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Shirley Rakuljic is a patient survivor, living with breast cancer.

After my breast cancer diagnosis, faith guided me through fear, and in passing on a blessed bracelet, I found healing and an unexpected reconnection.

Faith, Friendship and Finding Purpose After Breast Cancer 

Among patients with advanced castration-sensitive prostate cancer, health-related quality of life was not statistically different between those receiving Erleada (apalutamide) alone or in combination with Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) and prednisone compared with those receiving androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) plus Zytiga and prednisone, according to findings in 

Health-related quality of life was evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Prostate (FACT-P) questionnaire and its subscales. The questionnaire was completed at baseline and every four weeks until week 25. FACT-P scores range from 0 to 156, with higher scores indicating better quality of life, according to study authors.

There were no significant differences in baseline mean FACT-P total scores or subscales across the three treatment groups: ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone, 118.5; Erleada, 116.1; and Zytiga and prednisone plus Erleada, 114.9.

Health-related quality of life was maintained during the treatment period, with no statistically significant differences at 25 weeks in mean FACT-P total scores or subscales: ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone, 122.3; Erleada monotherapy, 119.5; and Zytiga and prednisone plus Erleada, 119.9.

The Erleada monotherapy and Zytiga and prednisone plus Erleada groups did not experience meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life compared with the ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone group, except in time to deterioration of the emotional well-being score. This outcome was more favorable in those who received Erleada alone, with a 63% reduction in risk compared with the ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone group, which had a 44% reduction in risk.

A prostate-specific antigen level of 0.2 nanograms per milliliter or lower at week 25 was observed in 31 of 41 patients (75.6%) in the ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone group, 24 of 40 patients (60%) in the Erleada monotherapy group and 31 of 39 patients (79.5%) in the Erleada plus Zytiga and prednisone group. The two-year overall survival rates were 92.5% for the ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone group, 87.9% for the Erleada monotherapy group and 92.7% for the Erleada plus Zytiga and prednisone arm.

Treatment-related side effects of any grade were reported in 30 of 42 patients (71.4%) in the ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone group, 34 of 42 patients (81%) in the Erleada monotherapy group and 36 of 44 patients (81.8%) in the Erleada plus Zytiga and prednisone group.

Grade 3 (severe) and 4 (life-threatening) treatment-related side effects occurred in eight of 42 patients (19%) in the ADT plus Zytiga and prednisone group, seven of 42 patients (16.7%) in the Erleada monotherapy group and 10 of 44 patients (22.7%) in the Erleada plus Zytiga and prednisone group. Lower rates of hot flashes and hypertension were reported in patients who received Erleada monotherapy.

Gynecomastia affected 23 of 42 patients (54.8%), and breast pain was reported by six of 42 patients (14.3%) in the Erleada monotherapy group, both higher than rates observed in the other two groups. No new safety signals were detected in
the study.

“Androgen Receptor Pathway Inhibitor Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial” by Dr. Diogo Assed Bastos et al., 

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In patients with advanced castration-sensitive prostate cancer, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was similar across treatment groups receiving Erleada (apalutamide) alone, APA plus Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) and Deltasone (prednisone), or ADT plus AAP. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found no significant differences in HRQOL scores at 25 weeks. However, the APA-alone group showed a more favorable time to deterioration in emotional well-being. PSA levels and overall survival rates were comparable, with varying side effect profiles across treatment groups.

A study found no significant HRQOL differences between Erleada-based therapies and ADT plus AAP for advanced castration-sensitive prostate cancer.

Tumor

Erleada Combo Shows Comparable Quality of Life Outcomes in Prostate Cancer

In a real-world setting, standard-of-care Carvykti (ciltacabta-gene autoleucel) has been shown to elicit responses from nearly all participating patients with relapsed/ refractory multiple myeloma (R/R MM).

Carvykti is a type of chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T ) cell therapy, which, as explained by the National Cancer Institute, involves a patient’s T cells — part
of the immune system — being extracted, changed in a laboratory to attack cancer cells, grown in the laboratory and infused back into the patient.

Overall and complete response rates were 89% and 70%, respectively, in
all patients who received Carvykti, 94% and 74% in 191 patients who received conforming Carvykti and 95% and 76% in 152 patients treated with conforming Carvykti with fludarabine/ cyclophosphamide lymphodepletion.

A comforming treatment is administered according to the specifications of
the FDA’s approval, and lymphodepletion is a short course of chemotherapy administered before CAR-T cell therapy.

 for adults with R/R MM who had received at least four prior lines of treatment. In 2024, the agency approved Carvykti for patients who received at least one prior line of therapy.

