Our Interim Executive Director and Director of Research, Denise Robinson, recently represented epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) patients at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, where nearly 40,000 global oncology professionals convened. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), is the world’s leading organization for oncology, bringing together advocates, healthcare providers, and related professionals to accelerate research and empower everyone to conquer cancer.
Many clinicians, advocates, and drug developers took the time to meet and discuss challenges and opportunities relevant to The EHE Foundation’s mission. Meetings like this are an important part of what we do, and we make it a priority to attend and advocate for EHE each year.
2024 ASCO Annual Meeting Highlights
The SARC Semiannual Meeting kicked off the weekend with presentations from clinician-scientists specializing in sarcoma. Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC) most recently sponsored a Phase 2 study of Trametinib (Mekinist) in EHE.
We hope to support another EHE-specific clinical trial through SARC, proposed by Dr. Michael Wagner, Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Wagner, who is experienced in treating EHE, is working with SARC and The EHE Foundation to bring another potential treatment to clinical trial. We look forward to sharing more on this opportunity soon!
The Sarcoma Poster Session is an excellent opportunity to learn about sarcoma research across all its sub-types. Did you know there are over 80 different types of sarcoma, and EHE is one of the ultra-rare subtypes? This year no EHE-specific posters were presented, however, Denise took the time to talk with expert sarcoma oncologists during the session to learn about research around the world.
Denise initially met Dr. Tom Chen, National Taiwan University Hospital, at the 2023 ASCO Sarcoma poster session and he has generously given time to EHE since that meeting. We are glad to bring him into our community more formally as one of the newest members of The EHE Foundation’s Advisory Board.
Dr. Melissa Burgess, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, has been a reference center for EHE patients for several years. Dr. Burgess investigates immunotherapy for advanced sarcomas and has generously given her time to support our EHE educational efforts.
Dr. Andrea Vanzulli, Fondazione IRCCS Instituto Nazionale Dei Tumori, is a rising star in diagnostic and interventional radiology. Denise recently met Dr. Vanzulli through work in the PUSH Consortium and had the opportunity to learn more about his recent research on radiologic response in solid tumors.
Dr. Silvia Stacchiotti, as always, was Pushing Ultra-rare Sarcomas towards Hope. Dr. Stacchiotti and many other oncologists from around the world were at ASCO advancing PUSH, a platform designed to maximize knowledge gained from every ultra-rare sarcoma patient by harnessing data from advocates’ registries, clinical registries, prospective and other types of studies. Denise represents EHE in the PUSH collaborative. and we are grateful for Dr. Stacchiotti’s tireless efforts to champion research for ultra-rare sarcoma and EHE.
Many in the EHE community know Dr. Greg Cote, MD, PhD, Mass General Cancer Center, as an expert clinician-scientist working to advance EHE research while providing expert care for EHE patients. Dr. Cote is active in early-phase clinical trials studying novel therapies for EHE treatment, and it was great to have the opportunity to talk with him about recent developments in clinical trials. Stay tuned, Dr. Cote is generously giving his time in July to talk with the community about clinical trials for EHE.
EHE advocacy is important, and The EHE Foundation plays a critical role by continuing to raise awareness, working to advocate for improved patient outcomes, and increasing global EHE research. Your support helps us do this work and we are grateful!