August 10, 2016 (View All Issues)
ASCO Plenary Studies: Assessing the ‘Value’ of New Treatments
At the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, studies presented at the Plenary Session gave attendees new treatment strategies to employ back home. But in the emerging push to contain the cost of new cancer treatments, do the four interventions fit within the new “value framework” for oncology? Deborah...
ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research Launch Initiative to Modernize Eligibility Criteria for Clinical Trials
The dismal accrual rates in cancer clinical trials are well known: Just 3% to 5% of adults with cancer enroll in clinical trials.1 The reasons patients are reluctant to participate in clinical trials are equally well known: fear of reduced quality of life, concern about receiving a placebo, and...
Moonshots and ‘Onco-nauts’
Where were you on July 20, 1969? I certainly remember where I was—sitting in a mess hall at summer camp watching a grainy black-and-white TV as Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” I recall the sense of jubilation and accomplishment that all American ...
Hypofractionation May Be Poised to Become New Standard of Care for Prostate Cancer
There has been an ongoing debate about which type of radiation therapy is preferable in the treatment of localized prostate cancer: hypofractionation (larger fractions given over 4–5 weeks) or conventional radiotherapy (given over 8–9 weeks). A new study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting...
Expert Point of View: W. Robert Lee, MD
Formal discussant W. Robert Lee, MD, of Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, placed himself firmly in the camp supporting hypofractionation as a new standard of care. “We now have three large noninferiority trials with different eligibility criteria and different...
CAR T-Cell Therapy Promising in
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Research conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, is moving the field of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy forward in the treatment of B-cell malignancies. At the 2016 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference in Koloa, Hawaii, David G. Maloney, MD, PhD,...
Anti–PD-L1 Immunotherapy Shows Response in Microsatellite-Stable Metastatic Colorectal Cancer in Combination With MEK Inhibition
Anti–PD-L1 (programmed death ligand 1) immunotherapy may achieve a response in patients with microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer if combined with a MEK inhibitor, according to phase I data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 18th World Congress on...
Phase III RESORCE Study Data Show Regorafenib Improves Overall Survival in Previously Treated Patients With Unresectable Liver Cancer
Results from the phase III RESORCE trial show that regorafenib (Stivarga) tablets achieved a median overall survival improvement in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma that progressed after treatment with sorafenib (Nexavar) tablets. The study, presented by Jordi Bruix,...
Chemoradiotherapy After Surgery for Gastric Cancer Shows Similar Outcomes to Postoperative Chemotherapy
Postoperative treatment intensification with chemoradiotherapy does not achieve better outcomes when compared with postoperative chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer who have already undergone preoperative chemotherapy, according to phase III data presented by Marcel Verheij,...
Anti–Interleukin-1 Alpha Antibody MABp1 Improves Outcomes Significantly Over Placebo in Advanced Colorectal Cancer
A novel anti–interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α) antibody has shown a significant impact on symptoms and a high level of safety and tolerability in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, according to phase III data presented by Hickish et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology’s 18th World...
Dealing With GI Toxicities After Chemoradiation
Chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-induced gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities have risen alongside improved survival rates for many cancers, according to Jervoise Andreyev, MA, PhD, Consultant Gastroenterologist in GI Consequences of Cancer Treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.
...
Use of Dexamethasone Mouthwash in Managing mTOR Inhibitor–Associated Stomatitis in Patients With Breast Cancer
Prophylactic use of dexamethasone mouthwash significantly minimized the incidence of all grades of stomatitis in postmenopausal women receiving everolimus (Afinitor, Zortress) and exemestane for the treatment of hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, according to data...
More Focus Needed on Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea as a Cluster of Symptoms
Management of chemotherapy-induced vomiting has improved with the use of antiemetics, but chemotherapy-induced nausea remains a major clinical problem, according to Alex Molassiotis, RN, PhD, Professor and Head of the School of Nursing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. And, he...
The Complexities of Care for Older Cancer Survivors
Integrated care, a focus on prevention and screening, and acknowledgment of comorbidities on the impact of treatment all play a critical role in the cancer survivorship of older patients, according to Martine Extermann, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa,...
ASCO and CancerLinQ Participated in Landmark Cancer Moonshot Summit
ASCO Chief Executive Officer Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FASCO, and CancerLinQ LLC Chief Executive Officer Kevin Fitzpatrick attended Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Summit at Howard University on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. Along with leaders and stakeholders across the cancer research and...
Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO, Leader in Translational Research, Begins Term as ASCO President
In 1995, Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO, gathered with several other oncologists at a conference center in San Francisco to begin writing the first-ever ASCO guidelines on cancer treatment. He and his colleagues felt like pioneers scouting uncharted frontier. “I’ll never forget, that first hour or...
