Links to the ESMO/ELCC 2021 Press Releases and Oncology News

ESMO/ELCC HEADLINE: Second Drug Targeting KRAS G12C Shows Benefit in Mutated Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer [ELCC 2021 Virtual Press Release] 

Study title: KRYSTAL-1: Activity and Preliminary Pharmacodynamic (PD) Analysis of Adagrasib (MRTX849) in Patients (Pts) With Advanced Non–Small- Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Harboring KRASG12C Mutation

G.J. Riely, S-H.I. Ou, I. Rybkin, et al.

Authors Conclusions: Adagrasib is tolerable and has demonstrated clinical activity in pts with previously treated KRASG12C-mutant NSCLC. Additional PD and mechanistic data will be presented.

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ESMO/ELCC HEADLINE: Artificial Intelligence May Aid in the Discrimination of Radiation Pneumonitis from COVID-19-Associated Interstitial Pneumonia 

Study title: Radiation-induced pneumonitis in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: Artificial intelligence for differential diagnosis

Ramella S, Quattrocchi CC, Ippolito E, et al.

Authors Conclusions:  A deep-learning algorithm can help to discriminate radiation pneumonitis from COVID-19 pneumonia, and was able to classifying most radiation pneumonitis as low-risk COVID19. They advise that, in cases where patients treated with radiation therapy are classified as high risk, dosimetric factors should be taken into account.  They further recommend that, in cases where patients pretreated with radiotherapy and presenting with diffuse pneumonitis are classified by AI as COVID-19 high risk, a combination of dosimetric factors may help to identify radiation pneumonitis, such as an increase in positive predictive value from 60% to 99.8%.

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ESMO/ELCC HEADLINE: Many Patients with NSCLC Show Targetable Alterations in the PI3K Pathway

Study title: Clinical and molecular characteristics in non-small cell lung cancer patients with alteration in PIK3 pathway

Lage Y, Álvarez Ballesteros P, Olmedo García ME, et al.

Authors Conclusions:  Based on findings from this cohort, the authors concluded that alteration in the PI3K pathway is more frequent in male patients with NSCLC with smoking history.  Furthermore, alteration in the PI3K pathway is not mutually exclusive to other mutations, which underscores the relationship between pathways. They advise that clinical studies are needed to predict the potential clinical benefit from the use of PI3K pathway inhibitors in NSCLC.

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ESMO/ELCC HEADLINE: Rise in Brain Metastases Detected in Patients with Stage IV NSCLC During COVID-19 Pandemic

Study title: Incidence of brain metastases (BM) in newly diagnosed stage 4 NSCLC during COVID-19

Cui W, Milner-Watts C, Saith S, et al.

 

Authors Conclusions: During this period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of de novo brain metastases was higher at 39% in patients with stage IV NSCLC compared with historical rates of 25%, the investigators found.  In addition, many patients (35%) with brain metastases were asymptomatic.  These findings suggest that brain imaging should be considered in all patients with a new diagnosis of stage IV NSCLC. The investigators proposed that further study should be given as to whether early diagnosis and treatment of brain metastases affect survival.

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ESMO/ELCC HEADLINE: Prevalence of ALK Alterations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Determined

Study title: The landscape of ALK alterations in non-small cell lung cancer.

Desai A, Mohammed T, Rakshit S, et al.

Authors Conclusions: According to the authors, most ALK variants are described as variants of unknown significance (VUS), thus limiting the impact of precision oncology.  They found that ALK fusions occur in 2.6% of lung adenocarcinomas, with EML4 being the most common upstream partner. Meanwhile, G1202R mutations occur only among 0.07% of the ALK alterations.  The investigators also found that heat shock proteins and the Neuregulin-1 pathways may present additional opportunities for future combination targeted therapies in ALK-positive NSCLC. 

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Determination of the Incidence of Driver Mutations in Patients with NSCLC and Brain Metastases

Study title: Brain metastases in non-small cell lung cancer in era of molecularly driven therapy.

Rakshit S, Bansal R, Desai A, et al.

Authors Conclusions: The investigators noted that patients with NSCLC and driver mutations had a high incidence of brain metastasis at diagnosis.  In addition, contrary to historical controls, patients with molecular alterations showed favourable outcomes despite the presence or development of brain metastasis. The authors suggested that these outcomes could be due to the availability of potent active targeted drugs with good CNS penetration.