The global phase 3 trial called PALLAS (PALbociclib CoLlaborative Adjuvant Study) involved PrECOG, LLC, and evaluated standard adjuvant endocrine therapy with or without palbociclib for women with early breast cancer. In May 2020, an interim analysis showed that the study was unlikely to meet its primary endpoint. During the October ASCO Plenary Series, PrECOG’s Angela DeMichele, MD, MSCE (University of Pennsylvania), global PALLAS co-chair, will deliver the results of a preplanned analysis of the cohort of patients diagnosed with stage 2A disease.
Mark your calendar for the virtual session on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET. No registration is required to participate, but you must log in with an ASCO.org username and password to access the broadcast session. Learn more or add the session to your calendar now.
The PALLAS trial is and will continue to be one of the most successful worldwide collaborations among academic study groups. PALLAS is co-sponsored by the Austrian Breast & Colorectal Cancer Study Group (ABCSG) and Alliance Foundation Trials (AFT) as part of a clinical research collaboration with Pfizer and other study groups, including NSABP Foundation Inc; PrECOG, and the Breast International Group (BIG). Mandatory tissue block collection from the outset of the enterprise, along with serially collected blood samples, provides an enormous treasure of opportunities for researchers worldwide to interrogate mechanisms of disease through the Trans-PALLAS biomarker discovery program.
Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, is the Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, effective September 12. In this role, Dr. Wolchok leads an expansive multidisciplinary research and clinical enterprise. The Center is dedicated to translating groundbreaking discoveries on the underlying causes of cancer into cutting-edge treatment approaches and personalized therapies to improve patient outcomes. He joins the Meyer Cancer Center after more than 25 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he served most recently as chief of the Immuno-Oncology Service.
A longtime member of ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), Dr. Wolchok is currently chair of the Melanoma Committee. He is a clinician-scientist whose research focuses on exploring innovative immunotherapeutic strategies, with an emphasis on melanoma research and clinical expertise in the care of people with advanced stages of the disease. He was instrumental in the clinical development leading to the approval of ipilimumab for advanced melanoma. Learn more.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) honored Augusto Ochoa, MD (LSU Health New Orleans/LSU Health-LCMC Cancer Center) as the 2022 recipient of the Harry Hynes Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Trials and Community Research. Dr. Ochoa serves on the ECOG-ACRIN Principal Investigator Committee as PI for the Gulf South Minority Underserved (MU) NCORP. Gulf South MU NCORP is the only statewide cancer clinical trials program in Louisiana, which Dr. Ochoa began building in 2014.
The recognition is NCI’s most prestigious award honoring excellence in community-based cancer research. NCI presented the award to Dr. Ochoa during the NCORP Annual Meeting in late August. Learn more.
Over the summer, NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center appointed several ECOG-ACRIN researchers to leadership positions: Kristen Spencer, DO (left), chair of ECOG-ACRIN’s Genomics Subcommittee and member of the Task Force on Advancement for Women, was named director of Perlmutter’s Phase 1 Developmental Therapeutics Program. Janice Mehnert, MD (middle), co-chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Melanoma Committee, became site principal investigator (PI) for the NCI–Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network, which Perlmutter joined in July. Both Dr. Mehnert and Catherine S. Diefenbach, MD (right), the voting member of the ECOG-ACRIN Principal Investigator Committee, serve as national PIs for CTEP protocols. Learn more.
The study chair for this trial is Etta Pisano, MD (American College of Radiology Chief Research Officer).
The TMIST breast cancer screening trial continues to grow at a steady pace, with total accrual of 76,580 participants among 124 active sites as of October 13, 2022. The success of the trial is impressive in light of a recent nationwide analysis showing that screening mammography volumes have yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels (Lars J. J Am Coll Radiol. June 2022).
Important reminders:
The National Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Natural History Study (also known as NHLBI-MDS) has launched a new, web-based portal and invites researchers to request access to a rich clinical dataset, digital H&E slides, and genetic sequencing data collected prospectively from a large cohort of MDS patients enrolled across the US. Resources continue to be added to the database and biorepository as new patients join NHLBI-MDS and the existing cohort is followed longitudinally. The portal is an exciting opportunity for scientists to pursue cutting-edge research that will contribute to our understanding of MDS and improve diagnostic and treatment options. Learn more.
Attention data scientists, physicists, and other radiology research personnel: A new grant program will soon be available to support integrated diagnostics research. Among the initiatives eligible for support are those that utilize the various datasets amassed through ECOG-ACRIN clinical trials (demographics, pathology, genetics, treatments, images, and outcomes, for example) to ask questions, develop artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, and build models that create new knowledge. NCI-MATCH and TMIST are examples of datasets that could be used to advance the field.
Please attend the Fall 2022 Group Meeting in Washington, DC, where Etta D. Pisano, MD, and fellow imaging leaders will discuss the new program. Register to attend one of these sessions – either in person or remotely:
Wednesday, October 26, from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM ET
Thursday, October 27, from 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET
Registration is required via the Group Meeting website.
The NCI recently issued guidance for administering the Jynneos Monkeypox Vaccine and the antiviral drug tecovirimat (TPOXX). The guidance applies to participants in studies being conducted under an investigational new drug (IND) application held by the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP).
For the Jynneos Monkeypox Vaccine, the highlights are:
For TPOXX, please see the CDC’s Information on Obtaining and Using TPOXX.