Peter Luo’s Post

I am excited to share a pivotal study published in Nature Medicine titled "Botensilimab plus balstilimab in relapsed/refractory microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer: a phase 1 trial." This research explores the combination therapy of botensilimab and balstilimab in treating heavily pre-treated patients with microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer (MSS mCRC). - **Predictive Factor of Response:** The site of metastases, specifically liver involvement, was identified as a significant predictive factor for therapy response. Patients without active liver metastases (NLM) demonstrated more favorable outcomes. - **Response Rates:** In patients with NLM, the objective response rate (ORR) was 22%, and the disease control rate (DCR) was 73%. Conversely, patients with active liver metastases (LM) had an ORR of 0% and a DCR of 25%. - **Safety Profile:** The combination therapy exhibited a manageable safety profile with no new immune-mediated safety signals. This study underscores the importance of considering the site of metastatic disease in predicting the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies. The findings suggest that patients with MSS mCRC without active liver metastases may benefit more from the combination of botensilimab and balstilimab. The results offer new hope for patients with MSS mCRC, a group that has historically shown poor response to ICB. The identification of liver metastases as a predictive factor could guide more personalized and effective treatment strategies. #CancerResearch #Immunotherapy #ColorectalCancer #ClinicalTrials #ScientificBreakthrough #Oncology #PersonalizedMedicine

Updated findings from the phase 2 RAMP 201 study indicate that the combination of avutometinib and defactinib showed positive overall response rates and progression-free survival in recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer. #gyncsm https://lnkd.in/ewadWrwh

Unveiling Links Between Body Composition and Colon Cancer Outcomes 🧬 #Oncology #MedicalResearch A pivotal study by Christina A Fleming, Emer O'Connell, Richard G Kavanagh, Donal P O'Leary, Maria Twomey, Mark A Corrigan, Jiang H Wang, Michael M Maher, Owen J O'Connor, Henry Redmond brings insights into colon cancer prognosis, focusing on the correlation between body composition and inflammation. 🔬 Study Insights: Examination of skeletal muscle area (SMA) and visceral to total fat ratio in patients with colon cancer. The findings reveal a connection between low SMA, high visceral fat, and adverse cancer outcomes. Increased proinflammatory cytokines and VEGF levels were associated with these body composition profiles. Earn 1.0 CME credits by exploring this comprehensive study. https://lnkd.in/gWAEnZGt #ColonCancerAwareness #HealthcareInnovation #CME

Check out the latest paper by PhD candidate Dr. Sumathy Perampalam from our Thyroid Cancer Research Group NSW Health Kolling Institute Medicine and Health - University of Sydney Association between lymphocytic thyroiditis and papillary thyroid cancer harboring mutant BRAF: a systematic review and meta-analysis | Thyroid®liebertpub.com - Our meta-analysis found that the prevalence of #PapillaryThyroidCancer (PTC) with #BRAFV600E mutation is significantly lower in the presence of lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT). This indicates a potential protective role of LT. - Patients with PTC and LT exhibit better prognostic features compared to those without LT, regardless of #BRAF status. This includes lower odds of larger tumour size, central neck nodal disease, extrathyroidal extension, and higher stage disease. - These findings suggest that LT may inhibit PTC with BRAFV600E. We are exploring this by single cell and spatial analysis, with help from the amazing Cellular Genomics Platform team Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and generously funded by the@NthSydHealth and NORTH Foundation Grants Program 🙏 - Understanding the immune response of PTC to LT could unlock new avenues for leveraging #immunotherapy in the treatment of advanced thyroid cancer. 🎯 💊

