In an analysis of the phase III UK Myeloma X trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ahmedzai et al found that patient-reported outcomes tended to be worse with salvage autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) vs nontransplantation consolidation in relapsed multiple myeloma. The trial, reported several years ago, showed that salvage ASCT was associated with improved time to progression, progression-free survival, and overall survival.

Although diagnostic errors date back to antiquity, in recent years, they have begun to receive attention as an important patient safety issue. This culminated in the National Academy of Medicine’s 2015 landmark report, which concluded that most people in the United States would experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime.¹ Diagnostic errors are the leading cause of medical malpractice claims, and cancer is the most frequently missed or delayed diagnosis.

New agents for the treatment of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer should be coming soon to your clinic, according to Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, Director of the Breast Cancer Clinical Research Program and Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Although there are many controversies in breast cancer treatment, virtually none are over the first- and second-line treatments of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. “However, in third line and beyond, where there are many different treatment options, is—to quote Dr. William Gradishar—the ‘wild, wild West,’” she said. “Right now, the main paradigm is to continue HER2-targeted therapy, but you can swap out the agent and can swap out its partner.”

In contrast with melanoma, lung cancer, and kidney cancer, immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has been disappointing in prostate cancer thus far. Because of success in treating other tumor types, interest remains high in exploring the effect of immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibition in prostate cancer, even though it is considered a tumor with an immunologically “cold” microenvironment.