Showing posts with label Gynecologic cancer research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gynecologic cancer research. Show all posts

Friday, July 14, 2023

July 12, 2023 Gyn Cancer Research News

At this month’s chat, the #gyncsm community discussed gynecologic cancer research presented at the #SGOmtg and #ASCO23 meetings. We had eleven participants and you may find the transcript HERE and additional analytics HERE.

Below are some responses to our topic questions.

T1: What #SGOMtg presentations did you find most interesting? [Acronym buster: SGO = Society of Gynecologic Oncology]

T2: Which #ASCO23 studies do you think may be of most interest to patients? [Acronym buster: ASCO = American Society of Clinical Oncology]

T3: In the last year, have there been any practice-changing gyn cancer studies patients should know about? (cervical, endometrial/uterine, ovarian. vaginal, vulvar, or other)

T4: What are some of the "hot topics" in gynecologic cancer research currently?

T5: Both #ASCO23 and #SGOmtg held sessions on disparity and equity in cancer care. What was highlighted and how can we work to decrease disparities in gynecologic cancer care?

  • We can point out all the voices that are missing from conversations. 
  • It also feels like we've been talking about disparity and equity for years, but I do see more and more studies taking deep dives and it is great to see gyn-specific studies that are fully about disparities or at least have incorporated it into the research. #gyncsm
  • Disparity and Equity are complicated to study, but it is entirely possible to not only study but design practical interventions to address. It can seem daunting but when we include more voices we can go far
  • Should we treat Pacific Islanders the same as Asian population? https://twitter.com/dholakiamd/status/1640733888988213258

T6: Cancer drug shortages were highlighted at both #SGOMtg and #ASCO23. What resources for health care providers and patients are available?


Note there is no #gyncsm chat in August. Stay tuned for information about our next chat which will be held in September during Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month / Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.



See you in September,

Dee and Christina
Co-Moderators

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Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Gyn Cancer Research News - July 12, 2023


We are happy to once again be sharing the latest Gynecologic Cancer Research News as we cover studies from this year's #SGOmtg and #ASCO23 Annual Meetings. Join us on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at 8pm ET (7pm CT, 5pm PT) as we discuss findings that may impact how gynecologic cancers are treated in the future.

We will discuss topics in gyn cancer research presented at both meetings, presentations that oncologists and patients who attended found most interesting, which research may make the greatest impact on patient lives, and cancer equity topics. What studies were of most interest to you - Gynecologic cancer screening, treatment and research with regard to antibody drug conjugates? PARP inhibitors? Immunotherapy? We will also touch on the impact of drug shortages on patients and on clinical trials.

The Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer (SGO)
News Round-up from Cancer Network: https://www.cancernetwork.com/conference/sgo

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting
GYN Cancer News from Cancer Network: https://www.cancernetwork.com/clinical/gynecologic-cancer

We'll use the following topic prompts (T#) to guide our discussion:
T1: What #SGOMtg presentations did you find most interesting?

T2: Which #ASCO23 studies do you think may be of most interest to patients?

T3: In the last year, have there been any practice-changing gyn cancer studies patients should know about? (cervical, endometrial/uterine, ovarian. vaginal, vulvar, or other)

T4: What are some of the "hot topics" in gynecologic cancer research currently?

T5: Both #ASCO23 and #SGOmtg held sessions on disparity and equity in cancer care. What was highlighted and how can we work to decrease disparities in gynecologic cancer care? 

T6: Cancer drug shortages were highlighted at both #SGOMtg and #ASCO23. What resources for health care providers and patients are available?

(Bonus if time) T7: Are there recent studies surrounding palliative care, survivorship, and psychosocial research that could help gyn cancer survivors?

We hope to see you on Wednesday July 12th! 

Dee and Christina 
Co-founders #gyncsm 
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Wednesday, June 9, 2021

June 9, 2021 Gyn Cancer Research News - #SGOmtg & #ASCO21

This month we discussed the latest research news from the 2021 SGO Annual Meeting and the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting . Both meetings were once again held virtually due to the Covid -19 pandemic. 

Twenty-two participants discussed a variety of research studies presented at the two meetings. You may find the complete transcript here and the analytics here. 

Here are some highlighted answers to our questions. 

