2018 ASCO Annual Meeting
Maintenance Therapy for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Benefit Seen With Panitumumab Combination
Although the optimal approach to maintenance is not definitive in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have undergone chemotherapy-based induction with anti–endothelial growth factor recepto...
Durable Responses With Moxetumomab Pasudotox in Pretreated Hairy Cell Leukemia
Moxetumomab pasudotox produced deep and durable responses in a heavily pretreated population of patients with hairy cell leukemia, with the ability to eradicate minimal residual disease. The drug show...
Durable Response With Venetoclax and Azacitidine in Elderly Patients With AML
In elderly patients with untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML), venetoclax (Venclexta), given at a 400-mg dose, with an azacitidine backbone led to durable responses with a tolerable safety profile...
Update on Clinical Trials of Novel Therapies
Long-term follow-up data on axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) in lymphoma, potential partners for nivolumab (Opdivo) in solid tumors, and a targeted agent for RET-altered cancers were featured during...
Cabozantinib in Second-Line Treatment of Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Compared with placebo, cabozantinib (Cabometyx) significantly improved overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who were previously treated w...
Study Finds Gender Disparities in Head and Neck Cancer Treatment and Outcomes
An analysis of cancer registry data from a California hospital system showed that women with head and neck cancer were less likely to receive intensive chemotherapy (35% vs 46%) and radiation (60% vs ...
In Case You Missed It: Update on Breast Cancer Research
The ASCO Post presents these brief summaries of important studies in breast cancer, presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. Ribociclib Plus Fulvestrant in Metastatic Breast Cancer The benefit of a...
In Case You Missed It: Short Takes on Current Cancer Research
It would be impossible to cover all of the important presentations from the 5,000-plus abstracts accepted for the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. In addition to our regular meeting coverage of the top news ...
Oral Taxane Shows Strong Activity and Good Tolerability in Metastatic Breast Cancer
As first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer, the oral taxane tesetaxel produced a 45% confirmed response rate and was well tolerated, producing little alopecia or neuropathy, according to And...
MSI-High Status and Lynch Syndrome Found in Surprising Variety of Cancers
In a study that many consider to be practice-changing, Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome, was found in many persons who would not ordinarily be suspected of having it.1 The s...
Atezolizumab Plus Chemotherapy Extends Survival in Squamous NSCLC Regardless of PD-L1 Level
Patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had a greater benefit from first-line treatment with the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy al...
Immunotherapy in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: ‘Field Has Been Thrown on Its Head’
At the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, investigators presented long-term follow-up data for immunotherapy in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma and new data for its use in the neoadjuvant setting. The resu...
Preliminary Data Suggest Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy May Improve Outcomes in Patients With Early Stages of Pancreatic Cancer
For patients with newly diagnosed, potentially resectable pancreatic cancer, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy led to better outcomes when compared with immediate surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy in...
Expert Point of View: Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD
“THIS IS a wonderful presentation and a very exciting trial,” said formal discussant Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Despite the remarkable advances achiev...
Early Data Suggest TLR9 Agonist May Combat PD-1 Resistance in Advanced Melanoma
COMBINING CMP-001, a Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) appears to overcome resistance to anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (anti–PD-1) therapy, according to a preli...
Expert Point of View: Parameswaran Hari, MD
FORMAL DISCUSSANT Parameswaran Hari, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, was impressed by many aspects of the bb2121 study, which represents the “largest and most mature” data set for...
CAR T-Cell Therapy: Updated Data Remain Favorable in Heavily Pretreated Patients With Myeloma
IN AN UPDATE of a phase I trial, a heavily pretreated population of patients with multiple myeloma continued to respond to the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy bb2121.1 The results prese...
Expert Point of View: Harold Burstein, MD, PhD
HAROLD BURSTEIN, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, where he is Associate Professor of Medicine, commented on the SANDPIPER trial during a press briefing at the 2018...
