CancerNetwork®’s Week in Review: May 10, 2021

Each Monday, CancerNetwork® highlights the most important content from the previous week in oncology news.

The top articles from last week feature the FDA’s recent accelerated approval for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus trastuzumab (Herceptin) to treat HER2-positive gastric cancers. A journal ONCOLOGY® article focusing on a transitional disease state in prostate cancer that was featured in the latest episode of “Oncology Peer Review On-The-Go” rounds out the recap headlines.

Focal Ablation Technique for Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer Continues to Show Safety

The NanoTherm therapy system for focal ablation of intermediate-risk prostate cancer continued to show a tolerable safety profile in a recent analysis.

The aim of the therapy is to spare patients from receiving definitive treatments, such as surgery or whole gland radiation, which are associated with high toxicity rates and implication of surrounding healthy tissue. Upon FDA approval, the procedure will allow for treatment to be completed in a single day.

Francesco Ravera, MD, PhD, on How cfDNA for pCR Assessment May Spare Biopsies in Breast Cancer

CancerNetwork® spoke with Francesco Ravera, MD, PhD, during the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021 to discuss how results of a study aimed at determining pathological complete response in patients with locally advanced breast cancer by cell-free DNA may spare certain patients from needing further biopsies.

SNLB, Radiotherapy Do Not Improve Outcomes in Older Patients With Breast Cancer

Recent guidelines have advised against routine use of sentinel lymph node biopsy and radiotherapy in patients over age 70 years with breast cancer, but a new study finds most patients still receive the interventions.

The report, published in JAMA Network Open, underscores the difficult choices patients and their doctors face when deciding which interventions, if any, to undertake. It also suggests patients and physicians are choosing to undertake interventions more often than is clinically meaningful.

FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Pembrolizumab/Trastuzumab Combination for HER2+ Gastric/GEJ Cancers

Based on response data from a randomized phase 3 trial, the FDA granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab plus trastuzumab and chemotherapy for the treatment of HER2-positive gastric tumors.

The decision is supported by data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-811 trial, which examined trastuzumab plus chemotherapy and either pembrolizumab or placebo as therapy for patients with HER2-positive gastric cancer.

Focus on Transitional Disease: A Critical Interval to Delay Progression of Prostate Cancer

ONCOLOGY® editorial board member E. David Crawford, MD, and colleagues, propose a new model for guiding the treatment of prostate cancer that focuses on a “transitional state,” which occurs during the interval of progression to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

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