Survivorship Resources for Providers and Patients
ASCO offers a product that combines provider and patient information about cancer survivorship. Providing High Quality Survivorship Care in Practice: An ASCO Guide aims to assist oncologists and other clinicians with implementing high-quality survivorship care programs within their practice. The...
Making a Difference in Cancer Care With You: Daniel Hayes’ Presidential Theme
“Are you a member of ASCO?”
I distinctly remember being asked that question in 1984, during my second year as a fellow at what was then the Sidney Farber (now Dana-Farber) Cancer Institute. My first reaction: “What’s an ASCO?”
Turned out it was a) the Society that many of my mentors had or would...
Spotlight on Women Who Conquer Cancer
Women Who Conquer Cancer is a group dedicated to advancing cancer research by supporting young women researchers early in their careers through Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Awards (YIAs). These 1-year grants give promising researchers the boost they need to get started on...
10 New ASTRO Fellows Named in 10th Anniversary of FASTRO Designation
Ten distinguished members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have been named ASTRO Fellows, in the 10th anniversary year that the designation has been awarded. The 2016 class of Fellows will be recognized at an awards ceremony during ASTRO’s 58th Annual Meeting, to be held...
Economic Crisis Associated With Increased Cancer Mortality
The global economic crisis has been associated with increased unemployment and reduced public-sector expenditure on health care. In a study reported in The Lancet, Mahiben Maruthappu, MA, of Imperial College London, and colleagues found that the global economic crisis beginning in 2008...
Effects of the Global Economic Crisis on Cancer Care
The global economic crisis beginning in 2008 was associated with substantial public health effects, especially with respect to mental health.1–3 Nevertheless, there is also evidence of a paradoxical association between recessions and reduced all-cause mortality, in part because of...
Reduced-Intensity Related-Donor Haploidentical vs HLA-Matched Sibling-Donor Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Lymphoma
In an analysis of the observational database of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nilanjan Ghosh, MD, PhD, of Levine Cancer Institute, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, North Carolina, and colleagues...
Is Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide Disruptive Technology?
There was a time when transplantation across human leukocyte antigen (HLA) barriers was fraught with so much difficulty that many thought it was impossible and we should stop trying. However, most patients do not have an HLA-matched sibling donor, and death was therefore certain if they ...
Effectiveness of Organized National Breast Cancer Screening: The Israeli Experience
Recent years have seen the publication of a considerable amount of scientific literature questioning the effectiveness of mammography screening in decreasing breast cancer mortality.1-4 This article explores how the Israeli experience has demonstrated the efficacy of organized national...
Safety Concerns Weigh Heavily in Elderly Patients With Cancer
Active pharmacovigilance in detecting and assessing the safety signals related to drugs and devices, and disseminating those findings to relevant stakeholders, is an important component in delivering safe, high-quality care in the cancer setting. To reach a better understanding of this...
Rajeswari Nagarathinam, MD, Joins Department of Pathology at Fox Chase Cancer Center
Rajeswari Nagarathinam, MD, has joined the Department of Pathology at Fox Chase Cancer Center, focusing on both surgical pathology and cytopathology. Dr. Nagarathinam is currently completing a surgical oncologic pathology fellowship at Fox Chase.
Dr. Nagarathinam is a licensed, board-certified...
Abhishek Aphale, MD, Joins Department of Dermatology at Fox Chase Cancer Center
Abhishek Aphale, MD, has been appointed Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Dr. Aphale earned his medical degree from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of Rutgers University. He completed his residency training at the University of Michigan and a Procedural...
Making a Difference in the Lives of Others
Quyen D. Chu, MD, MBA, FACS, this year’s recipient of ASCO’s Humanitarian Award, lives by the axiom that “One person can make a positive difference in the lives of others.” Although the term has become cliché, the experiences in Dr. Chu’s life and oncology career prove just how...
Andrew Olshan, PhD, Elected President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research
Andrew Olshan, PhD, Associate Director of Population Sciences and Co-Leader of the Epidemiology Program at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, the oldest and largest general epidemiology society in North America. He...
OmniSeq Receives New York CLEP Approval for 144-Gene Comprehensive Panel, Partners With Cure Forward
OmniSeq, a subsidiary of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, received New York State Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (CLEP) approval for its OmniSeq Comprehensive panel, a 144-gene, pan-cancer, next-generation sequencing tumor-profiling diagnostic panel to guide oncology treatment...
13 Mid-Career Clinical Investigators Receive 2016 NCI Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award
At the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Clinical Trials and Translational Research Advisory Committee (CTAC) meeting held on July 13, 2016, 13 recipients were presented with the 2016 NCI Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award (CCITLA).
The award recognizes and supports outstanding...
