Elevation Oncology Announces the Presentation of New Preclinical Data in Pancreatic and Cholangiocarcinoma

Elevation Oncology, a  clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision medicines for patients with genomically defined cancers, announced today the presentation by its collaborators in the Marc Ladanyi lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) of further preclinical data on the specific inhibition of NRG1 fusion-induced tumorigenesis and signaling by seribantumab, a HER3 monoclonal antibody, at the American Association of Cancer Research Virtual Annual Meeting 2021. These data  in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of NRG1 fusion-positive pancreatic and cholangiocarcinoma build on earlier studies generated in lung and ovarian NRG1 fusion PDX models,, and further support the mechanistic rationale for the Phase 2 CRESTONE study for patients  with solid tumors of any origin harboring an NRG1 gene fusion. The CRESTONE study is currently enrolling at sites across the United States.

"Here we observed that NRG1 fusions activated HER3 and downstream signaling mediators such as AKT in a pancreatic cell line," said Igor Odintsov, MD, Research Fellow at MSK and lead author of the poster presentation. "Treatment with seribantumab was able to inhibit phosphorylation of the activated HER3 and AKT in the same cell line, and subsequent treatment of an APP-NRG1 fusion-positive pancreatic PDX model with seribantumab robustly inhibited tumor growth at clinically achievable doses."

Regressions were observed in all mice treated with 10 mg/kg BIW seribantumab, equivalent to a clinical dose of 2.6 g seribantumab in humans by allometric scaling. As in prior analysis in lung and ovarian NRG1 fusion PDX models, the pan-ERBB inhibitor afatinib was used as an active control in this pancreatic PDX model. No regression was observed in pancreatic PDX tumors treated with afatinib at 5 mg/kg QD.

NRG1 fusions have been identified in a variety of solid tumors, including lung, pancreatic, gallbladder, breast, ovarian, colorectal, neuroendocrine, cholangiocarcinomas, and sarcomas. Current data suggest that NRG1 fusions are predominantly mutually exclusive with other known driver alterations and are therefore considered to be the primary driver of the tumor's growth and proliferation.

"The rarity of competing oncogenic drivers in tumors driven by an NRG1 fusion presents a strong biological rationale for use of a targeted anti-HER3 monotherapy approach across tumor types. This approach is reflected in the design of our Phase 2 CRESTONE study as a tumor-agnostic study of monotherapy seribantumab with pre-defined exclusion of patients whose tumors harbor multiple actionable driver alterations," said Shawn M. Leland, PharmD, RPh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Elevation Oncology "In rare instances when multiple actionable driver alterations are identified in the same tumor, we believe there may be a similar biological rationale for addressing each driver alteration through combinations of agents targeted to each individual alteration, rather than the traditional combinations with chemotherapy. We are excited to report early results from preclinical exploration of this hypothesis, and look forward to continued investigation of new treatment paradigms informed by comprehensive genomic profiling of tumors."

"We utilized an RBPMS-NRG1 fusion cholangiocarcinoma PDX model that also contained mutations in both ERBB4 and IDH1," continued Dr. Odintsov. "While treatment with monotherapy seribantumab or afatinib in this model produced mixed results, by applying a triple combination of seribantumab with afatinib to target the entire ERBB family, and AG-120 to target the IDH1 mutation, we were able to achieve regressions in the majority of tumors. This suggests that tumors harboring multiple oncogenic drivers may benefit from combination therapy that addresses the contribution of each genomic alteration in disease progression."

In totality, the data reported support the use of monotherapy seribantumab to treat GI and other cancers that are uniquely driven by an NRG1 fusion in the ongoing Phase 2 CRESTONE study.  

ESMO Awards recognise four outstanding oncologists

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the leading professional organisation for medical oncology, has announced the recipients of its four distinguished annual awards, to be presented at the ESMO 2017 Congress (8-12 September, Madrid, Spain).

Receiving the ESMO Award, Miguel Martin is recognised for his important contributions in the field of breast cancer.

Martin is President of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), Professor of Medicine at the Complutense University and Head of the Medical Oncology Service at the Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon, in Madrid.

“Miguel Martin is considered a world leader in the field of breast cancer research and treatment,” said Christoph Zielinski, on behalf of the ESMO Fellowship and Award Committee. “He has contributed major publications and designed and implemented an abundance of important clinical trials in the field.”

Commenting on the significance of the award, Martin said he considers it an honour that he shares with SEOM and the Spanish Group for Breast Cancer Research (GEICAM), which he chairs.

“It is recognition not only of my own personal contribution to research in medical oncology and breast cancer, but also our collective work that is often a collaborative effort with other European and American groups,” he said.

The ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award has been given to José Baselga for his pivotal role in breast cancer drug development.

Baselga is Physician-in-Chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

His research led to the approval of trastuzumab, pertuzumab and everolimus, among other therapies.

“José Baselga is a true giant of modern oncology,” said Zielinski. “He has not only contributed immensely to clinical research, but has had remarkable success in the translation of that science into patient benefit.”

Saying he was “deeply touched”, Baselga highlighted the award’s “unique personal dimension” saying, “I have had the privilege to serve this wonderful and vibrant society for many years and I fully support its critical role.”

The ESMO Award for Translational Research goes to Alberto Bardelli, for his liquid biopsy work in the field of metastatic colorectal cancer.

Bardelli is a Professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Torino, Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, and deputy Director of the Candiolo Cancer Institute-IRCCS in Torino, Italy.

“Professor Bardelli is a highly-respected geneticist and world-renowned expert in the field of precision medicine,” noted Zielinski. “His work in the area of liquid biopsies has led to paradigm-changing applications in the clinic.”

Commenting on his award, Bardelli said “This award acknowledges the work of my entire team. In the last five years, our efforts to define how genomic alterations drive tumours, and how oncogenic events affect the ability of cancer cells to evade drugs, have translated into new ideas for clinical trials, which has been extremely gratifying.”

Frances Shepherd receives the ESMO Women for Oncology Award for her continuous support of women oncologists.

Shepherd is Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and Scott Taylor Chair in Lung Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada.

“Frances Shepherd has been a true role model, supporting and furthering the careers of women in oncology, on top of making outstanding academic contributions in the field of lung cancer” said Zielinski. “She is a devoted advocate for equality in oncology careers.” 

“I am thrilled and honoured, and see it as a culmination of my very gratifying and rewarding career in medical oncology over the past 30 years. During this time, I have seen women make enormous advances in medicine in general, and medical oncology in particular,” said Shepherd, who has played an instrumental role in the design and conduct of research studies on new targeted therapies and anti-angiogenesis agents in lung cancer. “

Shepherd served as Chair of the Lung Cancer Committee of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group for 19 years and was President of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) from 2003 to 2005.

  

ESMO 2019 Annual Congress to be held in Barcelona

ESMO, the leading European professional organisation for medical oncology, has announced that the ESMO 2019 Annual Congress will take place in partnership with the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) from 27 September to 1 October 2019, at the Fira Barcelona, Spain.