Study of PI3K Inhibitor Added to Fulvestrant in Advanced Breast Cancer Affirms Proof-of-Principle
IN PATIENTS with advanced breast cancer harboring a PIK3CA mutation, the addition of the PI3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor taselisib to endocrine therapy with fulvestrant (Faslodex) significantly improved p...
Expert Point of View: David Graham, MD, FASCO
ASCO EXPERT David Graham, MD, FASCO, Medical Director at the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, was enthusiastic about this new technology. “This is an important first step showing...
Genome Sequencing of Blood Samples May Lead to Detection of Early- Stage Lung Cancer
IF THE INITIAL promise of research presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting bears fruit, we may one day have a simple blood test to screen for early-stage lung cancer and possibly other cancers. Alth...
Expert Point of View: Marina Chiara Garassino, MD, and Justin Gainor, MD
“TODAY WE HAVE good news, because IMpower 150 is another clear positive trial on the combination of chemotherapy with immunotherapy. This is true in terms of progression-free and overall survival, wh...
More Evidence of Benefit With Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy in Nonsquamous Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
ATEZOLIZUMAB (TECENTRIQ) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) plus a platinum doublet (ABCP) improved overall survival by 22% compared with bevacizumab plus a platinum doublet (BCP) in patients with advanced wi...
Expert Point of View: Bruce D. Cheson, MD
BRUCE D. CHESON, MD, Director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, agreed that rituximab (Rituxan) plus lenalidomide (Revlimid; R2) is a...
Chemotherapy-Free Regimen Comparable to Rituximab-Chemotherapy as Front-Line Therapy for Follicular Lymphoma
IN PATIENTS with previously untreated advanced follicular lymphoma, the chemotherapy-free combination of rituximab (Rituxan) plus lenalidomide (Revlimid), the so-called R-squared (R2) regimen, yielded...
Expert Point of View: Warren Chow, MD, and Douglas S. Hawkins, MD
WARREN CHOW, MD, a sarcoma specialist at City of Hope, Duarte, California, said maintenance therapy has not traditionally been used in the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma; therefore, the findings repre...
With European Protocol, Maintenance Therapy Improved 5-Year Survival in Rhabdomyosarcoma
THE ADDITION OF 6 months of maintenance chemotherapy in the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma improved 5-year survival by 13%, in the European RMS2005 Maintenance study reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Me...
Expert Point of View: Susan O'Brien, MD, and Bruce Cheson, MD
SUSAN O’BRIEN, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Science, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Irvine Health, told The ASCO Post that the pairing of ibrutinib (Imbruvic...
Ibrutinib Plus Venetoclax in CLL: High MRD-Negativity Rates, Reduced Risk for Tumor-Lysis Syndrome
A REGIMEN COMBINING ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and venetoclax (Venclexta) in previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) greatly reduced the risk of venetoclax-associated tumor-ly...
Pooled Study Analysis Explores the Use of CDK4/6 Inhibitors in Metastatic Breast Cancer
RESEARCH TO DATE has not been able to identify a subgroup of patients with estrogen receptor–positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who do not derive benefit from the addition of inhibitors o...
Expert Point of View: Charles Drake, MD, PhD
“THIS TRIAL is a clear winner for the treatment of squamous non–small cell lung cancer [NSCLC],” stated formal discussant Charles Drake, MD, PhD, of Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columb...
KEYNOTE-407: Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy Benefits Response, Survival in Squamous NSCLC
THE COMBINATION of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus platinum-based chemotherapy improved overall survival, response rates, and duration of response in patients with advanced squamous cell non–small cell ...
Nephrectomy May Be Avoided in Some Patients With Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
In the modern era of targeted therapy, some patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma may be able to forgo nephrectomy and be treated with sunitinib (Sutent) alone, according to results of the pha...
Adjuvant Modified FOLFIRINOX Yields Unprecedented Survival in Pancreatic Cancer
Adjuvant treatment with modified FOLFIRINOX resulted in the longest overall survival yet reported for patients with resected pancreatic cancer, according to the results of the phase III Unicancer GI...
