The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2019 Annual Meeting was held in Atlanta, Georgia from March 29th-April 3rd, 2019. The meeting included preclinical and early clinical results from oncology drug candidates, but investigators also presented updated results from several key clinical trials. Included below are selected highlights from the meeting:

• Astellas released the first survival data from Xospata’s pivotal Phase III ADMIRAL trial in FLT3-mutated relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Although the drug has already been approved for this indication, the 3.7-month overall survival (OS) benefit demonstrated by Xospata in the ADMIRAL trial should help the drug compete with fellow FLT3 inhibitor quizartinib, which has been filed for approval for AML and is currently under FDA review.
• Initial numerical data from the marginal zone lymphoma cohort of umbralisib’s Phase II/III UNITY-NHL trial were presented. These results suggest that umbralisib should be able to compete well with the only other therapy approved for relapsed/refractory patients, Imbruvica. In particular, the 19% complete response rate observed in patients treated with umbralisib was impressive.
• Final results from the Phase II STELLAR trial testing Novocure’s Tumor Treating Fields device in first-line mesothelioma patients were presented. Outcomes showed that patients receiving continuous Tumor Treating Fields in combination with pemetrexed and cisplatin/carboplatin saw a 6.1-month improvement in OS in comparison to historical controls. The only device-related side effect observed was dermatitis, however, this was expected.
• A minor update from Tedopi’s Phase III ATALANTE-1 trial in non-small cell lung cancer was provided, which included survival outcomes for three patients treated with Tedopi compared to one patient from the control arm who was treated with single agent chemotherapy. Although the data are limited, Tedopi showed encouraging efficacy in these patients who had progressed on checkpoint inhibitor therapy, with all three patients in the treatment arm surviving for at least 20 months in comparison to just 7.1 months for the patient receiving chemotherapy.
• New trial data were presented for three different add-on therapies in development for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: BET bromodomain inhibitor ZEN-3694, EZH2 inhibitor CPI-1205, and polo-like kinase inhibitor onvansertib. All three drugs were tested in combination with Zytiga and/or Xtandi and showed preliminary efficacy in relapsed/refractory setting.
• Pooled results from Keytruda’s KEYNOTE-028 and KEYNOTE-158 trials in small cell lung cancer were presented. These two trials supported Merck’s sBLA filing in this indication, which is currently under FDA review. The data affirmed Keytruda’s efficacy in patients in the third-line or later and further highlighted the durability of the responses observed.

Like our report? Have any questions or feedback? Please let us know at askanalyst@sagientresearch.com.
For our disclosures, please read the Biomedtracker Research Standards.