Janet Woodcock, MD, current Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been named acting FDA Commissioner, according to a report published in The New York Times. Stephen M. Hahn, MD, who had been FDA Commissioner since December 17,...
In a study of patients with early-stage cervical cancer presented by Balaya et al during the Gynecologic Cancer Oral Abstract Session of the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program (Abstract 6006), researchers assessed disease-free and disease-specific survival to determine whether sentinel lymph node...
The use of opioids continues to be major issue facing patients with cancer in the United States. Most patients undergoing prostate and kidney removal may be managed effectively without opioids during the postoperative period, according to new data from researchers in Pittsburgh highlighted during a ...
In a report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), hospitals reported the most significant challenges they are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey Methods Brief telephone interviews were conducted from March 23 to March 27, 2020, with one or more administrators ...
In a study published by Olsen et al in JAMA Dermatology, researchers found that in predominantly fair-skinned populations, melanoma incidence differed by age and anatomic site in men and women. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of sex- and site-specific trends was performed for white patients...
In a literature review published by Pampena et al in JAMA Dermatology, researchers provided detailed and extensive information about the features of several different kinds of rare cutaneous melanomas. According to the researchers, the analysis was performed to “…provide a comprehensive overview of ...
Positive findings from three Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study cohorts on the potential benefit of molecularly targeted drugs in patients with advanced colorectal cancer were presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1-3 The TAPUR study is the first...
In studies to be presented at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (Abstracts 649 and 665), researchers examined the prevalence of fear of cancer recurrence in patients with renal cell carcinoma and evaluated the prognostic understanding patients with genitourinary cancer possess of their...
In a study presented by Lindskog et al at the 2020 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium (Abstract 11), researchers found ilixadencel, a cell-based allogeneic off-the-shelf product, in combination with sunitinib produced a higher objective response rate than sunitinib alone in patients with...
In a study to be presented by Tyan et al at the upcoming 2020 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium (Abstract 89), researchers found that vitamin D intake may be associated with reduced risk of colitis among patients being treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Retrospective Analysis In ...
In a study published by Agin-Liebes et al in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, researchers found that psychotherapy involving psilocybin—the active ingredient in “magic” or “psychedelic” mushrooms—may aid in long-term relief from cancer-related psychiatric distress. Study Background and Design An ...
Positive findings from three Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study cohorts on the potential benefit of various molecularly targeted drugs in patients with advanced colorectal cancer were presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. The TAPUR study is the first ...
Patients with metastatic esophageal cancer who declined chemotherapy but received palliative care had a numerically higher, but not statistically significant, difference in overall survival. These findings will be presented by Manguso et al at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (Abstract...
According to study results to be presented by Valle et al at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (Abstract 477), the addition of either ramucirumab or merestinib to the standard first-line therapy for biliary tract cancer—gemcitabine plus cisplatin—did not improve progression-free survival, ...
A study published by Shapiro et al in JNCI Cancer Spectrum showed that responders to the World Trade Center site after the attacks on September 11, 2001, have statistically significant elevations in cancer incidence for all cancer sites combined, and for prostate and thyroid cancer and leukemia....
In the pilot phase of an ongoing randomized trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Partha Basu, MD, and colleagues found that thermal ablation and cryotherapy produced similar treatment success rates in Zambian women positive for cervical precancer on visual inspection with acetic acid. The...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Joyce F. Liu, MD, MPH, and colleagues found evidence of the activity of combined nivolumab and bevacizumab in relapsed ovarian cancer, with activity appearing to be greater in platinum-sensitive disease. Study Details In the trial, 38 women with...
As reported in The British Medical Journal (BMJ) by Lise M. Helsingen, MD, PhD, and colleagues, a clinical practice guideline on colorectal cancer screening published as a BMJ Rapid Recommendations guideline indicates that previously unscreened individuals aged 50 to 79 years old with 15-year...
In a cohort biomarker study reported in JAMA Oncology, Jeanne Tie, MD, and colleagues showed that the circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)-positive status after surgery and chemotherapy was associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence in patients with stage III colon cancer. Study Details The...
A study published by Yonemura et al in The American Journal of Surgical Pathology has shown a correlation between the poorly differentiated cluster grade in primary colorectal cancer tumors and metastatic lesions in the liver. The researchers wrote, “[Grade of] poorly differentiated clusters in...
In a phase I trial, the combination of the BCR-ABL1 inhibitor asciminib and the small-molecule kinase inhibitor imatinib showed preliminary efficacy, safety, and tolerability in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) resistant to or intolerant of treatment with two or more prior tyrosine...
In the phase II ORATOR trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Anthony Nichols, MD, and colleagues found a statistical but not clinically meaningful improvement in swallowing-related quality of life outcomes 1 year after treatment with radiotherapy vs transoral robotic surgery and neck dissection...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Yuan Zhang, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of gemcitabine/cisplatin induction chemotherapy to standard platinum-based chemoradiotherapy improved recurrence-free survival vs chemoradiotherapy alone in...
In a study presented in a brief report in JAMA Oncology, David J. Pinato, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that past—but not concurrent—use of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy was associated with poorer treatment outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors for various cancers in...
In a research letter published in JAMA Oncology, Feng Wang, MD, PhD, and colleagues identified the frequency of mutations in DNA polymerase epsilon (POLE) and delta 1 (POLD1) genes across cancer types and found that these mutations were associated with better survival outcomes among patients...
