A multicancer blood test did not reduce stage III-IV cancers in a 142,250-person trial; blinatumomab improved event-free survival in childhood ALL at interim

The edition in brief

In the NHS-Galleri randomised trial in England, 142,250 people aged 50 to 77 either had a multicancer early-detection blood test at up to three annual visits or had blood stored. The incidence rate of stage III or IV cancer among 12 prespecified cancers did not differ (incidence rate ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.14); the key secondary outcome, stage IV cancer, had a ratio of 0.86 (0.74 to 1.00), and further follow-up is planned. In AIEOP-BFM ALL 2017, 709 children with high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia were randomised to two cycles of blinatumomab or chemotherapy after consolidation. At a planned interim analysis, estimated 4-year event-free survival was 83.0% versus 70.3% (hazard ratio 0.51, 0.35 to 0.73), with fewer treatment-related infections and more neurotoxic events with blinatumomab. In KEYLYNK-001, 1,367 women with BRCA non-mutated advanced ovarian cancer were randomised to chemotherapy with placebo, with pembrolizumab, or with pembrolizumab followed by pembrolizumab plus olaparib; progression-free survival favoured the combination (hazard ratio 0.71 in the intention-to-treat population) at the cost of more serious treatment-related adverse events. In STAMINA, 700 men on androgen deprivation therapy had better cancer-specific quality of life (FACT-P difference 4.5) and fatigue scores with a 12-month supervised exercise and diet programme than with optimised usual care. The FDA database lists a supplement for remibrutinib without describing its content. The pearl covers fever in patients on chemotherapy.