The annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago highlighted the latest new molecules, methods of care, and innovations in cancer care.
As the show closed out, we checked in with our associates to see what they thought were the biggest news and trends of the show.
Medable SMEs at ASCO 2024Remote palliative care is equally effective in improving quality of life
In another win for telehealth services, a new study debuted at ASCO showing how video-based palliative care is as effective as in-person visits in improving patients' quality of life.
Joseph A. Greer, a psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, published the study alongside several co-authors in hopes of expanding access to this type of care.
The study notes, “National guidelines recommend the early integration of palliative and oncology care for patients with advanced cancer, given robust evidence showing that this care model improves quality of life (QOL) and other important outcomes. However, due to limited access and resources, most patients do not receive early palliative care (EPC) in the outpatient setting.”
AI innovations in Oncology
ASCO was ripe with announcements on the latest artificial intelligence (AI) advancements revolutionizing cancer care. ConcertAI showcased real-world results, including 3x faster AI clinical trial screening methods than manual medical record review.
Optellum unveiled its multimodal AI therapy guidance platform, which has shown promising results for optimizing curative lung cancer treatment. Their Virtual Nodule Clinic integrates natural language processing and imaging AI to enable early lung cancer detection by continuously analyzing patient CT scans and identifying at-risk individuals for follow-up.
Change Healthcare is launching an AI-powered lung cancer care solution suite to support clinicians and drive pharmaceutical/medical device innovation. The platform leverages AI to identify, measure, manage, and monitor lung cancer.
Artera presented studies demonstrating its multimodal AI platform's prognostic capabilities for prostate and breast cancer. Its AI test provides predictive insights to guide prostate cancer treatment.
With ASCO spotlighting novel AI applications, it's clear that artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing oncology and transforming how we combat cancer. From optimizing treatment selection to accelerating research, AI is emerging as a pivotal force driving improved patient outcomes worldwide.
New antibody makes waves with non-small cell lung cancer performance
Last week, a bispecific antibody made waves with a strong performance in a phase 3 clinical trial for non-small cell lung cancer.
The drug, ivonescimab, is a PD-1 x VEGF bispecific antibody. According to Summit Therapeutic's press release, ivonescimab significantly extended the progression-free survival (PFS) time of patients with positive PD-L1.
Excitement around a different type of tumor treatment
New research released at ASCO created a buzz around tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) as cancer treatments. TIL ( therapy is a type of cellular therapy that has gained attention for treating solid tumors like melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. It involves surgically removing a portion of the patient's tumor, isolating and expanding the T cells infiltrating the tumor (TILs) in the lab, and then infusing billions of those expanded TILs back into the patient.
In an article released pre-ASCO, the ASCO Post stated, “High levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes within the tumors of patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer may be associated with a lower risk of cancer recurrence and greater rate of survival, even without chemotherapy, according to a recent study published by Leon-Ferre et al in JAMA.”
FDA’s chief oncologist comments on single-country trial data
The Director of FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, Dr. Richard Pazdur, has noticed the recent trend of sponsors conducting trials in larger countries like China. Last week, the industry received data from a China-only study that showed remarkable effectiveness in treating lung cancer.
While only a comment, Dr. Pazdur noted at an ASCO Stat News session that each submission is assessed relative to its impact on U.S. populations and that he is “pro-multi-country trials.”
Medable releases Evidence and Insights on the effectiveness of digital and DCT technologies
On Monday, Medable released a compendium of research showcasing quantitative analysis on the impact of digital and decentralized trial technologies.
The compendium contains research from Duke University BASE Lab, Tufts CSDD, and others showing how participants are more likely to enroll in a trial that features digital components and the effectiveness of DCT in Phase 3 and 4 trials.
Additionally, the compendium contains a first-of-its-kind toolkit offering a common framework, set of tools, and best practices for IRB approval, as well as a roadmap outlining the ethical conduct of DCTs.
You can download a copy of Evidence and Insights here.
Miss us at ASCO? Don’t worry.
