Researchers from SWOG Cancer Research Network, a cancer clinical trials group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), will give 29 presentations at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world's largest clinical cancer research meeting, which runs May 31-June 4 in Chicago.
At ASCO 2019, SWOG investigators will report on 16 group-led trials, one jointly-led study, and another 12 involving partners. Presentation topics illustrate SWOG's wide-ranging portfolio, with talks and posters on treatment or prevention of bladder, breast, colorectal, lung, pancreatic, prostate, and rare cancers, as well as melanoma and multiple myeloma. SWOG investigators will make a particularly strong showing in symptom control, survivorship, and quality of care trials.
"Some of our best work focusing on quality of life and quality of care issues is being presented at ASCO," said SWOG Chair Charles D. Blanke, MD. "From text messaging to financial toxicity, this work is innovative and relevant - and it will have a major, positive impact on cancer research, cancer care, and patients with cancer."
Here are SWOG highlights at ASCO 2019:
A member of the NCI's National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), SWOG collaborates on trials with its network partners. One of those multi-group studies, Trial Assigning IndividuaLized Options for Treatment (Rx), or TAILORx, captured international attention at last year's ASCO meeting. TAILORx was designed and managed by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group and is the largest adjuvant breast cancer treatment trial ever conducted. This year, the TAILORx presentation will focus on clinical risk of breast cancer recurrence, and whether it, along with the 21-gene recurrence score, will help physicians select the best treatments. SWOG investigators Daniel Hayes, MD, a former ASCO president from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Kathy Albain, MD, the Huizenga Family Endowed Chair in Oncology Research at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, are on the TAILORx team.
###
SWOG was founded in 1956, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, making it part of the oldest and largest publicly-funded cancer research network in the United States. SWOG has over 12,000 members in 47 states and six countries who design and conduct cancer prevention and treatment trials. SWOG trials have led to the approval of 14 cancer drugs, changed more than 100 standards of cancer care, and saved more than 3 million years of human life. Learn more at swog.org .