The ESMO Congress is the appointment in Europe for clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, journalists and the pharmaceutical industry from all over the world to get together, learn about the latest advances in oncology and translate science into better cancer patient care.

“Two of Spain´s undeniable strengths are the quality of its research system and international cooperation in oncology. I am therefore thrilled that ESMO has, for the first time, selected Barcelona, Spain, as the global stage for the exchange and debate of translational cancer science of excellence, first announcements of potentially practice changing data, and multidisciplinary must-have conversations set to spur transformative therapies against cancer,” says Prof Josep Tabernero, ESMO President Elect, Head of the Medical Oncology Department, Vall d´Hebron University Hospital, and Director of the Vall d´Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO).

ESMO 2019 in Barcelona follows two congresses in Madrid in 2014 and 2017.

“It is my great pleasure to welcome the ESMO Congress in Spain again,” says Dr. Miguel Martín, President of the Sociedad Española de Oncología Médica (SEOM). “With cancer cases on the rise here and elsewhere and many unmet needs, the research presented at ESMO brings real hope for patients worldwide and we are proud that in 2019 this knowledge will be showcased in Barcelona, a cradle for cancer research.”

The ESMO 2019 programme will be developed by a committee composed of more than 300 international experts under the leadership of Scientific Co Chairs Prof Jean-Yves Blay, ESMO, and Prof Anton Berns, EACR.

The ESMO Congress currently attracts more than 22,000 oncology stakeholders from all over the world.

Christoph Tessmar, Director of the Barcelona Convention Bureau says: “We are delighted to host the ESMO Congress in Barcelona for the first time. Our attractive destination, as well as our long tradition of hosting important congresses, will guarantee a huge success for ESMO 2019. The Barcelona Convention Bureau and all its Partners will do their very best to make this a congress to remember for ESMO 2019 participants.”

ESMO invites all oncology stakeholders: researchers, clinicians, industry partners, patient advocates and members of the press to mark their calendars for ESMO 2019 in Barcelona.

Novartis Oncology presenta Signifor® un nuevo análogo de la somatostatina de segunda generación

En el marco del 58º Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Endocrinología y Nutrición (SEEN), Novartis Oncology ha presentado Signifor^® (pasireotida), un nuevo análogo de la somatostatina de segunda generación para el tratamiento de pacientes adultos con acromegalia en los que la cirugía no es una opción o no ha sido curativa y que no están adecuadamente controlados con otro análogo de la somatostatina (ASS).

La aprobación se ha basado en los datos de dos estudios multicéntricos de Fase III, C2402 y C2305 respectivamente, que evaluaron pacientes con acromegalia no controlada con ASS de primera generación y a pacientes post-quirúrgicos sin tratamiento farmacológico previo o pacientes recién diagnosticados para los que la cirugía estaba contraindicada. Ambos estudios demostraron que Signifor^® presenta una eficacia superior en el control bioquímico medido por los niveles de la hormona de crecimiento (GH) y del factor de crecimiento insulínico tipo 1 (IGF-1), en comparación con un ASS de primera generación.

El 58º Congreso de la SEEN ha reunido en Málaga a expertos endocrinólogos y nutricionistas. En el marco de este encuentro, Novartis ha organizado el Simposium Satélite ‘Avance para conseguir el control de la acromegalia’, centrado en el desarrollo de la medicina personalizada para el control de la patología, la apuesta por nuevas terapias y la experiencia clínica con Signifor^®.

En la reunión han participado el Dr. Antonio Picó, Jefe de Servicio de Endocrinología y Nutrición del Hospital General Universitario de Alicante; la Dra. Mónica Marazuela, Jefa de Servicio de Endocrinología y Nutrición del Hospital Universitario La Princesa; la Dra. Rosa Cámara, Jefa de Sección de Endocrinología y Nutrición del Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe de Valencia; el Prof. Andrea Giustina, profesor de Endocrinología y Metabolismo de la Universitá degli Studi di Brescia en Italia y el Dr. Gabriel Obiols, Adjunto del Servicio de Endocrinología y Nutrición del Hospital Vall d´Hebron de Barcelona.

Se estima que a nivel mundial la acromegalia, enfermedad crónica y debilitante, afecta a unas 60 personas por millón, presentando una incidencia anual de 3 a 4 nuevos casos por millón. En la mayoría de los casos, los pacientes desarrollan un tumor benigno (no canceroso) en la glándula hipofisaria, causa de una producción excesiva de GH y, finalmente, del IGF-1 en el organismo. Estas alteraciones pueden provocar acromegalia, ocasionando el agrandamiento de manos, pies, rasgos faciales y órganos internos o, incluso, en el caso de aquellos que no logran un control bioquímico completo de la enfermedad, consecuencias graves para la salud como enfermedad cardiaca, hipertensión, artritis o cáncer.

Según ha apuntado el Dr. Manuel Puig Domingo, Presidente de la Sociedad Española de Endocrinología y Nutrición (SEEN), “debido tanto a los datos de incidencia como de prevalencia, la acromegalia es una enfermedad que entra dentro del grupo de las enfermedades raras. Además, aunque no disponemos de cifras precisas, algunos estudios indican que entre un 30 o 50% de los casos pueden no presentar un control bioquímico adecuado, pero esto depende del momento cronológico en que se evalúa al paciente”.

La mortalidad en los pacientes con acromegalia supera en tres veces la observada en la población normal, lo que conlleva una reducción del promedio de la esperanza de vida de estas personas en aproximadamente 10 años. Sin embargo, los datos epidemiológicos disponibles indican que el buen control de la enfermedad aproxima la tasa de mortalidad de los pacientes con acromegalia a la de la población general.

En esta línea, la Dra. Rosa Cámara Gómez, Jefa de Sección de Endocrinología y Nutrición del Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe de Valencia, ha hecho hincapié en que “uno de los principales objetivos del tratamiento de la acromegalia es disminuir la elevada tasa de mortalidad que arroja, manteniendo al paciente asintomático”.

La SEEN trabaja activamente por el control y correcto abordaje de la acromegalia mediante diversos proyectos de investigación que desarrolla en el campo de la endocrinología, la nutrición y el metabolismo. En relación a estas líneas de trabajo desarrolladas por la SEEN, el Dr. Puig ha indicado que “desde la SEEN se trata de mejorar la comunicación con los pacientes, para que dispongan de información adecuada sobre la enfermedad. Además, la SEEN busca concienciar a la sociedad civil y a los profesionales médicos no endocrinos de la existencia de la patología y de la necesidad de alcanzar un diagnóstico precoz”. Finalmente, en lo referente a otras acciones, el experto ha señalado la importancia de “la promoción de la medicina personalizada en el tratamiento de la acromegalia a través de proyectos como REMAH (Registro Español Molecular de Adenomas Hipofisarios) u otros pertenecientes al grupo de trabajo de Neuroendocrinología”.

