Journal Spotlight
Cabozantinib With Nivolumab for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A New Front-Line Standard
Neal S. Chawla, MD, and Sumanta K. Pal, MD, FASCO
The pace of clinical research in metastatic renal cell carcinoma is faster than ever. Over the past 5 years, we have seen data from six phase III clinical trials evaluating combination strategies with checkpoint inhibitors. The era began with data from CheckMate 214, evaluating nivolumab with ipilim...
Is High Tumor Mutational Burden Predictive of Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across All Cancer Types?
Thierry André, MD, and Romain Cohen, MD, PhD
In a letter recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Rousseau and colleagues reported data on the spectrum of benefit from immune checkpoint blockade in hypermutated tumors.1 Indeed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently ap...
Dual Immune Checkpoint Blockade With Nivolumab and Ipilimumab for Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Samuel Rosner, MD, and Patrick M. Forde, MBBCh
In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of mesothelioma have been a keen area of investigation for this immunogenic solid tumor. With recent publications, principally findings from CheckMate 743 by Baas et al1 (reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post), combination immune check...
Is Tumor Mutational Burden Predictive of Survival Outcomes in Solid Tumors Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors?
Matthew Stenger
In a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Benoit Rousseau, MD, PhD, and Michael B. Foote, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and colleagues presented evidence that a high tumor mutational burden (TMB) threshold of 10 alone may not be sufficient to predict im...
Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Improves Overall Survival vs Chemotherapy in First-Line Treatment for Unresectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet by Paul Baas, MD, of The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, and colleagues, a prespecified interim analysis in the phase III CheckMate 743 trial has shown improved overall survival with first-line nivolumab/ipilimumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy in unresectable mal...
Adjuvant Nivolumab Improves Disease-Free Survival vs Placebo in Resected Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Ronan J. Kelly, MB BCh, MBA, of The Charles A. -Sammons Cancer Center at Baylor University Medical Center, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CheckMate 577 trial has shown a significant improvement in disease-free survival with...
Pembrolizumab Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Brentuximab Vedotin in Relapsed or Refractory Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by John Kuruvilla, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-204 trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with pembrolizumab vs brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed...
Oral Azacitidine Improves Overall Survival vs Placebo as Maintenance Therapy for AML in First Remission
Matthew Stenger
As reported inTheNew England Journal of Medicine by Andrew H. Wei, MB, BS, PhD, of the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University, Melbourne, and colleagues, the phase III QUAZAR AML-001 trial has shown prolonged overall survival with oral azacitidine maintenance therapy vs placebo in...
First-Line Cemiplimab-rwlc Improves Outcomes vs Platinum-Doublet Chemotherapy in Advanced NSCLC With PD-L1 Expression ≥ 50%
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet by Ahmet Sezer, MD, of Başkent University, Adana, Turkey, and colleagues, the phase III EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial has shown improved overall and progression-free survival with cemiplimab-rwlc vs platinum doublet chemotherapy among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cance...
First-Line Nivolumab Plus Cabozantinib Improves Progression-Free and Overall Survival vs Sunitinib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial has shown that the combination of nivolumab and cabozantinib improved progression-free survival and o...
Improving Prediction of Risk for 10-Year Left-Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Survivors of Childhood Cancer
Matthew Stenger
In a Dutch study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Jan M. Leerink, PhD candidate, of Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam Department of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology, and colleagues found that the addition of ejection fraction measurement at the time of first surveillance echocardiogram imp...
FDA ODAC Meeting Focuses on ‘Dangling’ Accelerated Approvals of Anti–PD-1/PD-L1 Antibodies
Matthew Stenger
In a perspective in The New England Journal of Medicine, Julia A. Beaver, MD, and Richard Pazdur, MD, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), discussed issues surrounding “dangling” accelerated approvals of anti–PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies—ie, approvals for whic...
First-Line Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy in PD-L1–Positive Locally Recurrent Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet by Javier Cortes, MD, of the International Breast Cancer Center, Quiron Group, Madrid and Barcelona, and colleagues, the second interim analysis of the phase III -KEYNOTE-355 trial has shown that the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy improved progression-free surviv...
