April 10, 2018 (View All Issues)
A Tribute to Two Amazing Scientists
Dr. Collins is Director of the National Institutes of Health. Originally posted on March 19, 2018, to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Blog (https://directorsblog. nih.gov).
OVER THE PAST couple of weeks, we’ve lost two legendary scientists who made major contributions to our...
Encorafenib Plus Binimetinib Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Vemurafenib in Advanced BRAF-Mutant Melanoma
IN THE PHASE III COLUMBUS trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Reinhard Dummer, MD, of University Hospital Zurich, and colleagues found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the MEK inhibitor binimetinib improved progression-free survival vs vemurafenib (Zelboraf) in...
Potent Anti-HER2 Agents on the Horizon
THANKS TO the efficacy of five approved anti-HER2 agents, patients with HER2-positive breast cancer have overall survival numbers that are as good as, or better than, their HER2-negative counterparts. With the next generation of anti-HER2 therapies in clinical trials, these outcomes may become even ...
Delays in Radiation Therapy After Surgery for Head and Neck Cancer Linked to Decreased Survival
DELAYS IN RADIATION THERAPY after surgery for head and neck cancer were associated with decreased survival in a large population of U.S. patients, according to data presented at the 2018 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium and reported online recently in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & ...
Phase II Study Shows Durvalumab Active in Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer
IN A POPULATION of heavily pretreated patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer and low or negative programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, durvalumab (Imfinzi) monotherapy demonstrated an overall response rate of 9.2%, consistent with that of single-agent programmed...
Panitumumab-Based Contrast Agent May Enhance Head and Neck Cancer Surgery
AN OPTICAL CONTRAST agent composed of panitumumab (Vectibix), a humanized anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody, conjugated to the near-infrared fluorescent dye IRDye800, may aid in the real-time detection and surgical resection of squamous cell carcinoma, according to...
Intratumor Heterogeneity of Head and Neck Cancers May Have Therapeutic Implications
A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY of The Cancer Genome Atlas may have therapy-specific implications for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to data presented at the 2018 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 This first analysis of the relationship between intratumor...
GU Symposium Focuses on Prognostic Model in Urothelial Cancer, Novel Therapies for Prostate and Kidney Cancers
THE 2018 GENITOURINARY Cancers Symposium hosted an international audience of oncologists and other stakeholders to hear about the latest advances in the field. We have included coverage of many of the top news stories from the meeting in previous issues of The ASCO Post. Here are summaries of a few ...
Vinflunine May Benefit Selected Patients With Penile Cancer
PENILE CANCER is rare, outcomes remain poor, and there are few data from randomized trials to guide treatment decisions. However, in the small phase II VinCaP study, presented at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, 45.5% of patients with advanced or metastatic penile cancer had a clinical...
How Will ctDNA Assays Aid in Managing Breast Cancer?
CIRCULATING TUMOR DNA (ctDNA) assays are now commercially available for use in lung cancer and melanoma, where they can identify the presence of specific mutations that drive treatment selection. In breast cancer, ctDNA remains more of a research tool, but this is poised to change.
At the 2018...
Destroy Pancreatic Cancer Donates $1 Million for Unique Trial
DESTROY PANCREATIC CANCER, an Atlanta-based nonprofit dedicated to finding better treatments for pancreatic cancer, is donating $1 million for a unique pancreatic cancer clinical trial designed by the nonprofit Translational Genomics Research Institute.
Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, FACP, one of the...
Edward M. Wolin, MD, Named Director of Center for Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumors at Mount Sinai
EDWARD M. WOLIN, MD, an internationally renowned authority on neuroendocrine tumors, has joined the Mount Sinai Health System as Director of the Center for Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumors. This multidisciplinary center includes specialists in gastroenterology, surgical oncology, hepatobiliary ...
Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation Awards Research Grant to Craig B. Thompson, MD
THE SAMUEL WAXMAN Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF) will present the 2018 Daid T. Workman Memorial Award to Craig B. Thompson, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, at its Breakthroughs Scientific Symposium in late April. The event brings together...
Greater Understanding of Family Dynamics May Help Cancer Teams Guide, Support Patients
WHETHER THEY are parents themselves or dealing with their own parents, patients with cancer often look to their health-care team to help guide these relationships, but data on how best to help are lacking, according to two poster presentations at the 2018 American Psychosocial Oncology Society...
FDA Expands Approval of Brentuximab Vedotin in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma
ON MARCH 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), an antibody-drug conjugate, to treat adult patients with previously untreated stage III or IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma in combination with chemotherapy. Brentuximab vedotin combines an antibody and...
Four Years Posttreatment, Exercise Improves Physical Activity Levels, Reduces Fatigue in Patients With Breast and Colon Cancers
IN PATIENTS WITH breast and colon cancers, a physical exercise intervention conducted during adjuvant chemotherapy improved total physical activity levels 4 years after treatment, with a trend toward less fatigue, according to a follow-up study from the randomized multicenter PACT study, presented...
Emerging Thoughts About the Immune Landscape in Pancreatic Cancer
LONG-TERM SURVIVORS of pancreatic cancer display evidence of enhanced tumor-specific T-cell responses that are associated with unique neoepitope quality but not quantity, according to Steven D. Leach, MD, Director of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and the Preston T. and Virginia R. Kelsey...
