April 25, 2021 (View All Issues)
5-Year Follow-up of SOLO-1: Sustained Benefit for Maintenance Olaparib in Ovarian Cancer
In the 5-year follow-up of the pivotal SOLO-1 trial in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation, maintenance treatment with olaparib led to a more than doubling in progression-free survival, according to a presentation at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)...
To Advance Health Equity, Put Real-World Cancer Data to Work
Despite decades of scientific progress against cancer, access to treatment remains highly unequal. Some of the reasons—like institutional racism and poverty—are a reflection of our broader society. Other inequities may go unrecognized but are no less damaging. People with underlying health...
CLEAR Trial: Is Lenvatinib Plus Pembrolizumab the Best First-Line Immunotherapy Doublet in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma?
At the 2021 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, Motzer et al presented the clinical results of the CLEAR trial, adding a novel regimen, lenvatinib plus pembrolizu-mab, to the growing armamentarium of first-line treatments for patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The...
Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Plus Two Cycles of Histology-Based Chemotherapy: Another Option in First-Line Metastatic NSCLC
Introduction of immunotherapy has revealed a paradigm shift in the management of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that does not harbor a therapeutically targetable driver mutation. Over the past 5 years, several trials have informed treatment decisions, based on disease...
Cardiovascular Disease in Hematologic Malignancies: Who Is at Risk?
Given the improvements in diagnostic strategies, treatment, and supportive care, long-term survival is now an expected outcome for a large majority of patients with hematologic malignancies. Unfortunately, radiation therapy and anthracyclines, which form the backbone of front-line treatment, have...
Novel HER2-Targeted Therapies Pose Sequencing Challenges
With three new HER2-targeted therapies approved in the past 15 months alone, the treatment landscape for patients with metastatic breast cancer has become increasingly crowded. In the third-line setting and beyond, there are now at least eight HER2-targeted agents approved by the U.S. Food and Drug ...
How Interested Are Patients in Integrative Therapies, and How Much Are They Willing to Pay for Them?
The top two barriers to accessing complementary and integrative therapies, according to a survey of 576 patients with cancer and caregivers, were cost, cited by 56%, and a lack of knowledge about the therapies, cited by 52.1%. “Other barriers included a lack of time (29.2%), location of the...
Ethical Considerations Before Launching a Clinical Cancer Trial
Randomized clinical trials are highly regulated initiatives that must comply with multiple requirements while maintaining high epistemic standards, a balance that becomes increasingly difficult as the research questions surrounding immunotherapy and targeted agents become more complex. To shed...
A Physician-Scientist’s Mother, Who Nursed Those With Chronic Diseases, Fueled His Passion for Biomedical Research
For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Griffin P. Rodgers, MD, MACP, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Rodgers, a physician-scientist,...
Cancer Care in Sudan During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sudan is one of Africa’s largest countries, rich in underutilized natural resources but rife with conflicts and civil wars that have been ongoing since it gained its independence in 1956. These problems have reflected negatively on the health-care system. Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, is a busy...
Role of Antibody-Drug Conjugates Across Breast Cancer Subtypes
For the treatment of breast cancer, antibody-drug conjugates are emerging as effective players that could impact all subtypes of this disease, according to Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, Director of the Glenn Family Breast Cancer at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta.
In the...
Belzutifan Shows Activity in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma, Both as a Single Agent and in Combination Therapy
Separate studies presented at the 2021 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium provide supportive evidence for belzutifan (formerly MK-6482) as an active treatment for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). One study showed single-agent activity for this novel approach in an early-phase trial,...
MANIFEST-2: CPI-0610 Shows Benefit in Myelofibrosis
The novel targeted agent CPI-0610 enhanced responses to ruxolitinib in patients with myelofibrosis enrolled in the global phase II MANIFEST-2 trial, investigators reported at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1,2
“Preliminary data demonstrate the...
Study Finds Tranexamic Acid Unable to Prevent Bleeding in Patients With Hematologic Malignancies
In the first randomized trial to evaluate prophylactic antifibrinolytic therapy in patients with hematologic malignancies, tranexamic acid failed to reduce bleeding or the need for transfusion vs placebo. The study was featured as a Plenary Session during the 2020 American Society of Hematology...
NCCN 2021 Virtual Annual Conference
New recommendations to advance racial equity, ways to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care, and ongoing strategies for preventing and controlling human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers led the conversation at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) 2021...
