ESMO 2024 Press Conference

The expanding knowledge of disease mechanisms and pathways in cancer is guiding new drug development to target specific proteins and molecular mechanisms of cancer progression. Such proteins and mechanisms are sometimes shared between cancers, leading to the concept that, in some cases, the molecular alteration, rather than the organ of origin, is the key determinant of cancer classification. This new way of classifying cancers could dramatically accelerate drug development, requiring diagnostic tests to assess molecular alterations as the key determinant of cancer types. Eyes to the Future will explore the potential of this new “organ agnostic” molecularly-driven field of oncology.

Epigenetics – the effect of the environment on the expression of genes – has an influence on the types of cancer that can emerge as a result of cancer patients’ lifestyle, pre-disposition, co-morbidities, and many other factors. By observing the epigenetic formation of cancers, it becomes possible to characterise and treat a previously unrecognised class of cancer types. The Eyes to the Future session will analyse a clinical study that has shown promising results in treating epigenetic cancer types.

The power of ML-AI has many applications, in multiple sectors and industries, including drug discovery and development, and cancer diagnostics, among others. The ability to correlate billions of data points and extrapolate meaningful insights is at the heart of new ML-AI models designed to predict cancer mutations over time. The Eyes to the Future session will explore and discuss the implications of ML-AI in driving a comprehensive characterisation of the tumour microenvironment, to create personalised cancer therapies.

The basis of certain classes of cancer therapies makes them cytotoxic. While killing tumour cells is the primary target, unavoidable off-target toxicity results in peripheral damage to healthy tissues. The Eyes to the Future session will be discussing strategies of systemic therapies, to be administered alongside other cancer therapies, that could preserve organ integrity, and the resulting implications for patients with cancer.

While many patients respond well to cancer therapy, in some cases, over time, the tumours can develop resistance to therapy – and with certain cancer types, there may not be a further treatment option. As such, overcoming or even preventing the development of tumour resistance becomes a powerful technique to treating patients long-term. The discussion at the Eyes to the Future session will presentearly results from an adaptive clinical study exploring several options to overcome resistance.