La Dra. Cámara ha considerado esencial la introducción de nuevas terapias, alternativas a la cirugía, para el tratamiento de la acromegalia. “La primera opción terapéutica en acromegalia sigue siendo la cirugía, pero el tratamiento farmacológico es necesario cuando la cirugía no cura o no se puede realizar. Además de emplear medidas que nos permitan mejorar el rendimiento de los fármacos actuales, es necesaria la introducción de nuevas terapias ya que los tratamientos actuales no controlan al 100% de pacientes acromegálicos”, ha manifestado.

En este sentido, el Dr. Puig ha afirmado que “las nuevas terapias farmacológicas que puedan tener una respuesta primaria más eficaz son evidentemente deseables, porque el paciente acromegálico suele llegar muy tarde al diagnóstico y, en consecuencia, suele pasar más tiempo en situación de no control de la hipersecreción hormonal, lo cual es perjudicial”.

Signifor (pasireotida), un nuevo análogo de segunda generación para los pacientes con acromegalia inadecuadamente controlada

Signifor^® (pasireotida) está indicado para el tratamiento de pacientes adultos con acromegalia en los que la cirugía no es una opción o no ha sido curativa, y que no están adecuadamente controlados con otro ASS, lo que constituye aproximadamente el 45% del conjunto de los pacientes. Para llevar a término el correcto abordaje de la enfermedad es necesario un tratamiento personalizado  con un control bioquímico completo de las concentraciones de la hormona de crecimiento (GH), del IGF-1 y del tamaño del tumor.

En relación a la importancia del control bioquímico total, la Dra. Cámara ha explicado que “Signifor^®, como análogo de segunda generación, ha demostrado en estudios preclínicos y clínicos que es capaz de conseguir control de IGF-1 tanto en pacientes acromegálicos que no han recibido tratamiento farmacológico previo, como en los que no se ha logrado control con análogos de somatostatina de primera generación. Además hay mayores posibilidades de lograr una mejor respuesta bioquímica cuando se emplea Signifor^®  que cuando se emplean los análogos de primera generación”.

El mecanismo de acción de Signifor^® es igual al de los ASS de primera generación, propiciando la unión a los receptores de somatostatina presentes en la membrana celular de las células somatótropas. No obstante, su perfil de unión a dichos receptores es más amplio y con una mayor afinidad por los subtipos sstr1, sstr3 y, en especial, sstr5 en comparación con sus predecesores, lo que provoca que el fármaco muestre unas características más favorables y una eficacia superior en comparación con los tratamientos mediante ASS de primera generación a la hora de conseguir el control de los pacientes con acromegalia. Tal y como ha  explicado la Dra. Cámara, “Signifor^® actúa fundamentalmente sobre los receptores tipo 5 y los análogos de primera generación sobre los receptores de tipo 2. Por eso los efectos sobre el control bioquímico y la masa tumoral son distintos”.

Así, la especialista ha asegurado que, a pesar de que el tratamiento de elección para eliminar, o al menos disminuir, la masa tumoral es la cirugía, a veces está contraindicada o el enfermo rechaza esta opción, de modo que “los análogos de somatostatina permiten controlar el tamaño tumoral por efecto directo sobre el crecimiento celular y, posiblemente, por efecto indirecto al inhibir la angiogénesis. En este sentido, Signifor^® ha demostrado ser más potente que los fármacos actuales de primera generación también en el control del volumen tumoral”, ha enfatizado.

La Dra. Eva López, Directora Médica de Novartis Oncology, ha  indicado que “el compromiso de Novartis Oncology para transformar la vida de los pacientes con enfermedades raras comenzó hace más de 25 años y ha continuado con la creación de la primera unidad especializada en enfermedades raras no oncológicas”.

En este sentido, la Dra. López, ha remarcado la trayectoria constante y firme de la compañía en el ámbito de la innovación. “Estamos liderando la investigación clínica a nivel global y también en España, especialmente en las fases tempranas, siendo 1 de cada 3 ensayos en fase I promovido por Novartis Oncology”. Además, la doctora ha concluido que “estamos desarrollando más de 50 moléculas en 30 indicaciones diferentes lo que supone uno de los pipelines más completos del sector”.

  

The 4th edition of the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology begins Friday 4 November 2016 in Lausanne, Switzerland

 Immunotherapies (medicines that use the body’s immune system to fight cancer) have proven to be a real breakthrough for cancer patients. They have provided longer survival as well as a better quality of life to patients with tumours that had few treatment options previously. 

At the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology starting Friday 4 November in Lausanne, Switzerland, around 600 experts and researchers from all over the world will gather to discuss advances in cancer immunotherapy, from cancer vaccines to antibodies and cell therapies.

Research has demonstrated that the immune system has tremendous potential to destroy tumours. Immunotherapy today works better for some types of cancer than for others. It is used by itself to treat some tumours, and combined with additional treatments for other cancers. Experts attending the 4^th ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology will discuss how to best develop and individualise new strategies across tumour types.

Cancer vaccines that delay or stop cancer cell growth or cause tumour shrinkage, are only one of the exciting developments to be presented at the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology.

Oral presentations include:

Abstract 4O - Enhanced anti-cancer vaccines with a new epitope improvement system

Abstract 3O - Generation of Immune Checkpoint Knock-out Human Antigen-Specific T cells via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Genetic Engineering

Abstract 1O - Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms and side effects in nivolumab treated NSCLC patients

Abstract 2O - Phase 1 study of ramucirumab (R) plus durvalumab (D) in patients (pts) with locally advanced and unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal or thoracic malignancies (NCT02572687); phase 1a results

Abstract 5O - GBR1302-BEAT® Bispecific Antibody targeting CD3 and HER2 demonstrates a higher anti-tumour potential than current HER2-targeting therapies

The session on technological developments includes the following presentations:

• Discovery and validation of next-generation biomarkers to guide cancer immunotherapy
• Learning to read the adaptive immune repertoire
• Deciphering the biology that drives response to immunotherapy

Poster highlights include:

Abstract 6PD - Improving the efficacy of PDL1 blockade by combination with oncolytic vaccines

Abstract 7PD - Oncolytic immunotherapy for enabling dendritic cell therapy

Abstract 8PD - Dendritic Cell production from allogenic donor Cd34+ stem cells and mononuclear cells: cancer vaccine

Abstract 9PD - PD-1 and PD-L1 expression in ovarian cancer

Abstract 10PD - Assessment of PD-L1 and CD47 expression together with tumour-associated TILs in resectable early stage NSCLC

Abstract 54PD - Preclinical Development of Tumour-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) based Adoptive Cell Transfer Immunotherapy (ACT) for patients with advanced ovarian cancer

Abstract 12PD - MemoMAB, a novel technology for the banking and screening of cognate human immune-receptor repertoires

Major topics to be discussed at the Symposium are:

• Biological therapy: Infectious agents at the service of immunotherapy
• Immuno-oncology clinical studies across tumour types (melanoma, lung, bladder, breast, GI, CNS, ovarian…)
• Cancer antigens
• Antibody based immunotherapy: Checkpoint blockade and bio-specifics
• Biomarkers response
• Technological developments
• Immuno-oncology meets molecular oncology
• Beyond PD-1/PD-L1 axis blockade: Combinations or new molecules
• Molecular controls of the immune system
• Adoptive T cell therapy 

