A non-invasive blood test may help to determine the most effective treatment for patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that has progressed or is intolerant to first-line imatinib. These results will be presented during the January 2023 session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Plenary Series.

State-run Medicaid insurance, expanded in 2014 as part of the Affordable Care Act, has resulted in decreased metastatic cancer incidence rates as well as decreased overall cancer mortality rates and averted over one thousand deaths due to cancer per year. About 12% of the improvements in cancer mortality were due to decreases in metastatic diagnoses, according to a study to be presented as part of the 2022 ASCO Quality Care Symposium. 

Substituting biosimilars, generics and clinically appropriate lower cost drugs for established, costlier drugs was shown to be an effective way to reduce the total cost of care, by 5% or so, while maintaining the quality of care for patients with cancer. Even small shifts towards lower cost drugs resulted in significant reductions in the total cost of care, according to a study to be presented as part of the 2022 ASCO Quality Care Symposium. 

Testing for pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) – genetic changes present from the time of conception, those that have been inherited – can help identify patients at risk for hereditary cancers. The role of PGVs in lung cancer has been underrecognized, largely due to the fact that it is mostly assumed to be caused by environmental factors such as cigarette smoking. A new study of patients with lung cancer, however, found that nearly 15% had PGVs, which means they and their family members are at an increased risk for other types of cancers. The results of the study will be presented during the ASCO Plenary Series session taking place August 16, 2022, at 3:00 PM (ET).  

Two targeted therapies, dabrafenib (Taflinar^®) plus trametinib (Mekinst^®), significantly increased the overall response rate compared to the standard-of-care chemotherapy combination of carboplatin plus vincristine in pediatric patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive low-grade gliomas. Secondary findings showed an improved clinical benefit rate and prolonged progression-free survival for dabrafenib plus trametinib compared to carboplatin plus vincristine, according to new research that will be presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

The use of autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) early in the course of treatment showed a significant 21.4-month gain in median progression-free survival in younger, newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients compared to patients who received chemotherapy without an initial transplant. No overall survival benefit has yet been seen using ASCT early compared to keeping it in reserve.

Use of high-dose ifosfamide (Ifex^®) was found to be superior for treating recurrent and primary refractory Ewing sarcoma compared to three other standard-of-care treatments that are used for the disease, according to research that will be presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.