The anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab (Darzalex) took center stage among multiple myeloma studies presented at the 57th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.
In relapsed/refractory patients, daratumumab plus lenalidomide (Revlimid)/dexamethasone yielded an 81%...
As health-care providers, we have an obligation and a responsibility not only to care for our patients, but also to educate them—and the general public—about their cancer risk and ways to reduce or prevent it. We are living in the golden era of cancer prevention and treatment, made possible by...
Treatment with capecitabine increased disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to a study reported by researchers from Japan and Korea at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1
“It has been unclear whether...
There is good news about denosumab (Prolia). The primary analysis of the ABCSG-18 trial showed that adjuvant denosumab (given at low doses) reduces the risk of clinical fracture by 50% in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer who are taking an aromatase inhibitor.1 More good news is that...
First-line treatment with the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) significantly reduced the risk of dying or disease progression compared with chlorambucil (Leukeran) in older treatment-naive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in the RESONATE-2 trial. At the time...
Upfront treatment with midostaurin added to standard chemotherapy improved survival compared with placebo plus chemotherapy in high-risk patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) characterized by FLT3 mutations. No new drugs have been approved for AML since 1990, and midostaurin is the first...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized investigators with the highest-scoring abstracts in the categories of undergraduate student, medical student, graduate student, resident physician, and postdoctoral fellow at the 57th ASH Annual Meeting and Exhibition, December 5–8 in Orlando,...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs.
On November 23, 2015, nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved for use...
Frontline treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate inotuzumab ozogamicin plus deintensified chemotherapy is a promising option for older patients with Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Phase II results suggest that this combination has the ability to improve...
Adolescents and younger adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) had superior outcomes on a “pediatric” regimen compared with adult treatment protocols. A multicenter phase II study included patients aged 18–50, extending the upper limit of “younger,” since most other trials of this approach...
Emory University announced that Jonathan S. Lewin, MD, has been appointed Executive Vice President for Health Affairs. Dr. Lewin also will serve as Executive Director for Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center, President and CEO of Emory Healthcare and Chair of the Board of Directors of Emory...
A new guidance statement from ASCO and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) could potentially lead to more standardized primary palliative care delivery across oncology settings, according to Kathleen E. Bickel, MD, MPhil, who presented the study findings at the 2015...
An intervention called the Serious Illness Care Program helps clinicians to conduct more, earlier, and better conversations about goals of care with their seriously ill patients, according to Rachelle E. Bernacki, MD, MS, who presented the preliminary results of a study using this approach at the...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs.
On November 24, 2015, nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved for use...
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection generally can be treated the same as lymphoma in non–HIV-infected patients, with a few caveats, according to Lawrence D. Kaplan, MD, of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of...
Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, an international leader in pediatric solid tumor research, is joining St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to head the International Outreach Program.
Dr. Rodriguez-Galindo will serve as International Outreach Program Director and an executive vice president. He will ...
City of Hope recently announced the following new staff additions.
Bart O. Roep, PhD
Internationally recognized immunologist Bart O. Roep, PhD, has joined City of Hope as Chair of the Department of Diabetes Immunology within the Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute. An expert in the...
Partnering endocrine therapy with new targeted agents for women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer “changes the nature of endocrine therapy from something easily tolerated, with not a lot that you have to do as physicians to monitor it,” William J. Gradishar, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie...
Patients who have been treated for breast cancer may overestimate the value of follow-up testing and may expect—or even ask for—more testing than recommended, Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, told participants at the Lynn Sage...
Cancer clinical trials in three distinct phases, as they have been conducted for decades, are probably no longer the best way to bring a drug or biologic agent to market. This was the consensus of three panels at the 8th Annual Conference on Clinical Cancer Research convened by Friends of Cancer...
Launched by ASCO in 2005 to provide oncologists with original research on the delivery of high-quality cancer care, the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) enters its 11th year with a new look and feel. Beginning in January 2016, JOP will be copublished by ASCO and Harborside Press, the publisher of ...
V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc, FMedSci, a breast cancer research pioneer known for his development of the therapeutic drug tamoxifen, has been named a recipient of the Sir James Black Award from the British Pharmacological Society.
Dr. Jordan, Professor in the Department of Breast Medical...
A large study presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress in Vienna found that patients with advanced oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer had improved survival if their primary treatment included surgery.1 The caveat is that these patients were treated in Taiwan, and the results may not be...
A new template published by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) standardizes and streamlines the creation of patient-focused plans for long-term cancer survivor care following radiation therapy. As the number of cancer patients and survivors in the United States continues to...
Two phase III trials, reported in JAMA by James Fleshman, MD, of Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, and colleagues1 and Andrew R. Stevenson, MBBS, FRACS, of the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues,2 failed to show noninferiority of surgical outcome for laparoscopic...
