August 25, 2019 (View All Issues)
Exploratory Analysis Shows DNA Methylation Assay Highly Specific for Cancer Detection
A cell-free DNA test based on the presence of DNA methylation has proven highly specific as a multicancer detection test and appears especially good at detecting high-risk malignancies. In most cases, it can also accurately pinpoint the tumor’s tissue of origin, researchers reported at the 2019...
All Oncologists Are Geriatric Oncologists...They Just Don’t Know It Yet
You don’t have to be a geriatrician to properly evaluate and manage older patients with cancer. The wave of older patients with cancer predicted over 30 years ago is now fully upon us. The oncology community finds itself ill-prepared to manage the increased number of older patients. It is not just...
Optimal First-Line Therapy for Stage IV Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer: Immunotherapy Alone or With Chemotherapy?
Recent studies in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have shown benefit for combining checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy. Should combinations, therefore, be the first choice for treating patients with newly diagnosed stage IV disease?
Two lung cancer experts debated this point at the 2019...
CMS Finalizes Decision to Cover CAR T-Cell Therapy for Medicare Beneficiaries
ON AUGUST 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the decision to cover U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy among recipients of Medicare benefits. FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies are approved to treat patients ...
Opioids for Cancer Pain: A Review of the Evidence and Current Challenges
In the wake of the opioid crisis in the United States, patients with cancer pain are often undeservedly confronted with rigid barriers to receiving the opioids they need. To compound this problem, the research around opioids in cancer pain has been limited—placebo-controlled trials are lacking,...
FDA Approves Darolutamide for Nonmetastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
ON JULY 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved darolutamide (Nubeqa) for the treatment of nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Approval was based on the ARAMIS study, a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 1,509 patients with...
FDA Approves Pexidartinib for Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor
ON AUGUST 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to pexidartinib (Turalio) capsules for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor associated with severe morbidity or functional limitations and not responsive to improvement with surgery.
...
FDA Clears Next-Generation Scalp-Cooling Device
ON JUNE 27, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted clearance of the DigniCap Delta scalp-cooling system to Dignitana, for use by health-care providers in the United States. The device is a fourth generation of the DigniCap scalp-cooling system. It is indicated to reduce the...
Polypharmacy Associated With Functional Decline in Older Patients With Advanced Cancer
Polypharmacy (ie, the concurrent use of eight or more medications) and potentially inappropriate medications may be associated with functional impairment in older adults with advanced cancer, according to research presented by Mostafa Mohamed, MBBCh, at the Multinational Association of Supportive...
Virtual Reality May Improve Pain, Vision, Functioning in Patients With Cancer
Virtual reality can be used to improve functioning in patients with cancer, according to David Rhew, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Healthcare, Samsung Electronics America. Research has shown that this technology can decrease pain and improve vision, as...
Selinexor in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel hematology and 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 July 3, 2019, the oral nuclear export...
Can Some Women With HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Forgo Surgery?
Breast cancer researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, are beginning to select patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who might forgo surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. While this fine-tuning is currently intended to inform clinical trials—in particular, to ...
Novel Treatments Under Study in Renal Cell Carcinoma and Prostate Cancer
There were numerous notable presentations at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, many of which were covered in The ASCO Post over the past few months. To add to our continued coverage of this meeting, here are some highlights from studies focusing on novel therapeutics in renal cell carcinoma ...
Dana-Farber Researchers Win Grand Challenge Funding From Cancer Research UK
DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE researchers are Grand Challenge winners for a project that aims to discover how certain microbes inside the body lead to colorectal cancer and influence a patient’s response to treatment, Cancer Research UK announced recently. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Matthew...
Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology Launched at The Ohio State University Cancer Center
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC– James) announced the formation of the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology (PIIO), a comprehensive bench-to-bedside research initiative focused on harnessing...
Tumor Size and Grade Matter, and Ovarian Ablation by Chemotherapy May Explain Subgroup Anomaly in TAILORx
At the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, and simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine, we heard the third paper reporting results from TAILORx.1,2 The first, in 2015,3 indicated that women with node-negative breast cancers with Oncotype DX recurrence scores less than 11 did extremely well...
Darolutamide for Nonmetastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
On July 30, 2019, darolutamide was approved for the treatment of patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.1,2
Approval was based on findings in the double-blind phase III ARAMIS trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02200614), in which 1,509 patients were randomly...
