ASCO, Author Interviews, Cancer Research, J&J-Janssen, NEJM, Prostate Cancer / 01.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Kim Chi. MD Professor of Medicine Medical Oncologist and Medical Director at BC Cancer – Vancouver University of British Columbia, Principal Investigator of the TITAN Study. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For more than 70 years, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been the standard of care therapy for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The Phase 3 TITAN study looked at adding apalutamide (®®®®) to ADT compared with placebo plus ADT in a broad group of patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC), regardless of disease volume or prior docetaxel treatment history. Metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer is prostate cancer that still responds to androgen deprivation therapy and has spread to other parts of the body. Patients with mCSPC tend to have a poor prognosis, with a median overall survival (OS) of less than five years, underscoring the need for new treatment options. The dual primary endpoints of this study were overall survival and radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS).  (more…)
ASCO, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Brigham & Women's - Harvard / 06.06.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Aditya Bardia  MD, MPH Assistant Professor, Medicine Harvard Medical School Attending Physician, Medical Oncology Massachusetts General Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/ and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer is the most common sub-type of breast cancer. While metastatic HR+/HER2- breast cancer is initially treated with endocrine therapy-based combinations, including CDK 4/6 inhibitors, patients eventually have disease progression, but the response rate to standard chemotherapy is low (~10-15 percent, post-taxane setting). In particular, patients with visceral disease have a poor prognosis. In this trial, we evaluated the efficacy of sacituzumab govitecan in patients with metastatic HR+/HER2- breast cancer, who had measurable disease and had received prior therapies for metastatic breast cancer. We observed an overall response rate of 31 percent in a heavily pre-treated population (prior number of therapies for metastatic breast cancer = 5; number of patients with prior CDK 4/6 inhibitor use = 69 percent). The responses were durable (median duration of response = 7.4 months). Neutropenia was the main adverse event noted (grade 3 neutropenia = 42 percent), and two patients (3.7 percent) discontinued the clinical trial due to adverse events. The response rate in patients with visceral metastaseswas 27 percent.  (more…)