We're nearing the end of the five-day American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, the biggest cancer research conference in the world. More than 40,000 cancer doctors, researchers, pharmaceutical representatives, and patient advocates have spent the week in Chicago presenting and discussing the latest discoveries in how we treat and prevent cancer.
SurvivorNet has been staying on top of these discoveries, and we’re excited to share what we’ve learned with you. But before we do, it’s important to remember that there can be a delay of months or years between big cancer treatment announcements and the ability for patients themselves to access them. In other words, you probably won’t be able to start these treatments tomorrow.
Read MoreWhy we're excited about this: younger women with advanced breast cancerwho have not yet gone through menopausehave historically had more difficulty with their disease, which is usually more aggressive and harder to treat. But with women increasingly being diagnosed at a younger age, it's more important than ever that researchers focus on this group of young women.
2. Encouraging results for immunotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer
Updated results from an ongoing clinical trial called KEYNOTE-001 revealed that five years after beginning treatment with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda), 23.2 percent of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had not previously received other types of treatments were still alive.
Why we're excited about this: 23.2 percent of patients may not seem like that manyand we agree; doctors still have a long way to go to help every patient beat their lung cancer. But 23.2 percent is much higher than five percent, which was the rate of five-year overall survival for this specific lung cancer before the advent of immunotherapy.
3. New evidence that the stigma against people with lung cancer hasn't gone away
While we're on the topic of lung cancer, another study presented at ASCO revealed that more patients with lung cancer are experiencing a problematic stigma today than they were a decade ago. Seventy percent of people felt this stigma in 2018, compared with 54 percent in 2008.
Why we’re focusing on this: This stigma stems from the misconception that lung cancer is purely a "smoker's disease," and it can make people who are already going through a difficult time with their diagnoses feel like they're the ones at faultwhich is far from the case. Many patients also feel that the stigma affects the care they receivespecifically, more patients with lung cancer than in years past said they felt like they were treated differently by their doctors and nurses, and received less sympathy than those with other types of cancer. With one in 16 people in the U.S. diagnosed with lung cancer every year, there needs to be a greater effort to eliminate this stigma. The fact that oncologists recognized this need in a study at the ASCO meeting is at least a start.
4. PARP inhibitors can work in pancreatic cancer, too
Results from a phase III clinical trial called POLO showed that the PARP inhibitor drug olaparib (Lynparza) could extend the amount of time that patients with advanced pancreatic cancer could live without their cancer getting any worse (a measurement called "progression-free survival.") Lynparza was given after chemotherapy to a group of patients whose advanced pancreatic cancer tumors had BRCA gene mutations. Overall, the addition of Lynparza after chemo decreased the likelihood of the cancer coming back by 47 percent.
Why we're excited about this: In recent years, PARP inhibitors, which work by preventing cancer cells that have been damagedoften during the course of chemotherapyfrom naturally healing themselves, have shown significant promise in treating ovarian cancer and breast cancer. But the POLO study brings us evidence that the drugs can work in pancreatic cancer, toowhich is a difficult-to-treat cancer that has been overdue for some new, encouraging science.
5. Most women want to address their sexual health before cancer treatment
New evidence suggests that there is an unmet need for sexual health support for women going through cancer treatment. Specifically, 77 percent of women who were surveyed for this study felt that their oncologist should discuss sexual health, and 74 percent said they preferred information prior to treatment. Nearly a third of women in the study reported their relationship worsening because of cancer, and 97 percent attribute that worsening to less sexual activity.
Why this is on our radar: Sex simply isn't discussed enough in the context of cancerand when it is, the conversations aren't as transparent as they need to be. We've heard this from experts, patients, and survivors time and again. Now that this study lends some numeric proof to the issue, we hope to see some changes, like offering women access to helpful products and strategies, written education materials, medications and lubricants, personal counseling, sex therapy, and local/ web-based support groups.
6. Changes in healthcare laws have brought about progress in eliminating race-based cancer disparities
One of the many reasons that black people with cancer have worse outcomes in the U.S. than white people with cancer is that, after being diagnosed, timely treatment tends to be less available for minority patients. But according to a study based on thousands of electronic health records, U.S. states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act saw this race-based disparity in access to timely cancer treatment (within 30 days of diagnosis) jump from a difference of 4.8 percentage points to almost no difference at all.
Why we are paying close attention to this: This study was presented during a part of the ASCO conference called the "Plenary Session," where just four studies out of the thousands submitted to ASCO are highlighted as the most important developments in cancer care. In the past, these chosen studies have almost always focused on new drugs and new science. The fact that we're finally seeing the field choosing to make health disparities a top priority in research is encouraging. Of course, much, much more needs to be done to eliminate race-based disparities in cancer treatment. With the Affordable Care Act in a tumultuous state, and health care set up to be one of the focal points of the 2020 election, we will likely see policy playing an even bigger role in cancer care in the coming years.
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