In a meta-analysis published by Deng et al in Cancer Medicine, researchers found parenchymal-sparing hepatectomy was associated with better perioperative outcomes vs extended hepatectomy for the treatment of colorectal cancer liver metastases, without compromising long-term oncologic outcomes. The...
In a Norwegian study published by Lergenmuller et al in JAMA Dermatology, researchers found evidence of a dose-response association between lifetime indoor tanning and risk of development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in women. The association was the same regardless of duration of use and...
Findings from a phase Ib study of the combination of the mutant IDH1 inhibitor ivosidenib plus azacitidine for patients with IDH1-mutated, newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for intensive treatment showed that the combination was well tolerated and produced more responses than...
In a presentation of updated efficacy and safety data from the phase II HORIZON trial, Paul G. Richardson, MD, and colleagues found that melflufen, a lipophilic peptide-conjugated alkylator, showed activity in patients with late-stage relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma refractory to...
In a phase I trial, the combination of the BCR-ABL1 inhibitor asciminib and the small-molecule kinase inhibitor imatinib showed preliminary efficacy, safety, and tolerability in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) resistant to or intolerant of treatment with two or more prior tyrosine...
In a report published by Garlipp et al in the British Journal of Surgery, the addition of selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) to modified FOLFOX6-based chemotherapy (mFOLFOX6; oxaliplatin/leucovorin/fluorouracil) improved the resectability of initially unresectable colorectal cancer liver...
Findings from the randomized phase III NRG Oncology/RTOG 9601 trial were initially reported in 2017, and showed that the addition of 2 years of antiandrogen therapy to postsurgical radiation treatment for men with recurrent prostate cancer increased their long-term overall survival rate. That study ...
Following the closure of nearly 100 women’s health clinics across the United States from 2010 to 2013, fewer women were screened for cervical cancer; more women were diagnosed with advanced stages of the disease; and disease mortality rates rose. Findings from a new analysis combining several...
The randomized, phase II ORIOLE trial studying the efficacy of targeted high-dose radiation for men with oligometastatic prostate cancer has shown that stereotactic ablative radiation (SABR) is an effective and safe option for patients who wish to delay hormone-suppression therapy. Data from the...
This week, we’ll be talking about an extended follow-up of a phase III trial that investigated first-line nivolumab and ipilimumab vs sunitinib in advanced renal cell carcinoma. Then we’ll go over a research letter that identified strong predictors of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Stephanie de Boer, MD, and colleagues, a post hoc updated survival analysis of the phase III PORTEC-3 trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs radiotherapy alone in women with high-risk endometrial cancer. A...
As reported by Suzanne L. Topalian, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology, long-term follow up of patients from a phase I expansion cohort study indicated 5-year overall survival rates of 34.2%, 27.7%, and 15.6% among patients who received nivolumab monotherapy for advanced melanoma, renal cell...
In a post hoc 5-year follow-up of the KEYNOTE-006 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that pembrolizumab maintained overall and progression-free survival benefits over ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma. In the primary analysis from the...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jason Fangusaro, MD, and colleagues found that the MEK1/2 inhibitor selumetinib was active in pediatric patients with recurrent, refractory, or progressive pilocytic astrocytoma with common BRAF aberrations and neurofibromatosis type 1...
In a single-center phase II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Nitin Jain, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax was highly active in previously untreated high-risk and older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In the study, 80 ...
In a two-institution study reported in JAMA Oncology, Carole Fakhry, MD, and colleagues found that persistent detection of tumor-type human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA after primary treatment for oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas was associated with poorer outcomes. Study Details The...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Breelyn Wilky, MD, and colleagues found evidence of activity of axitinib plus pembrolizumab in advanced sarcomas, including alveolar soft-part sarcoma. Study Details The study involved 33 patients with advanced or metastatic sarcomas, including...
In an interim analysis of the phase III NEJ026 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Makoto Maemondo, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of bevacizumab to erlotinib improved progression-free survival in patients with EGFR-positive, nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Rachna T. Shroff, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of nab-paclitaxel to standard gemcitabine and cisplatin resulted in promising outcomes in patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancers. The study included...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Rita S. Mehta, MD, and colleagues, the final overall survival results of the phase III SWOG S0226 trial show that the addition of first-line fulvestrant to anastrozole was associated with improved overall survival in postmenopausal women with...
In the phase III BILCAP trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, John N. Primrose, FMedSci, and colleagues found evidence that adjuvant capecitabine may improve overall survival vs observation following surgery for patients with resected biliary tract cancer. The open-label study included 447...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Eric J. Chow, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that daunorubicin was associated with decreased cardiomyopathy risk vs doxorubicin among pediatric cancer survivors, with epirubicin being approximately isoequivalent to doxorubicin. Risk associated with the...
In a modeling study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Karen Canfell, DPhil, and colleagues detailed the preventive effects on cervical cancer that could be achieved by scaled-up human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical screening efforts with the aim of disease elimination. The major...
In the international phase III LION study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Philipp Harter, MD, and colleagues found that lymphadenectomy did not improve progression-free or overall survival vs no lymphadenectomy in women with advanced ovarian cancer. Study Details The trial...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Douglas Kondziolka, MD, of NYU Langone Health System, and colleagues found that patients undergoing Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery for nonmalignant neurosurgical conditions did not appear to be at long-term increased risk of...