatments. We eagerly await the results of large, randomized trials so the drugs that work can be used to treat patients with breast cancer. But for now, that's it for this quick summary of important research from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. Stay tuned to Cancer.Net for future updates from upcoming breast cancer conferences. Thank you.

ASCO: Thank you, Dr. Henry.

Next, Dr. Christopher Flowers discusses new research in lymphomas and multiple myeloma. Dr. Flowers is the Chair of the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Division Head ad interim of Cancer Medicine. He is also the 2023 Cancer.Net Associate Editor for Lymphoma.

You can view Dr. Flowers’ disclosures at Cancer.Net.

Dr. Flowers: Hello. I'm Dr. Christopher Flowers, professor and chair of the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma and interim division head for cancer medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson. And it's my pleasure to talk to you today in this Cancer.Net podcast about latest updates in the hematological malignancies focused on lymphoid cancers from the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. The ASCO Annual M