Transcript
Announcer:
You’re listening to Project Oncology on ReachMD. On this episode, we’ll hear from Dr. Laura Alder, who’s an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Alder will be shedding light on the key questions that still need to be answered when it comes to integrating antibody-drug conjugates into non-small cell lung cancer care. Let’s hear from her now.
Dr. Alder:
So a lot of questions still remain about how to use these ADCs in everyday clinical life. Some of the key unanswered questions include how do we optimally sequence these ADCs and the potential sequential use of multiple antibody-drug conjugates? Because a lot of these antibody-drug conjugates, while they can have different targets, a few of them have the same payload. And so we're starting to learn more—and we still have a ways to go—about how we can best use these drugs when there are multiple options for the same patient.
Another big one is how do we identify good predictive biomarkers beyond just the antibody target? We know that tumor biology is very complex. There can be mutations, amplifications, and protein expression, and all of those things do not uniformly predict response to the antibody-drug conjugates that we have. So sometimes even if they have a high expression of a given biomarker like TROP2, that does not always equate into the response that we're seeing in clinical trials and in the real world. So I think there's a lot more to understand about predictive biomarkers beyond just one biomarker expression.
And then the next thing is when these treatments fail, why do they fail? What are some mechanisms of resistance? And that will help us choose the best next line of treatment.
There are a few other things that I want to highlight though. Cost is sometimes a concern as well as access to some of these ADCs. Some of the side effects do need some supportive care, and that can be a little bit challenging. And then lastly, there are some unique side effects like interstitial lung disease that just really necessitate the need for good monitoring and good communication with the entire medical team.
Announcer:
That was Dr. Laura Alder talking about the key questions surrounding antibody-drug conjugates for non-small cell lung cancer. To access this and other episodes in our series, visit Project Oncology on ReachMD.com, where you can Be Part of the Knowledge. Thanks for listening!
