DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE

Ascentage Pharma announced that APG-2449, a FAK/ALK/ROS1 TKI, has been cleared by China's NMPA to enter two Phase III studies for NSCLC patients resistant to second-generation ALK TKIs and treatment-naïve ALK-positive NSCLC patients.

Ascentage Pharma announced that APG-2449, a FAK/ALK/ROS1 TKI, has been cleared by China's NMPA to enter two Phase III studies for NSCLC patients resistant to or naïve to ALK TKIs. APG-2449 showed preliminary efficacy and safety, with potential to inhibit brain metastases, addressing unmet needs in NSCLC treatment.

FDA approves perioperative nivolumab for resectable NSCLC; locally produced CAR T-cell therapy shows 92% ORR in R/R multiple myeloma; FDA grants priority review to acalabrutinib for treatment-naive mantle cell lymphoma; September 2024 saw key FDA approvals in oncology; recap of September 2024 OncLive On Air episodes.

Engineered nonpathogenic E. coli displaying decoy-resistant IL18 show potent anti-tumor responses, boosting CAR-NK cell therapy and demonstrating safety in hard-to-treat tumors.

Engineered nonpathogenic E. coli expressing immune-activating cytokines on their surfaces demonstrated potent anti-tumor responses and enhanced CAR-NK cell therapy efficacy, with a 50-60% cure rate in mice, suggesting potential as a 'tumor GPS' for NK cells.

Marc Machaalani, MD, analyzed ERBB2 (HER2) amplifications across sex, race, and cancer types in 103,786 patients, finding significant differences. Male esophagogastric cancer patients had higher ERBB2 rates than females, while females with breast cancer had higher rates than males. Asian patients had higher ERBB2 rates in colorectal and bladder cancers compared to White and Black patients. ERBB2 amplifications were more frequent in metastatic tumors. These findings highlight the need for personalized HER2-targeted therapies and tailored clinical trials.

A study on MPN-AP/BP patients found median overall survival of 0.86 years, with no significant differences by first-line treatment type. Allo-HSCT showed a median OS of 2.30 years post-transplant. Despite poor outcomes, only 14% were enrolled in clinical trials. The study highlighted the need for more trials, better biomarker research, and improved pre-transplant treatment strategies.

The Cancer AI Alliance (CAIA) brings together scientists from Johns Hopkins to develop AI-driven precision cancer care, addressing challenges in data analysis and privacy. CAIA aims to provide computing infrastructure for processing high volumes of cancer data, maintaining data security and privacy, and using a federated AI learning framework to uncover insights without sharing raw data.