"SWOG always brings an impressive portfolio of work to the ASCO annual meeting," said SWOG Chair Charles D. Blanke, MD, "and this year I'm particularly excited about the research our investigators are presenting because it includes results that are likely to be practice-changing."
Investigators will present 12 abstracts from SWOG-led or co-led studies and 11 abstracts from studies led by other groups within the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN).
Results from S1216 will be presented orally by study chair Neeraj Agarwal, MD, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. S1216 compared androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) combined with TAK-700 to the standard treatment of ADT with bicalutamide in patients who had metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. The study found that adding TAK-700 to ADT lengthened median progression-free survival in these patients and improved prostate-specific antigen response. The combination did not, however, significantly lengthen median overall survival, though it is worth noting that the median overall survival seen in the control arm was higher than has been reported in other recent phase 3 trials in this setting (abstract 5001).
Kenneth Grossmann, MD, PhD, also of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, will give an oral presentation of S1404 results. S1404 tested pembrolizumab against therapies that were the standard of care at the start of the trial--either high-dose interferon or ipilimumab--in patients with high-risk resected melanoma. The drug significantly lengthened relapse-free survival in these patients, although it did not provide a statistically significant improvement in overall survival. The safety profile of pembrolizumab was more favorable than that of either ipilimumab or high-dose interferon in this patient population. Notably, the overall outcomes of patients on this trial were substantially better than what was predicted when the study was designed, likely due to the widespread availability of better therapies in the metastatic setting. This is good news for patients with melanoma (abstract 9501).
Here are highlights from some of the other SWOG work to be presented at ASCO 2021.
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Studies S1216, S1404, S0809, S1200, S1505, S1605, S1800A, and S1900A are sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, led by SWOG, and conducted by the NIH-funded National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN).
S1216 was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA180888, CA180819, CA180820, and CA180821 and in part by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd).
S1404 was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA180888, CA180819, CA180820, and CA180863 and in part by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc.
S0809 was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA180888 and CA180819.
S1200 was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA189974 and CA37429 and by the NIH Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the Office of Research on Women's Health AT006376.
S1505 was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA180888 and CA180819.
S1605 was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA180888, CA180819, CA180820, CA180821, and CA180863 and in part by Roche/Genentech, which supplied atezolizumab and funding.
S1800A was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA180888, CA180819, and CA180821; the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health; and in part by Eli Lilly and Company and MSD International GmbH.
S1900A was funded by the NIH/NCI through grants CA180888, CA180819, CA180821, and CA180863; the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health; and in part by Clovis Oncology, Inc.
SWOG Cancer Research Network is part of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, and is part of the oldest and largest publicly funded cancer research network in the nation. SWOG has nearly 12,000 members in 47 states and seven foreign countries who design and conduct clinical trials to improve the lives of people with cancer. 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 .