, that led to the FDA’s 2022 approval of Carvykti, the overall response rate was 98%, with 83% stringent complete response, according to findings published in 2023.

Patients with R/R MM who underwent leukapheresis, or the collection of healthy white blood cells from a patient, for Carvykti manufacturing at 16 American academic medical centers were included in the study, published in Blood, with 255 patients undergoing leukapheresis and 236 receiving Carvykti.

Of the real-world patients, 54% would not have met the eligibility criteria for CARTITUDE-1.

Senior author Dr. Doris K. Hansen of Moffitt Cancer Center’s Department
of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy, explained in an interview with 

 why such real-world findings are significant.

“Clinical trials are invaluable because they serve as the gold standard for introducing new therapies and advancing science,” Hansen explained.

“However, clinical trials often have strict eligibility criteria. Patients must meet very specific criteria to participate — they need to have good organ function, stable blood counts and no significant comorbidities."

In contrast, Hansen said, the patients seen in day-to-day clinical practice often have a variety of health challenges, with many patients having comorbid conditions like cardiac issues or renal impairment, and with about 20% of those diagnosed with myeloma experiencing kidney problems. “Additionally,” Hansen said, “some patients may have plasma cell leukemia, amyloidosis or myeloma-related bone damage, which can lead to fractures, pain and even reduced mobility or wheelchair use. These factors often make patients ineligible for clinical trials. ... It is, therefore, very important to report on the experiences of these patients. By studying their outcomes, we can understand how treatments perform in real-world scenarios, as opposed to the controlled, ideal conditions of clinical trials.”

The eligibility criteria for CARTITUDE-1 included adequate organ function, limited comorbidities and having no prior exposure to B-cell maturation antigentargeted therapy.

Cytokine release syndrome was experienced by 75% of patients, with grade 3 (severe) or higher in 5%. Immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome was seen in 14%, with grade 3 or higher in 4%. Delayed neurotoxicity was reported in 10% of patients.

Researchers reported a 10% nonrelapse mortality rate, mostly from infections, and noted that second primary malignancies, excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers, were seen in 5.5% of patients and myeloid malignancies/acute leukemia in 1.7%.

 such as Carvykti, as explained by the National Cancer Institute, involves a patient’s T cells, part of the immune system, being extracted, changed in a laboratory to attack cancer cells, grown in the laboratory and infused back into the patient. Carvykti is currently approved by the FDA to be administered in the second line of treatment.

Safety and Efficacy of Standard of Care Ciltacabtagene Autoleucel for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma” by Dr. Surbhi Sidana, et al., 

Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel) demonstrates significant efficacy in real-world settings for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, with 89% of patients responding and 70% achieving complete response. Despite many patients not meeting clinical trial criteria, outcomes were comparable to the CARTITUDE-1 trial. At 13 months, median progression-free survival and overall survival were not reached, with 12-month estimates at 68% and 82%, respectively. Side effects included cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity. Carvykti, a CAR-T cell therapy, is FDA-approved for patients with multiple prior treatments.

The CAR-T cell therapy Carvykti has been shown to be effective among patients outside the confines of a clinical trial.

Carvykti Effective in Real-World Setting for Myeloma 

Among patients with stage 3 unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the first participant has been dosed in the phase 2 CONVERGE study, according to a news release from biotechnology company Nanobiotix. The randomized, controlled clinical trial is evaluating the potential first-in-class radioenhancer JNJ-1900 (NBTXR3) in patients being treated with standard-of-care chemoradiation followed by consolidation Imfinzi (durvalumab).

“We believe the true value of [NBTXR3] is driven by its potential to address the unmet needs of the millions of patients each year who receive radiotherapy as part of their treatment,” said Laurent Levy, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board at Nanobiotix. “With a clear path to potential registration in head and neck cancer established through NANORAY-312, the first patient dosed in the CONVERGE study in [non-small cell lung cancer] NSCLC brings us another step closer to delivering for the large number of patients [NBTXR3] is designed to serve.”

Who is Eligible For CONVERGE Study Enrollment?

According to the clinical trial page
at clinicaltrials.gov, CONVERGE is evaluating the addition of NBTXR3 to concurrent platinum-based doublet chemotherapy with radiation therapy, followed by consolidation immunotherapy, and whether this enhances the objective response rate in patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage 3 NSCLC.