2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
The 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium is supported by ASCO, the American Society of Radiation Oncology, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the AGA Institute.
Over 3,700 physicians, researchers, and allied health-care professionals attended the meeting.
Photos by © ASCO/Todd Buchanan...
Future Looks Brighter for Treatment of Cholangiocarcinoma
THE INCIDENCE of cholangiocarcinoma is rising, and effective therapies are urgently needed. Several classes of experimental molecularly targeted agents might meet this challenge, according to Robin Kate Kelley, MD, Associate Professor of Medical Oncology and leader of the clinical trials program in ...
Frederick M. Schnell, MD, FACP, Named Medical Director of Community Oncology Alliance
THE COMMUNITY ONCOLOGY ALLIANCE announced that Frederick M. Schnell, MD, FACP, has been appointed to the newly created staff position of Medical Director.
Dr. Schnell has been a practicing community oncologist for 34 years and most recently Chief Executive Officer at Central Georgia Cancer Care ...
Breast Cancer Specialist Hernan Vargas, MD, Joins Virginia Cancer Specialists
VIRGINIA CANCER SPECIALISTS, an affiliate of The US Oncology Network, has announced Hernan Vargas, MD, has joined its practice. Virginia Cancer Specialists is a cancer care and research center in Northern Virginia with more than 40 years of service to patients.
Dr. Vargas joins Virginia Cancer...
Maura Dickler, MD, Appointed Vice President of Late Phase Development at Lilly Oncology
ELI LILLY AND COMPANY announced that Maura Dickler, MD, a breast cancer clinical researcher at the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), will join Lilly Oncology as Vice President of Late Phase Development in early May 2018.
Dr. Dickler is currently Section...
Is CAR T-Cell Therapy Setting a New Standard of Care in Lymphoma?
Data presented at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition on the longer-term follow-up analysis of results from the ZUMA-1 trial investigating the effectiveness of axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) in patients with refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) showed...
How to Respond to a Patient’s Discriminatory Request for a Different Clinician
Some patients may make discriminatory requests for a different clinician for their health care.1-5 These individuals may want to avoid treatment with clinicians of a certain race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. Oncologists are not exempt from this type of patient...
AACR Launches Initiative to Address Cancer Health Disparities in African Americans
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for Cancer Research (AACR) announced the launch of a collaborative initiative known as “2020 by 2020.” The initiative will perform genomic sequencing of both malignant and benign tumor tissues from 2,020 consented African American cancer patients in addition to aggregating...
Sarcoma Foundation of America Partners With ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation to Fund a 2018 Young Investigator Award
The Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) and Conquer Cancer have been working together for 13 years to fund cutting-edge sarcoma research. Most recently, the SFA joined forces with Conquer Cancer to support a 2018 Young Investigator Award (YIA) in sarcoma. This grant will provide 1 year of crucial ...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Sparks Global Oncology Innovation and Partnerships With IIG and IDEA Awards
ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2018 International Innovation Grants (IIG) and International Development and Education Awards (IDEA). Both the grant and award support oncology professionals in low-and middle-income countries, investing in either an innovative...
ASCO Develops Professional Resources for Pain Management
When it comes to helping patients with cancer manage pain, education and communication are critical. ASCO University® has developed two resources for providers to help facilitate educated clinical decision-making skills for pain management and feedback from patients in the forms of the Pain...
Updated! ASCO Answers Guides to Breast Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, and Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
FULLY UPDATED and now with 8th Edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging information, ASCO Answers guides will help your patients get organized and learn more about their diagnosis, treatment options, side effects, support options, follow-up care, and more. Each guide includes...
Conqueror in Action: Dr. Kurtz Takes on Lymphoma
WHAT IF people with blood cancer—and their doctors—could learn whether a treatment is working in real time?
Typically, it takes months to confirm whether cancer treatment is effective. For patients, this means months filled with worry and doubt: Am I getting better? What if the treatment isn’t...
ASCO Launches New Website Focused on the Business of Oncology
ASCO RECENTLY launched ASCO Practice Central, a new website that serves as an online information hub to help oncology professionals navigate a complicated and ever-changing practice environment— while providing high-quality patient care. The first ASCO website dedicated to the business of oncology, ...
Inaugural Content Collection in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics Highlights the Benefits of Data Sharing in Oncology
ON FEBRUARY 16 , JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics (JCO CCI) published its first special collection of articles. This collection highlights ways in which sharing cancer research data is now possible through individual networks, including ASCO’s CancerLinQ®.
In his introduction to the collection,...
Acupuncture for Joint Pain Associated With Aromatase Inhibition
Although aromatase inhibitors are highly effective as adjuvant therapy in metastatic breast cancer and for prevention of breast cancer, the side effects can be difficult to tolerate and often lead to discontinuation of therapy. A phase III randomized trial has found that acupuncture may relieve...
Unstoppable
The following essay by Elias Jabbour, MD, is adapted, with permission, from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and...