BEST OF ESMO 2016 CONGRESS

“ESMO 2016 Congress has broken records, not only of attendance, but in terms of the quality science being presented, that will impact the practice of oncology,” said Professor Andrés Cervantes, Scientific Chair of the ESMO 2016 Congress at the closing press conference today.
Cervantes announced that there were 20,522 participants at ESMO 2016. “This is certainly a record number, but what is most important is the good news for physicians and patients in many areas of unmet needs such as ovarian cancer, lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, sarcomas and other less common diseases,” he said.
Prof Solange Peters, ESMO 2016 Press Officer, said the key points of the meeting were: “The accent on immunotherapy, that has changed the oncology landscape as well as targeted therapies and personalised medicine in general. The use of biomarkers for predicting response and outcomes is of huge benefit to patients.” Peters continued: “Beyond data, our preoccupation is about patients, that is why a study on quality of life, beyond survival, was included in a Presidential Symposium. That is also why we have a hugely successful Patient Advocacy Track and we also publish guidelines for cancer patients.”
The top ten countries in number of delegates were the US, France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, China, Japan and Denmark.
There were over 1,640 studies presented at ESMO 2016, including 47 late breaking trials and over 1500 quality posters. A record number of research presented at ESMO 2016 was published in major medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), The Lancet Oncology and JAMA Oncology.
Some of the practice changing studies with good news for physicians and patients, presented at ESMO 2016 include:

• ENGOT-OV16/NOVA concerning landmark study for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer
• Keynote-024 and Keynote-021 presenting new immunotherapeutic options for advanced lung cancer
• Monaleesa 2 with good news for patients with HER2 negative advanced breast cancer
• EORTC 18071 with good survival results for patients with stage III melanoma
• Checkmate 141 study of patient reported outcomes in head and neck cancers

Speaking at the press conference, Professor Ulrik Lassen, ESMO National Representative in Denmark and Local Officer for the ESMO 2016 Congress said: “ESMO 2016 has given us the opportunity at a local level to strengthen collaboration with health authorities and other stakeholders in view of prioritising cancer in the national agenda. We were proud to present the Danish model for cancer care as well as our new and ambitious 4^th National Cancer Plan.”
Lassen concluded: “ESMO brought us a lot of information in terms of better practice and science and we will be busy in the coming months finding ways to integrate this new knowledge into our oncology practice.”

The Japanese Cancer Association and Debiopharm Group Announce Winners of the 2016 JCA-Mauvernay Award

Debiopharm Group^™(www.debiopharm.com), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical company, will be presenting the ‘JCA-Mauvernay Award’ on October 8 to Doctors Hidewaki Nakagawa from the RIKEN Center for Integrated Medical Sciences for his basic research on Molecular Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancers Using Genome Sequencing and Genome-wide Association Study and Hiroyuki Seimiya from the Division of Molecular Biotherapy, Cancer Chemotherapy Center of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research for his applied research onTelomere Maintenance System as an Anticancer Therapeutic Target.

Doctors Nakagawa and Seimiya will receive their Awards during the General Assembly of the 75^th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Cancer Association (JCA) in Yokohama on the following theme: ‘Breakthroughs in Cancer Treatment: Collaboration of Basic, Translational and Clinical Research’. Dr. Kohei Miyazono, President of the JCA and Thierry Mauvernay, Co-President & Delegate of the Board of Debiopharm Group, will present the trophies to both scientists.

Dr. Nakagawa has been working on cancer genomics for many years. He has analyzed gene expression profiles of pancreatic and prostate cancer cells to identify target genes for molecular diagnosis and therapies. He has elucidated their biological functions and demonstrated that they could serve as targets of antibody, small interfering RNA (siRNA) or immune-mediated therapies. Dr. Nakagawa has also analyzed the mutational landscape of Japanese liver cancers by whole genome sequencing and using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and has identified several oncogenic mutations.

Telomeres maintenance system could be a promising anticancer strategy as cancer cells often activate telomere-lengthening enzymes to counteract the natural telomere-shortening process ensuing from repeated cell cycles and leading to normal cell senescence and death. Dr. Seimiya and his group have conducted studies on telomeres and telomere-related factors. They have reported that long telomeres increase the levels of the telomeric non-coding RNA, which in turn suppresses the innate immune genes expression in cancer.

“For more than 10 years, our goal has been to reward outstanding achievements in the field of oncology amongst Japanese researchers. We are pleased to see that they are still very committed. We congratulate Doctors Nakagawa and Seimiya for the high quality of their research and hope their work will lead to effective treatments in the years to come”, said Thierry Mauvernay, Co-President & Delegate of the Board of Debiopharm Group.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy prior to surgery is safe and feasible in early lung cancer

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab is safe and feasible prior to surgery for early lung cancer, researchers reported at the ESMO 2016 Congress in Copenhagen.

“Until now nivolumab and the other anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 drug studies have only been reported in metastatic or advanced lung cancer,” said lead author Dr Patrick Forde, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, US. “This was the first study of neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade in early stage lung cancer.”

The primary objective of the study was to see whether it was safe and feasible to administer neoadjuvant nivolumab to patients with early stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prior to resection of the tumour. Treatment was considered feasible if it did not delay surgery.

Exploratory aims included extensive correlative analyses of the pretreatment biopsy and post-treatment resected tumour including PD-L1 staining, multiplex immunohistochemistry and T cell receptor sequencing. An additional exploratory analysis looked at the degree of pathological regression. This was analysed by a lung cancer pathologist using a method previously reported for use in measuring response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC. Major pathological regression (90% or more) was defined as a resected specimen with less than 10% remaining viable tumour cells.

The study included 20 patients who had a tumour biopsy taken. They then received two doses of nivolumab at four and two weeks prior to surgical resection of the tumour.

The results in the first 16 patients were presented today. The investigators found that there were no significant safety concerns and no delays to surgery with nivolumab.

Six of 15 patients (40%) had major pathological regression of their tumour following nivolumab. All of those tumours had dense infiltration of immune cells and either a complete pathologic response or isolated remaining tumour cells. An additional five patients had some regression of their tumour noted and evidence of immune infiltration. Multiplex IHC demonstrated infiltration of cytotoxic T cells into the tumours and also detection of new T cell clones in the tumour that did not appear to be present in the pre-treatment biopsy.

Forde said: “We found that neoadjuvant administration of nivolumab is safe and feasible in stage I-IIIA NSCLC and also a preliminary signal that anti-PD-1 immunotherapy may have activity in early stage lung cancer. Following these initial results we are expanding the study. One cohort will receive a third dose of nivolumab preoperatively and the other will receive the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab preoperatively. This expanded study will continue to be conducted in collaboration with investigators at Johns Hopkins University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre. Others, such as the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium in the United States, are also conducting larger studies of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibition in NSCLC.”