To be considered eligible for enrollment, patients must be candidates for chemotherapy with radiation therapy; have a pathologically confirmed NSCLC diagnosis within three months prior to enrollment; present with unresectable stage 3IIIA or 3IIIB NSCLC; have at least one target lesion suitable for intratumoral or /intranodal injection and external beam radiation therapy; and have an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1.

Participants are considered ineligible for enrollment in the study if they have a history of primary immunodeficiency; organ transplantation requiring immunosuppression; significant cardiac events within three months before enrollment; concurrent or recent malignancies other than NSCLC; and known hypersensitivity to study drugs or components.

Patients with active bleeding diathesis or patients requiring anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy that cannot be safely modified for procedures are also excluded.

The novel, potentially first-in-class oncology product NBTXR3 comprises functionalized hafnium oxide crystal nanoparticles administered via one-time intratumoral injection and activated by radiotherapy. The proof-of-concept for NBTXR3 was demonstrated in soft tissue sarcomas, leading to the agent receiving a European CE mark in 2019.

The agent’s mechanism of action is designed to induce substantial tumor cell death within the injected tumor when activated by radiotherapy, thereby triggering an adaptive immune response and establishing long-term anticancer memory. Consequently, the company anticipates that NBTXR3 could be applied to any solid tumor treatable with radiotherapy and be adaptable to any therapeutic combination, especially with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

The radiotherapy-activated NBTXR3 is under evaluation for multiple solid tumor indications as a stand-alone treatment and in combination with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors. These initiatives include the global, randomized NANORAY-312 trial, which is focused on locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. In February 2020, the Food and Drug Administration granted fast track designation to NBTXR3 activated by radiotherapy, with or without Erbitux (cetuximab), for patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who are ineligible for platinum-based chemotherapy.

In 2019, the company entered a comprehensive clinical research partnership with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to sponsor multiple phase 1 and 2 trials evaluating NBTXR3 across various tumor types and therapeutic combinations. Nanobiotix announced a license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, for the global co-development and commercialization of NBTXR3 in 2023.

The phase 2 CONVERGE study has commenced dosing its first participant to evaluate the radioenhancer JNJ-1900 (NBTXR3) in stage III unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. This trial investigates the efficacy of NBTXR3 combined with standard chemoradiation and consolidation durvalumab. NBTXR3, a hafnium oxide nanoparticle, is activated by radiotherapy to induce tumor cell death and an adaptive immune response. The study aims to enhance objective response rates in NSCLC, with eligibility criteria including specific NSCLC stages and performance status, while excluding certain medical conditions.

The first participant has been dosed on the phase 2 CONVERGE study evaluating NBTXR3 in stage III, unresectable non–small cell lung cancer.

Breaking Down the CONVERGE Study of NBTXR3 in Stage 3 Unresectable NSCLC

The woman who raised me and I did not always see eye to eye. In fact, as two stubborn, opinionated characters we frequently bickered, challenged and exchanged choice words with one another. 

As I reflect on 25 years strong with Mom, here are some of my favorite words that we exchanged. We gave each other many cards over the past few years, one of which she had told me she looked for a long time searching for the right message to express her feelings. It reads:

"When you have a daughter who makes you proud, makes you laugh and, very often, makes your day ... you know what joy is. When you have a daughter who is a good person with a gracious heart and generous spirit ... you know what peace is. When you have a daughter whose beauty (inside and out) is matched only by her compassion for others ... you know what love is. Because I have you for my daughter, I know what it is to be truly blessed."

When I first read those words — as I read them now — I feel so close to my mom. Recently, I found a card with the words that expressed how I feel about her. I read this aloud to her on Christmas Day.

"Dear Mom, I'm so grateful for the way I was raised. You were never afraid to be my mother — to put your foot down, to teach me right from wrong, to make sure I did my best. You always let me know I had a mama who cared about me, who believed in me, who was there for me no matter what. Growing up with that kind of love and support made such a difference in my life; it made me who I am today."

My mother was never afraid to voice her opinion or be one to mince words, to put it lightly; but she was always pure in her intentions and true in her actions, and I feel so clearly, so humbly loved. As I go forward, I remember her strength and purity, her fierce sense of pride, her generous heart and sensitivity, her sense of humor (she once packed me a peanut-butter-jelly-and-ham sandwich because I refused to pick one of the two). 

Throughout her life and especially in her fight against lung cancer, Mom set us an example in unconditional devotion, taught our family valuable life lessons and never lost her indomitable spirit.

