lacks diverse and proportional representation of the patient population. Similarly, although liquid biopsy-based tests using the existing specimens from patients with cancer have shown the great potential of this approach for early detection, large prospective studies must demonstrate that screening using these tests can extend lives before these tests can be used in the clinic for simultaneous detection of multiple cancers. Advancing the Frontiers of Cancer Science and Medicine The dedicated efforts of individuals working in medical research fuel advances across the clinical cancer care continuum that are improving survival and quality of life for people around the world. Surgery, radiotherapy, and cytotoxic chemotherapy are three of the five main pillars of cancer treatment. However, these therapies can have longterm adverse effects on patients. Through ongoing clinical trials, researchers are evaluating whether less aggressive surgery, radiotherapy, and cytotoxic chemotherapy can be appropriate for some patients, allowing them to experience improved quality of life without adverse effect on their longterm survival. Among the advances made from August 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, are the 14 new anticancer therapeutics approved for use by FDA. During this period, FDA also approved two new optical imaging agents to help visualize cancerous tissue and new uses for 12 previously approved anticancer therapeutics. Seven of the new anticancer therapeutics approved by FDA target specific molecules involved in cancer development and are referred to as molecularly targeted therapeutics. They are part of the precision medicine revolution in cancer care that is improving the lives of numerous patients. Among these treatments is the first folate receptor alpha (FRα) targeted therapeutic, mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx (Elahere) that was approved for patients with ovarian cancer, such as Jaclyn (Jackie) Vanraaphorst, p. 88. Among the FDA expansions of previously approved therapy is the combination of HER2targeted therapeutics, tucatinib (Tukysa) and trastuzumab (Herceptin), a new and first of a kind treatment option for certain patients with colorectal cancer, such as Brian Beck, p. 92. In the 12 months from August 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, FDA also approved several molecularly targeted therapeutics for patients with rare forms of cancer, including certain bile duct cancers and hematologic cancers. Immunotherapy: Pushing the Frontier of Cancer Medicine Cancer immunotherapeutics work by unleashing the power of a patient’s immune system to fight cancer the way it fights pathogens, like the virus that causes flu and the bacterium that causes strep throat. Not all immunotherapeutics work in the same way. Over the past decade, cancer immunotherapy has emerged as one of the most exciting new approaches to cancer treatment. This is, in part, because some patients with metastatic disease who have been treated with these revolutionary anticancer treatments have had remarkable and durable responses, raising the possibility that they might be cured. It is also because some of the immunotherapeutics have been shown to work against an increasingly broad array of cancer types. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are a class of immunotherapeutics that can release the brakes on T cells and trigger T cells to destroy cancer cells. The first ICI, ipilimumab (Yervoy), was approved by FDA in 2011 for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma. Since then, the use of ICIs has expanded rapidly, and these revolutionary new therapeutics have transformed the landscape of cancer treatment. As of July 31, 2023, the FDA has approved 11 ICIs, and there is at least one ICI approved for treating 20 cancer types and for treating any type of solid tumors that share certain molecular characteristics. Just in the 12 months covered in this report, between August 1, 2022, and July 31, 2023, FDA approved two new ICIs, tremelimumab (Imjudo) and retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz), for the treatment of patients with a certain type of liver cancer and a rare form of skin cancer. During the same Despite many advances across all pillars of cancer treatment, patients from racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations are less likely to receive the standard of care recommended for the type and stage of cancer with which they have been diagnosed. SPOTLIGHT AACR Cancer Progress Report 2023 Executive Summary 6
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