February 25, 2019 (View All Issues)
Emerging Role for Neoadjuvant Treatment of Resectable Pancreatic Cancer
SEVERAL STUDIES presented at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium evaluated the benefits of neoadjuvant treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer—and in patients deemed fully resectable, not just “borderline” resectable.1-3
Although the standard of care for resectable pancreatic ductal...
‘Curve 2’ and Oncology: What Those in Charge Don’t Understand … or Ignore
THERE IS little doubt that the U.S. health-care system is under assault from many directions.1 It is clear that the costs of health management are no longer sustainable, and the United States has one of the highest per capita health costs among the 36 member nations of the Organisation for...
How to Improve Care for Young Sexual and Gender Minority Cancer Survivors
IN 2017, ASCO issued its recommendations for addressing the oncology care needs of sexual and gender minority cancer survivors and the unique challenges they face.1 There are myriad reasons for cancer disparities in this population compared to heterosexual cisgender cancer survivors, including...
Durvalumab and Tremelimumab Combination Active in Refractory Microsatellite-Stable Colorectal Cancer
THE COMBINATION of durvalumab and tremelimumab prolonged median overall survival by 2.5 months compared with best supportive care alone in patients with advanced treatment-refractory colorectal cancer. These findings, which are from the randomized phase II Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) CO.26...
BRAF/MEK Targeting May Yield Benefit in Treating Biliary Tract Cancer
ROUTINE TESTING for BRAF V600E mutations in patients with biliary tract cancer may prove to be a good idea, based on the findings of a phase II study in which treatment with dabrafenib plus trametinib showed activity.1 The results suggest there may be a benefit to testing patients with biliary...
SABCS Presentations Offer New Data on Biomarkers and Novel Treatment Approaches in Early and Metastatic Breast Cancers
REPORTERS FOR The ASCO Post captured the following summaries of noteworthy studies presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
In HER2-Negative Metastatic Disease, CTCs Frequently HER2-Positive
ALMOST HALF of all patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer have...
Prognostic Value of Disseminated Tumor Cells in Early Breast Cancer
IN THE PADDY TRIAL, involving more than 10,000 women with early invasive breast cancer, the presence of disseminated tumor cells at diagnosis or primary surgery was an independent prognostic factor for overall, disease-free, and distant disease–free survival. The study findings were presented at...
Highlights From the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
TO ADD to our ongoing coverage of the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, we bring readers of The ASCO Post these summaries of an assortment of interesting studies. They focus on novel therapies under investigation in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic...
FDA Approves Split-Dosing Regimen of Therapy for Multiple Myeloma
ON FEBRUARY 12 , 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a split-dosing regimen for daratumumab (Darzalex), providing health-care professionals and patients with multiple myeloma an option to split the first infusion over 2 consecutive days. Daratumumab is a CD38-directed...
FDA Approves Caplacizumab-yhdp for Acquired Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
ON FEBRUARY 6, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationFDA approved caplacizumab-yhdp (Cablivi) injection, in combination with plasma exchange and immunosuppressive therapy, for the treatment of adult patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP).
“Patients with aTTP...
Update on FDA-Approved CAR T-Cell Products
TISAGENLECLEUCEL IS an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat selected hematologic malignancies.1,2 To appreciate the clinical trial findings summarized here, from selected abstracts presented at the 2018 American Society of...
Update on FDA-Approved CAR T-Cell Products
AXICABTAGENE CILOLEUCEL (also known as CAR19) is an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat selected hematologic malignancies.1 To appreciate the clinical trial findings summarized here, from selected abstracts presented at the ...
Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer Expands, but Concerns Persist About Patient Selection and Toxicities
SOME PATIENTS with advanced head and neck cancer may achieve durable responses with immunotherapy, and recent trial results suggest first-line immunotherapy may increase survival among patients with recurrent or metastatic disease. However, concerns remain about selecting patients most likely to...
In Era of Immunotherapy, Radiation Therapy May Become Essential Component of Systemic Treatments of Cancer
“IN THIS era of immunotherapy, it is highly possible, and potentially probable, that radiation therapy may become not just a form of locoregional and palliative treatment, but an essential component of our systemic treatments of cancer,” according to Zachary S. Morris, MD, PhD, Vice-Chair,...
ASCO Convenes Stakeholders to Build Consensus for a Clinical Trial Data-Sharing Policy Among Journals That Publish Clinical Cancer Research
Jeffrey M. Drazen, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, wrote in a 2016 editorial, “Data Sharing and the Journal,” that “[W]e believe there is a moral obligation to the people who volunteer to participate in these trials to ensure that their data are widely and responsibly...
Conquer Cancer Podcast Series Goes Unscripted With Doctors, Patients, and Caregivers
HAVE YOU ever wondered what makes a patient trust a doctor with her life? Jason Luke, MD, gets the chance to ask that question to his patient, Addison, a melanoma survivor, in this month’s feature Your Stories podcast: “Ice Cream Makes Everything Better.”
Produced by ASCO’s Conquer Cancer...
JCO Fast Track Presubmission, Rapid Review Programs Shorten Publication Time
THE JOURNAL of Clinical Oncology’s (JCO) author-friendly submission programs are taking time off the publication process for health-care professionals.
JCO’s quick review process programs, Fast Track Presubmission and Rapid Review, aim to make the journal submission and review process easier for...
