Bayer Oncology Medical Affairs Department is interested in receiving and reviewing grant applications to support appropriate programs which cover the following area of interest:

Therapeutic Areas/Disease States:

Head and Neck, including Thyroid and Salivary Gland Cancers

Intended Audience: Oncologists, Endocrinologists (Adults and Pediatrics), Pathologists, Surgeons, Community HCPs, Patients/Caregivers

Areas of interest based on referenced literature:

• Treatment and management of thyroid cancer and salivary gland cancer
• Multi-disciplinary approach to precision medicine
  • Precision medicine from the point of view of the endocrinologist/additional stakeholders
• Education on biomarker driven testing strategies/appropriate testing modalities
• Role of NTRK gene fusion and impact of TRK gene fusion/TRK testing in head and neck treatment algorithms
  • Role of systemic therapy in thyroid treatment algorithms
  • Treatment and management of TRK fusion cancer
• Understanding of efficacy and safety profiles of approved TRK inhibitors
• Understanding and management of adverse event profiles

Proposal Requirements:

All submissions for CE/CME support must be consistent with the ACCME guidelines and contain supporting documents that should include:

• Needs assessment
• Educational design and rationale for selection (where applicable)
• Learning objectives
• Proposed faculty
• Participant recruitment plan (where applicable)
• Outcomes strategy/plan(required on a quarterly basis)
• Detailed budget 

Provider Justification:

• Copy of most recent accreditation letter and status
• Sample of other program(s) in similar therapeutic areas

Process

Applications/proposals which are submitted and determined to be complete are reviewed monthly. Allow a minimum of 45 days from submission for response.

Acceptance of a Bayer educational grant indicates that you will:

• Reconcile grant funding within 60 days of completion of the educational program
• Permit a Bayer Medical Affairs representative to audit live programs
• Share activity data and outcomes metrics within 30 days of their availability

References

Management and treatment of thyroid cancer and salivary gland cancer

1. National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Thyroid Cancer. Version 2.2019 – September 16, 2019(Link)
2. National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Head & Neck Cancers. Version 3.2019 – September 16, 2019 (Link)
3. Gupta-Abramson V, Troxel AB, Nellore A, et al. Phase II trial of sorafenib in advanced thyroid cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2008 Oct 10;26(29):4714-9. (Link)
4. Kloos RT, Ringel MD, Knopp MV, et al. Phase II trial of sorafenib in metastatic thyroid cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2009 Apr 1:27(10):1675-84. (Link)
5. Hoftijzer H, Heemstra KA, Morreau H, et al. Beneficial effects of sorafenib on tumor progression, but not on radioiodine uptake, in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Eur J Endocrinol. 2009 Dec;161(6):923-31. (Link)
6. O’Neill CJ, Oucharek J, Learoyd D, Sidhu SB. Standard and emerging therapies for metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer. Oncologist. 2010;15(2):146-56. (Link)
7. Kojic KL, Kojic SL, Wiseman SM. Differentiated thyroid cancers: a comprehensive review of novel targeted therapies. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2012 Mar;12(3):345-57. (Link)
8. Brose MS et al. Sorafenib in radioactive iodine-refractory, locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer: a randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2014 Jul 26;384(9940):319-28 (Link)

Diagnosis, treatment and management of TRK fusion cancer

1. Hong DS, Bauer TM, Lee JJ et al. Larotrectinib in adult patients with solid tumours: a multi-centre, open-label, phase I dose-escalation study. Ann Oncol. 2019 Feb 1;30(2):325-331. (Link)
2. Khotskaya YB, Holla VR, Farago AF, et al. Targeting TRK family protein in cancer. Pharmacol Ther 2017 (173), 58-66. (Link)
3. Drilon A, Laetsch TW, Kummar S et al. Efficacy of Larotrectinib in TRK Fusion-Positive Cancers in Adults and Children. N Engl J Med 2018; 378: 731-9. (Link)
4. Cocco, E et al. NTRK fusion-positive cancers and TRK inhibitor therapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2018 Dec;15(12):731-747. (Link)
5. Hyman, DM et al. Durability of response with larotrectinib in adult and paediatric patients with TRK fusion cancer. Annals of Oncology 30 (5), October 2019. (Link)
6. Kummar, S et al. Patient-reported outcomes from two global multicenter clinical trials of children and adults with tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) fusion cancers receiving larotrectinib. Journal of Clinical Oncology 37, 2019 (suppl; abstr 6602) (Link)
7. Ricciuti, B et al. Antitumor activity of larotrectinib in tumors harboring NTRK gene fusions: a short review on the current evidence. Onco Targets Ther. 2019 Apr 30;12:3171-3179 (Link)
8. Solomon, JP et al. NTRK fusion detection across multiple assays and 33,997 cases: diagnostic implications and pitfalls. Mod Pathol. 2019 Aug 2. (Epub ahead of print) (Link)
9. Wong, D et al. Methods for Identifying Patients with Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase (TRK) Fusion Cancer. Pathol Oncol Res. 2019 Jun 29. (Epub ahead of print) (Link)
10. Cabanillas, M. et al. Larotrectinib treatment of advanced TRK fusion thyroid cancer. ESMO 2020 presentation
11. Waguespack SG, Drilon A, Lin JJ, et al. Efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in patients with TRK fusion-positive thyroid carcinoma. Eur J Endocrinol. 2022;186(6):631-643. Published 2022 Apr 29. doi:10.1530/EJE-21-1259 (Link)
12. Cabanillas ME, Lin JJ, Brose SM, et al. Updated Efficacy and Safety of Larotrectinib in Patients with Advanced Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase (TRK) Fusion Positive Thyroid Carcinoma. ATA 2022. Meeting Program and Abstracts.Thyroid.Oct 2022.P-1-A-135. (Link)