Are Prevalent Cardiovascular Risk Factors Associated With Increased Risk of Subsequent Cancer?
Matthew Stenger
In a study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Emily S. Lau, MD, of the Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues found that the presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors was significantly associated with an increased risk of future cancer,...
Presalvage Radiotherapy PSA Levels and Outcomes With Long-Term Antiandrogen Therapy in Prostate Cancer
Matthew Stenger
In an analysis from the NRG/RTOG 9601 trial reported in JAMA Oncology,1Robert T. Dess, MD, of the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues found that men with higher prostate-specific antigen (PSA) presalvage radiotherapy levels after prostatectomy had a ...
Continued Progression-Free and Overall Survival Superiority of First-Line Pembrolizumab/Axitinib vs Sunitinib
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Thomas Powles, MD, of Barts Cancer Institute, London, and colleagues, extended follow-up of the phase III KEYNOTE-426 trial shows continued progression-free and overall survival superiority with pembrolizumab/axitinib vs sunitinib alone in first-line treatment...
First-Line Atezolizumab Plus Platinum-Based Chemotherapy vs Chemotherapy Alone in Advanced Urothelial Cancer
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet by Matthew D. Galsky, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Tisch Cancer Institute, New York, and colleagues, the phase III IMvigor130 trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival with first-line atezolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy vs platinum-bas...
Two Lenvatinib Combinations Improve Progression-Free Survival vs Sunitinib Alone in First-Line Treatment of Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robert J. Motzer, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and colleagues, the phase III CLEAR trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival with lenvatinib/pembrolizumab and with lenvatinib/everolimus vs sunitinib and prolong...
First-Line Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Plus Chemotherapy Improves Overall Survival vs Chemotherapy in Stage IV or Recurrent NSCLC
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Luis Paz-Ares, MD, of the Universidad Complutense & CiberOnc, Madrid, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 9LA trial has shown improved overall survival with first-line nivolumab/ipilimumab plus two cycles of chemotherapy vs four cycles of chemotherapy al...
KEYNOTE-427: First-Line Pembrolizumab Shows Activity in Advanced Clear Cell and Non–Clear Cell Kidney Cancers
Matthew Stenger
As reported in two articles in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by David F. McDermott, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and colleagues, the phase II KEYNOTE-427 study showed that pembrolizumab monotherapy produced durable responses as first-line treatment in cohorts of patients with ad...
Clinical Breast Examination Screening Results in Lower Stage at Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Reduced Breast Cancer Mortality in India
Matthew Stenger
In an Indian study reported in the British Medical Journal, Indraneel Mittra, MD, PhD, of Tata Memorial Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, and colleagues at Tata Memorial Centre found that breast cancer screening with clinical breast examination vs active surveillance resulted in youn...
Female Breast Cancer Surpasses Lung Cancer as the Most Commonly Diagnosed Cancer Worldwide
The ASCO Post Staff
Cancer ranks as a leading cause of death in every country in the world, and, for the first time, female breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, overtaking lung cancer, according to a collaborative report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the International Agency for Research on...
Fam-Trastuzumab Deruxtecan-nxki Shows Benefit in Refractory Colorectal Cancer
The ASCO Post Staff
Having recently gained approval in metastatic breast cancer, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) is now proving its worth in metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results of the phase II DESTINY-CRC01 study in patients with HER2-positive disease.1 T-DXd is an antibody-drug conjugate consis...
IMbrave150 Trial: Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab Improves Survival in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma
The ASCO Post Staff
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Richard S. Finn, MD, of Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues, the phase III IMbrave150 trial has shown that anti–PD-L1 plus anti-VEGF therapy with atezolizum...
Outcomes With Internal Mammary and Medial Supraclavicular Nodal Irradiation in Stage I to III Breast Cancer
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Philip M. Poortmans, PhD, Department of Radiation Oncology of the Iridium Netwerk and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, and colleagues, 15-year outcomes of the phase III EORTC 22922/10925 trial show continued reduction in breast...
