A recent study found that measuring circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is a reliable way to predict later treatment response and survival prospects in men when metastatic prostate cancer is first diagnosed. The test may help providers to decide which patients should receive standard treatment vs who might stand to benefit from new drug trials. The research, part of a phase III clinical trial funded in part by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health, was published by Goldkorn et al in JAMA Network Open.

As reported in JAMA Oncology by Swaminath et al, the Canadian phase III LUSTRE trial has shown no significant benefit in local tumor control with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) vs hypofractionated conventional radiotherapy (CRT) in patients with inoperable stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In a Journal of Clinical Oncology editorial, Yara Abdou, MD, and Norman E. Sharpless, MD, responded to a recent study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle that found enrollment in industry-sponsored cancer clinical trials doubled between 2008 and 2022, whereas federally supported trial enrollment remained flat. From 2018 to 2022, cancer clinical trial enrollment was eight times greater in industry-sponsored studies than in federal studies.

A recent study suggests that for people older than age 65 who have cancer, physical activity may be key to reducing the chances of a dangerous fall. People with lung cancer, colorectal cancer, or prostate cancer, in particular, had a lower risk of falling when they talked with their doctor about physical activity, according to findings from the study. This finding is important because people with these types of cancer generally have a higher risk of falling, which may be due to the location of the cancer or the different types of treatments used, such as surgery or radiation therapy. The findings from this study were presented at the 2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium.