April 25, 2022 (View All Issues)
How ASCO, ECO, and WHO Are Marshalling Resources to Provide Care for Ukrainian Civilians and Refugees With Cancer
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the number of attacks on health-care facilities continues to mount. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of March 16, there have been 43 attacks on health facilities, including 34 attacks that have directly impacted health facilities and...
RELATIVITY-047 Update: Novel Immunotherapy Duo Delays Disease Progression in Advanced Melanoma
A novel immunotherapeutic combination that targets PD-1 and the LAG-3 pathway significantly delayed disease progression as a first-line treatment of advanced or unresectable melanoma. Updated results of the global phase III RELATIVITY-047 trial validated the study’s initial findings and were...
Phase III Trials and Tribulations
Imagine this. You are a large pharmaceutical company that launches an international randomized phase III trial to assess whether one of your drugs improves the outcome of patients with a common type of cancer. The trial was solidly backed by preclinical evidence that the drug target was...
Is Neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab Underused in the Treatment of Early-Stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer?
Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab has been approved in combination with chemotherapy for high-risk, early-stage, triple-negative breast cancer, but not all patients with node-positive disease have been able to receive the regimen, according to data presented during the Society of Surgical Oncology 2022...
CHOICE-01: Toripalimab Plus Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Advanced NSCLC Without Actionable Mutations
Adding the PD-1 inhibitor toripalimab to chemotherapy significantly improved survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without EGFR/ALK mutations, according to research presented during the 2022 ASCO Monthly Plenary Series.1
At the...
Fox Chase Cancer Center Appoints Elizabeth Plimack, MD, MS, as Deputy Director
Elizabeth Plimack, MD, MS, has been appointed to Deputy Director at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, according to Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, Cancer Center Director at Fox Chase. Dr. Plimack is Chief of the Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Professor in the Department of...
Andrew Chapman, DO, FACP, Appointed Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health, Philadelphia
Andrew Chapman, DO, FACP, has been named Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health, with locations in Philadelphia and nearby areas in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has also been named the Center’s Executive Vice President for Oncology Services. He has served as the Center’s...
FDA Approves Radioligand for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
On March 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved lutetium Lu-177 vipivotide tetraxetan (Pluvicto) for the treatment of adult patients with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have been treated with androgen receptor...
Selinexor Improves Progression-Free Survival in Endometrial Cancer
In the treatment of advanced endometrial cancer, maintenance therapy with oral selinexor after response to first-line chemotherapy may result in a significantly reduced risk of disease progression, according to the results of the global phase III ENGOT-EN5/GOG-3055/SIENDO trial, presented at the...
Why Are Many Women Overdue for Cervical Cancer Screening?
Cervical cancer screening has reduced new cases and deaths from the disease over the past 50 years. However, the percentage of women in the United States who are overdue for cervical cancer screening has been growing, and the reasons have not been clear.
To better understand the decline in...
Study Reports Adjuvant Pembrolizumab Improves Disease-Free Survival in Early-Stage NSCLC
Adjuvant pembrolizumab improves disease-free survival compared with placebo in patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following complete resection and adjuvant chemotherapy when indicated. These findings from the PEARLS/KEYNOTE-091 trial were reported in a European Society for ...
Phase III Trial Evaluates the Role of Aspirin in Preventing Breast Cancer Recurrence
Taking aspirin daily does not prevent breast cancer recurrence, according to research presented during the February ASCO Plenary Series Program.1
Results of the double-blind phase III study of more than 3,000 patients with high-risk, HER2-negative breast cancer showed no improvement in invasive...
Norman Sharpless, MD, to Step Down as Director of the NCI
Norman E. Sharpless, MD, has announced that he has decided to step down from his position as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a position he has held since 2017. Dr. Sharpless will continue as NCI Director through April 29, 2022,...
Trials of PARP Inhibitors in Urothelial Cancer: More Questions Than Answers?
Two studies presented at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium explored the role of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in urothelial cancer: ATLANTIS and BAYOU.1,2 Results suggest that PARP inhibitors may be useful in certain genetic subgroups and perhaps in combination with...
Clinical Trials Updates in the Treatment of Older Adults With Gastrointestinal Malignancies
The theme of the 2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was “Accelerating Access to Precision Care Through Innovation.” Several studies presented at this meeting focused on older patients, who represent the majority of patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Data reviewed at the meeting...
Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR, Voted AACR President-Elect for 2022–2023
The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have chosen Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR, as the Association’s President-Elect for 2022–2023. Dr. Greenberg is the Rona Jaffe Foundation Endowed Chair and Professor and Head of the Program in Immunology, Clinical Research...
War in Ukraine: Statistics Do Not Keep Pace With Reality
Editor’s Note: The following is adapted from Dr. Hrynkiv’s presentation at the March 18 ASCO/ECO Briefing: Cancer Care During the War in Ukraine. Find resources for impacted patients and providers at asco.org/ukraine and onco-help.org.
Official statistics regarding damage and losses in Ukraine are ...
New Report Offers Guidance for Standardizing Data on Sex, Gender, Sexual Orientation
On March 9, 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) issued a new report, Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation, recommending the National Institutes of Health (NIH) implement new guidelines to standardize the collection of data on sex, gender,...
Fixed-Dose Nivolumab and Relatlimab-rmbw for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs.
On March 18, 2022, fixed-dose nivolumab and...