I know Mom is with us now and always. Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes, because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation. I love you Mom, Happy New Year. Rest in peace and God bless.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to

The narrative reflects on a complex yet deeply loving relationship between a daughter and her mother, characterized by mutual respect and understanding despite frequent disagreements. The daughter cherishes the heartfelt words exchanged through cards, highlighting the mother's pride, love, and unwavering support. The mother, who battled lung cancer, exemplified strength, devotion, and humor, leaving a lasting impact on her family. The daughter expresses gratitude for her upbringing and acknowledges the enduring connection with her mother, emphasizing that true love transcends physical separation.

A Tribute to Mom

Patients with hematologic malignancies like polycythemia vera, a kind of myeloproliferative neoplasm, may benefit in learning more about recent data which was shared at the 

Following the meeting, expert oncologists, Dr. Joshua J. Sabari and Dr. Raajit K. Rampal, sat down for an interview with CURE to walk through these updates in data, breaking down what patients should take away from the meeting.

Rampal is the director of the Center for Hematologic Malignancies, as well as the director of the Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, located in New York. Sabari is the editor in chief of CURE. He also serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of High Reliability Organization Initiatives at Perlmutter Cancer Center, also located in New York.

: Hi, I'm Dr. Josh Sabari, a thoracic medical oncologist at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York, and I'm also the editor-in-chief of CURE. I want to introduce my colleague, Dr. Raajit Rampal. Raajit, please introduce yourself.

: Hi. I'm Raajit Rampal at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I lead our program in myeloproliferative neoplasms.

: Raajit, thanks for joining us. I know ASCO is historically not a hematologic malignancy conference — we have ASH for that. However, what were the big takeaways from the ASCO meeting in the realm of leukemia this year?

: Yes, a couple of key things to highlight. As you just said, it's important to point out that we actually had a hematologic malignancy presentation as part of the plenary session. 

 a hepcidin mimetic being tested for polycythemia vera, aims to potentially liberate people from therapeutic phlebotomies. The high-level data showed that patients were, in fact, able to be rendered free of therapeutic phlebotomy and also experienced symptomatic improvement. So, if that drug gains approval, 

I think it may have a really useful path in the treatment of polycythemia vera.

A couple of other key highlights: one presentation, keeping with the theme of myeloproliferative neoplasms, was on a drug called Besremi (ropeginterferon alfa-2b-njft), which is FDA-approved for polycythemia vera. It was tested in essential thrombocythemia versus the only other approved drug we have in essential thrombocythemia, Agrylin (anagrelide), which was approved in the 1990s. That data showed that, as compared to anagrelide, Besremi was able to improve outcomes for patients by reducing the risk of thrombosis (the main concern with that disease) and also by improving patient symptom profiles. Finally, it showed a molecular effect, meaning we saw a reduction in the driver mutation burden in patients with essential thrombocythemia. So, some interesting things; we'll see if that drug also gets approval based on this phase 3 data.

There was also an interesting presentation on blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, a very rare leukemia for which we have an approved drug called tagraxofusp, which targets CD123. A new drug called pivekimab sunirine, which also targets CD123, was presented. The data showed that pivekimab sunirine was able to induce remissions in a high proportion of patients. The only way to cure blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm is with a stem cell transplant, and this drug was able to bridge patients to stem cell transplant. That is perhaps the very important thing that was observed, both in untreated and previously treated patients. I think the final point there is that with our current anti-CD123 drug, tagraxofusp, we do see capillary leak syndrome, which can be a high-grade event, and that was not observed with pivekimab sunirine. So that may offer a different opportunity for treatment.

I think the last thing I'll point out was a presentation on chronic myeloid leukemia, which is clearly one of our great successes in oncology. Now we have an abundance of riches, which allows us to better select drugs for patients, taking into account their goals and their comorbidities. The newest kid on the block is Scemblix (asciminib), which is FDA-approved for frontline therapy or after failing two different TKIs. The drug was compared in a phase 3b study versus nilotinib, which is also an FDA-approved drug for chronic myeloid leukemia. The endpoint here was actually the proportion of patients who withdrew from treatment due to adverse events. What was found was that patients were more likely to stay on asciminib.

The importance of this finding is that with more powerful drugs, we know we can get patients into remissions quicker with chronic myeloid leukemia, which means they can usually go on to a trial of treatment-free remission, where we stop the drug and see if the disease comes back. However, the problem has been that many of the second-generation TKIs we use in chronic myeloid leukemia have more toxicities. This is a case where we don't see more toxicities with a different and more potent drug. So, I think to me, those are some of the major takeaways from ASCO, which had a fair number of hematologic malignancies abstracts this year.

