Against a backdrop of tremendous uncertainty for cancer research funding, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) held its annual meeting last week, bringing together more than 23,000 laboratory scientists, clinical investigators, and professionals for several days of scientific sessions and collaboration.
This year’s annual meeting opened with a rallying moment as thousands of attendees raised signs into the air reading CANCER RESEARCH SAVES LIVES. Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, former BCRF investigator and director of the National Institutes of Health, led a discussion on the far-reaching repercussions of the fundamental realignment cancer research is facing.
Here, we highlight some key presentations and some of the buzz from the meeting.
Immunotherapy drew a lot of excitement at this year’s meeting, especially after researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center presented groundbreaking results from a phase 2 clinical trial on an immunotherapy drug called dostarlimab. Eighty percent of the patients enrolled in the trial—who had rectal, stomach, esophagus, liver, and other cancers—did not need surgery after dostarlimab. Because surgery for these cancers severely alters patients’ quality of life, this is potentially practice changing and garnered national news.
In breast cancer, immunotherapy’s success has been limited to certain subtypes, like triple-negative (TNBC). Investigators are eagerly researching ways to harness this technology and improve outcomes for patients—including looking to results of trials in other solid tumors to inform strategies for breast cancer.
For example, Dr. Timothy Yap of MD Anderson Cancer Center presented preliminary data from the phase 2 KEYLYNK-007 trial (NCT04123366) testing a combination of the PARP inhibitor olaparib and the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in patients with a variety of cancer types. The combination treatment showed initial antitumor activity, particularly in patients with BRCA1/2 mutations—findings that could have important implications for breast cancer.
Dr. Shanu Modi presented results from a phase 1a/b trial of runimotamab. This drug belongs to a new class of immunotherapy called bispecific antibodies, which can recognize two distinct targets. In the case of runimotamab, the two targets are HER2, which is found on tumor cells (see HER2-positive breast cancer), and CD3 protein, which is found on immune cells called T cells. Since the bispecific antibody can engage both tumor and immune cells, it essentially brings the tumor-killing properties of T cells close to HER2-positive tumors. Dr. Modi’s trial demonstrated that runimotamab plus another HER2-targeting drug (trastuzumab) had encouraging clinical activity.
The cancer ecosystem—the cellularly diverse environment around the tumor—was another major theme at AACR this year. Multiple presentations explored what factors make the tumor microenvironment highly dynamic and how interactions between cancer cells and immune cells impact both treatment response and resistance.
BCRF investigator Dr. Johanna Joyce discussed treatment-induced alterations to the brain tumor microenvironment and how they may provide opportunities to prevent brain cancer recurrence. Radiation is the major treatment for brain tumors, including breast cancer brain metastases. However, radiation therapy can cause fibrotic scars in the brain, and this is precisely where brain tumors recur.
Dr. Joyce posited that these scars foster an environment that encourages recurrence and presented new evidence for molecular mechanisms that can maintain dormant cancer cells within a fibrotic scar. Moreover, she hypothesized that these mechanisms may provide potential strategies for targeting fibrotic scars to directly impact recurrence.
Between 2010-2020, there was an 80 percent decline in deaths from breast cancer among women aged 20–49, according to a study from Dr. Adetunji Toriola of Washington University in St. Louis.
While patients with the luminal A subtype (hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative) breast cancer saw the most significant decline, all subtypes saw improvements in survival. Of note, there was a nearly 33 percent annual decrease in 2018 for younger patients with TNBC, a subtype that is particularly aggressive and has been traditionally difficult to treat.
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Rapid advancements in targeted therapies most likely drove these improvements. While declines were seen across all racial and ethnic groups, this study emphasizes the need to address persistent disparities, particularly among non-Hispanic Black women, to ensure equitable health outcomes for all.
BCRF investigator Dr. Scarlett Gomez gave a summary lecture on several AACR sessions focused on disparities in cancer care. She provided the audience with several take-home messages, including ways to increase participation of people of color in clinical trials.
Dr. Gomez stressed the need for clinical trialists to prioritize screening for social drivers of health that may hinder participation (such as a lack of childcare), to harness cancer thrivers’ knowledge and experience, and to engage community networks to reach specific populations. In addition, she challenged investigators to develop better communications tactics to combat misinformation, particularly among vulnerable groups.
In the final plenary session, BCRF investigator Dr. Christina Curtis gave a fascinating talk about her research, which uses machine learning to integrate many data types and develop better models to predict tumor progression and outcomes. Her work encompasses genomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic analyses to capture the complexities of cancer initiation and progression.
Dr. Curtis detailed how combining these diverse data types can strengthen predictive analytics and drive advancements in precision medicine—perhaps even intercepting cancer before it starts. Read about a recent discovery from Dr. Curtis here.
The Fellows of the AACR Academy recognize and honor extraordinary scientists whose groundbreaking contributions have driven significant innovation and progress against cancer. They are nominated and elected through a meticulous, multi-step, peer-reviewed process that rigorously evaluates each candidate’s scientific achievements and contributions to the field.
Four of BCRF’s researchers were inducted into the academy for their profound and impactful work in cancer research. BCRF congratulates Drs. Susan Domchek, Lisa Newman, Electra Paskett, and Robert Vonderheide on this honor.
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