RARA Agonist Plus Azacitidine Shows Encouraging Activity in Relapsed/Refractory AML
The novel agentSY-1425 combined with azacitidine appears to be active in retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) superenhancer–positive newly diagnosed and relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to the results of a phase II trial presented at the 2020 American Society of...
Two Lenvatinib Combinations Improve Progression-Free Survival vs Sunitinib Alone in First-Line Treatment of Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
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...
First-Line Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Plus Chemotherapy Improves Overall Survival vs Chemotherapy in Stage IV or Recurrent NSCLC
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...
Transmission of Cancer to Infants From Mothers With Cervical Cancer During Vaginal Delivery
In a brief report in The New England Journal of Medicine, Ayumu Arakawa, MD, of the Department of Pediatric Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, and colleagues described identification of lung cancer in two boys that likely resulted from transmission of maternal cervical cancer tumor...
Sitagliptin Added to Tacrolimus/Sirolimus Prophylaxis Regimen for Acute Graft-vs-Host Disease After HSCT
In a phase II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Sherif S. Farag, MD, PhD, of Indiana University School of Medicine, and colleagues found that the addition of the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4; CD26) inhibitor sitagliptin to tacrolimus and sirolimus prophylaxis resulted in a low ...
Anti-BCMA–Directed CAR T-Cell Gene Therapy in Relapsed or Refractory Myeloma
"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”
—Leonardo da Vinci
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on...
Cardiovascular Events With Transdermal Estradiol vs LHRH Agonists for Androgen Suppression in Advanced Prostate Cancer
In an analysis from the UK phase II/III PATCH trial reported in The Lancet, Langley et al found no differences in cardiovascular event rates over long-term follow-up with the use of a transdermal estradiol patch vs luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists (LHRHa) for androgen suppression in...
Complete Mesocolic Excision vs D2 Dissection in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Colectomy for Right-Sided Colon Cancer
In an analysis of early safety outcomes in a Chinese phase III trial (RELARC) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Xu et al found similar surgical complication rates with complete mesocolic excision vs D2 dissection in patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy for right-sided colon cancer. The...
Olaparib for Previously Treated Patients With Pancreatic Cancer and DDR Genetic Alterations Other Than BRCA Variants
Combined results of two parallel phase II studies reported in JAMA Oncology by Milind Javle, MD, and colleagues indicated that olaparib may have therapeutic value in previously treated patients with platinum-sensitive pancreatic ductal carcinoma with DNA damage repair (DDR) genetic alterations...
Cemiplimab-rwlc for Locally Advanced and Metastatic Basal Cell Carcinoma
On February 9, 2021, cemiplimab-rwlc was granted regular approval for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) who were previously treated with a Hedgehog pathway inhibitor or for whom this type of therapy is not appropriate and granted accelerated approval for...
Umbralisib for Previously Treated Relapsed or Refractory Marginal Zone Lymphoma and Follicular Lymphoma
On February 5, 2021, umbralisib was granted accelerated approval for the following indications: adult patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma who have received at least one prior anti–CD20-based regimen and adult patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who have...
FDA Approves Tivozanib for Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
On March 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved tivozanib (Fotivda), a kinase inhibitor, for adult patients with relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma following two or more prior systemic therapies.
TIVO-3
Efficacy was evaluated in TIVO-3 (ClinicalTrials.gov...
FDA Approves Pembrolizumab Combination for Advanced Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Carcinoma
On March 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with platinum and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for patients with metastatic or locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (tumors with epicenter 1–5 cm above the...
FDA Approves New Indication for Daunorubicin/Cytarabine: Secondary AML in Pediatric Patients
On March 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a revised label for the combination of daunorubicin and cytarabine (Vyxeos) to include a new indication to treat newly diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) in...
FDA Approves Idecabtagene Vicleucel for Heavily Pretreated Patients With Multiple Myeloma
On March 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved idecabtagene vicleucel (Abecma) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after four or more prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 ...
Incidence and Cancer-Related Mortality in Belize
Located on the northeast coast of Central America, Belize is a small, upper middle–income country bordered by Mexico, Guatemala, and the Caribbean Sea. Belize has a population of about 405,000 people (Table 1), of which about 15% are immigrants. Belize is considered to be one of the most...
Grateful to Be Alive
Everything about my breast cancer diagnosis, from my presentation to diagnosis, was strange. In the spring of 2006, I was performing my monthly breast self-exam when I felt a hard lump in the upper left quadrant of my left breast. Having lost a good friend to breast cancer 4 years earlier, I was...
Turning Confusion Into Clarity: Lessons Learned From Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism spectrum disorder refers to a group of conditions characterized by difficulty in navigating normal social situations and having all-absorbing repetitive behaviors or stereotyped interests. At the milder end of the spectrum is Asperger’s syndrome, generally confined to people with higher...
New ASCO Guideline Offers Recommendations for Neoadjuvant Breast Cancer Treatment
ASCO has released a new guideline regarding the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and targeted therapy in breast cancer.1 “This is the first time ASCO has embarked on a guideline for neoadjuvant therapy,” said Larissa A. Korde, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, and guideline...
Increasing Cervical Cancer Prevention and Care in Nepal
A new JCO Global Oncology special article details the process and results of a Multidisciplinary Cervical Cancer Prevention Course that ASCO volunteers led in Nepal, where cervical cancer remains the most common cancer among women and most patients present with an advanced stage of the disease.1
...
Addressing Oncologist Burnout, Emotional Well-Being, and Moral Distress in the Pandemic
JCO Oncology Practice recently published an editorial that examines the intensified burnout oncology practitioners are experiencing due the COVID-19 pandemic and outlines critical interventions to support oncologists now and throughout a long-term recovery.1 The article was written by past,...
Improvement Programs to Optimize Patient Care for Black Americans With Breast Cancer
Eight oncology practices in eight different U.S. metropolitan areas with high rates of breast cancer disparities between Black and White Americans have been selected to participate in ASCO’s quality programs, including the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®)and Quality Training Program...
Neeraj Agarwal, MD, Named Senior Director of Clinical Research Innovation by Huntsman Cancer Institute
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) announced the appointment of Neeraj Agarwal, MD, physician-scientist at HCI and Professor of Internal Medicine at the U of U, as Senior Director of Clinical Research Innovation. In this role, Dr. Agarwal will oversee critical...
CancerCare® Appoints Mark D. Peters II, PharmD, as Vice President for New Business Development and Outreach
CancerCare, the leading national nonprofit organization providing free support services to anyone affected by cancer, recently welcomed Mark D. Peters II, PharmD, to its team as Vice President for New Business Development and Outreach.
Dr. Peters, who has more than 30 years of clinical and...
Brendon Stiles, MD, Named Chief of Thoracic Surgery & Surgical Oncology at Montefiore and Albert Einstein
Leading cardiothoracic surgeon and researcher Brendon Stiles, MD, has been appointed Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery & Surgical Oncology in the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Stiles will also...
Narjust Duma, MD, Appointed to Dual Role at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School
Narjust Duma, MD, was recently named Associate Director of the Cancer Care Equity Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School. In her role at the Cancer Care Equity Program, Dr. Duma will develop strategies to diminish health-care disparities...
IMF Launches Initiative to Improve Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma Among Black Americans
The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) has begun a multiyear, multidisciplinary initiative, M-Power Charlotte, which is designed to promote the early diagnosis and treatment of myeloma in the Black community. The IMF is working with Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute’s Disparities &...
Kathy Giusti, MBA; Nancy Pelosi; and Charles L. Sawyers, MD, FAACR, to Receive AACR Distinguished Public Service Awards
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will present Distinguished Public Service Awards to three individuals whose extraordinary work has exemplified the AACR’s mission to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, science policy, advocacy,...
AMA Salutes End to Ban on Transgender Americans in the Military
On January 25, 2021, Susan R. Bailey, MD, President of the American Medical Association (AMA), issued the following statement: “The AMA welcomes the President’s decision to reverse the policy that largely barred transgender people from serving in the military, because there is no medically valid...
NCI Statement on Ending Structural Racism in Biomedical Research
On March 2, 2021, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) issued the following statement:
As one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the NIH [National Institutes of Health], the National Cancer Institute stands with [NIH Director] Dr. Francis Collins and the entire NIH in supporting UNITE.
AACR and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Announce New Grants
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research recently announced five grants to support innovative research focused on understanding the influence of a patient’s biology on the genesis, development, treatment, and survivorship of cancer. Each...