Great paper by stephanie van der leij ! Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are revolutionary in oncology but may cause immune-related (IR) side effects, such as hypophysitis. Treatment with anti-PD-(L)1, anti-CTLA-4 or anti-CLTA-4/PD-1 may induce hypophysitis, but little is known about the differences in clinical presentation or need for different treatment. She analyzed the differences of anti-PD-(L)1, anti-CTLA-4 and anti-CTLA-4/PD-1 induced hypophysitis and found the clinical presentation of IR-hypophysitis to vary depending on the type of ICIs. MRI abnormalities were only seen in anti-CTLA-4 or anti-CTLA-4/PD-1 induced hypophysitis. Endocrine recovery is seen for LH/FSH and TSH deficiency but not for ACTH deficiency, irrespective of the corticosteroid dose. These results emphasize the importance of surveillance of the endocrine system in patients with cancer. #cancer #adverseeffects #umcutrecht #endocrinology

I am thrilled and proud to see the CUPISCO study being published in The Lancet today. This research represents a major leap forward in truly personalised healthcare, leveraging #CGP (comprehensive genomic profiling) to tailor treatment to the unique genomic makeup of patients diagnosed with #CUP (cancer of unknown primary). ✅ CUPISCO is the largest interventional, randomised trial in CUP done to date, and the first study to show a survival benefit of molecularly guided therapy (MGT) over platinum-based chemotherapy. ✅ The results highlight that including early CGP by tissue-based or liquid-based testing, or both, and incorporation of molecular guided treatment into the treatment armamentarium significantly improve progression-free survival in patients with CUP. ✅ Use of tissue and liquid biopsies for CGP could be a practice-changing strategy in these patients by enabling more relevant treatment options, and will likely evolve in future. #PHC #oncology #CUP #CGP https://lnkd.in/e3CJ-uj6

Encouraging news from Exact Sciences! “…Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is quickly becoming one of the deadliest cancers, with over 80% of patients dying within five years of diagnosis. Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is the only known precursor to EAC and patients with BE have an increased risk of progressing to EAC if not caught early. Standard methods of screening can be invasive and costly for patients, which is why there has been a recent push to change the screening guidelines to include non-endoscopic tests,” said Prasad G. Iyer, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. “In collaborating with Exact Sciences, we are able to study the potential of a minimally invasive, non-endoscopic screening tool currently in development – in patients at higher risk for EAC…” RIP Albert & Levin #cancersucks #EAC #hope #earlydetection #ExactSciences

- Pancreatic cancer is a challenging disease often diagnosed late, but Mayo Clinic's research aims to detect it early for better outcomes. - Researchers track changes in body composition and metabolism to identify high-risk patients for selective screening. - Advanced algorithms measure changes in body fat, muscle, bone, and blood-based biomarkers to detect pancreatic cancer ➡️ Patients approaching diagnosis show reductions in visceral and subcutaneous fat, drops in serum lipids, and increased blood glucose levels. https://lnkd.in/eD4-EJ9b #cancer #cancerresearch #earlydetection #pancraeticcancer #screening #oncology #precisiononcology #prognosis #biomarker

Steven Itzkowitz, MD, discusses his research regarding the relative safety of immunosuppressive therapy to treat inflammatory bowel disease in patients who have a history of cancer. "Our research indicates that immunosuppressive therapy does not significantly increase the risk of cancer recurrence in IBD patients with a history of malignancy." #IBD #CancerResearch #Immunotherapy #Healthcare #MedicalResearch #PatientSafety Mount Sinai Department of Medicine https://lnkd.in/eHUAQBCS

While most oncology studies regarding exercise are fairly similar - they all conclude that you should exercise - this one has an interesting conclusion.  This trial, published in JCO, was a multicenter prospective cohort analysis that looked at the dose/exposure relationship between pre-treatment exercise and distant recurrence of breast cancer.  Exercise was measured using a questionnaire.  The authors found a dose/exposure plateau with pre-treatment exercise, with patients achieving no additional benefit to distant recurrence after reaching 5 hours of moderate exercise per week. The authors also found that exercise benefit was only shown in the hormone receptor negative patients, which conflicted with other studies in this area.  It's hard to make anything of these subgroup analyses, considering that other studies have come to different conclusions, but the data on the dose/exposure plateau is interesting.  Perhaps there is a point at which exercise will no longer have an additional antitumor effect. #breastcancer https://lnkd.in/eAK797yA