ESMO Congress 2023

Neoadjuvant, perioperative, targeted and combined treatment approaches have shown potential benefit for patients with this aggressive disease, but further research is needed 

Disappointing results were reported from the phase III MANTRA trial, but biomarker-based approaches still offer hope for MDM2 inhibition in solid tumours 

Results from four early-phase studies show that combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with other immunotherapies or with TKIs is a potentially efficacious strategy for the treatment of different diseases including GIST and vascular sarcomas 

In the DESTINY-PanTumour01 trial, promising response rates were seen with trastuzumab deruxtecan in heavily pre-treated patients with different cancer types

Progression-free survival was longer with tumour-specific versus standard chemotherapy in two trials, but further work is needed to improve prognosis for these patients

Study findings support routine RET-mutation testing for all patients with advanced MTC, but further work is needed to identify predictive markers

Encouraging preliminary results are reported with innovative antibody–drug conjugate designs, but underlying mechanisms of action still need to be described to improve efficacy and tolerability 

Negative trials presented at the ESMO Congress 2023 suggest that a new treatment strategy may be required for patients with metastatic disease

Results from the LIBRETTO-431 trial reinforce the use of selpercatinib as the first-line choice and are likely to widen patient access to treatment

Alectinib is the first ALK inhibitor to significantly improve DFS in a phase III trial across disease stages