March 25, 2018 (View All Issues)
Cabozantinib Therapy Shows Activity in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer
Cabozantinib (Cometriq) has demonstrated significant activity in the first-line setting for radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma, according to data from a single-site phase II trial presented at the 2018 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Treatment with...
ASCO Names CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy Its Clinical Advance of the Year
This past January, ASCO published Clinical Cancer Advances 2018,1 its 13th annual report on the progress being made against cancer. The report names chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy as ASCO’s Advance of the Year. In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved...
Why Right-to-Try Laws Are Dangerous
Why wouldn’t you support a patient with a terminal illness the “right to try” any therapy that may save his or her life? The answer to this question—one engulfed in a political debate in Congress—seems simple. It is not. [Editor’s Note: [Editor’s Note: On May 30, 2018, the President signed into...
Pembrolizumab Survival Advantage Upheld in Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma
Patients with recurrent urothelial cancer had sustained improvement in overall survival at 2 years after they received second-line treatment with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) vs chemotherapy, according to an updated survival analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-045 trial presented at the 2018...
Positive Preliminary Data Seen for Axitinib Plus Pembrolizumab in Renal Cell Carcinoma
The combination of axitinib (Inlyta) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) can be added to the list of combination therapies that look promising in advanced renal cell carcinoma. In a phase Ib trial, almost three-quarters of patients with newly diagnosed advanced renal cell carcinoma treated with the...
Small Study Evaluates Novel Combination in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
The combination of the poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) and the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) produced positive preliminary results in men with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer previously treated with...
Cancer Drug Development Award Given to Jean-Charles Soria, MD, PhD
The Targeted Anticancer Therapies 2018 Honorary Award for cancer drug development has been granted to Jean-Charles Soria, MD, PhD, for his pioneering role in cancer drug development across molecular targeted agents, precision medicine, and immunotherapy. The award was presented during the 2018 ...
Targetable Immune Biology Found in Some Patients With Early-Stage Prostate Cancer
Although immunotherapy has improved outcomes across a growing number of cancers, its success in unselected cases of prostate cancer has been limited. According to data presented at the 2018 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, however, investigators have identified a group of patients with ...
Testing for PD-L1 Amplification May Help Predict Response to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Solid Tumors
Analysis of more than 100,000 patients with cancer for gene CD274 (programmed cell death ligand 1 [PD-L1]) amplification may have implications for treatment with immune checkpoint blockade. Although shown to be rare in solid tumors, copy number alterations in PD-L1 genes were present in more than...
Trivalent CAR T-Cell Design May Enhance Antitumor Efficacy in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
A novel approach to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy seems to effectively target acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells with varying antigen profiles and may help to overcome antigen escape, seen with CD19-targeted therapy. According to data presented at the 2018 ASCO-SITC Clinical...
Studies Explore Colon Tumor Sidedness, Lung Radiation Dose in Esophageal Cancer, Pembrolizumab in Liver Cancer, and More
Along with full coverage of key presentations from the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, The ASCO Post brings our readers this additional news roundup.
Side Matters in Colon Cancer
One of the studies included in the global IDEA trial, which compared 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy...
Triplet Therapy Poses a Triple Threat to BRAF-Mutated Colorectal Cancers
Triplet therapy that inhibits the BRAF, MEK, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways appears promising in BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer, a malignancy that typically does not respond to BRAF inhibition alone. Early results from the BEACON CRC study showed a 48% response rate and an...
Impact of Lifestyle Choices on Outcomes in Survivors of Gastrointestinal Cancers
Physical inactivity among adult survivors of gastrointestinal cancers was tied to poor health-related quality of life, according to researchers at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) Annual Meeting.1 Also, physical inactivity (Chi-square = 5.605, P = .018) and alcohol use...
Ashwagandha
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Gary Deng, MD, PhD, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on...
Martin S. Tallman, MD, Joins Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board
The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF) announced that Martin S. Tallman, MD, Chief of Leukemia Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), has joined its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Tallman, who will continue in his role at MSK, will join his fellow Scientific...
Frederick National Laboratory and Georgetown University Launch Research Collaboration
A new collaboration established between Georgetown University and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research aims to expand both institutions’ research and training missions in the biomedical sciences.
Representatives from Georgetown University and the Frederick National Laboratory...
New NCCN Guidelines Aim to Encourage More People Living With HIV and Cancer to Receive Appropriate Cancer Treatment
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has released new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) intended to help make sure people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are diagnosed with cancer receive safe, necessary treatment.
According to a...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Recognizes 70 Young Oncology Researchers’ Findings With Merit Awards
ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of its Merit Awards in gastrointestinal cancers, clinical immuno-oncology, genitourinary cancers, and cancer survivorship. The following 70 researchers—
oncology fellows and trainees honored for the quality and scientific merit...