Highlights From the 2019 Gastrointestinal and Genitourinary Cancers Symposiums
THE 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was held January 17–19, and the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium was held February 14–16. Help keep your patients informed about the most exciting research presented at these conferences by directing them to cancer.net/blog. ■
© 2019. American...
Breaking Through: Researcher Supported by ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation Earns ‘Advance of the Year’ for Rare Cancer Study
AT MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING Cancer Center, Mrinal M. Gounder, MD, led the first randomized, global trial for patients with desmoid tumors, a rare type of sarcoma.
The trial: Patients with unresectable progressive desmoid tumors randomly received either a placebo or sorafenib.
The results:...
CancerLinQ Leader Contributes to New BRCA Exchange to Inform Understanding of Cancer Risk
A new global resource that includes data on thousands of inherited variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes will help inform the understanding of cancer risk. Wendy Rubinstein, MD, PhD, FACP, FACMG, Deputy Medical Director of CancerLinQ, LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO, served as a...
Medicaid Enrollees Must Have Access to High-Quality Cancer Care, ASCO Writes in Comments to CMS
IN A COMMENT letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), ASCO urged the agency to ensure that every Medicaid enrollee with cancer can access the high-quality care needed to treat his or her disease. The comments were submitted in response to a proposed rule on Medicaid and the ...
Pembrolizumab in Combination With Chemotherapy in First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Squamous NSCLC
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 October 30, 2018, pembrolizumab in combination with...
Norman E. Sharpless, MD: From Director of a Comprehensive Cancer Center to Director of the NCI
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.
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series of articles, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, interviewed Norman ...
Artificial Intelligence and the Brave New World of Cancer Diagnostics
A study published in Nature Medicine found that an artificial intelligence program could distinguish between the histologic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.1 Experienced pathologists often struggle to differentiate these tumor types without confirmatory tests. The artificial ...
Physician Wellness: Time to Heal the Healer
Physician wellness is emblazoned upfront in the news with attention-seeking headlines on a daily basis. The fact that one or two physicians commit suicide every day in this country sometimes elicits more of a sympathetic acknowledgment than a committed call to address it. Moreover, these sobering ...
ASCO Statement on the Effect of Lower Drug Costs on People With Cancer
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, ASCO Chief Executive Officer, on the effects of lower drug costs on people with cancer:
While ASCO supports efforts to control drug prices, we are keenly aware that optimal cancer care requires patient access to the most medically appropriate drug, at the most ...
Nagi El Saghir, MD, FACP, FASCO, Recognized by American University of Beirut Medical Center
On November 27, 2018, the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) dedicated the conference room on its oncology floor in the name of faculty member Nagi El Saghir, MD, FACP, FASCO, Head of the Hematology/Oncology Division and Director of the Breast Center of Excellence at AUBMC. Dr....
$30 Million Gift to Huntsman Cancer Institute Doubles the Size of Planned Expansion
Peter Huntsman, Chief Executive Officer of the Huntsman Foundation and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation (HCF), recently announced a $30 million gift from the family’s foundation. This donation allows Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah to...
Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, Awarded the 2019 Szent-Györgyi Prize
The 2019 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research will be awarded to Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, of the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The prize, awarded annually by the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR), recognizes Dr. Rosenberg’s ...
Increased Risk of Bone Loss Extends to Younger Women Treated for Breast Cancer
Younger women who have been treated for breast cancer have a higher risk for osteopenia and osteoporosis than do their cancer-free peers, and that risk seems to rise when treatment involves chemotherapy plus hormone therapy or aromatase inhibitors alone. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg...
Cancer Has Given Me the Life I Was Meant to Live
The first symptom of my multiple myeloma appeared 6 months before I received the official diagnosis. I began having some discomfort, not pain exactly, in my right hip, and developed a pronounced limp. I had recently left my medical practice to launch Global Girls Global Women, a nonprofit...
Northwestern Medicine Receives $10 Million Gift to Create Urologic Cancer Institute
Northwestern Medicine has received a $10 million gift to fund the creation of a new multidisciplinary institute dedicated to urologic cancers. The Polsky Urologic Cancer Institute of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Polsky ...
No Survival Benefit With Avelumab vs Docetaxel in Platinum-Treated, Advanced, PD-L1–Positive NSCLC
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Fabrice Barlesi, MD, and colleagues, the phase III JAVELIN Lung 200 trial has shown no overall survival benefit with avelumab vs docetaxel in patients with platinum pretreated programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced non–small cell lung...
Estradiol as Potential Treatment for Subset of Triple-Negative Breast Cancers
Mayo Clinic researchers have identified estradiol as a potential new treatment for a subset of women with triple-negative breast cancer. Their findings were published by Reese et al in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
“Triple-negative breast...
Adherence to Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer in Black Women and White Women
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Stephanie B. Wheeler, MPH, PhD, of the Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues found that black women reported nonadherence to endocrine therapy for breast cancer...
Former JAMA Editor Offers Perspective on Challenges Past and Present in American Health Care
BOOKMARK
Title: Severed Trust: Why American Medicine Hasn’t Been Fixed
Author: George D. Lundberg, MD, With James Stacey
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: March 2001
Price: $28.00, hardcover, 336 pages
Pathologist George D. Lundberg, MD, served as Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of the...