Over 10 years ago, we welcomed a new approach to cancer surgery when the 2004 COST trial demonstrated the benefits of laparoscopic compared with open surgery for colon cancer. This randomized trial of 872 patients showed improved perioperative recovery with laparoscopic colectomy without...
Lawrence J. Solin, MD, of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, and colleagues reported the 12-year results from the ECOG-ACRIN E5194 trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Among women with ductal carcinoma in situ with low-risk clinical and pathologic characteristics, they found...
The optimal management strategy for ductal carcinoma in situ has become increasingly controversial with respect to potential overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Much of the controversy for ductal carcinoma in situ stems from its exceptional breast cancer–specific survival, which approaches close to...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 ASCO has endorsed the current American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guideline on treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), released in 2013.2 After review of evidence from an updated literature search covering 2011 to March 2015, an ASCO...
In the current climate of rising health-care costs, particularly in the field of oncology, clinical guidelines provide a crucial tool to guide practitioners in evidence-based care and to improve the quality and consistency of care.1 The ASCO review and endorsement of the American College of Chest...
Charles S. Abrams, MD, the Francis C. Wood Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Blood Center for Patient Care & Discovery at Penn and The Children’s Hospital ...
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has become home to The Cancer Imaging Archive of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), with the transfer to UAMS of more than 40 terabytes of data from the archive’s former home at Washington University in St. Louis.
Cancer researchers can use...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs.
On November 24, 2015, necitumumab (Portrazza) was approved for...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has opened the St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, the first proton therapy center in the world dedicated solely to children with cancer.
Patients are now being treated at the center using precisely delivered, high-energy protons to kill or shrink...
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, highlighting therapeutics in acute leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes. For full details of these study abstracts, visit
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an occasional feature that includes a case report detailing a particular hematologic condition followed by questions. Answers to each question appear on page 84 with expert commentary.
In the November 10 issue of The ASCO Post, part 2...
Question 1: Based on the rationale for the current “standard of care” for primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the CNS, what is the optimal induction therapy?
Correct Answer: C. A high-dose methotrexate–based regimen.
Expert Perspective
Untreated primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the...
The concept of using activation of the innate immune system and an inflammatory response against a bacterial component to instigate an antitumor response was studied in the 1960s, which led to the development of intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin, now used in the treatment of superficial bladder ...
Sometimes, cancer treatments that initially appear promising begin to lose their effectiveness. This is due to the ability diseases like cancer have to develop resistance to treatments over time and, essentially, outsmart them. But what if there were ways to ensure this didn’t happen? What if...
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), passed earlier this year, repealed the fundamentally flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula and introduced significant changes in how Medicare will pay oncologists for the care they provide in the coming years. The new law will be...
ASCO’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) offers mid-career oncologists the opportunity to learn valuable leadership skills from ASCO’s exceptional leaders and participate in networking and mentoring opportunities. Participants work on strategy development, interpersonal effectiveness and...
Olumide Gbolahan, MD, faced a familiar dilemma among aspiring oncologists. Dr. Gbolahan, an internal medicine resident of the Morehouse School of Medicine, wanted extra time and experience in an oncologic elective summer rotation to ease his transition from internal medicine to oncology. Unsure of...
The recently updated ASCO Answers: Guide to Colorectal Cancer helps people who are newly diagnosed better understand the disease and their treatment options. This information-packed guide includes treatment information; an emphasis on palliative care; an expanded follow-up care section; questions...
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Title: Curing Medicare: One Doctor’s View of How Our Health Care System Is Failing the Elderly and How to Fix It
Author: Andy Lazris, MD
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication date: September 13, 2014
Price: $13.75; paperback, 290 pages
Several years ago I decided to write a book...
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have high relapse rates after induction chemotherapy, low survival rates, and fewer treatment options compared with younger patients. One of the options for both younger and older patients is hematopoietic cell transplantation, but relatively few...
The first class of National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award recipients showcases the cutting edge of oncologic research and the 43 investigators behind it.
NCI’s Outstanding Investigator Award supports accomplished leaders in cancer research, who are providing significant...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized Rod Carew, Baseball Hall of Famer and Advocate for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be the Match, at the 57th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando, Florida, for his outstanding support of biomedical research and the practice of
...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) named Marilena Ciciarello, PhD, of the University of Bologna, the inaugural recipient of the ASH Giuseppe Bigi Memorial Award for Achievement in Hematopoiesis and Stem Cells for her research on the role of stem cells in leukemia initiation and progression....
The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) is developing a marketing campaign to highlight the value of academic cancer centers to their communities and the nation. Called “The Academic Difference,” the 2-year campaign is the initiative of AACI President George J. Weiner, MD, Director of...
The Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) recognized Joseph Smith, Jr, MD, William L. Bray Professor of Urologic Surgery at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, with the Huggins Medal, its highest honor. Dr. Smith was chosen for his lifetime contributions to the progress in treatment for patients ...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with pancreatic cancer. The trials are investigating preoperative rehabilitation; chimeric antigen receptors; T-cell transplants; combination chemotherapy;...
