ASTRO’s 56th Annual Meeting

Annual Meeting Highlights
Top-rated abstracts presented during Plenary and Clinical Trials sessions


By Lynn D. Wilson, MD, MPH, FASTRO, Annual Meeting Scientific Committee chair, and Benjamin Movsas, MD, FASTRO, Annual Meeting Scientific Committee vice-chair

ASTRO’s 56th Annual Meeting continues the long-standing tradition of featuring cutting-edge science and research in radiation oncology. The Annual Meeting program consists of 20 scientific panels and more than 50 educational sessions, in addition to 360 oral presentations, 1,862 posters and 144 digital posters in 20 tracks.

This year, ASTRO received a record-breaking 2,874 abstracts from researchers around the world. While 58 percent (1,681) of the abstracts are from the United States, 7 percent (206) are from Japan, more than 6 percent (191) are from China, and nearly 6 percent (171) are from Canada.

The Plenary Session, which runs unopposed, currently includes highly rated studies on combining radiation therapy and immunotherapy as well as on the topic of intermediate- and high-risk localized prostate cancer. Lead author Andrew Sharabi, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, will discuss the results of a study examining the potential mechanism and clinical implications of combining radiation therapy and immunotherapy in melanoma and breast carcinoma. Also in the Plenary Session, lead author Almudena Zapatero, MD, PhD, of the Hospital Universitario de la Princesa in Madrid, Spain, will present the results of a GICOR study (DART trial) evaluating long-term androgen deprivation compared to short-term androgen deprivation in intermediate- and high-risk localized prostate cancer patients treated with high-dose radiation therapy.

For the first time, the popular Clinical Trials Session will run unopposed to provide all attendees the opportunity to hear presentations on this important science. The Clinical Trials Session will highlight eight studies:

Felix Y. Feng, MD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the lead author and will share the results of a study on prognostic biomarkers in prostate cancer.
Mohan Suntharalingam, MD, MBA, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, is the lead author of an initial report of local control in RTOG 0436, a randomized phase III trial examining the addition of cetuximab to paclitaxel, cisplatin and radiation for esophageal cancer patients treated with surgery.
Ben J. Slotman, MD, PhD, of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, is the lead author of a study evaluating the patterns of disease recurrence in an international, multicenter randomized trial analyzing the role of thoracic radiation therapy in extensive stage small cell lung cancer.
Susan A. McCloskey, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, is the lead author and will discuss the results of a secondary data analysis analyzing the impact of radiation therapy on lymphedema risk for patients in NSABP B-32, a randomized trial of sentinel node biopsy and axillary node dissection versus sentinel node biopsy in women with clinically node-negative breast cancer.
Michael G. Penniment, MD, MBA, of Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, is the lead author and will share a report on Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) 03.01 NCIC CTG ES.2, a multinational, phase III study comparing quality of life and palliation of dysphagia in patients with advanced esophageal cancer treated with radiotherapy or chemoradiation therapy.
Lawrence B. Berk, MD, PhD, of the University of South Florida in Tampa, is the lead author and will present the results of a randomized phase II trial evaluating the efficacy of Manuka Honey liquid and Manuka Honey lozenges in preventing radiation esophagitis in patients with lung cancer treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Rahul R. Parikh, MD, of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospitals in New York, is the lead author and will discuss the results of a study examining the utilization of radiation therapy and its impact on overall survival in early-stage Hodgkin’s disease.
Mark D. Hurwitz, MD, of the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, is the lead author and will share the results of RTOG 0621, a single-arm, phase II trial evaluating the addition of androgen deprivation and docetaxel to adjuvant radiation therapy for high-risk prostate cancer patients post-prostatectomy.

Late-breaking abstracts may be added to these sessions. The Plenary Session takes place on Monday, September 15 at 2:15 p.m. The Clinical Trials Session is scheduled for Sunday, September 14 at 3:15 p.m.