Looking at Prostate Cancer–Specific Mortality by Gleason Score and Race
Black men suffer disproportionately from prostate cancer, both in terms of incidence and mortality, compared with their white counterparts. However, a newer study conducted by investigators at the University of California, San Francisco, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, found that black...
New NCCN Guidelines®: First to Address Small Intestine Cancers
THE NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently announced the publication of a new set of recommendations focused on cancers in the small intestine. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma are the first treatment guidelines in...
Should You Become an Expert Witness in a Legal Proceeding? Here Are the Pros and Cons
Hundreds of oncologists are working “side gigs” as expert witnesses in a wide range of medicolegal settings. With increasing conflict related to liability and insurance coverage, the demand continues to grow for objective physicians who are not involved in a specific case, have no personal...
Atezolizumab Plus Chemotherapy and Bevacizumab in First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Lung Cancer
In late 2018, atezolizumab was approved for use in combination with bevacizumab, paclitaxel, and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberration.1,2
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval...
West Virginia University Cancer Institute Welcomes Eight New Doctors
The West Virginia University (WVU) Cancer Institute continues to expand its list of specialists with the addition of eight new doctors.
Sonikpreet Aulakh, MD, will join WVU Medicine from Mayo Clinic Florida, where she is completing a hematology oncology fellowship. She completed her medical degree ...
An Early Decision to Become an Oncologist
GUEST EDITOR
Dr. Abraham is the Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic.
For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Gilberto de...
FDA Approves Pembrolizumab for Some Patients With PD-L1–Positive Esophageal Cancer
On July 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1...
V. Craig Jordan, CMG, OBE, PhD, DSc, Honored for Accomplishments in Women’s Health
The Companion of the Most Distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) is generally reserved for ambassadors and leaders of the United Kingdom’s defense and security services. Only 1, 750 appointees are permitted. This year, the Head of M16, the Secret Intelligence Service, was in the...
George J. Bosl, MD, FASCO, MACP, Named Memorial Sloan Kettering’s First Ombudsperson
In July, George J. Bosl, MD, FASCO, MACP, became Memorial Sloan Kettering’s (MSK) first ombudsperson, working closely with staff to provide confidential, independent guidance on complex and evolving issues, particularly related to conflicts of interest.
The role of ombudsperson is a result of...
MORE Health Collaborates With Memorial Sloan Kettering
MORE Health, a global health-care company, recently announced a strategic collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) that gives patients from around the world access to the physicians and services of MSK through MORE Health’s Physician Collaboration Platform.
MORE Health,...
Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Awards $365K in Research Fellowship Grants
The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation (CCF), a nonprofit organization funding novel research for bile duct cancer, has awarded the fifth cycle of its Research Fellowship Program, in which it will support seven projects for a total of $365,000 in its largest funding cycle to date.
Since 2015, the...
MMRF Launches CureCloud to Advance Precision Medicine
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced recently that it is launching the MMRF CureCloud, a centralized data hub that generates, aggregates, and visualizes data to accelerate the delivery of precision medicine to patients with multiple myeloma. The CureCloud is a critical part of...
Almost 20 Years Later, Breast Fitness Is More Relevant Than Ever
BOOKMARK
Title: Breast Fitness: An Optimal Exercise and Health Plan for Reducing Your Risk of Breast Cancer
Authors: Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD; Julie Gralow, MD; and Lisa Talbott
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: October 2000 (first edition)
Price: $48.75, hardcover, 352 pages
The...
Healthy Lifestyle for Young Adult Cancer Survivors
GUEST EDITOR
Integrative Oncology is guest edited by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine and Chief of Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
The survival rates of adolescent and young adults with cancer have...
ASTRO Elects Four New Officers to Board of Directors
The members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have elected four new officers to ASTRO’s Board of Directors. Laura Dawson, MD, FASTRO, will begin her term as President-Elect in September during ASTRO’s 61st Annual Meeting in Chicago. Neha Vapiwala, MD, was elected as ASTRO’s new ...
Pexidartinib for Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor
On August 2, the oral colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor pexidartinib was approved for treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor associated with severe morbidity or functional limitations and not amenable to improvement with surgery.1,2 It is the first...