Continued Survival Benefit With Durvalumab Plus Chemotherapy vs Chemotherapy Alone in Extensive-Stage SCLC
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Jonathan W. Goldman, MD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues, updated results from the phase III CASPIAN trial show maintained improvement in overall survival with first-line durvalumab plus platinum/eto...
Once-Weekly Selinexor Plus Bortezomib/Dexamethasone vs Twice-Weekly Bortezomib/Dexamethasone in Multiple Myeloma
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet by Sebastian Grosicki, MD, of the Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland, and colleagues, the phase III BOSTON trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with once-weekly selinexor plus bortezomib/dexamethasone vs twice-weekly bortezomib/dexa...
Study Finds More Than Half of Cancer Survivors Have Underlying Medical Conditions Associated With Developing Severe COVID-19
The ASCO Post Staff
A new study found that more than half (56.4%) of cancer survivors in the United States reported having additional underlying medical conditions associated with severe COVID-19 illness.1 The report, appearing in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that the prevalence of these...
ASCO Guideline Update Offers Four Standards of Care for Noncastrate Advanced, Recurrent, or Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Emily A. Kuhl, PhD
A recent ASCO guideline update, prompted by data from several phase III randomized controlled trials, summarizes the evidence supporting the best initial treatment options for the management of noncastrate advanced, recurrent, or metastatic prostate cancer. The hope is that the guideline will help b...
Genome-Edited Donor-Derived Anti-CD19 CAR T-Cell Therapy Is Active in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Matthew Stenger
Pooled results of two phase I studies, reported in The Lancet by Reuben Benjamin, MBBS, of the Department of Haematological Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, and colleagues, indicate that the genome-edited donor-derived allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product UCA...
The CARG-BC Score: Novel Tool for Predicting Chemotherapy Toxicity in Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Matthew Stenger
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Allison Magnuson, DO, of the University of Rochester Medical Center & Wilmot Cancer Institute, and Mina S. Sedrak, MD, MS, of the City of Hope National Medical Center, along with colleagues, have developed a novel risk tool—the Cancer and Aging Re...
First-Line Lorlatinib Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Crizotinib in Advanced ALK-Positive NSCLC
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, Global Head of Translational Clinical Oncology at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research,* and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CROWN trial has shown that first-line lorlatinib significantly improved p...
Improvement in Patient-Reported Outcomes After Stopping Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Matthew Stenger
In the prospective LAST study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ehab Atallah, MD, and Kathryn Flynn, PhD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and colleagues, found that stopping tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was associated with the mainten...
Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology and ASCO Approve First Joint Guideline for Treatment of Stage II to IVA Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Jasenka Piljac Žegarac, PhD
The Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) and ASCO have approved a joint guideline for the treatment of stage II to IVA nasopharyngeal carcinoma.1 The guideline was drafted by a panel of Chinese and U.S. experts and provides, for the first time, a clear set of recommendations for the use of ch...
Duration of Adjuvant Chemotherapy Assessed in Stage III Colon Cancer
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne Université and Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, and colleagues, the prospective pooled analysis of six phase III trials in the IDEA collaboration has shown that noninferiority in overall survival for 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant chemothe...
High Recurrence-Free Survival Rates in Rectal Cancer After Clinical Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy
Matthew Stenger
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Laura M. Fernandez, MD, of Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, and colleagues found high rates of conditional recurrence-free survival during watch-and-wait surveillance among patients with rectal cancer who maintained a clinical complete response to neoadjuv...
Venetoclax Added to Bortezomib Plus Dexamethasone in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Shaji K. Kumar, MD, of the Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and colleagues, the phase III BELLINI trial has shown that the addition of venetoclax to bortezomib/dexamethasone significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with rela...