Commenting on the study, Professor Pieter Postmus, chair of Thoracic Oncology at the University of Liverpool, UK, said: “There is a potential for bias when comparing a small biopsy, which might not represent the whole tumour, with the resected tumour. This is not a validated way to measure response to a treatment. It describes a biological effect but whether that has any clinical impact on survival is unproven.”

“Although we do not know for the time being if a major pathological response is correlated with improved survival, this method could first be validated in a cohort of patients with advanced disease by comparing the percentages of viable tumour cells in tumour biopsies taken before and four to eight weeks after immunotherapy,” continued Postmus. “If in this way regression - as defined in the preoperative study - correlates with survival in patients with advanced cancer, it is likely to hold true in less advanced or resectable patients. Long-term survival data will be the ultimate test for these neoadjuvant immunotherapy strategies."

New Edition of ESMO/ASCO Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology: Setting Standards for Modern

 

ESMO, the leading European professional organization for medical oncology, in collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), published today the 2016 edition of the ESMO/ASCO Recommendations for a Global Curriculum (GC) in Medical Oncology, a set of common guidelines to offer a global perspective of the clinical training required for physicians to qualify as medical oncologists.

"Recent significant advances in medical oncology made updating the curriculum a necessary step," said ESMO Chair of the ESMO/ASCO Global Curriculum Working Group, Christian Dittrich.

This third edition has been expanded and updated to include:

o    Stand-alone chapters: immunotherapy; biological therapy; pathology; molecular pathology; laboratory medicine; translational research; genetic counselling

o    New chapters/(sub)sections: Principles of personalized cancer medicine; Molecular imaging; Rare cancers; Cancer treatment in patients with comorbidities; Survivorship

o    Expanded (sub)chapters: Targeted therapies are integrated into the (sub)chapters of the separate tumour entities wherever suitable.

"More than 100 contributors have dedicated their oncologic and didactic expertise to establish the updated recommendations to be fulfilled for qualifying as medical oncologist. The endorsements by 47 national oncology societies worldwide will allow patients, wherever they live, to get state-of-the-art cancer care," said Dittrich.

The Global Curriculum is a living document, and as such must be regularly reviewed and updated. "The future of our specialty is in the hands of those who we are now training. To the degree we are able to establish a uniform, truly global curriculum, we will be helping patients the world over," said Michael Kosty, ASCO Representative on the GC Working Group.

"The ESMO/ASCO GC can be considered the ultimate guide in becoming a medical oncologist," said Mário Fontes e Sousa, Phd student at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto, Portugal. "It's one of the most important tools for trainee education that a medical oncologist in training could ask for."

ESMO President Fortunato Ciardiello said, "The release of the 2016 edition of the Global Curriculum highlights ESMO's and ASCO's commitment to supporting oncologists' education worldwide so that they can further sharpen their expertise, adapt to the rapid changes in standards of practice, and learn how to collaborate effectively with other specialists in an integrated, multi-professional setting." 

ESMO rewards outstanding oncologists

 The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the leading professional organisation for medical oncology, has revealed the four outstanding recipients of its distinguished awards.

Alberto Sobrero receives the ESMO Award for his world renowned research on treatment of gastrointestinal cancer.1

“Prof. Sobrero has not only very broadly and prominently co-authored more than 200 original contributions on very important issues mainly relevant to colorectal cancer where he is considered a leading world expert, but has also cooperated to a large extent within the European Society for Medical Oncology,” said Christoph Zielinski, Chair of the ESMO Fellowship and Award Committee, comprised of oncology leaders who select exceptional international researchers and clinicians for recognition.

Commenting on the significance of receiving the honour, Sobrero said: “One always wonders if he is doing well in his professional life: the ESMO Award is certainly the best answer to this questioning.”

Sobrero is the Scientific Chair of the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid, Spain, a member of the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale Working Group, a member of the ESMO Educational Committee and ESMO Faculty Coordinator for Gastro-Intestinal Tumours.  His main research interests include gastrointestinal cancer treatment, and design and interpretation of clinical trials in oncology.

Sir Richard Peto wins the ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award for important contributions to breast cancer treatment and his epidemiologic studies of tobacco-related diseases.2

Peto, working with his colleagues Richard Gray, Rory Collins and several dozen leading breast cancer researchers, founded the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) in 1985, which has substantially improved the routine management of early breast cancer and influenced clinical trial strategies. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1999 for his epidemiological studies of the hazards of smoking and benefits of stopping.

Zielinski said: “Prof. Richard Peto’s meta-analyses have generated important contributions to state-of-the-art of breast cancer treatment. He has also excelled in his epidemiologic studies of lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases, showing that smoking still causes a quarter of all European cancer deaths.”

On receiving the award, Peto said: “The ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award recognises not just Richard Peto but the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group as a whole, including the patients and staff in hundreds of randomised trials.”

Carlos Caldas is honoured with the Hamilton Fairley Award for opening up new horizons for understanding the biology of breast cancer.3

Caldas’ research focus is the functional genomics of breast cancer and its biological and clinical implications. His laboratory redefined the molecular taxonomy of breast cancer, revealing novel subtypes and their respective drivers. It also completed microRNA profiling of 1,300 of the same tumours, which uncovered a new role for miRNAs as modulators of the immune response in a subset of breast cancers.

Zielinski said: “Prof. Carlos Caldas has excelled in molecular analyses and its implications in breast cancer where he has analysed an abundance of genomic and transcriptomic landscapes leading to a vastly ameliorated insight into the biology of the disease. Besides having published almost 400 original contributions on the topic, his research achievements have been published in eminent journals.

On receiving the award, Caldas said: “ESMO is the association representing medical oncologists in Europe. As a medical oncologist and member of the organisation this is an extremely prestigious award for me. It is a recognition of excellence and of the contributions my group has made to our understanding of breast cancer.”

Sumitra Thongprasert is granted the ESMO Women for Oncology award for being a role model for women oncologists and for her distinguished career.4

Prof. Thongprasert has lobbied across Asia for female participation in the oncology workforce and promotion of women in leadership roles. She has held many important positions in the Far East and internationally, including Far East regional representative for ESMO from 2008–2015 and President of the Thai Society of Clinical Oncology during 2002–2006.
Zielinski said: “Prof. Sumitra Thongprasert has been essential to the support of women's careers in Asia and beyond. She is a role model for what ESMO wants to convey with the Women for Oncology Award.”
On receiving the award, Thongprasert said: “The award is further impetus to strive towards contributing something meaningful to ESMO and especially to women oncologists.” 

ESMO Women for Oncology awards Sumitra Thongprasert

 Professor Sumitra Thongprasert has been awarded the second ESMO Women for Oncology award1, honouring her position as a role model for women in the profession and for her distinguished career.
This is the second year of the ESMO Women for Oncology award, which was established to acknowledge an individual who has significantly supported the career development of women in oncology.

Prof. Thongprasert has held many important positions in the Far East and internationally. Currently she is the Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, and also Director of the Centre of Excellence in Cancer at Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Prof. Thongprasert began her career with a fellowship in haematology-oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, after which she returned to Chiang Mai University in Thailand and set up the Medical Oncology Unit. She served as Professor of Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University from 1999–2012.

