New Cancer Treatments and Care to be Highlighted at 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting

Cancer specialists from UC San Francisco will present new findings at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world’s largest clinical cancer research meeting.

Taking place in Chicago from June 2 to 6, 2017, ASCO is expected to draw more than 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world to discuss key advances and groundbreaking research in cancer. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Making a Difference in Cancer Care with You.”

“As is evident from the breadth and depth of the research being presented at this year’s ASCO, UCSF is home to many of the world’s finest oncology scientists and clinicians,” said Alan Ashworth, PhD, FRS, president of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. “As an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, UCSF is recognized for our outstanding science, extensive resources, depth and breadth of our research in basic, clinical and population sciences, as well as cutting-edge research that bridges these scientific areas.”

Here are some of the leading presentations from UCSF:

Saturday, June 3, 3-4:15 p.m. (CDT)

Collin M. Blakely, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine, and Trever G. Bivona, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, and their team are presenting findings into the evolution and clinical impact of genomic alterations detectable in circulating tumor DNA of 1,150 lung cancer patients. The Bivona lab uses the tools of precision medicine to improve the molecular diagnosis and targeted therapy of patients with solid cancers, including lung cancer. Poster discussion session.

Sunday, June 4, 8-11:30 a.m. (CDT)

Hope S. Rugo, MD, director of the UCSF Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education Program, is the principal investigator on multiple clinical trials focusing on combining novel targeted therapeutics to improve the treatment of early and late stage breast cancer. This session is to share findings from a phase 3 study assessing the effectiveness and safety of alpelisib plus fulvestrant in men and postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer that progressed on or after aromatase inhibitor treatment. Poster session.

Monday, June 5, 8–11:30 a.m. (CDT)

Mallika Sachdev Dhawan, MD, a clinical fellow at the UCSF School of Medicine, and Pamela N. Munster, MD, director of the UCSF Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit and leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program, are leading a phase 1 study of carboplatin and talazoparib in patients with and without DNA repair mutations. The trial is studying the side effects and the best dosage of talazoparib when given together with carboplatin and paclitaxel in treating patients with solid tumors that have spread to other places in the body or cannot be removed by surgery. Poster session.

Monday, June 5, 9:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. (CDT)

Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, director of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, and colleagues will present the latest results from the I-SPY 2 trial concerning the use of pembrolizumab plus standard neoadjuvant therapy for high-risk breast cancer patients. The drug has been used in I-SPY 2, a multicenter, phase 2 trial that evaluates novel neoadjuvant therapies. Oral abstract session.

Monday, June 5, 1:15–4:15 p.m. (CDT)

Lawrence Fong, MD, co-leader of the UCSF Cancer Immunotherapy Program, and his team will report on the results of a trial on the safety, effectiveness and optimal dosages of adenosine A2a receptor antagonist, CPI-444, in anti-PD1/PDL1 treatment-refractory renal cell and non-small cell lung cancer patients. Fong’s lab focuses on how the immune system interacts with cancer, and explores tumor immunotherapies in mouse models and in patients. Oral abstract session.

Monday, June 5, 1:15–4:45 p.m. (CDT)

Thomas Hope, MD, an assistant professor of radiology at UCSF, and Peter R. Carroll, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the Department of Urology, are leading a study on the effect of GA-68 PSMA-11 PET on management in patients with recurrent prostate cancer. PET imaging of prostate specific membrane antigen has been shown to have a higher sensitivity compared to conventional imaging. Poster session.

UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland, and other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the Bay Area.