Expert Point of View: Joshua A. Jones, MD, MA
“AS A SOCIETY, we often think about the value of cancer treatments in terms of survival, but for older patients, we need to look beyond that. Geriatric assessments are clearly an effective tool to he...
Geriatric Assessment Improves Communication Between Oncologists and Older Patients
A FEDERALLY FUNDED randomized study demonstrated that use of geriatric assessment in the routine care of older adults with advanced cancer significantly improved doctor-patient communication about age...
Expert Point of View: Bruce Johnson, MD, FASCO
“PRECISION MEDICINE is driving the most exciting and powerful advances in cancer care today, particularly in lung cancer. It’s encouraging to see that next-generation genetic testing tools can help ph...
Decision-Analytic Model Finds Upfront, Comprehensive Genetic Testing in Advanced Lung Cancer Is Cost-Efficient
AN ECONOMIC model comparing different types of genetic testing in metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) found using next-generation sequencing to test for all known lung cancer–related gene c...
Expert Point of View: Bruce Johnson, MD, FASCO
“THIS STUDY makes a strong case that our country needs an effective public service campaign about encouraging lung cancer screening,” said ASCO President Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, during a press br...
Despite USPSTF Recommendations, Majority of Heavy Smokers Not Screened for Lung Cancer
AN ANALYSIS of 1,800 lung cancer screening sites nationwide found that only 1.9% of more than 7 million eligible current and former heavy smokers were screened for lung cancer in 2016, despite U.S. P...
Expert Point of View: Bruce Johnson, MD, FASCO
ASCO PRESIDENT Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, commented on these study findings during the press briefing. “This study adds to a growing body of knowledge showing the value of integrating patient-repo...
Mobile and Sensor Technology May Lead to Reduced Symptoms of Head and Neck Cancer and Its Treatment
A RANDOMIZED clinical trial evaluating the use of mobile and sensor technology to remotely monitor symptoms in patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck cancer found that use of this tech...
Expert Point of View: John Heymach, MD, PhD, and Leena Gandhi, MD
“THIS STUDY represents a true milestone in the field of lung cancer. For the first time, the vast majority of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can receive immunotherapy with pembroliz...
Immunotherapy Benefits Survival, Improves Safety, vs Platinum-Based Chemotherapy for PD-L1–Expressing NSCLC
IMMUNOTHERAPY WITH pembrolizumab (Keytruda) improved overall survival compared with investigator’s choice of platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with advanced non–small ce...
Expert Point of View: Lisa Carey, MD, and Dawn Hershman, MD, FASCO
LISA CAREY, MD, the Richardson and Marilyn Jacobs Preyer Distinguished Professor in Breast Cancer Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, commented as the invited discussant for TA...
TAILORx: Endocrine Therapy Alone Is Sufficient for Most Patients With ‘Intermediate-Risk’ Breast Cancer
THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED results of the phase III TAILORx study are in—and they indicate that the vast majority of patients with “intermediate-risk” early-stage breast cancer can forgo chemotherapy. “...
2018 ASCO: Lenalidomide Plus Rituximab vs Rituximab Plus Chemotherapy in Previously Untreated Follicular Lymphoma
Results from RELEVANCE, a phase III, randomized, open-label, international clinical study conducted in partnership with the Lymphoma Academic Research Organisation (LYSARC), were presented by Fowler e...
2018 ASCO: Olaparib in Combination With Abiraterone in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Data presented by Clarke et al at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 5003) showed clinical improvement in median radiologic progression-free survival with olaparib (Lynparza) in combination with a...
2018 ASCO: Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy as First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Squamous NSCLC: KEYNOTE-407 Study
Results from KEYNOTE-407, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III study evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel or carboplatin/nab-paclita...
2018 ASCO: Pomalidomide, Bortezomib, and Low-Dose Dexamethasone in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
For patients with multiple myeloma who have been treated with lenalidome (Revlimid) but have relapsed and not responded to other therapy, a three-drug combination can significantly extend the time in ...
