Head and Neck Cancer – ACRIN 6685 was the largest prospective multicenter trial conducted of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with head and neck cancer (Lowe VJ. J Clin Oncol. July 2019). The results immediately informed practicing clinicians of its effectiveness and benefits, especially in those who are clinically node-negative (cN0). A new publication reports the results of an additional analysis to compare recurrence-free survival and overall survival based on neck FDG visual assessment by a panel of radiologists. Stack BC. Clin Nucl Med. February 2023

Head and Neck Cancer – Another analysis from the ACRIN 6685 trial (see above) studied interobserver agreement and accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT scans for the staging of cN0 head and neck cancer. To the authors’ knowledge, no prior multicenter clinical trial has led to a report on this topic. Subramaniam RM. J Nucl Med. December 2022

Leukemia – In adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the status of measurable residual disease (MRD) has emerged as a robust measure of therapeutic sensitivity and depth of response with substantive prognostic value. However, MRD assessment is not a routine clinical practice for these patients. A secondary analysis from the E1900 trial explores the clinical significance of MRD in relation to genetic profiling to identify patients at risk of relapse. Ganzel C. Leuk Res. December 2022

Lung Cancer – The publication, Estimating the area under the ROC curve when transporting a prediction model to a target population, explores a lung cancer risk prediction model developed using source population data from the National Lung Screening Trial by ACRIN. Li B. Biometrics. November 2022

Pancreatic NETs – The results of the E2211 phase 2 trial in patients with advanced progressive pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) were the highest reported progression-free survival and response rates in a randomized study from the combination of capecitabine/temozolomide. It is also the first randomized trial to examine methylguanine methyltransferase (MGMT) as a biomarker for temozolomide-based chemotherapy. The oral presentation by Pamela L. Kunz, MD (Yale School of Medicine) was included in Best of ASCO® 2022. The results publication is now available. Kunz PL. J Clin Oncol. October 2022

Pancreatic NETs – Study EA2161 evaluated sapanisertib (TAK-228), a mTORC1/2 inhibitor, in patients with rapalog-resistant advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). This was a two-stage phase 2 trial, with 13 patients enrolled for the first stage. The study was terminated after the first stage, when no responses were observed. Rajdev L. Invest New Drugs. October 2022

Symptom Management – A new study provides assurance that people with cancer find the single-item global indicator “I am bothered by side effects of treatment” (FACT GP5 item) to be a useful measure of treatment tolerability, especially once they have started treatment. Cognitive interviews were conducted with three groups of patients including multiple cancer types: ovarian, lymphoma, colorectal, and lung. The authors note an increasing interest in patient-reported measures of cancer treatment tolerability, especially those that explore willingness to stay on treatment while enduring side effects. Peipert JD. Support Care Cancer. December 2022