The 15th Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) took place in Prague, Czech Republic, over 3 days (November 12–14, 2015). At the heart of the meeting were presentations on supportive care, comprehensive geriatric assessment and treatment—so that we fully...
Although formal mentoring programs in medical education were not launched in the United States until the late 1990s,1 today they are regarded as playing an essential role in the career development of medical trainees and have been associated with improvements in research, teaching, and patient...
Foundation Medicine, Inc. recently announced that it has signed a national agreement for the company’s comprehensive genomic profiling assay for solid tumors, called FoundationOne, with UnitedHealthcare. The agreement, which became effective December 15, 2015, covers the assay for patients with...
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Title: The Laws of Medicine: Field Notes From an Uncertain Science
Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee
Publisher: TED Books/Simon & Schuster
Publication date: October 13, 2015
Price: $16.99; hardcover, 96 pages
The Emperor of All Maladies, written by the Indian-born American...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has announced the recipients of its 2016 Scholar Awards. One of ASH’s most prestigious award programs, the ASH Scholar Award program financially supports fellows and junior faculty dedicated to careers in hematology research as they transition from training...
Studies demonstrate that patients with advanced cancer who are not actively engaged in planning their end-of-life care often receive overly aggressive, physically taxing, costly and unnecessary treatment toward life’s end. Recent findings indicate that African Americans appear to be more apt to...
John Andrew “Drew” Ridge, MD, PhD, FACS, Chief of Head and Neck Surgery and Louis Della Penna Family Chair in Head and Neck Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center–Temple Health, has been elected President of the Medical Staff at the Center.
In his new role, Dr. Ridge will work with President and CEO...
West Cancer Center celebrated the grand opening of its East Campus location with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 17th. Located at 7945 Wolf River Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee, the 123,000 square foot facility combines multispecialty services including medical, surgical, diagnostic, and...
JANUARY 2016
4th AACR-IASLC International Joint Conference:
Lung Cancer Translational Science
January 4-7 • San Diego, California
For more information:
http://www.aacr.org/Meetings/Pages/MeetingDetail.aspx?EventItemID=74#.VbbijqTbJjo
Genitourinary Cancers Symposium
January 7-9 • San Francisco,...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced a new Radiation Oncology Practice Assessment (ROPA) program to leverage recent advances in information technology to improve radiation therapy cancer care for our nation’s veterans.
VA is working with the American Society for Radiation Oncology ...
Scott Irwin, MD, PhD, FAPM, FAPA, an expert in the fields of oncology supportive care, palliative care psychiatry, and psychosomatic medicine, has been named Medical Director of Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. Dr. Irwin will oversee oncology...
Unless you have a type of cancer that can be surgically removed or blasted into oblivion with chemotherapy or radiation therapy rendering a cure, having a chronic cancer like multiple myeloma robs you of a normal life. Learning to accept that fact is an adjustment.
I was diagnosed with multiple...
The following essay by Kenneth R. Adler, MD, FACP, is adapted 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
thebigcasino.org.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded City of Hope a 5-year, $4.8 million grant to study the possible role of chemicals in the environment in the development of breast cancer during the menopausal transition in women.
The coprincipal investigators on the study are two City of Hope...
Two recent studies1,2 found that the rates of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening have declined since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against PSA screening in 2012. One of those studies additionally found that the incidence of early-stage prostate cancer also...
A phase III Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) trial (E1A060) comparing melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide (Thalomid) with melphalan, prednisone, and lenalidomide (Revlimid) in elderly patients with untreated multiple myeloma found that at the end of the induction period, patients...
Women co-infected with low-risk and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) had a reduced risk for invasive squamous cervical carcinoma and a longer time to progression than did women infected with high-risk human papillomavirus alone, according to a Swedish study published in the Journal of the...
An analysis of data from 46,803 patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received palliative chest radiation therapy found that 49% received radiotherapy for longer than 15 fractions, and 28% received more than 25 fractions. This treatment pattern “is inconsistent with the...
Internationally renowned breast cancer surgeon Lisa A. Newman, MD, MPH, has joined Henry Ford Health System to lead its metro Detroit breast cancer program and new international breast cancer research center. She begins work in December as the Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Henry Ford.
Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale, DSc, Professor at the University of Oslo and Head of the Department of Genetics at the University Hospital Radiumhospitalet in Oslo, Norway, was honored with the 8th Annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research...
Mohamed Bentires-Alj, PharmD, PhD, was recognized with the 8th Annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, funded by Susan G. Komen. He received the award at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The AACR Outstanding...
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Title: Malignant Metaphor: Confronting Cancer Myths
Author: Alanna Mitchell
Publisher: ECW Press
Publication date: September 15, 2015
Price: $24.95; hardcover, 184 pages
Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the...
The following new hematology/oncology agents and expanded indications were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in 2015: