With the start of the 2021 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Physician’s Weekly shares a preview of some of the interesting findings presented during the four-day conference.

- Peter Hofland, Ph.D. spoke with Brian Rini MD, Chief of Clinical Trials at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and Ingram Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center about Renal Cell Carcinoma about tivozanib (Fotivda®, AVEO Pharmaceuticals), a kinase inhibitor, for adult patients with relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following two or more prior systemic therapies. [1]

- Hofland, also spoke with John Hayslip, MD, Executive Medical Director of Clinical Development at AbbVie about the results of a study with venetoclax (Venclexta®; AbbVie) + azacitidine (Onureg®; Celgene Corporation, a Bristol Myers Squibb company) in chemo ineligible untreated patients with therapy-related myeloid neoplasms, antecedent MDS or myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (ASCO Poster – abstract 7011; EHA Poster: abstract EP909) and measurable residual disease response in AML patients treated with venetoclax + azacitidine (ASCO Poster – abstract 7018; EHA Oral: abstract S137). [2][3]

In this edition also:

- Paul Schmidt spoke with Eugene Luskin, the Chief Executive Officer of Sync.MD (https://syncmd.com/), and David Lawrence, the Chief Executive Officer of TravelAccel (https://travelaccel.com/) about a mobile application that not only verifies COVID-19 related information but goes beyond just COVID-19 related vaccine and testing data. The HIPPA compliant application offered by Sync.MD and adapted for travelers by TracelAccel, offers a simple, easy to use, solution, meant to share accurate, equitable, secure, and complete, information on travelers’ health status.

Finally, this edition of Physician's Weekly concludes with a review of 'Centers of the Cancer Universe: A Half-Century of Progress Against Cancer,' a new book written by Eric Rosenthal, the editor-at-large of Onco’Zine (www.oncozine.com), and Donald L. Trump, MD, FACP, FASCO, the former director of experimental therapeutics at Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the former deputy director for clinical investigations at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and from 2007 to 2014 the president and Chief Executive Officer of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In the book, Rosenthal and Trump are telling the history of The National Cancer Act of 1971. [4]

In the book, Rosenthal and Trump follow the behind-the-scenes lobbying, resistance, and negotiating that preceded signing the National Cancer Act of 1971 into law, and how the cancer centers of today were realized and shaped how cancer research, clinical trials, and treatment would be conducted. They interview key opinion leaders and experts who, over the past 50 years - were eyewitnesses and participants in the War on cancer – experts who helped provide real hope for many patients and their families. [4]

References
[1] Verzoni E, Escudier B, Hutson TE, McDermott DF, Pal SK, Porta C, Rini BI, et al. TIVO-3: Durability of response and updated overall survival of tivozanib versus sorafenib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Abstract 4546; Presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held June 4 – 8, 2021.
[2] Pratz K, Jonas BA, Pullarkat V, Recher C, Schuh AC, Thirman MJ, Garcia JS, Dinardo CD, et al. Measurable residual disease response in acute myeloid leukemia treated with venetoclax and azacitidine. Abstract 7018; Presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held June 4 – 8, 2021.
[3] Pullarkat V, Pratz K, Dohner H, Recher C, Thirman MJ, Dinardo CD, Fenaux P, Schuh AC, et al. Venetoclax and azacitidine combination in chemotherapy ineligible untreated patients with therapy-related myeloid neoplasms, antecedent myelodysplastic syndromes, or myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms. Abstract 7011; Presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held June 4 – 8, 2021.
[4] Trump DL and Rosenthal ET. Centers of the Cancer Universe: A Half-Century of Progress Against Cancer Hardcover – Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (October 11, 2021) https://amzn.to/3uMV8Ri