February 10, 2021 (View All Issues)
ClarIDHy Trial: IDH1 Inhibitor Ivosidenib Benefits Survival in Cholangiocarcinoma
Ivosidenib, an inhibitor of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1), improved overall survival by almost 3 months in previously treated patients with advanced IDH1-mutated cholangiocarcinoma, compared with placebo, researchers of the global phase III ClarIDHy trial reported at the 2021 Gastrointestinal...
Trading One Disease for Another: Patients With Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease May Face Lifelong Complications
The field of allogeneic stem cell transplantation continues to improve survival for patients with previously incurable blood cancers. However, up to 50% of patients who undergo transplantation with donor cells will develop chronic graft-vs-host disease, a potentially deadly condition that can also...
Looking Back on the 40-Year Career of Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO
The medical career of Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, spans more than 4 decades and includes a roster of nearly unprecedented accomplishments in patient care, research, and mentoring. He has held leadership positions in academia, first at the University of Chicago, where he spent the...
High-Risk Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinomas: The Present and Future
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common type of skin cancer, with more than 1 million cases diagnosed in the United States annually.1 Historically, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is grouped together with basal cell carcinoma and collectively referred to as nonmelanoma skin...
Understanding Patients’ Needs and Preferences: Cancer Care Stakeholders Explore Barriers and Best Practices
The keynote speaker did not mince words. “I tell everyone, do not use the term age-appropriate therapy,” said Jan White, a cancer survivor and patient advocate who described her own experience with stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “Patients with cancer,” she said, “are more than their age, gender,...
Predicting Postoperative Recurrence in Stage I to III Colorectal Cancer With Circulating Tumor DNA
Patients with stage I to III colorectal cancer who have a high risk for recurrence may be identified by serial testing of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after resection, according to a study in which ctDNA proved more reliable than carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) surveillance or standard radiologic...
Anti–PD-1 Antibody Dostarlimab Active in Mismatch Repair–Deficient Gastrointestinal Tumors
Dostarlimab, a monoclonal antibody targeting PD-1, showed antitumor activity in patients with mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) gastrointestinal tumors in the phase I GARNET study, reported at the 2021 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne University and Saint-Antoine...
ZUMA-5: Axicabtagene Ciloleucel Elicits Response in Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
In the phase II ZUMA-5 trial, the cellular immunotherapy axicabtagene ciloleucel led to responses in 92% of patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), researchers reported at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1
Axicabtagene ciloleucel has...
Can a High-Carbohydrate Diet Increase the Risk for Breast Cancer?
A growing body of evidence is showing a strong association between diet and breast cancer risk and survival, particularly high glycemic load and sugar intake. Two large population studies at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium supported these observations.1,2
Findings from the Nurses’...
Is Trop-2 Expression Associated With Benefit From Sacituzumab Govitecan-hziy?
The antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (sacituzumab govitecan) is beneficial in previously treated patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, irrespective of Trop-2 expression, according to a biomarker analysis of the phase III ASCENT trial.1
Although greater efficacy...
Severity of Patients’ Symptoms May Be Underrecognized During and After Breast Radiotherapy
Physicians may commonly underrecognize radiation-associated symptoms and their severity compared with self-reports of patients with breast cancer, according to a large study comparing patient-reported outcomes with physician assessments of four common radiation-associated symptoms: pain, pruritus, ...
Study Examines Pregnancy Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivors
Breast cancer survivors of child-bearing age appear to have a more difficult time becoming pregnant than the general population, and when they do become pregnant, they have a higher risk of preterm labor and need for cesarean section. Fortunately, most women deliver healthy babies, but they are...
Meditation and Education Interventions May Improve Depressive Symptoms in Young Breast Cancer Survivors
A diagnosis of breast cancer and subsequent treatment may increase the risk of depression, especially among younger women with breast cancer. A new study showed that behavioral interventions—specifically mindfulness meditation and survivorship education classes—may reduce depressive symptoms, as...
Early Research Explores Relationship Between CD58 Loss and Resistance to CAR T-Cell Therapies
Engineering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to overcome CD58 loss may be a way to boost responses in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who do not respond to treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel and other CAR T-cell therapies, according to an experimental study presented...
MURANO Trial: Venetoclax Plus Rituximab Achieves Durable Progression-Free Survival in Resistant CLL
Patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treated with the combination of fixed-duration venetoclax/rituximab had a longer overall survival and progression-free survival at 5 years compared with those treated with bendamustine/rituximab, according to a 5-year analysis...
Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Improves Survival in Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma
In a large retrospective analysis of allogeneic transplant for relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), more than half the patients studied were alive at 5 years, investigators reported at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1
“In the...
Phase II PRIMO Dose-Optimization Trial of Duvelisib in Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma
Researchers at the ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition reported high response rates in patients with relapsed peripheral T-cell lymphoma after treatment with single-agent duvelisib, a dual PI3K inhibitor.1
Barbara Pro, MD, of Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University...
Novel Insights Into Multiple Myeloma
“Knowledge has a beginning but no end.”
—Geeta Iyengar
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are three abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel therapies for...
First-Line Lorlatinib Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Crizotinib in Advanced ALK-Positive NSCLC
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, Global Head of Translational Clinical Oncology at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research,* and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CROWN trial has shown that first-line lorlatinib significantly improved...
Improvement in Patient-Reported Outcomes After Stopping Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
In the prospective LAST study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ehab Atallah, MD, and Kathryn Flynn, PhD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and colleagues, found that stopping tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was associated with the...
