Description

Release Date: 08/12/2009
Expiration Date: 08/12/2010

Lung cancer is the number 1 cancer killer of both men and women with more people dying each year of lung cancer than breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer combined. The overall survival rate for NSCLC remains a dismal 15% meaning that most patients either present with or ultimately develop metastatic disease. The focus of today’s casecast is the optimal treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC.

Currently, there is no standard approach regarding the duration of chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. ASCO guidelines recommend no more than 6 cycles of initial chemotherapy, but admit that “the optimal duration of chemotherapy remains a debate”. Recent studies of early versus delayed second line chemotherapy or maintenance chemotherapy versus placebo after initial treatment for NSCLC have brought up several questions that may lead to a change in the standard of care. At the very least, the issue of prolonged chemotherapy in this disease is getting a closer look and practicing oncologists need to be aware of the results from recent large scale studies.

Therapy against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has gained much attention since the identification of a subset of patients with favorable mutations and significant response to the use of small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Oncologists continue to have questions regarding the optimal use, timing and sequence of these targeted agents in combination with chemotherapy.

This casecast will address several key issues relating primarily to the duration and choice of chemotherapy, including the EGFR-TKIs, for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Presented by:

Learning Objectives

• Summarize the biologic implications of having an EGFR mutation detected in a NSCLC tumor
• Discuss the emerging recommendation to consider screening for this mutation at the time of diagnosis in select patients and making first-line treatment decisions based on the results.

Faculty

Jennifer Temel,MD
Director, Fellowship Program
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School


Panagiotis M. Fidias, MD
Clinical Director, Center for Thoracic Cancers
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School


Jeffrey A. Engelman, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Thoracic Cancers
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School

General Information

Dr. Temel is a consultant for Merck. She receives honoraria from Reed Medical Education (a company working as a logistics collaborator for the MGH Psychiatry Academy). The education programs conducted by the MGH Psychiatry Academy were supported through Independent Medical Education (IME) grants from pharmaceutical companies co-supported programs along with participant tuition. Commercial entities supporting the MGH Psychiatry Academy in 2008 are listed on the Academy's website www.mghcme.org.

Dr. Engelman is a consultant for Schering Plough, Novartis, Aveo, OSI and Millenium. He is a member of the Advisory Board for Hoffman La Roche. He receives honoraria from Reed Medical Education (a company working as a logistics collaborator for the MGH Psychiatry Academy). The education programs conducted by the MGH Psychiatry Academy were supported through Independent Medical Education (IME) grants from pharmaceutical companies co-supported programs along with participant tuition. Commercial entities supporting the MGH Psychiatry Academy in 2008 are listed on the Academy's website www.mghcme.org.

Dr. Fidias is on the advisory board for Genentech. He receives honoraria from Reed Medical Education (a company working as a logistics collaborator for the MGH Psychiatry Academy). The education programs conducted by the MGH Psychiatry Academy were supported through Independent Medical Education (IME) grants from pharmaceutical companies co-supported programs along with participant tuition. Commercial entities supporting the MGH Psychiatry Academy in 2008 are listed on the Academy's website www.mghcme.org.

Accreditation

Release Date: 08/12/2009
Expiration Date: 08/12/2010

ACCREDITATION STATEMENT
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship and St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals and Reed Medical Education. Beth Israel Medical Center & St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

CREDIT DESIGNATION
Beth Israel Medical Center designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits TM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

POLICY ON FACULTY AND PROVIDER DISCLOSURE
It is the policy of Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals that faculty and providers disclose real or apparent conflicts of interest relating to the topics of this educational activity, and also disclose discussions of unlabeled/unapproved uses of drugs or devices during their presentation(s). Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals have established policies in place that will identify and resolve all conflicts of interest prior to this educational activity.

Resolution of Conflict of Interest (COI)
It is the policy of Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals has implemented a process to resolve COI for each CME activity. In order to help ensure content objectivity, independence, fair balance, and that the content is aligned with the interest of the public, the EOCME has resolved the conflict by Peer Review.

Supporters

Our evidence-based curriculum is supported by educational grants from:

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