ECOG-ACRIN research round-up – Summer 2024

Breast Cancer – Personalizing chemotherapy for Black patients

• Breast cancer patients who are Black or of African ancestry have a higher risk of experiencing side effects from chemotherapy, especially weakness, numbness, and pain from nerve damage, usually in the hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy). Thus, they have a higher risk of discontinuing treatment, which results in higher rates of recurrence and worse survival rates. Study EAZ171 aimed to improve outcomes for these patients. The trial found that Black patients with early-stage breast cancer who received docetaxel chemotherapy every 3 weeks had less drug-induced peripheral neuropathy and fewer dose reductions compared to those who received weekly paclitaxel. This is ECOG-ACRIN’s first trial to focus specifically on enrolling Black patients.Tarah J. Ballinger, MD (Indiana University) discussed the results in this video interview. Learn more in this story by Susan G. Komen®, based on an interview with Brian P. Schneider, MD (Indiana University).

Gastric Cancer – No benefit from adding nivolumab to standard therapy

• There was no benefit from adding the immunotherapy drug nivolumab to standard-of-care chemotherapy and radiation therapy for patients with esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma planning to undergo surgery, according to the results of the study EA2174. “Unfortunately, we had a negative outcome. But at least we know that now and hopefully, we can continue to move forward and find other ways to improve the treatment outcomes for these patients,” said Jennifer R. Eads, MD (University of Pennsylvania), in this video interview. 

Head and Neck Cancer – Excellent long-term outcomes after less intense treatment

• E3311 was a practice-changing clinical trial that showed that providing low-dose radiation without chemotherapy following transoral surgery led to very high survival and outstanding quality of life in patients with human papillomavirus-positive (HPV+) throat cancer and at medium risk for recurrence. Now, long-term follow-up results are available. ”This less intense approach led to 90% of the patients being cancer-free after 4 ½ years. Late recurrence is not increased when post-operative radiation is reduced for intermediate-risk patients,” said Barbara A. Burtness, MD (Yale University), in this video interview.

Pancreatic Cancer – ECOG-ACRIN’s first clinical trial solely for elderly patients

• Overall survival and toxicity rates were similar between two front-line treatments in a trial of elderly patients (70-90 years old) with metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to the results of the GIANT trial (EA2186). These results provide essential data to guide treatment decisions and discussions on the goals of care in this vulnerable patient population. Also, the researchers developed a new clinical tool to assess geriatric patients better, and this resource is now available for other trials regardless of cancer type. “The reason for this trial is really the fact that we just don’t know how to take care of vulnerable elderly patients because the data that we have is on much younger patients,” said Efrat E. Dotan, MD (Fox Chase Cancer Center), in this video interview.

Prostate Cancer – Extending survival for patients with metastatic disease

• Progression-free survival was five months longer with cabazitaxel with abiraterone compared to abiraterone alone in patients with progressive disease after receiving treatment with standard androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus docetaxel chemotherapy, according to the results of the CHAARTED2 trial (EA8153). Christos P. Kyriakopoulos, MD (University of Wisconsin) explained how physicians should interpret the trial results in this video interview.