A Clinical Trial Was the Right Choice for Me
I found my cancer quite accidentally. In March 2018, as I was taking a shower, my hand casually brushed against my right mastoid bone, and I noticed the area sounded hollow. Around the same time, I realized I had developed a sense of fullness in that ear as well. I had been feeling tired, but that...
Cancer Research Institute Names New ‘STARs’ of Cancer Immunotherapy Research
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and development of immunotherapies for all types of cancer, recently unveiled the inaugural cohort of scientists chosen for the CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program (Scientists Taking Risks). Each “STAR” will receive...
5-Year Follow-Up of KEYNOTE-006 Trial of Immunotherapy Regimens in Advanced Melanoma
In a post hoc 5-year follow-up of the KEYNOTE-006 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that pembrolizumab maintained overall and progression-free survival benefits over ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma. In the primary analysis from the ...
Long-Term Follow-up of Patients With Melanoma, Kidney Cancer, and Lung Cancer Receiving Nivolumab
As reported by Suzanne L. Topalian, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology, long-term follow up of patients from a phase I expansion cohort study indicated 5-year overall survival rates of 34.2%, 27.7%, and 15.6% among patients who received nivolumab monotherapy for advanced melanoma, renal cell...
Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy vs Radiotherapy Alone in High-Risk Endometrial Cancer
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Stephanie de Boer, MD, and colleagues, a post hoc updated survival analysis of the phase III PORTEC-3 trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs radiotherapy alone in women with high-risk endometrial cancer. A...
USPSTF Recommendation on Screening for Pancreatic Cancer in Asymptomatic Adults
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), in a reaffirmation of its 2004 recommendation, has recommended against screening for pancreatic cancer in asymptomatic adults (a grade D recommendation).1
In developing the current recommendation, the USPSTF reviewed evidence...
Register for ASCO’s Research Community Forum 2019 Annual Meeting
Registration is open for the ASCO Research Community Forum (RCF) 2019 Annual Meeting. The ASCO RCF Annual Meeting brings together physician-investigators and research staff from across the country for 2 days of learning and collaboration. The meeting offers colleagues from a variety of research...
Some Practices May Not Be Subject to USP <797> and <800> Standards
ASCO recently received clarification from the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) around the newly revised USP General Chapter <797> Pharmaceutical Compounding Standards–Sterile Preparations and USP General Chapter <800> Hazardous Drugs–Handling in Health-Care Settings, which become...
ASCO Breakthrough: Why Now, Why Bangkok?
ASCO Breakthrough: A Global Summit for Oncology Innovators was created, in part, to recognize our increasingly large and international community of members, to bring a meeting to their area, to go outside the United States, and shake up our own thinking.
Why is now the time to organize a summit...
20 Oncology Practices Achieve ASCO’s QOPI® Certification in Second Quarter of 2019
TWENTY PRACTICES in three countries elevated their standard of care and achieved Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification in the second quarter of this year. ASCO commends these practices that have demonstrated their commitment to providing the highest-quality oncology care to...
Newly Updated ASCO Answers Resource to Help Your Patients Quit Tobacco
THE ASCO ANSWERS Stopping Tobacco Use After a Cancer Diagnosis booklet offers people with cancer and their caregivers information on why and how to quit tobacco use. With information on available treatments and resources, the guide gives patients practical tools to work with their health-care...
Your Stories: How to Become a Conqueror
NOT ALL PATIENTS face their cancer diagnosis with a conqueror’s sprit. In the podcast “How to Become a Conqueror,” Linda Zanetti shares how a community of support gave her the resources—and the will—to survive leukemia.
Developed by Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, the Your Stories podcast...
Spotlight on Women Who Conquer Cancer
WOMEN WHO CONQUER CANCER (WWCC) is a groundbreaking program that is committed to supporting early-career female researchers by funding research grants through Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. Since its inception 6 years ago, the program has raised over $4 million, funded 21 Young Investigator...
New From ASCO eLearning: Platform Offers Enhanced, Personalized Online Learning Experience
PERSONALIZATION AND STREAMLINED navigation were two priorities of the recent rebranding of ASCO University. Now known as ASCO eLearning (elearning.asco.org), the rebrand more accurately reflects what the program offers and who it is intended for.
“The priority I see for ASCO eLearning is to make...