Previous positions include being on the board of directors for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) from 2011–2015, a member of the ESMO Developing Country Task Force (DCTF) during 2005–2010, and the Far East Regional representative for ESMO from 2008–2015. Most recently, she was chairperson of the Asia Pacific Lung Cancer Conference in May 2016. Prof. Thongprasert was a founding member of the Thai Society of Clinical Oncology (TSCO), serving as its President during 2002–2006.

Chair of the ESMO Women for Oncology Committee Solange Peters said: “Prof. Thongprasert has been a passionate supporter of the ESMO Women for Oncology initiative since the early days. She has actively promoted the ideals and goals of the initiative in Asia and beyond, which is to address the inequalities faced by women oncologists seeking leadership positions.”

Prof. Thongprasert said she was particularly honoured to be receiving such an award from ESMO: “The award is further impetus to strive towards contributing something meaningful to ESMO and especially to women oncologists.”

Prof. Thongprasert acknowledged the Ananda Mahidol Foundation in Thailand, which provided her with a scholarship for her oncology training, and thanked the mentors, colleagues, friends and family who have supported her: “I would like to thank the ESMO Board for giving me the opportunity to be part of ESMO’s work, initially as a member of the Developing Country Task Force, and later as the ESMO Far East representative. I have learned so much from my involvement with the organisation.”

The ESMO Fellowship and Award Committee acknowledged Prof. Thongprasert’s advocacy across Asia for female participation in the oncology workforce, and promotion of women in leadership positions.

Chair of the ESMO Fellowship and Award Committee Christoph Zielinski said: “Prof. Sumitra Thongprasert has been essential to the support of women's careers in Asia and beyond. She is a role model for what ESMO wants to convey with the Women for Oncology Award.”

ESMO releases new consensus guidelines on the management of metastatic colorectal cancer

ESMO, the leading European professional organisation for medical oncology, has released new consensus guidelines for the management of metastatic colorectal cancer that reflect an increasingly personalized approach to treatment, as published online today in Annals of Oncology.

“Management of metastatic colorectal cancer is becoming more complex, requiring a strategic approach and evidence-based patient selection for the best treatment options,” said chair of the ESMO Consensus Conference Professor Eric Van Cutsem, from the University Hospitals Gasthuisberg/Leuven and KU Leuven, Belgium.

In December 2014, ESMO convened an international consensus panel of experts with subgroups focusing on molecular pathology and biomarkers, local and ablative treatment and treatment of metastatic disease. The subsequent recommendations are based on a significant new body of clinical trial evidence and an advanced understanding of the role and impact of molecular selection.

One of the major innovations in the guidelines is the development of a detailed therapeutic algorithm that takes into account the patient’s condition and fitness; therapeutic goals such as tumour shrinkage or slowing disease progression; and molecular markers. The guidelines also address questions such as the use of chemoembolization and radioembolisation, imaging, and surgical resection.

Recommendations made by the consensus panel include RAS and BRAF mutation testing at diagnosis for all patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The guidelines also note that there is now growing evidence for more frequent testing for MSI. Testing emerging biomarkers such as EGFR or HER2 is not recommended as routine for patient management.

 “Colon cancer management is making progress, leading patients who can be cured though multidisciplinary management of metastases, and to prolonged survival – up from 6 months to 30 months - in many patients,” said Professor Van Cutsem  .

This progress is also attributed to the use of combination chemotherapy and the development of novel second line agents including angiogenesis inhibitors, EGFR antibodies and new agents for chemorefractory disease such as regorafenib and trifluridine/tipiracil.

This second set of ESMO consensus guidelines for metastatic colorectal guidelines – the first were published in 2012 – integrates with the 2014 ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines on metastatic colorectal cancer, which will be updated for publication in 2017.

Commenting on the guidelines, Dr Fotios Loupakis  from the Ospedale Civile - Istituto Toscano Tumori and member of the ESMO Faculty for Gastro-Intestinal Tumors, said, “With these long awaited guidelines, the management of metastatic colorectal cancer officially enters the personalized era, addressing the role of existing and emerging biomarkers and their role in the clinic.”

“The new guidelines move from the clinically-defined historical categories --which were focused on the resectability of metastases, to a less sharp but more realistic assessment that gives more importance to additional elements, such as patient, tumour and treatment characteristics.”

Heine H. Hansen Award goes to Suresh Senan

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) have announced the 2016 Heine H. Hansen (HHH) Award recipient as Suresh Senan from Amsterdam. The award will be presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) 2016, held 13 to 16 April in Geneva, Switzerland.

The HHH Award recognises the lifetime contribution of Prof Heine H. Hansen¹ to lung cancer research and education globally. Heine Hansen was a president of ESMO, a founder of IASLC and a mentor to many in the field of lung cancer. The HHH Award is presented annually by representatives of both organisations at ELCC, where the awardee will give a keynote lecture.²

The HHH Award acknowledges a lung cancer investigator who has made a special contribution to lung cancer research and education on an international basis. Prof Senan is currently vice-chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he has been professor of clinical experimental radiotherapy since 2003. He is an ESMO Faculty member for Chest Tumours and has been a member of the IASLC since 2000.

Commenting on the significance of receiving the award, Senan said: “The Heine H. Hansen Award reflects the opportunities provided by ESMO to non-medical oncologists such as myself, to actively participate in guideline development and teaching courses, all with the aim of contributing to improved care for our patients.”

Senan completed undergraduate studies and training in internal medicine at the National University of Singapore, before training in radiotherapy and oncology in Scotland. He has been working in the Netherlands since 1994.

He said: “This award represents for me a recognition of the active research efforts in the Dutch lung cancer research community. I see it also as recognition of the growing role of radiation oncology in treatment of lung cancer. Since my first attendance at a World Lung Cancer Conference in 2000, I have been an active member of the IASLC community, and like many others, have benefitted from stimulating discussions and networking with established leaders in the field like Prof Heine Hansen.”

Senan’s research has focused on different aspects of lung cancer therapy, including stereotactic radiotherapy, 4-dimensional imaging, chemo-radiotherapy, treatment of small-cell lung cancer, comparative effectiveness research, and MRI-guided treatment. He has more than 285 peer-reviewed publications, and has supervised 15 PhD theses.

Acknowledging the contribution of others to his career, Senan said: “I am grateful to my radiation oncology colleagues, especially Frank Lagerwaard and Ben Slotman, for a very productive collaboration over nearly 15 years, and we continue to work on exciting new projects. Lung cancer research at the VU University Medical Centre benefitted greatly from the inspiring leadership of Pieter Postmus and Egbert Smit, who together with my surgical colleague, Rick Paul, were all strong supporters of ‘disruptive research’ which could lead to improved outcomes in patients. I have also been fortunate to work with a number of very talented Dutch and international PhD students, whose projects helped generate the data to move the field forward.”

