It is with great pleasure that we present the first edition of the LACOG Annual Report, which highlights the most important activities of our group during the year of 2019. Check the 2019 annual report

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented on-site attendance at this year’s ASCO meeting (May 29th – May 31st), the global oncology community presented a large range of relevant and potentially practice-changing findings. Highlights of this report include the progress made with regard to various aberrations like ALK, MET, HER2 and RET alterations, as well as EGFR exon 20 insertions and promising drugs in this difficult-to-treat subtype. Moreover, topics including (neo)adjuvant approaches for early stage NSCLC, future perspectives of anti-angiogenic therapy and COVID-19 in the context of thoracic cancer care are covered. Furthermore, the importance of immune checkpoint inhibitors and the determination of unequivocally active combinations of immune agents are addressed. Last but not least, advances in the field of SCLC treatment are presented, valuing immunotherapy in addition to platinum-based chemotherapy, thus bearing a possible new standard-of-care treatment for first-line ES-SCLC. As an additional feature, you will find expert video interviews with Victor Moreno and Helmut Prosch on different conference highlights on memo inOncology website. The memo inOncology Special Issue report is produced by Springer, as a supplement of memo (the Magazine of European Medical Oncology) and sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim with an unrestricted educational grant. For more information on the memo inOncology

This month was handed to AMO Clinic (located in Salvador, Brazil) the CURA Recognition Award. AMO is the first institution to receive it, as they have supported CURA since 2015. Learn about CURA Project and get in contact to know how you can effectively be part of CURA Partners. Picture: Dr. Alex Pimenta (Medical Director) and Dr. Carlos Sampaio (president of the administrative council).

Have you already subscribed to the Best of SABCS Brazil edition? The Best of SABCS® official highlights programs that allow professionals the opportunity to experience and discuss the most current researches and advances in the field of breast cancer, with colleagues and key opinion leaders. The Brazilian edition is going to be held by LACOG and GBECAM, on March 27th and 28th, 2020, at the Intercontinental Hotel, in São Paulo. For more information, access: https://lnkd.in/dfhAQYe

Dr. Tomas Reinert presents a poster at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2019, US, showing that ESR1 mutations are not a mechanism of primary resistance to aromatase inhibitors in ER-positive breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant endocrine therapy. The study was part of his Ph.D. thesis at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in collaboration with several other institutions including LACOG.

Dr. Alessandra Borba present new results of AMAZONA III study at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2019, US. The poster entitled “Prevalence of patients with genetic testing indication for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Syndrome (HBOC) in the Brazilian cohort study" showed that 37% of patients diagnosed with breast cancer have a criteria for HBOC syndrome criteria and only 6.9% of patients were tested for BRCA mutation. This study highlights the limited access to genetic counselling and BRCA test in Brazil, specially in the publica health system.

LACOG BREAST group meeting during SABCS 2019 discussed ongoing and new breast cancer studies. The group is starting the biggest breast cancer registry in Latin America - LATINA study. Also LACOG is participating in international intergroup trials, Mexico and Brazil are top recruiters in the international ALEXANDRA trial (IMpassion030) and Mexico is one of the countries that are participating in the PALLAS trial. Picture: Gustavo Werutsky (Brazil), Daniela Rosa (Brazil), Denisse Bretel (Peru), Zaida Morante (Peru), Pamela Rebaza (Peru), Paula Cabrera (Mexico), Saul Campos (Mexico), Cynthia Villarreal (Mexico), Ivan Maldonado (Mexico) and Omar Pena (Mexico)

The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium®, now in its 42nd year, is the premier conference for basic, translational, and clinical cancer research professionals. It is well-known for presenting the latest breast cancer data from all over the world. More than 7,500 health care professionals from more than 90 countries are expected to attend. This year it will be held on December 10-14 at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas, USA. LACOG's scientific director, Gustavo Werutsky, will attend the event and bring the highlights of the symposium.

This report focuses on new advancements with checkpoint inhibition in non-small-cell lung cancer, the issue of optimal therapy across several lines for EGFR-mutant lung cancer as well as trial updates on frontline combinations of EGFR- and angiogenesis-targeted agents. Additionally, we discuss the synergy between anti-angiogenic drugs and immunotherapy as well as innovations in the setting of rare mutations. Further, you will find the latest updates on emerging survival benefits in the small-cell setting. One particular highlight is an interview with Stephen Liu talking about the importance of infrequent mutations in actionable driver genes. Additionally, on our website, you will find expert video interviews with Filippo de Braud, Michael Duruisseaux, and Ioannis Metaxas on different conference highlights. The memo inOncology Special Issue report is produced by Springer, as a supplement of memo (the Magazine of European Medical Oncology) and sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim with an unrestricted educational grant. For more information on the memo inOncology Special Issue series, and for free access to all previous editions, visit the memo-inOncology website.