More than 25,000 cancer specialists from around the world gathered from 2-6 June 2006 in the largest meeting of its kind, the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), to discuss the latest advances in standards of cancer care, treatment, prevention, and survivorship. The meeting highlighted the latest advances in clinical cancer research, providing people with cancer and those at risk for the disease the most up-to-date treatment and prevention information. Medical oncologists from the National Cancer Centre, together with their colleagues from the National University Hospital and the private sector, attended the meeting to share their research findings in an international forum.
Highlights of the meeting included major advances in standard of care for breast, lung and kidney cancer, with the spotlight falling on targeted therapy. Since the introduction of Gleevec for chronic myeloid leukemia first electrified doctors around the world in 2001, targeted therapy has been of major interest to patients, doctors and pharmaceutical companies. Designed specifically to arrest tumor growth by targeting critical molecular pathways of tumors, targeted therapies have been introduced into the armamentarium of the medical oncologist in recent years in the treatment of many cancers. There have been inevitable high expectations accompanying these new therapies, and in recent years, ASCO has been the major forum for announcements of
highly anticipated trials evaluating these new therapies for cancer patients.
Major announcements include late breaking data on the efficacy of a new targeted therapy, lapatinib, in slowing the growth of tumors in breast cancer patients with advanced disease. The final results of the STAR trial were also announced, demonstrating that both tamoxifen and raloxifene had equivalent efficacy in preventing breast cancer in 20,000 high-risk women. Kidney cancer patients and physicians were in a celebratory mood, with the announcement of results from international trials definitively demonstrating significant benefits from the new targeted therapies sunitinib and temsirolimus. Indeed, advances in kidney cancer, a tumor hitherto highly resistant to treatment, took centrestage this year.
While definitive cures are only available for certain types of cancers, the newer targeted treatments have held out the hope of managing many types of cancer as chronic diseases. Indeed, researchers presented a study at ASCO showing that Gleevec has kept alive 89% of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia for five years, compared with 45% to 65% on other much harsher therapies. These are indeed exciting times for oncologists in the fight against cancer, and there seems to be ample reason for optimism.