Study Shows Pemigatinib Activity in Treatment of Myeloid or Lymphoid Neoplasms With FGFR1 Rearrangement
In patients with myeloid or lymphoid neoplasms with FGFR1 rearrangements, pemigatinib produced high and durable response rates, despite patients’ extensive use of prior treatments or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), according to the early results of the multicenter phase II FIGHT-203 ...
Trametinib Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Standard-of-Care Treatment in Recurrent Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma
As reported in The Lancet by David M. Gershenson, MD, of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues, the phase II/III GOG 281/LOGS trial showed that trametinib improved progression-free survival vs standard-of-care treatment...
MEK Inhibition Is Now a Standard of Care in Recurrent Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer: What Next?
As summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post, the highly anticipated results of the GOG 281/LOGS study, which randomly assigned patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer to the MEK inhibitor trametinib vs standard-of-care chemotherapy or endocrine therapy, have now been reported by...
Addition of Pembrolizumab to Chemotherapy Improves Event-Free Survival in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues, a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial has shown improved event-free survival with the addition of pembrolizumab to...
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Neoadjuvant or Adjuvant Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: The Paradigm Shifts
The “holy grail” of triple-negative breast cancer therapy has been effective incorporation of drugs to improve outcomes in the early nonmetastatic setting. Although outcomes have improved with better chemotherapy drugs and schedules, triple-negative breast cancer still carries the worst prognosis...
Association of Lifestyle and Cardiovascular Risk Factors With Hospitalization for Heart Failure Subtypes in Breast Cancer Survivors
In an analysis from the Women’s Health Initiative reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Kerryn W. Reding, PhD, MPH, RN, of the University of Washington at Seattle, and colleagues, identified the incidence of hospitalization for heart failure among postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. They reported...
IDH1/2 Inhibitors Show Activity in Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndrome
The oral targeted small-molecule inhibitors of mutant IDH1 and IDH2 appear to be active in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) harboring these mutations, according to two phase II trials by the Groupe Francophone des Myélodysplasies (GFM) and its German colleagues in the European MDS...
AML Study Shows Benefit of CPX-351 vs Hypomethylating Agent Plus Venetoclax in Subgroup of Older Adults
For older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), front-line treatment with liposomal daunorubicin/cytarabine (CPX-351) appears to be equivalent to treatment with a hypomethylating agent plus venetoclax, according to data presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting ...
Mantle Cell Lymphoma Previously Treated With BTK Inhibitor May Respond to a Newer BTK Inhibitor
The next-generation inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) may be effective in mantle cell lymphoma for patients previously treated with an older BTK inhibitor, according to results from the phase I/II BRUIN trial. These findings were reported at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
Incidental Findings on Low-Dose CT Lung Cancer Screening in the NLST and Risk of Respiratory Disease Mortality
In an analysis of data from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) reported in Chest, Paul F. Pinsky, PhD, of the Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, and colleagues found that incidental respiratory disease–related findings on low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening...
Immunotherapy in B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas: Off-the-Shelf Bispecific Antibodies
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies are a significant advance, but they require careful patient selection, dependency on patients’ own T cells, lymphodepleting chemotherapy, possible bridging therapy, manufacturing timelines with extensive health-care coordination and cost, in...
FDA Approves Axicabtagene Ciloleucel for the Second-Line Treatment of Large B-Cell Lymphoma
On April 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) for adult patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) who are refractory to first-line chemoimmunotherapy or who experienced relapse within 12 months of first-line chemoimmunotherapy. It is not...
From Iran to Silicon Valley, a Cancer Survivor Shares Her Story
The Iranian revolution of 1979 transformed Iran from an absolute monarchy under Shah Mohammad Pahlavi to an Islamist republic under Ayatollah Khomeini. The author of a new book called The Magic of Normal, Maky Zanganeh, PhD, was born in Iran in 1970. As a young woman, she experienced the war in her ...
Tony Hunter, PhD, FAACR, Honored With 2022 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) awarded the 2022 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research to Tony Hunter, PhD, FAACR, Fellow of the AACR Academy, at its Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
Dr. Hunter is the American Cancer Society Professor and Renato Dulbecco Chair...
Erratum
In the article “OlympiA Trial: Adjuvant Olaparib Significantly Improves Overall Survival in Germline BRCA-Mutated Breast Cancer,” which began on page 1 of the April 10 issue of The ASCO Post, a few unfortunate errors appeared, notably an incorrect P value for the overall survival comparison (after...
Meta-Analysis of Aromatase Inhibitors vs Tamoxifen in Premenopausal Women With ER-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer Receiving Ovarian Suppression
In a patient-level meta-analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, researchers from the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group found that use of an aromatase inhibitor vs tamoxifen reduced the risk of recurrence in premenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive early breast...
Cardiovascular Mortality and Cancer Mortality Over Time Among Cancer Survivors
In an English retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Strongman et al found that cardiovascular mortality in older cancer survivors ultimately exceeded mortality from common primary cancers in the time since their primary cancer diagnosis. However, the eventual predominance of...
Antibody Response to SARS–CoV-2 mRNA-1273 Vaccination in Patients With Cancer: Single-Institution Study
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Oncology, Giuliano et al found that seroconversion after two doses of the SARS–CoV-2 mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine in patients with cancer was lower among patients with hematologic malignancies vs solid tumors and differed according to cancer treatment...
St. Jude Receives First Group of Ukrainian Children With Cancer for Care in the United States
One month after Russia invaded Ukraine, on March 21, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis welcomed four Ukrainian children with cancer to be treated in the United States. Two of the children are pictured in the photos below. The four children, aged 20 months to 8 years old, traveled to...