Solid Organ Transplantation and Lymphoma
Survival of patients with Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas is increasing, and with that comes the need, in some cases, for solid organ transplantation, often because of treatment-related toxicity. The factors involved in organ transplant among lymphoma survivors were discussed by Philip J....
Actively Recruiting Clinical Trials Focused on Cancer Prevention
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies focused on preventing cancer. These studies are investigating a multitude of methods, including educational interventions; imaging devices; dietary changes/supplements; weight management;...
Leading Health Organizations Issue Challenge to Defeat Cervical Cancer
The Consortium of Universities for Global Health, Perlmutter Cancer Center, and the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health are issuing the “New York Challenge,” an ambitious campaign to end cervical cancer worldwide. They are challenging all nations to achieve a 70% human...
Yale Cancer Center Launches Immuno-Oncology Center
Yale Cancer Center has launched the Yale Center for Immuno-Oncology. The new center will build on Yale Cancer Center’s international leadership in immunobiology, cancer immunology, and development of novel cancer immunotherapies. It is a partnership between Yale Cancer Center and the Department of...
Huda Zoghbi, MD, Awarded Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at Northwell Health has selected Baylor College of Medicine’s Huda Zoghbi, MD, as the winner of the sixth annual Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine. The prize, which includes a $50,000 award, will be presented to Dr. Zoghbi in early June at the New York...
James C. Wittig, MD, Joins Atlantic Health System Orthopedic Oncology Leadership Team
James C. Wittig, MD, has been appointed Chairman of the Department of Orthopedics at the Morristown Medical Center and Medical Director of Orthopedic Oncology within the Atlantic Health System. Dr. Wittig will be responsible for ensuring quality, academic excellence, and optimal operational...
AACR Welcomes New Leadership
The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected five members to serve on the AACR Board of Directors for the 2018–2021 term and four members to serve on the Nominating Committee for the 2018–2020 term. These new directors and committee members began their terms at...
Extended Duration of Aromatase Inhibitors Need Not Be Very Long
At the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), Michael Gnant, MD, FACS, of the Medical University of Vienna presented the 9-year median follow-up of a trial looking at the length of extended aromatase inhibitor therapy. At least four other recently presented or published trials have...
FDA Expands Nilotinib Indication to Pediatric Patients With CML
On March 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for nilotinib (Tasigna) to include treatment of first- and second-line pediatric patients 1 year of age or older with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase.
In the...
NCCN® Adopts New Web-Based Software Platform for Research
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Oncology Research Program (ORP) announced the selection and implementation of the iEnvision medical affairs platform, developed by Envision Technology Solutions. The NCCN ORP supports research through collaborations with pharmaceutical companies...
Thomas A. Gallo, MS, MDA, Becomes ACCC President 2018–2019
Thomas A. Gallo, MS, MDA, was named 2018–2019 President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) during its 44th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit on March 16, 2018, in Washington, DC. Mr. Gallo is Executive Director of the Virginia Cancer Institute in Richmond.
ACCC...
ASCO Commends Congress for NIH Funding
On March 23, 2018, ASCO President Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, issued the following statement:
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) applauds Congress for its bipartisan support of the omnibus spending bill that significantly boosts our nation’s investment in biomedical research. By...
Undefeated
I’m sure every cancer survivor feels this way, but my diagnosis, in 1997, of stage III germ cell testicular cancer couldn’t have come at a worse time in my life. I was nearing the end of a 60-city tour with my figure skating show Stars on Ice, when a nagging pain in my abdomen became so severe I...
Physician-Patient Partnership Is Key to Recognizing and Managing Side Effects of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
“Immunotherapy has a completely different side-effect profile than chemotherapy, and that has caught physicians off guard,” noted Drew Pardoll, MD, PhD, in an article published earlier this year in The Washington Post.1 Since then, efforts have moved forward on several fronts to bring physicians,...
BTK Inhibitor in Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
A phase II study (ACE-LY-004) reported in The Lancet by Michael Wang, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues showed durable responses with the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor acalabrutinib (Calquence) in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma. ...
Venetoclax in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Progressing After Ibrutinib
An interim analysis of a phase II trial reported by Jones et al in The Lancet Oncology indicates that venetoclax (Venclexta) produces a response in a high proportion of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) progressing on or after ibrutinib (Imbruvica) treatment. John C. Byrd, MD, of...
Cardiovascular Toxicity and Carfilzomib Treatment in Multiple Myeloma
The proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib (Kyprolis) has taken on an increasing role in the treatment of multiple myeloma, but new research from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows the therapy may come with the risk of cardiovascular problems in a higher-than-expected...
Brentuximab Vedotin Plus Bendamustine in Relapsed or Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma
A phase I/II trial has shown that the addition of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) to bendamustine is active in relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. The study findings were reported in The Lancet Oncology by Owen A. O’Connor, MD, of the Center for Lymphoid Malignancies, Columbia University...
In Remembrance of James F. Holland, MD
The ASCO Post mourns the loss of ASCO Past President James F. Holland, MD, FASCO, on March 22, 2018. Dr. Holland was the Distinguished Professor of Neoplastic Diseases in the Department of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. His wife of many years, Jimmie C....
