MAYO CLINIC

Jamie L. Carroll, APRN, CNP, MSN, of the Mayo Clinic, discussed the evolving second-line treatment landscape for HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, emphasizing the importance of clinician education and patient advocacy. Many community cancer centers use palbociclib (Ibrance), the first CDK4/6 inhibitor approved for this condition. For patients with ESR1 mutations, the FDA approved elacestrant (Orserdu), highlighting the need for testing upon disease progression on a CDK4/6 inhibitor. Nurses and APPs play a crucial role in advocating for the best treatment options based on individual patient needs.

The 2024 NCODA International Fall Summit in Orlando featured keynote speaker Chaunte Lowe, clinical science breakthroughs, and sessions on novel treatments and best practices. Highlights included Joyce O’Shaughnessy’s talk on breast cancer treatment advances, Stephanie White’s insights on oncology pharmacy, Liz Vogel’s safety guidelines for hazardous drug compounding, Nathan Vanderford’s discussion on rural healthcare challenges, and a panel on precision medicine in lung cancer. Doug Long also addressed oncology market trends.

Binghamton University's Biomedical Engineering Department, led by Kaiming Ye and Shelley Dionne, is creating a $1.6 million biomanufacturing project management training program. Ahyeon Koh will research an implantable device for inflammatory disease treatment, while Siyuan Rao advances brain bioelectronics. Sha Jin received a NY state award for upcycling food waste. Qianbin Wang and Siyuan Rao developed a remotely triggered liposomal delivery system for glaucoma. Tracy Hookway researches cardiovascular cells from human skin cells. Student Clara Rodriguez and PhD student Joab Dorsainvil highlight achievements, and a capstone project aims to automate syringe preparation.

Optiscan's CEO, Dr. Camile Farah, highlights significant progress in clinical studies and R&D, including a soon-to-be-revealed MVP of their telepathology platform. The company expects to deliver InVue systems to clinical sites by Q2 FY25 and has received ethical clearance for a breast cancer study at Royal Melbourne Hospital. Optiscan also advances its third clinical device for diagnostic pathology and a flexible endomicroscope for gastroenterology, with participation in Austrade's China tour opening new opportunities.

Experts at Annual Oncology Update 2024 discussed new cancer treatments, including Dr. Mario Bilusic's phase 3 prostate cancer data from the PEACE-3 study and Dr. Elisa Krill-Jackson's updates on HER2+ treatments for breast cancer patients with brain metastases.

Liz Vogel discusses safety in hazardous drug compounding at NCODA Fall Summit, emphasizing USP <800> standards, engineering controls, and differences in hazardous vs. non-hazardous compounding practices. Hazardous drugs pose reproductive risks and require stringent PPE, cleaning, and monitoring. Vogel advocates for education to break the stigma around handling these medications.

Mayo Clinic is developing digital tools to integrate tailored patient data into EHR, including a platform for housing 'omics' data in the cloud and an AI tool to summarize genomics data, aiming to make precision medicine the standard of care.

Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine is digitally transforming to provide clinicians with data analysis tools, aiming to enhance diagnoses, treatments, and patient outcomes.

Berlin-based Aignostics GmbH, a spin-out from Charité and Mayo Clinic, raised $34m in Series B funding led by Athos and HTGF, bringing total funds to $55m. The AI image analysis specialist plans to expand its digital pathology offerings for target and companion diagnostics, leveraging its RudolfV foundation model. Aignostics aims to grow in the US and collaborate with Mayo Clinic for novel data-driven models and biopharma products.

Stephen M. Ansell discusses integrating immunotherapy like nivolumab/AVD into advanced Hodgkin lymphoma treatment, emphasizing personalized care based on patient tolerance, particularly in elderly patients.