T1: 
What #SGOMtg presentations did you personally find of most interest?
Anything practice-changing to note?
T2: 
There was a session at #SGOmtg entitled "Time to Return to the Drawing Board: Learning From Negative Trials." 
What are "negative" trials and what are some key take-aways?  
  • T2 I think hearing about treatments that are tried yet don't give the results the researchers expect are still valuable to hear about. 
  • T2 hard to hear about Negative trials. We learn what not to do; however, it’s disheartening for those in treatment.owed general ovarian screening over time not effective. Hard to learn but glad for these studies. 
  • T2 #SGOMtg Phase II Durvalumab (anti-PDL1)& Tremelimumab (anti-CTLA4) Administered in Combo versus Sequentially for the Treatment of Recurrent HGSOC No diff between arms in PFS  - Clear cell histology should be examined
  • In #sarcoma, the olaratumab trial failed to reach its goals. But it did spur a lot of thinking on trial design.
T3: 
Which #ASCO21 studies do you think may be of most interest to patients?
  • ASCO Abstracts link https://t.co/PlP2JFRsQZ ] #gyncsm
  • T3- definitely a theme of more is not always better. Longer duration of bevacizumab in upfront maintenance did not improve survival in #OvarianCancer 
  • From #ASCO21 I saw diversity and patient voice being highlighted in what seemed to be genuine ways. Long way to go but nice to see. The study about helping "light up" tumor so it can be removed looked fascinating.
  • We evaluated the wee1 inhibitor adavosertib alone or in combination with olaparib in women w #PARPi resistant #OvarianCancer - we saw activity in both arms including disease shrinkage and disease stabilization for >4 months. Many women have stayed on for >a year! 
  • Pafolacianine Sodium injection (OTL38) agent lit up tumors with an overexpression of folate receptor alpha so surgeon could remove.
  • T3 I was excited about a novel GEM vaccine every 4 weeks as maintenance, 91 patients Gem well tolerated. Benefit for Homologous Recombination proficient patients
  • A3: There were so many negative trials this year! But knowing that interventions cause harm without benefit (adding chemo in cx cancer, immunotherapy to ov cancer) is incredibly important to guide future therapies.  
  • This study by @Carisls was important at #ASCO21 for differentiating uterine #leiomyosarcoma from LMS elsewhere in the body. 
  • At #ASCO21, there was continued discussion on PARP inhibitors for (some) women with uterine #leiomyosarcoma. Also, the addition of temozolomide seemed promising. 

T4: 
What are some of the "hot topics" in gynecologic cancer research currently ( PARPs, cytoreductive surgery, immunotherapy, other)? What is still up for debate that patients/survivors/advocates should be aware of?
  • T4 I’m wanting more patients eligible for trials. We, as advocates, need to question this, particularly when we are on trial teams. 
  • From the plenary session #ASCO21 cervical Cancer study - OUTBACK showed that adjuvant chemotherapy added to standard chemoradiation therapy did not improve survival outcomes for women with locally advanced cervical cancer. 
T5:
Are there recent studies surrounding palliative care, survivorship, and psychosocial research that could help gyn cancer survivors? 
  • Different patients feel differently about scans, tumor markers, surveillance (some patients even like getting pelvic examinations!). What's most important is that communication is good so that you can land on a plan that works for patient and healthcare team. 
  • T5 There is this study by @DrAttai presented at ASCO. - Patient preferences for survivorship care #ASCO21 abstr 12064 w/ @DrN_CancerPCP @subatomicdoc @BZavaletaMD meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/200314/…
  • #gyncsm - There was an SGO study around neuropathy " Lauren Thomaier presents Genetic variants predictive of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms in gynecologic cancer survivors at #SGOMtg Fantastic work to identify patients most at risk of CIPN! Very important! "
T6
Both #ASCO21 and #SGOmtg held sessions on disparities in gynecologic cancer care. What was highlighted and how can we work to decrease disparities?
  • T6. Black women are more likely to get uterine sarcomas, compared with other racial/ethnic groups. Sarcomas tend to be more aggressive than endometrial carcinoma. But advocates can't seem to get any help in outreach. 
  • T6 Social Determinants, Not Biology: Time to Reappraise Genetics-Based Theories of Racial/Ethnic Cancer Outcome Disparities #ASCO21 #gyncsm Dr Ford: Biological Association of obesity and cancer. SC case I-95 corridor case study most residents are black, > poverty> Cancer rates
  • The first step is admitting that there is a problem which is why I was so glad to see inequities highlighted. We can ask questions of our healthcare systems, and advocate for our healthcare boardrooms to look like the waiting room... 

