Some Abstract Summaries

A Quick look at some key Melanoma Abstracts presented this year in Melanoma

And now the truths behind them ....

Dual Checkpoint Blockade : truth and consequences - presentation of Abstracts

Some Home truths about the Immunotherapies

Poster discussion Saturday

POSTER DISCUSSION SESSION

Melanoma/Skin Cancers

Sat, Jun 04 • 4:45 PM - 6:00 PM

Location: E354b

Summary of the posters presented at ASCO in Melanoma-

1. BRIM7 extended follow-up : Vem plus Cobimetinib

median PFS 13.8 months for Vem plus Cobimetibinb!

median OS was more than 2.5 years

and interestingly enough, there were some late conversions to complete response, so some patients got a complete response after a considerable time on treatment.

Now the next question will be whether these patients would be generally doing well, or just particular well on targeted therapy.

2. Trametinib plus GSK2141795 in uveal Melanoma

single MEKi (tram) versus combination MEKi with AKT inhibitor, randomised

unfortunately, no difference in PFS, so MEK plus AKT inhibitors does not work better than MEKi alone. Plus: high toxicity- leading to frequent dose reductions. 

Question- was the hypothesis correct? Was the pathway inhibition sufficient?

Bad news :-(

3. Cell cycle inhibtion: CDK4 pathway aberration is predominant in acral Melanoma (more than 80%)

cell and animals models are sensitive to CDK4inhibitors- so this could eventually give additional treatment options to patients with acral Melanoma (Melanoma starting on the hand and feet)

Brain Metastases in General - Does anti PD1 go into the brain metastases ?

Research suggests that yes it does go into the brain met but we need to see more data about the actual effect.

Liquid biopsies

EDUCATION SESSION

Biomarkers, Blood-Based Testing, and the Heterogeneous Tumor

Fri, Jun 03 • 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM

Location: S406

Sitting in an interesting session with a talk about 'liquid biopsies', analysing free DNA that the tumour has released into the blood.

Advantages are:

As free circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is collected from the blood, it is easier to access than tumour biopsies and can be done over time. That way, one could e.g. monitor whether a tumour continues to respond to therapy or starts developing resistance. 
A further advantage is that a ctDNA provides a 'summary' or integral of all tumour masses in a patient (assuming all tumours shed DNA at the same rate)- a biopsy is only telling for that specific area it is taken from.

WBR

Is there any reason to use WBR when trials show NO survival benefit by adding it to SRS :

WBR in brain metasteses is there ANY place for it ?