Capivasertib for AKT1 E17K–Mutated Metastatic Cancers: NCI-MATCH Subprotocol EAY131-Y
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, and colleagues, the NCI-MATCH trial’s phase II subprotocol EAY131-Y has shown activity of the pan-AKT inhibitor capivasertib in a range of metastatic tumors with an AKT1 E17K mutation.
The phase II trial enrolled 35 evaluable adult patients ...
Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy in Extracranial Oligometastatic Cancers
In a registry-based observational study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Anastasia Chalkidou, PhD, and colleagues found that stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) was associated with high overall survival and low rates of toxicity in patients with extracranial oligometastatic cancers.
The ...
Addition of Sitagliptin to Prophylaxis for Acute Graft-vs-Host Disease
In a phase II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Sherif S. Farag, MD, PhD, 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 rate of acute graft-vs-host disease...
I Credit Cancer Research With Saving My Life
In December 2015, I thought I was through with cancer. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 after a routine blood test showed that my prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level was high. I underwent prostatectomy, and although it was clear the cancer had breached the capsule of the prostate, for ...
FDA Approves Fam-Trastuzumab Deruxtecan-nxki for Previously Treated Patients With HER2-Positive Gastric Cancers
On January 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu) for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma who have received a prior trastuzumab-based regimen.
...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Daratumumab Plus Hyaluronidase-fihj for Newly Diagnosed Light Chain Amyloidosis
On January 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to daratumumab plus hyaluronidase-fihj (Darzalex Faspro) in combination with bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone for newly diagnosed light chain amyloidosis.
ANDROMEDA Trial
Efficacy was evaluated...
FDA Approves Nivolumab Plus Cabozantinib for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
On January 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and cabozantinib (Cabometyx) as first-line treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
CheckMate 9ER
Efficacy was evaluated in CheckMate 9ER, a randomized, open-label trial in...
Janet Woodcock, MD, Named Acting FDA Commissioner
Janet Woodcock, MD, current Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been named acting FDA Commissioner, according to a report published in The New York Times.1Stephen M. Hahn, MD, who had been FDA Commissioner since December...
NCCN Shares New Recommendations for Vaccinating Patients With Cancer Against COVID-19
The National ComprehensiveCancer Network® (NCCN) has released new guidance1 on vaccinating people with cancer against COVID-19. The nonprofit alliance of leading cancer centers created an NCCN COVID-19 Vaccine Committee, which includes hematology and oncology experts with particular expertise in...
The Lustgarten Foundation and AACR Honor Two American Icons by Establishing New Career Development Awards
The Lustgarten Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have announced two new career development awards for early-career female and underrepresented pancreatic cancer researchers, representing a commitment of the Lustgarten Foundation of up to $1.8 million. The awards...
Miami Cancer Institute Appoints New Deputy Director, Chief Scientific Officer, and Chief of Solid Tumor Medical Oncology
Neuro-oncologist and medical oncologist Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD, FACP, MBA, has joined Miami Cancer Institute as Deputy Director, Chief Scientific Officer and Chief of Solid Tumor Medical Oncology. Board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, neuro-oncology and hematology, Dr. Ahluwalia...
Enrollment Up at U.S. Medical Schools
The number of first-year students in U.S. medical schools increased by 1.7% in the 2020 academic year, according to data released recently by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Although the increase was modest, the number of students applying to medical school for the upcoming...
Vanderbilt University Medical Center Appoints Interim Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology
Ben Ho Park, MD, PhD, Donna S. Hall Professor of Breast Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been named Interim Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Dr. Park is Associate Director for Translational Research, Co-Leader of the Breast Cancer Research Program,...
Tuya Pal, MD, Named to Cancer Research National Leadership Posts
Tuya Pal, MD, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and Associate Director for Cancer Health Disparities at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, has been named to two cancer research leadership posts. She is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Daily Query (PDQ)...
COVID Virus–Specific T Cells: Potential Treatment of Severe COVID-19 Infection Under Study
It may be possible to exploit T cells from healthy volunteers who have recovered from COVID-19 as a treatment for this viral infection. Researchers at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine have designed an off-the-shelf COVID virus–specific T-cell product (called...
Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology and ASCO Approve First Joint Guideline for Treatment of Stage II to IVA Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
The Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) and ASCO have approved a joint guideline for the treatment of stage II to IVA nasopharyngeal carcinoma.1 The guideline was drafted by a panel of Chinese and U.S. experts and provides, for the first time, a clear set of recommendations for the use of...
Sean Khozin, MD, MPH, Named New Chief Executive Officer of ASCO’s CancerLinQ
Sean Khozin, MD, MPH, has been named Chief Executive Officer of CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO. A board-certified oncologist, physician-scientist, and data science expert, Dr. Khozin is a proven leader and visionary in deploying cutting-edge data science and technology...
ASCO Congratulates Joseph R. Biden, Jr, on Presidential Inauguration
“On the eve of his inauguration, the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) congratulates Joseph R. Biden, Jr, the 46th President of the United States.
“ASCO shares the President’s commitment to ensuring equitable high-quality cancer care for every American, and recently released a policy...
ASCO Advocates for Priority Status for Patients With Cancer in COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plans, Provides Information on Safety and Efficacy of Vaccinations
The American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Association for Clinical Oncology, collectively referred to as ASCO, understand the challenges faced by ASCO members and patients with cancer in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, in determining the best treatment for patients, and in addressing...
ASCO Statement on 2021 Annual Meeting
ASCO has announced that the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting will be an online-only experience, taking place from June 4 to 8, 2021. The Society issued the following statement on the Meeting:
We had hoped for a return to an in-person meeting, as we all miss the opportunity to see and engage with our...