T7: 
For remaining time, please feel free to ask questions about or highlight other recent research you find of interest. What studies are on the horizon? What areas would you like to see more research?
  • T7: cancer treatment is very expensive. Are there any resources available for those who want to partake in a clinical trial out of state & cannot afford the “room & board” expense? 
  • People need to include #RareCancers in their discussions of #inequity. In gyn #sarcoma, we have less money for research, fewer experts, and less patient support.
  • t7: the research regarding early detection not improving survival is disheartening. I was under the impression that when it is caught early, you have a better chance of long term survival?!
  • I’d like to see more Data related to helping patients access trials outside their cancer center.

Note there will be no #gyncsm chat in July. Save the date for our next chat Wed, Aug 11, 2021 at 8pmET (new time for 2021) when we’ll discuss “Cancer Myths”.

Have a wonderful July!

Dee and Christina


Resources:

 
 

Adjuvant Chemotherapy Fails to Improve PFS and OS in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer https://www.onclive.com/view/adjuvant-chemotherapy-fails-to-improve-pfs-and-os-in-locally-advanced-cervical-cancer
 
Oncology Nursing Society https://www.ons.org/
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Thursday, June 3, 2021

Gyn Cancer Research News - #SGOmtg - #ASCO21

 

It is our pleasure to once again share with our community the latest gyn cancer research news from the SGO Annual Meeting (#SGOmtg) and the ASCO Annual Meeting (#ASCO21). SGO is the Society for Gynecologic Oncology and ASCO is the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Both of their annual meetings were once again held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On June 9, 2021 at 8pm ET (7pm CT, 5PM PT), we invite you to join us as we review some of the latest research and discussions related to gynecologic cancer screening, treatment and research.  We may touch upon secondary surgery, PARP inhibitors, immunotherapy, rare ovarian cancer treatments, early detection and trials with negative results. Each annual meeting has/had several sessions on disparities in the treatment of gyn cancer which we will include in our topic questions. 

We will use these topic questions to guide our discussion

T1: 
What #SGOMtg presentations did you personally find of most interest?
Anything practice-changing to note?

T2: 
There was a session at #SGOmtg entitled "Time to Return to the Drawing Board: Learning From Negative Trials." 
What are "negative" trials and what are some key take-aways?   

T3: 
Which #ASCO21 studies do you think may be of most interest to patients?

T4: 
What are some of the "hot topics" in gynecologic cancer research currently ( PARPs, cytoreductive surgery, immunotherapy, other)? What is still up for debate that patients/survivors/advocates should be aware of?

T5:
Are there recent studies surrounding palliative care, survivorship, and psychosocial research that could help gyn cancer survivors? 

T6: 
Both #ASCO21 and #SGOmtg held sessions on disparities in gynecologic cancer care. What was highlighted and how can we work to decrease disparities?

T7: 
For remaining time, please feel free to ask questions about or highlight other recent research you find of interest. What studies are on the horizon? What areas would you like to see more research?

We look forward to having you join us. 


Dee and Christina

Co-founders #gyncsm Twitter Community

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Wednesday, July 8, 2020

July 8, 2020 - Gyn Cancer Research News and Reading Scientific Posters Chat

This month's chat was organized in two parts. During the first part we discussed gynecologic cancer study results presented at this year's virtual ASCO meeting. During the second part we welcomed Kimberly Richardson @KDRichardson924, creator of the Survivors Advising Scientists Educational Program (SASEP), as well as the SASEP Program presenters @UICMSTP, graduate students Benjamin Gordon, Tova Bergsten and Casey Blaha from the University of Illinois at Chicago as they shared with our community How to Read Scientific Posters using two posters from the virtual ASCO Annual Meeting. We had 26 participants and 1.7 million impressions. You may read the transcript here and the analytics here. 

Some highlights of the chat are provided below. 


T1: Whether or not a woman should have a second surgery for ovarian cancer continues to be debated. What does the most recent research suggest and what do women need to consider?
  • Two presentations at #ASCO20 - Complete Cytoreductive surgery is crucial in improving outcomes (Desktop III and SOC Studies) Patients with surgery and incomplete resection had worse outcomes (median 28.8 months). https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/185438/abstract
  • Three trials have looked at this question all with slightly different patient enrollment in different environments. To distill the results the decision for secondary cytoreduction for women with #ovariancancer comes down to careful patient selection.

