Dr Leong Swan Swan attended the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

She was very impressed with the rise of immunotherapy for lung cancer treatment. There were several phase 3, randomised studies of PD-L1 inhibitor drugs, which are of a class of cancer immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors. These drugs, such as, pertuzumab, nivolumab, atezolizumab, work by inhibiting one of the mechanisms of resistance developed by cancer cells in order to evade the immune system.

“Showing in lung cancer that immunotherapy drugs have equal or better outcomes when compared with chemotherapy provides an avenue of treatment for lung cancer patients who are not suitable for chemotherapy”

Dr Kevin Tay was at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

​Chemotherapy for high risk soft tissue sarcoma at high risk for recurrence was presented and discussed at ESMO 2016. Using epirubicin plus ifosfamide neoadjuvant chemotherapy was better than a tailored chemotherapy approach for certain histology subtypes (undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, myxoid liposarcoma, synovial sarcoma, peripheral nerve sheath tumours, leiomyosarcoma).

​“The results are certainly interesting and we should await full publication of the results. It certainly means that neoadjuvant chemotherapy given before primary surgery for soft tissue sarcoma could be a significant consideration.”

Dr Peter Ang was at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.​

Progress was made in hormone positive breast cancer when the results of the MONALEESA2 study was presented. The CDK4/6 inhibitor, ribociclib, when added to letrozole (Femara) improved progression-free survival compared to letrozole alone. The study had more than 650 postmenopausal women with endocrine positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. Side effects were manageable.

“This class of medications (CDK4/6 inhibitors, such as ribociclib, palbociclib, abemaciclib) have now shown consistent benefit for patients with stage 4, advanced breast cancer. It was shown that long duration and good control without chemotherapy is possible for many breast cancer patients in the study.”

“At OncoCare,  we believe in making the best cancer management decisions for patients as a team”