Top News Stories From the 35th ESMO Congress: Slideshow

More than 14,000 people from 115 different countries attended nearly 130 different sessions with the latest updates in oncology and state-of-the-art science and technology at the 35th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, held in Milan, Italy, October 8 - 12, 2010.

This meeting is one of "breaking records," with information presented that may transform the treatment of cancer patients, said ESMO President David Kerr, MD, professor of cancer medicine from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

Among the study highlights of the meeting:

• cetuximab doubled the response rate, significantly improved overall response, and improved progression-free survival rate in women with triple-negative breast cancer;

• metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer responded to abiraterone acetate plus prednisone;

• progression-free survival tripled in Chinese patients with non-small-cell lung carcinoma and the anti-epidermal-growth-factor-receptor-activating mutation receiving first-line erlotinib compared with those given gemcitabine and carboplatin; and

• patients with metastatic breast cancer should continue chemotherapy for as long as possible.

The anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody cetuximab (Erbitux; ImClone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Company, marketed and distributed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) plus cisplatin significantly improved overall response and progression-free survival rate in women with triple-negative breast cancer. "What we saw was a doubling of the response rate among patients who received cetuximab," said lead author Jose Baselga, MD, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Full news coverage: EGFR Possible Therapeutic Target in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer given the investigational agent abiraterone acetate plus prednisone had a median overall survival of 14.8 months compared with 10.9 months for patients given prednisone plus placebo. The results of this study are likely to alter the current standard of care for patients in this population, said lead author Johann de Bono, MBBS, PhD, from the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden National Health Service Foundation Trust in London, United Kingdom.

Full news coverage: Novel Agent Significantly Improves Survival in Men With Advanced Prostate Cancer

Progression-free survival tripled in patients receiving first-line erlotinib who had advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma carrying the endothelial-growth-factor-receptor-activating mutation compared with patients given gemcitabine and carboplatin, reported Caicun Zhou, MD, from Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, China, and principal investigator for the OPTIMAL study.

Full news coverage: First-Line Erlotinib Triples Progression-Free Survival in NSCLC in Chinese Population

The only factor associated with a benefit from continued therapy beyond the third-line regimen in patients with metastatic breast cancer was the duration of time to failure for each previous chemotherapy line.

"This is an important piece of information that we should include when discussing treatment options with the patient," said Fortunato Ciardiello, MD, PhD, from Seconda University of Naples, Italy.

Full news coverage: Chemotherapy Beyond the Third Line May Benefit Subset of Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer

Prolonging first-line chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer delays disease progression and rate of death, according to the results of a meta-analysis presented by lead author Alessandra Gennari, MD, a medical oncologist from Galliera Hospital in Genova, Italy.

Full news coverage: Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer Should Continue Chemotherapy for as Long as Possible

Patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who received iniparib (sanofi-aventis) plus gemcitabine (Gemzar; Eli Lilly) and carboplatin survived an average of almost 5 months longer than those treated with chemotherapy alone, reported John Pippen, MD, from the Texas Oncology-Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas. In the iniparib-plus-chemotherapy group, the median overall survival was 12.3 months compared with 7.7 months for those on chemotherapy alone (P = .014).

Full news coverage: Iniparib Improves Survival in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

The investigational agent MetMAb (Genentech) plus erlotinib (Tarceva; Genentech) for non-small-cell lung cancer with high MET expression nearly halved the risk for disease progression or death compared with erlotinib plus placebo, reported David Spigel, MD, from the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee. "Not only does [the study] define an active antibody that is safe in patients with this receptor, but it emphasizes the importance of selecting patients for proper therapy."

Full news coverage: MetMab Added to Erlotinib Improves Survival in a Subset of Patients With Lung Cancer

Patients with cancer who have vertebral compression fractures treated with balloon kyphoplasty show greater improvement than patients receiving nonsurgical management in terms of disability score, back pain, quality of life, and limitation of daily activities, according to results of the first randomized controlled study in patients with metastatic cancer, said lead author Leonard Bastian, MD, from Klinikum Leverkusen, Germany.

Full news coverage: Balloon Kyphoplasty Provides Relief From Spinal Fractures for Patients With Metastatic Cancer

Results of the first-ever phase 2 study of an anti-Her2 antibody-drug conjugate, trastuzumab-DM1, as first-line therapy in patients with Her2-positive metastatic breast cancer confirm good efficacy and lower toxicity than standard therapy. "So far our results are really very encouraging," reported principal investigator Edith Perez, MD, from the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida.

Full news coverage: Novel Agent Trastuzumab-DM1 Shows Efficacy in Metastatic Breast Cancer

At 12 months, women with ovarian cancer who received bevacizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel had a 15% lower risk for disease progression than those who received chemotherapy alone, announced lead author Tim Perren, MD, from St. James's University Hospital and the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. Median progression-free survival for the bevacizumab group was 19 months compared with 17.3 months for the chemotherapy-alone group. A hazard ratio of 0.81 (95% confidence interval, 0.70 - 0.94; P = .0041) favored the bevacizumab group.

Full news coverage: Bevacizumab Delays Disease Progression in Ovarian Cancer

In a video commentary wrapping up the research presented at the meeting, ESMO President David Kerr, MD, said, "There were some groundbreaking studies reported in which it's very obvious, particularly in the field of lung cancer, that we have moved from empirical clinical observation — understanding that particular subsets of lung cancer patients seemed to respond particularly well to tyrosine kinase inhibitors — to a series of molecular observations, which have led us to be able to define which patients we should treat most, not only in Japan and China, but also in the West."

• See ESMO Wrap-up: The Global Village That Is Oncology for more information.

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• Other Slideshows

Photographs by Moreno Paladin, Milan, Italy.

For more information, see the following resources:

• Medscape Medical News from the 35th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress
• Medscape Oncology
• European Society for Medical Oncology

Authors
Roxanne Nelson
Staff Journalist
Bellingham, Washington

Disclosure: Roxanne Nelson has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Becky McCall
Freelance Journalist
London, England

Disclosure: Becky McCall has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Editor
Zosia Chustecka
News Editor
Medscape Oncology
London, England

Disclosure: Zosia Chustecka has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.