ASCO Advocate of the Year Stresses Importance of Congressional Advocacy on ASCO in Action Podcast
Robin Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, the current Chair of ASCO’s Government Relations Committee and this past year’s ASCO Advocate of the Year, joins ASCO CEO Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, to discuss Congressional advocacy and the role it plays in shaping cancer-related policies.
She explains how...
ASCO International: 2017 Year in Review
In late 2016, ASCO announced further expansion of its robust portfolio of international programs, and significant progress toward this expansion was achieved in 2017.
All of these accomplishments reflect the hard work and commitment of many ASCO member volunteers, ASCO staff, and organizations...
Conquer Cancer Podcast Series Goes Unscripted With Doctors, Patients, and Caregivers
How do patients really feel when they are in your care? What does it feel like to cure cancer? How are the children of oncologists affected when grief is a parent’s occupational hazard? These are the personal topics explored in the candid and inspirational mini-podcast series Your Stories:...
Support, Inform Patients With ASCO Resources
Stock your practice with ASCO resources for your patients. Visit ASCO’s patient information website, Cancer.Net, for a newly updated comprehensive guide to colorectal cancer at cancer.net/colorectal and a shorter, one-page colorectal cancer fact sheet. Copies can be purchased from the ASCO...
Unique CAR T-Cell Construct Studied in Multiple Myeloma
CD19-DIRECTED chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of leukemia (tisagenlecleucel [Kymriah]) and lymphoma (axicabtagene ciloleucel [Yescarta]), but another type of CAR T-cell therapy is generating interest as a...
Breast Cancer Care in U.S. Territories Seems to Lag Behind Care in Continental United States
OLDER WOMEN residing in U.S. territories are less likely to receive recommended or timely care for breast cancer compared with similar women residing in the continental United States, according to Yale researchers, whose findings were published in Health Affairs.1
“Inferior breast...
Raising Awareness of the Link Between Alcohol and Cancer
Prevention in Oncology is guest edited by Jennifer Ligibel, MD, Chair of ASCO’s Energy Balance Working Group and a member of ASCO’s Cancer Survivorship and Cancer Prevention Committees. Dr. Ligibel is Director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer...
CancerCare Publishes New White Paper on the Provider Perspective in Treatment Decision-Making
CANCERCARE has announced the publication of a new white paper highlighting perspectives from oncology providers on the importance and utility of including patient priorities in treatment decisions. “Decision Making at the Point of Care: Voices of Oncology Providers” was developed as part of...
Long-Term Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Increased Among Colorectal Cancer Survivors
COMPARED TO the general population, the risk of cardiovascular disease among colorectal cancer survivors was significantly increased more than 10 years after their cancer diagnosis, according to research presented by David Baraghoshi, MSTAT candidate, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the...
Duration of Adjuvant Oxaliplatin-Based Therapy for Stage III Colon Cancer
“At Microphone 1” is an occasional column written by Steven E. Vogl, MD, of the Bronx, New York. When he is not in his clinic, he can generally be found at major oncology meetings and often at the microphone, where he stands ready with critical questions for presenters of new data. The opinions...
When Is Active Surveillance Appropriate in the Treatment of DCIS?
In 2017, more than 63,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with in situ breast cancer. The overwhelming majority of those women, about 83%, were diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a condition characterized by the presence of abnormal cells confined to the breast milk ducts;...
Baylor Receives $3 Million to Fund Grants in Tobacco Control, Cancer Screening, and Cancer Treatments
RESEARCHERS AT Baylor College of Medicine have received more than $3 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to fund three new grants focused on tobacco control, cancer screening, and novel treatments for cancer in children and adults.
CPRIT was launched in 2009 ...
We Need to Fill the Gap Between Pediatric and Adult Oncology Care
When I was 15, and just 6 weeks into my sophomore year in high school, I heard a loud sound similar to a gunshot in my head and minutes later I was engulfed in a grand mal seizure, now called tonic-clonic seizure, and rushed to the hospital. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan found a small...
Bruton Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor in Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
A phase II study (ACE-LY-004) reported in The Lancet by Michael Wang, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues showed durable responses with the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor acalabrutinib (Calquence) in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma....
Venetoclax in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Progressing After Ibrutinib
An interim analysis of a phase II trial reported by Jones et al in The Lancet Oncology indicates that venetoclax (Venclexta) produces a response in a high proportion of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) progressing on or after ibrutinib (Imbruvica) treatment. John C. Byrd, MD, of The ...
Addition of Pazopanib to Paclitaxel in Persistent or Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology by Debra L. Richardson, MD, of Stephenson Cancer Center, Oklahoma University Health Science Center, and colleagues, the addition of pazopanib (Votrient) to paclitaxel did not improve progression-free survival among women with persistent or recurrent...