Chemotherapy Added to Local Therapy Improves Overall Survival in Older Women With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Matthew Stenger
In a National Cancer Database analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jennifer A. Crozier, MD, of the Division of Cancer Medicine, Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Jacksonville, and colleagues found that receipt of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with improved overall surviva...
Pembrolizumab Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Chemotherapy in First-Line Treatment of Microsatellite Instability–High Advanced Colorectal Cancer
Matthew Stenger
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne Université and Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, and colleagues, the second interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with pembrolizumab vs fluoro...
Germline-Somatic Interactions in Advanced Urothelial Cancer and Their Role in Disease Progression
Matthew Stenger
In a study reported in Nature Communications, Bishoy M. Faltas, MD, of the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, and colleagues identified common germline-somatic variant interactions in advanced urothelial cancer, with these interacti...
Fan Therapy May Relieve Breathlessness Associated With Advanced Cancers
The ASCO Post Staff
Blowing air from a fan into the face of patients with advanced cancer experiencing breathlessness—and other nonpharmacologic interventions—may offer symptomatic relief, according to new research directed by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators and published in JAMA Oncology.1 In contrast...
What Is the Measure of Minimal Residual Disease in AML?
Jerald P. Radich, MD
Relapse is the primary obstacle to cure in leukemia. The term minimal residual disease (MRD) was coined in the early 1990s to describe finding a disease-specific marker in the context of a morphologic-appearing remission. The technique first used for MRD detection was the Southern blot (!), but the ...
Meta-analysis Shows Superior Disease-Free and Overall Survival With Measurable Residual Disease Negativity in AML
Matthew Stenger
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Nicholas J. Short, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, found that measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity is associated with superior disease-free and overall survival in patients with acut...
ASCO Releases Guideline on Systemic Therapy for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Leah Lawrence
ASCO has released a new evidence-based clinical practice guideline to assist in clinical decision-making for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.1 “Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma has transitioned from a disease where we had a single approved therapy for patients to one where we now h...
No Reduced Recurrence Risk With Perioperative Aromatase Inhibitor Use in HR-Positive Breast Cancer
Matthew Stenger
In the UK phase III POETIC trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ian Smith, MD, of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, and colleagues, found that perioperative aromatase inhibitor therapy did not reduce the risk of recurrence in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive e...
Improved Outcomes With Neoadjuvant Paclitaxel Plus Trastuzumab/Lapatinib vs Paclitaxel/Trastuzumab in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
Matthew Stenger
In a 7-year follow-up of the phase III CALGB 40601/Alliance trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Aranzazu Fernandez-Martinez, MD, of Lineberger Comprehensive Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues found that neoadjuvant paclitaxel combined with a dual HER2-...
The Lung Microbiome May Affect Lung Cancer Pathogenesis and Prognosis
The ASCO Post Staff
Enrichment of the lungs with oral commensal microbes was associated with advanced-stage disease, worse prognosis, and tumor progression in patients with lung cancer, according to results from a study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.1 “The lun...
Guideline Update Offers New Directions About Trastuzumab Emtansine for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
Emily A. Kuhl, PhD
About 10% to 20% of newly diagnosed breast cancers demonstrate overexpression of the HER2 protein.1 Since the introduction of trastuzumab, several new HER2-targeted therapies have been approved for use in the adjuvant and metastatic settings (eg, pertuzumab, lapatinib, and neratinib). However, for s...
Racial Disparities in Treatment of Common Lung Cancer Persist Despite Gains
The ASCO Post Staff
Lung cancer continues to be the most deadly solid cancer in the world, despite the fact that survival rates have been improving over the past decade. However, Black patients have worse outcomes and shorter lifespans after being diagnosed with lung cancer. A study published in the Journal of Surgical...
Addition of Abemaciclib to Endocrine Therapy Improves Invasive Disease–Free Survival in High-Risk Early Breast Cancer
Matthew Stenger
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Stephen R.D. Johnston, MD, PhD, of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, and colleagues, an interim analysis in the phase III monarchE trial has shown that adjuvant abemaciclib plus endocrine therapy significantly improved invasive disease...
