With the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference now underway, oncology researchers can expect potentially practice-changing data in head and neck and lung cancer and key updates on hot modalities.
The American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference is in full swing, with Merck, GSK and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center presenting new data for oncology cornerstones Keytruda and Jemperli.
Meanwhile, AACR CEO Margaret Foti closed the event’s opening ceremony with a rare condemnation of the Trump administration’s science and health policy moves since January, STAT News reported.
Stay tuned to BioSpace as we keep you updated on all of the biggest data and news as the conference continues this week.
Updated: April 28, 8:00 CST/9:00 a.m. EST
GSK’s Jemperli Eliminates Need for Surgery in dMMR Locally Advanced Cancers
Phase II results presented Sunday showed that GSK’s PD-1 inhibitor Jemperli can trigger complete tumor clearance in patients with locally advanced, mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) cancers, regardless of tumor type.
These data, published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that Jemperli could eliminate the need for surgery in these patients.
Sunday’s findings come from 103 patients with stage II-III resectable dMMR cancers: 49 with rectal cancer and 54 with nonrectal solid tumors such as gastroesophageal and genitourinary cancers. After treatment with Jemperli, all 49 patients with rectal cancer showed a clinical complete response and decided to forego surgical operation. Of these, 37 sustained their response levels through 12 months of follow-up.
Meanwhile, 35 patients with other cancer types reached clinical complete response, of whom 33 chose non-surgical management. Overall, 84 patients across both cohorts achieved complete response, 82 of whom decided to skip surgery.
Boehringer Ingelheim Touts Over 70% NSCLC Response Rate for Zongertinib
Boehringer Ingelheim’s investigational HER2 tyrosine kinase blocker zongertinib elicited a 71% objective response rate in certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the Phase III Beamion LUNG-1 trial, according to a Monday readout.
The study focused on patients with advanced disease harboring HER2 mutations. Results showed that 7% of patients achieved complete treatment response, indicating no signs of disease. Partial response was 64%, while disease control rate was 96%. Median progression-free survival was 12.4 months.
Of note, zongertinib also demonstrated intracranial activity in 27 previously-treated patients with brain metastasis. In this subgroup, the candidate hit a response rate of 41% and a disease control rate of 81%.
Zongertinib was also safe overall in Beamion LUNG-1, with no drug-related instances of interstitial lung disease, cardiotoxicity or deaths. Adverse events grade 3 or higher were infrequent, and the most common side effect was diarrhea.
Boehringer Ingelheim filed its drug application for zongertinib in February, winning the FDA’s Priority Review designation. A decision is expected in the third quarter.
