ESMO Asia 2019

In India, nearly one in four unselected ovarian cancer patients present with germline pathogenic BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations, of whom 85 percent had no discernible family history of breast or ovarian cancer, according to a study presented at the recent 2019 Asia Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO Asia 2019).

Incorporating basic tumour characteristics, such as hormone receptor status and tumour origin, improves the power of the cell-loss metric to predict response to treatment, according to a new study presented at the recently concluded 2019 Asia Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO Asia 2019).

Pushing genetic counselling into the mainstream through nongenetics clinicians, such as oncologists, appears to improve the uptake of genetic testing in ovarian cancer in Malaysia and marginally reduce distress and cancer worry among patients, according to data from the MAGIC* study presented at the ESMO Asia 2019 Congress.

The combination of the PD-L1* inhibitor atezolizumab and the VEGF** inhibitor bevacizumab gains the upper hand over sorafenib in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to the results of the phase III IMbrave150*** trial presented at ESMO Asia 2019.

Adding pembrolizumab to platinum-based chemotherapy significantly improved survival and response to treatment compared with chemotherapy alone in the first-line setting for Chinese patients with metastatic, squamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the KEYNOTE-407* China Extension Study presented at the ESMO Asia 2019 Congress.

There appears to be no need for additional axillary surgery or radiotherapy in early breast cancer patients after surgical intervention, according to a new study presented at the recently concluded 2019 Asia Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO Asia 2019).

Hysterectomy appears to improve chemotherapy efficacy among low-risk patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, according to a recent study presented at ESMO Asia 2019. This combination of interventions is thus feasible for use in these patients.

Podcast: Associate Prof Pilar Garrido says osimertinib may be the best option in the first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC based on FLAURA OS results.

The ALK* inhibitor brigatinib maintained its superiority over crizotinib in the treatment of ALK+ non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the second interim results of the ALTA-1L** trial presented at ESMO Asia 2019.