ELCC Scientific Committee Co-Chair for ESMO, Prof Solange Peters said: “ESMO is delighted to bestow this year’s Heine H. Hansen Award on Suresh Senan. He has been an active member of ESMO, helping to spread best practice in the field of lung cancer.”

Dr. Wilfried Eberhardt, ELCC Scientific Committee Co-Chair for IASLC, said: “Suresh Senan is a valued member of IASLC and worthy recipient of this award. His involvement in research, editorial roles, supervision, and professional societies will have a long lasting impact on the field of lung cancer.”

Novartis Oncology presenta en Almagro el proyecto “Yo, aquí y ahora: ejercicio y nutrición en cáncer de mama”

Novartis Oncology organizó ayer en Almagro una reunión con pacientes bajo el lema“Yo, aquí y ahora: ejercicio y nutrición en cáncer de mama”, un proyecto que se ha puesto en marcha con el fin de responder a las necesidades de las mujeres con cáncer de mama localizado y avanzado en materia de ejercicio físico y nutrición. Para ello, Novartis Oncology, en colaboración con un prestigioso grupo de expertos formado por oncólogos, especialistas en nutrición y ejercicio físico, enfermeras oncológicas, psiconcólogos y pacientes, ha elaborado unas guías con información general y consejos en estos dos ámbitos. Estos materiales están avalados por GEICAM (Grupo GEICAM de Investigación en Cáncer de Mama), SOLTI (Grupo Cooperativo de Investigación Clínica Especializado en Cáncer de Mama), SEOM (Sociedad Española de Oncología Médica), SEEO (Sociedad Española de Enfermería Oncológica), FECMA (Federación Española de Cáncer de Mama) y Fundación Más que Ideas.

Las guías “Yo, aquí y ahora: ejercicio y nutrición en cáncer de mama” cuentan con: la Guía de Ejercicio Físico, dedicada a explicar los beneficios que el ejercicio físico tiene para estas pacientes, facilitando consejos a través de un video explicativo sobre la mejor forma de realizar cada uno de los ejercicios y una serie de planes de entrenamiento específicamente diseñados para cada una de las etapas de la enfermedad (después de la cirugía, durante los tratamientos, en función del tipo de metástasis…); y la Guía de Nutrición, que explica los beneficios de una dieta equilibrada y saludable en estas pacientes, y que ofrece información sobre las ideas preconcebidas referentes a algunos alimentos relacionados con el cáncer (soja, azúcar, hierbas...), acompañado de un recetario específicamente diseñado para mejorar los efectos adversos relativos a los tratamientos (pérdida de apetito, astenia, náuseas y vómitos, sabor metálico, alteraciones intestinales…).

“Yo, aquí y ahora: ejercicio y nutrición en cáncer de mama” es una campaña itinerante que, tras su paso por A Coruña, Málaga, Madrid y ahora Almagro, visitará otras ciudades españolas como Barcelona. Su objetivo es reunir a pacientes de distintos puntos de la geografía española con expertos para profundizar en aquellas cuestiones que más preocupan a este colectivo, tanto a la hora de realizar ejercicio como para poder llevar una alimentación adecuada. Además, un chef de reconocido prestigio de cada zona que se visite, impartirá una clase práctica de cocina para todos los asistentes preparando uno de los platos del recetario que forma parte de estas guías.

El cáncer de mama localizado y avanzado

La reunión contó con la participación de la Dra. Mª José García, especialista en Oncología Médica del Hospital General Universitario de Ciudad Real. “El cáncer de mama es el más frecuente en la mujer en el mundo occidental, con más de 25.000 casos al año en España, por lo que constituye un problema socio-sanitario de primer orden debido a su elevada incidencia. En las últimas tres décadas se han producido notables mejoras en la supervivencia debidas tanto a la introducción de las campañas de cribado mamográfico como a los nuevos tratamientos médicos”, afirma la Dra. García.

“Como en el resto de tumores, todos los subtipos de cáncer de mama se clasifican en estadios según la extensión de la enfermedad. El sistema de clasificación TNM se basa en el tamaño del tumor (T) y su extensión a los ganglios linfáticos regionales (N) -enfermedad locorregional- o a otras partes del cuerpo (M) -enfermedad avanzada-. A pesar de los avances diagnósticos y terapéuticos, su pronóstico sigue dependiendo principalmente de la extensión de la enfermedad en el momento de la detección. De ahí que el conseguir un diagnóstico precoz siga siendo la mejor vía para mejorar sus posibilidades de curación”, continúa la Dra. García.

“El tratamiento llevado a cabo por equipos multidisciplinares permite un abordaje individualizado en cada caso, frecuentemente menos agresivo y más eficaz. En la actualidad, cerca del 90% de las pacientes continúan libres de enfermedad cinco años después del diagnóstico y tratamiento de un cáncer de mama. Con más de 25.000 casos al año de cáncer de mama en nuestro país, cada 1% de mejora con un avance en el tratamiento del cáncer de mama hace que 250 mujeres menos recaigan de su enfermedad o puedan disfrutar de una mejor calidad de vida con reincorporación plena a su vida social y laboral” explica la Dra. García.

“Como en el resto de España, el cáncer de mama es el cáncer más frecuente en la mujer, habiendo sido intervenidas más de 200 pacientes el año pasado en el Hospital General Universitario de Ciudad Real, observando un incremento en la incidencia en pacientes menores de 50 años. Desde la creación de la Sección de Oncologia Médica en este hospital en 1993, el tratamiento de las pacientes con cáncer de mama, se realiza de forma multidisciplinar, aplicando el mismo de forma personalizada teniendo en cuenta para ello las características del tumor (estadio, perfil biológico) así como las patologías concomitantes. Para ello, contamos con todo el arsenal terapéutico y aparataje necesario para realizar el diagnóstico lo antes posible (consulta de alta resolución) e iniciar el tratamiento de forma inmediata -local y/o sistémico-. También desde hace aproximadamente 3 o 4 años, se realizan estudios mediante las plataformas genómicas para decisión de tratamiento adyuvante en las pacientes que lo precisan. Asímismo se valora de forma muy especial el impacto psicosocial que tiene el diagnóstico del cáncer por lo que se  les ofrece tanto a las pacientes como a sus familiares apoyo psicológico si lo demandan”, concluye la Dra. García.

Guía de Ejercicio Físico

La Dra. Soraya Casla, coordinadora de proyectos de ejercicio oncológico en GEICAM, explicó la importancia que tiene el ejercicio físico en la recuperación de masa muscular en mujeres con cáncer de mama localizado y avanzado, y presentó la Guía de Ejercicio Físico que se ha editado para resolver las dudas que puedan surgir a estas pacientes a la hora de realizar ejercicio físico durante y después de su tratamiento.

“Las pacientes que reciben tratamientos de cáncer de mama sufren un proceso de pérdida de masa muscular, lo que disminuye la cantidad de calorías que gastan a lo largo del día. Esto hace que, al gastar menos y comer igual, acumulen mayor cantidad de grasa, produciendo una situación denominada ‘obesidad sarcopénica’. Además, otros tratamientos dificultan la recuperación de la masa muscular como es la hormonoterapia u otros tratamientos utilizados en líneas posteriores en el caso del cáncer de mama avanzado. El ejercicio físico realizado de forma controlada por un especialista aumenta la cantidad de masa muscular, lo que ayuda a regular el metabolismo, así como la composición corporal de las mujeres que padecen este problema”, afirmó la Dra. Casla.