Educating People About Clinical Trials May Improve Their Likelihood of Participation
The facts are well known: Although clinical trials are regarded as the gold standard to investigate whether a new treatment is safe and effective in patients—and have resulted in advances in cancer cures and increases in cancer survivorship—only 3% to 5% of patients enroll in these studies.1 The...
2016 - 2017 Oncology Meetings
AUGUST
The 33rd World Congress of Internal Medicine (WCIM)
August 22-25 • Bali, Indonesia
For more information:
www.wcimbali2016.org
16th World Congress on Cancers of the Skin
August 31-September 3 • Vienna, Austria
For more information:
www.wccs2016.com
12th National Lymphedema Network...
Actively Recruiting Clinical Trials Focused on the Role of Obesity in Cancer
Study Title: A Pilot Study of a Protein-Sparing Modified Fast for Weight Loss in Obese Endometrial Cancer Survivors
Study Type: Pilot/interventional/single-group assignment
Study Sponsor and Collaborators: Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, National Cancer Institute
Purpose: To study whether...
New Analysis Shows Advertising by U.S. Cancer Centers Has Soared Over Past Decade
American cancer centers promoting their services dramatically increased their advertising spending from 2005 to 2014, with the bulk of the spending by for-profit organizations, according to the results of a study published by Vater et al in JAMA Internal Medicine.1
Small Percentage Responsible for ...
Epithelial Cells on the Tail Fin of Genetically Engineered Zebrafish
Image depicts hundreds of live cells from a tiny bit of skin on the tail fin of a genetically engineered adult zebrafish. The cells have been labeled with a new fluorescent imaging tool called Skinbow. It uniquely color codes cells by getting them to express genes encoding red, green, and blue...
NCI Awards $12 Million for Multi-Institution Breast Cancer Genetics Study
A large study headed by researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), Vanderbilt University, and Boston University received $12 million in funding to examine why African American women die at a higher rate from breast cancer and have more aggressive...
Maryland Proton Treatment Center Appoints Charles B. Simone II, MD, New Medical Director
Charles B. Simone II, MD, has been named the new Medical Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC). Dr. Simone will begin work in November 2016.
As Medical Director, Dr. Simone will continue to define and implement processes ensuring that MPTC is integrated into the radiation...
NCCN Imaging Appropriate Use Criteria to Be Integrated Into National Decision Support Company’s CareSelect Imaging
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) is collaborating with National Decision Support Company (NDSC) to integrate the NCCN Imaging Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) into NDSC’s CareSelect Imaging to allow for access to imaging recommendations, adapted from the NCCN Clinical...
Juno Therapeutics to Resume JCAR015 Phase II ROCKET Trial After FDA Clinical Hold
Juno Therapeutics, Inc., announced on July 12, 2016, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed the clinical hold on the phase II clinical trial of JCAR015 (known as the ROCKET trial; clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02535364) in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell...
FDA Approves First HPV Test for Use With SurePath Preservative Fluid
On July 7, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Roche cobas HPV Test as the first test for human papillomavirus (HPV) that can be used with cervical cells obtained for a Papanicolau (Pap) test and collected in SurePath Preservative Fluid.
The FDA approves HPV tests to be...
FDA Approves Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir for Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Epclusa (sofosbuvir at 400 mg/velpatasvir at 100 mg) on June 28, 2016, to treat adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus both with and without cirrhosis. For patients with moderate to severe cirrhosis (decompensated cirrhosis),...
ASH Commits $3 Million Annually to Help Preserve Critical Blood Disease Research
With a $3 million annual commitment to support promising blood disease research amid limited National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) has announced the formal establishment of the ASH Bridge Grant program after an extended 4-year pilot study.
ASH also...
Integrating Early Palliative Medicine Into Oncology Care to Improve Patients’ Quality of Life
At the 2015 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium in Boston, Vicki Jackson, MD, MPH, Chief in the Division of Palliative Care and Geriatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, Co-Director of the Harvard Center for Palliative Care, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical...
Measures of Success
I was raised to be an engineer. I grew up in an industrial community, worked summer jobs in a U.S. Steel chemical plant, and was good at science and math. My career choice was straightforward: I went to an engineering university. My first semester freshman year included a mandatory introduction ...
Photonics and the Cancer Moonshot Initiative: Partnership Highlights Role of Technology and IT Infrastructure in Reaching Goals
Photonics—the science of light—may not be associated with cancer in most people’s minds. But photonic technologies are: CT (computed tomography) scans and digital x-rays, for instance, are in everyday use, and next-generation oncology applications are in development.
As the White House’s National...
David LeDuc Named Executive Director of Addario Lung Cancer Foundation
The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) has announced that it has appointed David LeDuc as its new Executive Director.
Mr. LeDuc most recently served as the Senior Director of Strategic Alliances for the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI), a partner foundation to ALCF,...