T2: PARP inhibitors took center stage again in the care of women with ovarian cancer. With one study reaching its goal and one that did not, what do women need to know?
  • The final overall survival (OS) results from SOLO2/ENGOT-ov21 maintenance olaparib study showed an improvement of 12.9 months in median OS vs placebo. 1/2
  • These patients all had germline BRCA mutations and only 38% of the patients receiving placebo went on to receive a parp later. This leaves HUGE questions about the sequencing and timing of parp inhibitors for women with #ovariancancer.
  • 2/2 A phase III PARP study compared olaparib to cediranib /olaparib to standard platinum chemo (SOC) in recurrent platinum-sensitive #ovca . Cediranib /olaparib demonstrated similar activity to SOC in relapsed platinum -sensitive ovca but did not meet the primary endpoint of improved progression free survival.
In other news from ASCO, the #gyncsm community had an online #ASCO2020 abstract: Abstract e14113 Social media and gynecologic cancers: The impact of Twitter https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/187383/abstract .

Note: In the coming months, we’ll have the chance to discuss more gyn cancer research as we chat about endometrial cancer (Aug 12) and rare ovarian cancers (Sept 9). 

Moving on to the Survivors Advising Scientists Educational Program (SASEP) . 

T3: What is the "Survivors Advising Scientists Educational Program”? What led to its development?
Survivors Advising Scientists is a program initiative I [Kimberly Richardson] developed while participating in NCCS ELEVATE Ambassador Program last year.


T4: What topics do the SASEP modules cover? Where can patients go to learn more about the program? 
  • The topics are designed to introduce important scientific concepts so cancer research advocates and patients can participate in scientific dialogue and important decision making. The modules cover the following:
  • 1.Scientific Hypotheses 2.Components of a Hypothesis 3.Exp. Variables 4.Confounding Variables 5. Exp. Errors 6.Stat Significance 7.Types of Clinical Studies 8. Bias and Randomization 9. Read Scientific Poster 
  • Additionally, we are currently looking for more content ideas. Please email us at SASEP@UIC.edu for any suggestions. You can access the videos here: https://sasep.typeform.com/to/kyOKes
T5: Let’s talk about the module on “How to Read a Scientific Poster”. What are the main points patients/advocates should consider when reading a scientific poster presented at an annual meeting like ASCO or SGO?
  • the direction in which sci. posters are typically read is from top to bottom, left to right. Some conferences will have requirements that all research presenters must follow. For ASCO’s conference, all main findings must be placed in the middle of poster.
  • The next and one of the most important pieces of a poster is the hypothesis which is usually found in the top left corner. The hypothesis is the an educated guess the researchers use to try to answer a scientific question.
  • Some of the more interesting parts of a poster are the results or data, which are usually found in the center column/s of a poster. This section shows readers what information the researchers gathered/learned as a result of their experiments.
  • If you’re overwhelmed reading a poster, another good place to look is the conclusions section, usually found in the bottom right corner (for ASCO, in the center column). This area summarizes the results of the study and may point out what is left to do.

T6: This poster from #ASCO2020 reports on the low rate of BRCA testing for patients with ovarian cancer. 

Using this as an example, can you walk us through how an advocate/patient/survivor could read and understand it?
  • Some posters may be intimidating with jargon and lots of numbers/data. But following simple steps can help break concepts down so you can begin to understand the “big picture” of the study.
  • Title: the title of this poster makes it clear the topic is about the low rate of testing for BRCA1/2 mutations in ovarian cancer patients, but we need to read a little more to get more information.
  • In this poster, the next big section that catches your eye is the paragraph in the center. You would most likely read this summary first to get the “take home” message, then continue to read the poster normally.
  • Background: this section gives a brief introduction to ovarian cancer and the two genes of interest. Here we learn these genes increase the risk of likelihood of developing ovarian cancer.
  • Methods: this section has a flow chart explaining the process of data collection. This is not the most important part if you’re reading to find results, but it can provide a lot of information about how well the study was designed.
  • Method 2: You’ll also see a demographics table on the far right of the poster. This information could be considered part of the methods, since it is describing the body of patients included in the study.
  • Results: this section is in the bottom left - which is a little unusual but looks like it was done for spacing purposes. There is also a large results box in the middle of the poster - designed to draw attention to the “take home” message quickly.
  • Discussion: this section is describing the results or conclusions of the research. This is also sometimes called “conclusions”, but it is very important because it shares results and puts them into context.
  • Discussion 2: This poster shows that only a very small percentage of patients with ovarian cancer had a documented test for BRCA1/2 mutation, even though guidance suggests that all patients should receive this test.
T7: Here is another poster from #ASCO2020 discussing early-line treatment for endometrial cancer. 