“Esta guía significa un paso adelante en el cambio de mentalidad del tratamiento de las pacientes, ya que es una terapia complementaria que ha demostrado su eficacia tanto en la reducción de los efectos secundarios de los tratamientos como en el aumento de la supervivencia de las pacientes con cáncer de mama”, continuó la Dra. Casla. “Además de estos beneficios físicos, el ejercicio oncológico es un tratamiento integral con efectos beneficiosos a nivel psicológico, lo que también aumenta la calidad de vida de las pacientes que lo realizan. Un estilo de vida saludable no solo les hará vivir mejor, con menos efectos secundarios, sino también les hará vivir más felices”.

Guía de Nutrición

La Dra. Rocío Fonseca, oncóloga especialista en nutrición en paciente oncológico, habló sobre la importancia de la nutrición en pacientes con cáncer de mama localizado y avanzado, y presentó la Guía de Nutrición que se ha elaborado pensando en las necesidades e inquietudes sobre la alimentación más recomendada antes, durante y después del tratamiento.

“Numerosos estudios han demostrado que un estilo de vida saludable basado en ejercicio físico habitual, alimentación adecuada, variada y equilibrada, así como evitar el consumo de alcohol y tabaco, reducen de forma importante el riesgo de desarrollar cáncer de mama y otros tipos de cáncer”, declaró la Dra. Fonseca. “No solo es importante en la prevención del cáncer de mama; diferentes investigaciones clínicas coinciden en que adoptar este estilo de vida saludable ayuda a las personas con cáncer en todas las fases de su enfermedad, contribuyendo a afrontar mejor los tratamientos y a una mayor eficacia de los mismos, además de favorecer una mejor recuperación y calidad de vida. Al afrontar un cáncer de mama debemos considerar la nutrición como una parte importante del tratamiento; el soporte nutricional debe formar parte del abordaje multidisciplinar del cáncer”.

“Clásicamente, el abordaje del cáncer de mama se centraba exclusivamente en una correcta administración del tratamiento oncológico indicado, sin valorar otros aspectos relacionados también con la enfermedad, como los psicosociales, la calidad de vida, la nutrición y la actividad física. Esta guía se ha diseñado pensando en estas pacientes, en sus necesidades e inquietudes sobre la alimentación más recomendada al afrontar un cáncer de mama. En esta guía aprenderán por qué es importante una buena alimentación que garantice una óptima nutrición, en qué consiste una alimentación adecuada, variada y equilibrada, y consejos sobre hábitos alimenticios saludables”, continuó la Dra. Fonseca.

“Aprender a comer significa ganar en salud. Existen ideas generalizadas sobre ciertos alimentos y su relación con el cáncer. El problema surge cuando la información consultada es contradictoria: ¿qué hacer entonces? Las pacientes encontrarán un apartado en la guía para poder aclarar dudas y resolver preguntas frecuentes. Asimismo, también hay a su disposición recetas variadas, con un valor nutritivo completo y equilibrado, económicas, sencillas, que se adaptarán a las diferentes situaciones que puedan presentarse en el transcurso de los tratamientos y de la enfermedad”, finalizó la Dra. Fonseca.

Este proyecto en Almagro contó con la colaboración especial de Pepe Rodríguez, chef del restaurante “El Bohío”, quien participó con la proyección de un vídeo mostrando su amplia experiencia gastronómica con el fin de ayudar a este colectivo de mujeres a llevar una alimentación saludable. También se contó en la reunión con la presencia de Iván Cerdeño, chef del restaurante “El Carmen de Montesión”, quien elaboró una de las recetas incluidas en la Guía de Nutrición con el fin de formar a las pacientes sobre cómo cocinar de forma beneficiosa para su salud, teniendo en cuenta su enfermedad.

Por último, la Dra. Esther Lorite, Directora de Comunicación y Relaciones con Pacientes de Novartis Oncology comentó “Novartis Oncology cuenta con más de 30 años de experiencia en la lucha contra el cáncer de mama intentando dar respuesta a las necesidades de las pacientes en cada una de las fases de la enfermedad. Gracias al acceso a tratamientos más avanzados y dirigidos, ha mejorado la supervivencia de estas pacientes lo que se ha visto acompañado de una mejora en la calidad de vida que les permite llevar una vida prácticamente normal en muchos de los casos. Por ello, las necesidades actuales de las pacientes ya no son las mismas que las que tenían hace tiempo. El proyecto ‘Yo, aquí y ahora: ejercicio y nutrición en cáncer de mama” nace con el objetivo de facilitar una información avalada, contrastada y veraz sobre dos de las principales cuestiones que preocupan a las pacientes con cáncer de mama: el ejercicio físico y la nutrición”.

Colaboración por parte de la comunidad de pacientes

Para la elaboración de estas guías, Novartis Oncology ha contado con la colaboración de diversas asociaciones de pacientes y organizaciones relacionadas con la enfermedad. “Desde la Federación Española de Cáncer de Mama, defendemos los programas de detección precoz y apoyamos aquellos proyectos que puedan facilitar el día a día de las pacientes. En este sentido, agradecemos a Novartis haber pensado en FECMA para ayudar a elaborar estas guías. Para nosotros es muy importante que se pongan en marcha iniciativas de este tipo en las que se atiendan de forma tan cuidada las necesidades especiales que tienen las mujeres con cáncer de mama”, afirma Dª Josefa Madrid, presidenta de la Asociación de Mujeres Afectadas de Cáncer de Mama ROSAE y secretaria de de la Federación Española de Cáncer de Mama (FECMA).

“Como mujer afectada de cáncer de mama, ha sido un verdadero placer haber colaborado en la elaboración de estas guías, no solo por haber aportado mi punto de vista como paciente, sino también por haber trabajado con profesionales de la salud muy cualificados que se han implicado en el proyecto con mucho esmero y cariño”, explica Josefa. “Estamos seguras de que estas guías serán de suma utilidad, ya que están pensadas teniendo en cuenta nuestras necesidades. En este sentido, somos conscientes de que no todo tipo de ejercicio físico es válido para nosotras pero con esta guía adaptada y un buen seguimiento, podremos llegar a alcanzar un alto rendimiento sin miedo a lesionarnos. Y gracias a la Guía de Nutrición, podremos seguir una dieta no solo sana sino también adecuada a nuestras necesidades según el momento de la enfermedad. Podremos saber qué alimentos nos pueden beneficiar para evitar carencias nutricionales y así ganar en salud eliminando tantas dudas como nos surgen no solo en el momento del diagnóstico sino a lo largo de nuestra vida. En definitiva, una dieta adecuada a nuestras necesidades completándola con el ejercicio recomendado, mejoraría nuestra calidad de vida”, concluye Josefa.