At the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meetingthe world’s largest cancer conference, doctors, scientists and researchers shared new findings about ways to tackle the disease.
The event in Chicago, which was attended by some 44,000 health professionals, featured more than 200 sessions focused on this year’s theme, The Art and Science of Cancer Care: From Comfort to Healing. Here is a summary of the key studies.
NHS launches world-first cancer vaccine trial scheme
After decades in development, cancer vaccines are now showing signs of effectiveness and potential to help patients stave off the disease for good.
The world’s first personalized mRNA cancer vaccine for melanoma halve the risk of patients dying or the disease returningaccording to trial results that doctors describe as “extremely impressive”.
Patients who received the vaccine after a stage 3 or 4 melanoma was removed had a 49% lower risk of dying or having the disease recur after three years, data presented at the conference showed.
A second trial found cancer vaccines can significantly improve survival for breast cancer patients after surgery.
Meanwhile, with more vaccine trials starting worldwide, the NHS announced this thousands of patients in England will be fast tracked in the studies as part of a world-first “matchmaking” scheme, called the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.
Under the scheme, patients will have immediate access to clinical trials for vaccines that experts say represent a new beginning in cancer treatments.
Hodgkin lymphoma heals more effectively with treatment mixture
Results of a phase 3 trial showed that a treatment combination of six therapies, BrECADD, was more effective and caused fewer side effects than the standard chemotherapy regimen, BEACOPP.
After four years, progression-free survival (PFS), the amount of time patients live without the disease growing or spreading, was 94.3% for BrECADD and 90.9% for BEACOPP.
Overall survival, which indicates how many patients are alive after treatment, was 98.5% for BrECADD and 98.2% for BEACOPP. Most important are people in the BrECADD group had a 34% lower risk of disease progression than those in the BEACOPP group.
The most common side effects were abnormal blood cell counts. The researchers found that serious blood-related side effects occurred in 31% of people in the BrECADD group and 52% of people in the BEACOPP group.
Tests predict prostate cancer risk and breast cancer recurrence more accurately
Delegates were briefed on two new tests which aim to provide an early warning sign for two of the world’s most common cancers.
The first, for prostate cancer, involves a DNA sample tested with a simple spit test. Test results suggest it is more accurate than standard tests. It works by looking for genetic signals in the saliva that are linked to prostate cancer.
The second, a blood test, predicts the risk of breast cancer returning three years before tumors appear on scans. The breakthrough could help more women beat the disease permanently.
AI can help encourage people to undergo cancer screening
A study evaluating the use of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based patient navigation tool showed promise in helping patients in underserved communities schedule and receive cancer screening if they missed or skipped previous appointments.
The study involved 2,400 patients at a cancer center in the Bronx, New York, where most people were from ethnic minority communities and low-income households, and many were born outside the US. It used MyEleanor, a virtual patient navigation tool that initiated personalized, AI-based conversations with patients.
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More than half of the patients (57%) were involved in MyEleanor. Of those engaged, 58% accepted a transfer to a human patient navigator to reschedule a colonoscopy.
Researchers have concluded that the tool can help reduce the bowel cancer inequalities experienced by people in these communities.
Drugs melt bowel tumors, stop lung cancer from progressing, stop breast cancer from spreading
Several drugs have shown exciting results in fighting cancer. An immunotherapy drug, pembrolizumab, that “melts away” tumors. dramatically increase the chances of curing some bowel cancers and may even replace the need for surgery, doctors said.
Giving the drug before surgery instead of chemotherapy led to a huge increase in patients being declared cancer-free, a clinical trial found.
Meantime, 60% of patients diagnosed with advanced forms of lung cancer who took lorlatinib were still alive five years later with no progression in their disease, data presented at the conference showed. The rate was 8% in patients treated with a standard drug, found the trial.
Doctors considered the trial results “off the chart”.and says the drug has stopped lung cancer from progressing longer than any other treatment in medical history.
A third study found the drug Enhertu reduces the risk of cancer spreading in patients with HER2-low breast cancer by 38% compared to those who received chemotherapy.
Doctors also said weight loss drugs have provided a new weapon in the global fight against cancerwith “enormous potential” to prevent new cases and shrink tumors after research showed the jabs could reduce the risk of developing the disease by a fifth.
Cancer survivors who try to conceive can successfully conceive and give birth
Early onset cancer was a key focus of discussion in Chicago. One study showed rates of younger people developing the disease in the UK have risen by 24% in two decades, a sharper increase than any other age group.
The trend has sparked a renewed interest in fertility: preserving the ability to conceive is often important to young people diagnosed with cancer. Certain treatments, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, can have a temporary or permanent impact on a person’s fertility.
Researchers looked at long-term pregnancy and birth outcomes for breast cancer survivors trying to conceive after treatment. They found most patients (73%) who tried to have a baby after treatment got pregnant at least once.
