The annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research was held this year from April 5 to 10 in San Diego, drawing approximately 19,000 participants from around the world, including scientists, cancer survivors, clinicians, allied health professionals, and industry professionals. The conference highlighted recent advances in the treatment, management, and prevention of cancer.
As part of the phase I/II PETRA multicenter clinical trial, Timothy A. Yap, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues found that saruparib, a selective inhibitor of poly-ADP ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1), is associated with favorable efficacy and safety among patients with certain homologous recombination repair (HRR)-deficient breast cancers.
The investigators evaluated the safety and efficacy of saruparib among 306 patients with previously treated HRR-deficient breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer. They found that saruparib demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile, with no unexpected safety findings. Adverse events leading to dose reduction or treatment discontinuation were infrequent and generally mild. Saruparib pharmacokinetics appeared to be linear and demonstrated robust target engagement. At the 60-mg once-daily dose, saruparib delivered promising efficacy, with deep and durable responses (overall response rate, duration of response, and median progression-free survival) observed in a heavily pretreated population of patients with breast cancer harboring HRR mutations (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, RAD51C, and RAD51D). In collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of Project Optimus, saruparib 60 mg once daily was established as the optimal recommended monotherapy dose to maximize efficacy and tolerability.
“Saruparib is a first-in-class, potent new-generation PARP inhibitor with high selectivity for PARP1. Saruparib has a wide therapeutic index, superior pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic properties, and efficacy compared with approved PARP inhibitors, and is conveniently administered as a once-daily dose,” Yap said. “The favorable safety profile of saruparib together with the low rate of dose reduction compared with approved PARP inhibitors may allow patients to remain on treatment longer at an optimal dose with superior drug exposures and maximal target engagement, which could lead to improved efficacy.”
The study was funded by AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of saruparib.
In another study, Edward Cliff, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues found that more than five years after a cancer drug goes through accelerated approval, more than half of drug-indication pairs have yet to demonstrate clinical benefit.
The authors performed a cohort study of cancer drugs granted accelerated approval from 2013 to 2017. The investigators found that 41 percent (19/46) did not improve overall survival or quality of life in confirmatory trials after more than five years of follow-up. Results were not yet available for another 15 percent (seven of 46). Among drugs converted to regular approval, 60 percent (29/48) of conversions relied on surrogate measures.
“Although accelerated approval can be useful, some cancer drugs do not end up demonstrating benefit in extending patients’ lives or improving their quality of life,” Cliff said. “Clinicians should consider and inform patients about the uncertainty of clinical benefit when offering novel cancer therapies.”
The study was funded by Arnold Ventures.
Ruiyi Tian, M.P.H., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues found that accelerated aging is becoming increasingly common in recent birth cohorts.
The authors aimed to identify potential reasons for the rise in incidence of early-onset cancers among recent birth cohorts. Data were leveraged from around 150,000 participants in the U.K. Biobank to answer two questions: (1) whether recent birth cohorts are experiencing more accelerated aging than previous birth cohorts and (2) whether accelerated aging is associated with early-onset cancers. The researchers found that the phenomenon of accelerated aging is becoming increasingly common in recent birth cohorts. This may serve as an independent risk factor or a biological mediator for various environmental and lifestyle risk factors, leading to early-onset cancer.
“At the current stage, more validation studies of our findings across diverse populations, as well as mechanistic investigations, are required before these insights can be applied in clinical settings,” Tian said. “However, it is imperative for recent generations to become more health conscious.”
AACR: At-Home HPV Testing Boosts Cervical Cancer Screening Participation
FRIDAY, April 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Mailed at-home self-sampling for human papillomavirus testing increases cervical cancer screening participation in underscreened populations by almost threefold, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.
AACR: Novel Personalized Vaccine Feasible for Head and Neck Cancer
TUESDAY, April 9, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The novel viral-based personalized cancer vaccine, TG4050, which encodes up to 30 patient- and tumor-specific sequences is feasible and safe for patients with resected head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.
AACR: Accelerated Aging Linked to Incidence of Early-Onset Cancer
TUESDAY, April 9, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Accelerated aging is increasing and is associated with an increased incidence of early-onset solid tumors, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.
AACR: Exosome-Based miRNA Assay Can Detect Pancreatic Cancer
MONDAY, April 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) — An exosome-based liquid biopsy assay can distinguish patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from healthy donors, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.
AACR: Little Benefit Seen for Cancer Drugs Given Accelerated Approval
MONDAY, April 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Most cancer drugs granted accelerated approval do not demonstrate clinical benefit, according to a study published online April 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.
AACR: Cadonilimab Plus Chemo Beneficial for Gastric Adenocarcinoma
MONDAY, April 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) — For patients with gastric/gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, cadonilimab plus chemotherapy is associated with improved overall survival and progression-free survival, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.
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