Using the tips from your module, what are the key points to learn from this poster? 

  • Title tells us that a drug combination (Lenvatinib + Pembrolizumab) is being tested as early treatment for endometrial cancer. If these therapies r unfamiliar to you, you can ask the presenter for more information or look them up on google scholar or pubmed.
  • The goal of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this drug combination. They use the word “post hoc” analysis, which means the clinical trial has already been performed and now they are analyzing the data.
  • Post-hoc means they are not stating a hypothesis as they would if they were currently designing the clinical trial (eg, combination therapy will lead to increased overall survival compared to standard chemotherapy in patients with endometrial cancer).
  • Methods: Here we see the researchers are analyzing data from KEYNOTE clinical trial (NCT02501096). The “overall population” is the larger group of patients with endometrial cancer. Subgroup 1 is small subset of those patients who haven’t received much treatment
  • Methods 2: This study is using post-hoc (after trial completion) analysis to compare the effect of the treatment in subgroup 1 and the overall population to determine if it would work as an early-line treatment.
  • Results: Efficacy is the key word for this poster (bottom left corner) - did the drug combination being tested work? U can see that 36% of the overall population had a response to the treatment - or the treatment worked to improve disease state in 36% of patients
  • Safety: Since this poster is about a clinical trial, this section is important to include information for both clinicians and patients. The safety profile of the subgroup population matches the overall population and no new safety concerns were found.
  • Conclusions: The conclusions are found right in the middle in large font - designed so that they are easy to find. 
  • Conclusions 2: The conclusion is that the treatment (lenvatinib + pembrolizumab) seems to work in this study for this population (advanced endometrial cancer that is not MSI-H or dMMR) as a method of early-line treatment.And 26% of patients in subgroup 1 responded.
We were honored to feature one of these great new SASEP modules during this chat. Thank you Kimberly Richardson, Benjamin Gordon, Tova Bergsten and Casey Blaha for taking the time to join us and share such helpful information with the #gyncsm community. You may find the modules at https://sasep.typeform.com/to/kyOKes. 

Save the date for our next #gyncsm chat Wed Aug 12 at 9pmET on Endometrial Cancer - Risks, Symptoms, Treatment.

See you then - Stay safe. 

Dee 
#gyncsm Co-founder
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Thursday, July 2, 2020

Gyn Cancer Research News and Reading Scientific Posters Chat July 8


During this month's #gyncsm chat (Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 9pm ET) we will discuss gynecologic cancer research presented at this year's SGO and virtual ASCO meetings as well as learn about How to Read Scientific Posters.

To lead the second part of the chat, we are pleased to have Kimberly Richardson @KDRichardson924, creator of the Survivors Advising Scientists Educational Program (SASEP), as well as the SASEP Program presenters @UICMSTP, graduate students Benjamin Gordon, Tova Bergsten and Casey Blaha from the University of Illinois at Chicago joining us.


They will share information about SASEP and then provide participants with tips on how to read a scientific poster. We'll use posters from #ASCO20 that provide gyn cancer information as examples.

We hope you can join us on Wednesday, July 8th at 9pm ET (8pm CT, 6pm PT) for this informative chat.

Topic Questions
T1: Whether or not a woman should have a second surgery for ovarian cancer continues to be debated. What does the most recent research suggest and what do women need to consider?

T2: PARP inhibitors took center stage again in the care of women with ovarian cancer. With one study reaching its goal and one that did not, what do women need to know?

T3: What is the "Survivors Advising Scientists Educational Program”? What led to its development?

T4: What topics do the SASEP modules cover? Where can patients go to learn more about the program?

T5: Let’s talk about the module on “How to Read a Scientific Poster”. What are the main points patients/advocates should consider when reading a scientific poster presented at an annual meeting like ASCO or SGO?

T6: This poster from #ASCO2020 reports on the low rate of BRCA testing for patients with ovarian cancer. Using this as an example, can you walk us through how an advocate/patient/survivor could read and understand it?

T7: Here is another poster from #ASCO2020 discussing early-line treatment for endometrial cancer. Using the tips from your module, what are the key points to learn from this poster?

Dee
#gyncsm co-founder
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