: Yeah, quite impressive. You know, it's interesting that hematologic malignancies are truly an amalgamation of many diseases. Thank you for summarizing that so eloquently. And I appreciate you being here. Thank you for all the work that you do with CURE and for our readers. Dr. Rampal, thank you for joining us.

Recent updates from the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting highlighted advancements in treatments for hematologic malignancies, including polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia. Key findings included the potential of rusfertide to eliminate the need for therapeutic phlebotomies in polycythemia vera patients and the efficacy of Besremi in reducing thrombosis risk in essential thrombocythemia. Additionally, pivekimab sunirine showed promise in treating blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm without causing capillary leak syndrome. Scemblix demonstrated fewer adverse events compared to nilotinib in chronic myeloid leukemia, enhancing treatment adherence.

Patients with blood cancers like polycythemia vera, a kind of myeloproliferative neoplasm, may benefit in learning more about recent data from ASCO 2025.

What Patients With Polycythemia Vera Should Know After ASCO 2025

Treatment with first-line Enhertu (fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki; T-DXd) plus Perjeta (pertuzumab) demonstrated improvements in key survival outcomes compared with the standard care for those with HER2-positive advanced or metastatic breast cancer, Dr. Sara M. Tolaney emphasized in an interview with CURE, potentially shifting the way this patient population will be treated in the future.

“The combination of [Enhertu] and Perjeta, as we saw in DESTINY-Breast09, [nearly] doubled progression-free survival [for patients]. Therefore, I think [this treatment] does present a really nice new potential first-line therapy option for patients if they're newly diagnosed with metastatic HER2-positive positive breast cancer,” Tolaney explained.

delved into detail on the outcomes of the DESTINY-Breast09

 trial, the treatment's safety profile, and what this means for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Tolaney is a senior physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the chief of the Division of Breast Oncology at the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers, where she also serves as the associate director. Additionally, she is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, located in Boston, Massachusetts.

CURE: What should patients with breast cancer know about the DESTINY-Breast09 trial in regard to background and enrollment information?

: Thanks. We know about 15% to 20% of all breast cancers are HER2-positive, and outcomes for patients with metastatic HER2-positive disease have dramatically evolved over the past few years. This improvement is largely due to the introduction of trastuzumab deruxtecan, also known as T-DXd and Enhertu.

Enhertu is an antibody-drug conjugate that delivers chemotherapy in a targeted fashion directly into HER2-positive cancer cells. It is currently approved as a second-line standard of care for patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, primarily based on data from the DESTINY-Breast03 study. This study demonstrated unprecedented outcomes, controlling cancer for almost 29 months with the use of Enhertu.

Consequently, there's been significant interest in moving Enhertu from the second-line setting to the first-line. The current first-line standard of care is a taxane plus Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Perjeta, or THP, which is associated with a progression-free survival of a little under 19 months. The prevailing thought was that since Enhertu is performing so well, it would likely be a better choice than our current first-line standard of care. Therefore, the DESTINY-Breast09 study was specifically designed to answer whether Enhertu should be the first treatment patients receive if they have metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.

What new data were shared on the DESTINY-Breast09 trial at the ASCO Annual Meeting? What do the new findings mean for patients?

The DESTINY-Breast09 study was a randomized phase 3 trial that enrolled patients with HER2-positive metastatic disease who had not received any prior systemic therapy in the metastatic setting. These patients were randomized into three arms: Enhertu alone, Enhertu with Perjeta, or the standard first-line treatment of a taxane with Herceptin and Perjeta (THP). The study was specifically designed to determine if the Enhertu arms were superior to the current standard of care.

What was presented at ASCO was data from an interim analysis comparing Enhertu and Perjeta to THP. This comparison met the predefined criteria for success at the time of the interim analysis. In contrast, the Enhertu alone arm did not meet the stringent threshold set for success at this very early time point. Consequently, the Enhertu alone arm remains blinded, and patients continue to be followed. We anticipate seeing those data in a future presentation.

The combination of Enhertu (fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki) and Perjeta (pertuzumab) has shown significant improvements in progression-free survival for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, as demonstrated in the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast09 trial. This combination nearly doubled progression-free survival compared to the current standard of care, potentially establishing a new first-line treatment option. While awaiting FDA approval, the regimen's side effects, including interstitial lung disease, require careful management. The study's findings are promising across various patient subgroups, regardless of mutational or hormone receptor status.

Dr. Sara M. Tolaney breaks down key takeaways from the DESTINY-Breast09 trial that patients with HER2+ advanced or metastatic breast cancer should know.


Shirley Rakuljic

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