The Building Block of Life, Brick by Brick
Bookmark
Title: The Gene: An Intimate History
Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD
Publisher: Scribner
Publication date: May 2016
Price: $32.00; hardcover, 608 pages
On February 28, 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick entered The Eagle, a favorite watering hole for researchers working at the University of ...
Julienne Bower, PhD, Named Professor of Psychobiology in Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA
The Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Semel Institute for Neuroscience and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) announced that Julienne Bower, PhD, Co-Director of the JCCC Patients and Survivors Program, Professor of...
A Ruby Anniversary
On July 16, 1975, at 26 years of age, after almost 6 months of observing a left epididymal mass slowly enlarge, with workup for epididymal tuberculosis, I finally underwent a left inguinal orchiectomy and resection of what proved to be a pure seminoma. A subsequent lymphangiogram was reported to...
Multiple Means to Realize the Benefits of Colorectal Cancer Screening
In an updated recommendation statement, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) continues to strongly recommend screening for colorectal cancer for asymptomatic adults aged 50 through 75; but rather than emphasize specific screening strategies, it notes there are multiple screening...
Multiple Strategies for Colorectal Cancer Screening Offer an Opportunity for Shared Decision-Making
Screening for colorectal cancer should start at age 50 and continue until age 75, according to the updated recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).1 “Exactly what screening gets done is something that doctors and patients should decide together,” USPSTF Chair Kirsten...
ASTRO Members Elect Five New Officers to Board of Directors
Members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have elected five new officers to the Society’s Board of Directors, including President-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer-Elect, and Vice-Chairs of three of ASTRO’s five councils (Clinical Affairs and Quality, Education, and Government...
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Appoints Four Leaders to Its Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has added four leaders from across the country to its Scientific and Medical Advisory Board.
“Members of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Scientific and Medical Advisory Board have committed their careers to change the course of a deadly and complex...
Late Effects of Blood and Marrow Transplantation: Consensus Conference Maps Research Directions
More than 60,000 blood and marrow transplants are performed each year worldwide, and the number of long-term survivors is increasing rapidly. But with success has come a host of new issues for patients, providers, and researchers.
“Back when transplants were new, the 1-year mortality rate was...
I’m the Luckiest Person in the World
July 2009 was the start of the worst 5-year period of my life, and I’m just grateful I am still here to tell you about it. I was preparing for brain surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma on the right side of my brain when I noticed a lump on my left thigh. Thinking I had pulled a muscle while...
Final Results of METEOR Trial: Cabozantinib vs Everolimus in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
As reported by Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, et al in The Lancet Oncology, the final results of the phase III METEOR trial indicate significantly improved overall survival with cabozantinib (Cabometyx) vs everolimus (Afinitor) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma...
Quality of Life With Nivolumab vs Everolimus in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
Patients with previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma receiving nivolumab (Opdivo) in the phase III CheckMate 025 trial had improved health-related quality of life compared with those receiving everolimus (Afinitor), as reported by David Cella, PhD, of Northwestern University, Chicago, et...
Anti–PD-L1 Antibody Durvalumab in Advanced Urothelial Bladder Cancer
In a phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Massard et al found that the anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody durvalumab was active in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial bladder cancer. Objective response appeared to be confined to patients...
Low-Dose CT Screening: New Solid Nodules and Lung Cancer Probability
As reported by Walter et al in The Lancet Oncology, incidence screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) in high-risk individuals detected new solid nodules in approximately 5% to 7% at second and third screenings in the ongoing Dutch-Belgian NELSON trial. Larger nodule size was associated...
Ipilimumab Combined With Antigen-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in Metastatic Melanoma
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Chapuis et al, concurrent use of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) antigen-4 (CTLA-4) blockade with ipilimumab (Yervoy) and adoptively transferred antigen-specific CTLs produced enduring responses in patients with stage IV melanoma. Cassian Yee, ...
Adding Pertuzumab to Chemotherapy in Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
According to the European phase III PENELOPE trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Christian Kurzeder, MD, of Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Essen, Germany, et al found that adding pertuzumab (Perjeta) to investigator’s choice chemotherapy did not improve progression-free survival in women...
Dabrafenib Plus Trametinib in BRAF V600E–Mutant Metastatic NSCLC
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Planchard et al found that combined MAPK pathway inhibition with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and the MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinist) resulted in a high response rate in patients with BRAF V600E–mutant non–small cell lung cancer...
Internationally Renowned Geneticist, Alfred George Knudson, MD, PhD, Dies
Considered a visionary in cancer research, Alfred George Knudson, MD, PhD, was internationally recognized for his “two-hit theory” of cancer causation, which explained the relationship between hereditary and nonhereditary cancer types, predicting the existence of tumor suppressor genes. Dr. Knudson ...
