January 25, 2022 (View All Issues)
ZUMA-7: Axicabtagene Ciloleucel Quadruples Event-Free Survival in Large B-Cell Lymphoma
In the primary analysis of the phase III ZUMA-7 trial, examining second-line therapy for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma, the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel led to a fourfold increase in event-free survival over the standard of care. These findings were presented at the...
Second-Line T-DXd Improves Progression-Free Survival Across HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Subgroups
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) lengthened progression-free survival and improved objective response rate compared to the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) after trastuzumab and taxane therapy in women with HER2-positive metastatic breast...
Better Federal Agency Coordination Is Needed to Accelerate Progress Against Cancer
President Richard M. Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law on December 23, 1971. The unprecedented legislation granted sweeping authority to the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop a national cancer program that included the NCI, other research institutes, and federal ...
PADA-1 Trial: With Early Identification of ESR1 Mutation, Switch to Fulvestrant in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Switching from an aromatase inhibitor to fulvestrant upon early identification of the ESR1 mutation in plasma—before disease progression—doubled progression-free survival in the phase III PADA-1 trial, presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1
“PADA-1 is the first trial to...
Anthracycline Plus Taxane Reduces Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence at 10 Years
In a large patient-level meta-analysis of 16 trials, presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS),1 the combination of an anthracycline plus a taxane achieved a substantial 15% reduction in breast cancer recurrence at 10 years vs taxane chemotherapy alone, representing an...
EMERALD Trial: Oral Selective Estrogen Receptor Degrader as Second- or Third-Line Therapy for Advanced Breast Cancer
Use of the first investigational oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) elacestrant significantly reduced the risk of death or disease progression and lengthened progression-free survival compared with standard-of-care endocrine therapy with fulvestrant or an aromatase inhibitor in...
PI3K Pathway Activation May Underlie Tamoxifen-Associated Uterine Cancer
Even though it is infrequent, uterine cancer can develop in patients treated with tamoxifen. A study presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) suggests that the mechanism by which uterine cancers develop is tamoxifen-induced PI3K pathway activation.1 Patients treated with...
Karen L. Kelly, MD, Named Chief Executive Officer of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
The Board of Directors of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Karen L. Kelly, MD to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective Spring 2022.
Dr. Kelly, a renowned medical oncologist, is an active, long-standing ...
RxPONDER Update Explores Benefit of Chemotherapy in Subgroups
Updated results of the SWOG S1007 RxPONDER trial confirmed the key takeaway from the previous analysis: adjuvant chemotherapy benefits premenopausal women but not postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative disease, one to three positive lymph nodes, and a 21-gene Oncotype DX ...
Lisocabtagene Maraleucel Improves Outcomes in Relapsed or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy with lisocabtagene maraleucel could prove to be the new standard-of-care treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma in the second-line setting, according to data presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
POLARIX: Addition of Polatuzumab Vedotin-piiq to Standard of Care Significantly Reduces Progression of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
As a first-line treatment of inter-mediate- or high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the addition of the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq to standard-of-care therapy resulted in a 27% reduction in the relative risk of disease progression, relapse, or death, with a similar safety...
FDA Approves Abatacept-Based Combination for Prophylaxis of Acute Graft-vs-Host Disease
On December 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abatacept (Orencia) for the prophylaxis of acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD), in combination with a calcineurin inhibitor and methotrexate, in adults and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older undergoing hematopoietic stem...
Mosunetuzumab Meets Primary Endpoint of Phase II Trial in Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma
The bispecific antibody mosunetuzumab achieved deep and durable remissions as monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, according to the results of a pivotal phase II trial presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 In ...
Isatuximab-Containing Induction Therapy for Multiple Myeloma Increases Measurable Residual Disease Negativity
For the first-line treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, the percentage of patients achieving measurable residual disease (MRD, previously called minimal residual disease) negativity was significantly greater when the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody isatuximab was added to a standard...
AGILE Study: Addition of Ivosidenib to Azacitidine Triples Median Overall Survival in Difficult-to-Treat AML Population
In patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an IDH1 mutation who were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy, the addition of the IDH1 inhibitor ivosidenib to azacitidine significantly improved survival vs azacitidine alone, according to data presented at the 2021 American...
Metastatic Melanoma: Improved Overall Survival Reported With Immunotherapy Infusions Given Earlier in the Day
In a single-institution study reported in The Lancet Oncology, David C. Qian, MD, PhD, and Zachary S. Buchwald, MD, PhD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, and colleagues found that patients with metastatic melanoma who received at least 20% of immune checkpoint inhibitor...
Aggressive Supportive Treatment for COVID-19 May Be Needed in Patients With Hematologic Cancers
New research underscores the need for aggressive support of patients hospitalized with blood cancer and COVID-19, according to data presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
Two studies of one of the largest data sets of patients with blood cancer...
Circadian Timing of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Beyond Good Times and Bad Times
After almost a century of limited efficacy of cancer immunotherapy,1 the breakthrough happened in 2012 with the discovery of immune checkpoint inhibitors,2,3 leading to the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo. Yet about 40% of patients on immune...
BELINDA Trial: CAR T-Cell Therapy Fails to Improve Outcomes in Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
The autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel failed to improve event-free survival vs standard-of-care treatment strategies in patients with aggressive, relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to results of the phase III BELINDA trial,...
Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy in Advanced Esophageal Cancer: Good News for Some, but More Work to Be Done
Multiple comparisons of traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy combinations that began decades ago led to the adoption of the platinum plus fluorouracil doublet as the standard of care for treatment of recurrent or metastatic esophageal cancer.1 Other combinations created by the addition and/or...
Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, FASCO, Elected ASCO President for 2023–2024 Term
ASCO has elected Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, FASCO, a long-time member and volunteer, to serve as its President beginning in June 2023. Dr. Schuchter will take office as President-Elect immediately after the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2022. Seven new members were also elected to the ASCO...
New Zealand to Ban Cigarette Sales for Future Generations
New Zealand plans to ban young people from ever buying cigarettes in their lifetime in one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on the tobacco industry.
People aged 14 and under in 2027 will never be allowed to purchase cigarettes in the Pacific country of 5 million, part of proposals unveiled in...
Health Groups Make Recommendations to Strengthen the U.S. Drug Supply Chain During the Pandemic and Beyond
ASCO—along with the American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the United States Pharmacopeia—released a series of policy and marketplace recommendations to address the significant challenges in our nation’s drug...
Jonathan Wesley Riess, MD, MS, to Lead UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Thoracic Oncology Program
Jonathan Wesley Riess, MD, MS, has been appointed Medical Director to oversee UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Thoracic Oncology Program. Dr. Riess replaces David R. Gandara, MD, who will soon be co-directing a new center in experimental cancer therapeutics. Dr. Riess’ appointment is...
Ian E. Krop, MD, PhD, Named Chief Clinical Research Officer, Associate Cancer Center Director for Clinical Research at Yale Cancer Center
Ian E. Krop, MD, PhD, has been appointed Chief Clinical Research Officer, Associate Cancer Center Director for Clinical Research, and Director of the Yale Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office. Dr. Krop will assume his new position on March 2, 2022.
“I’m pleased to announce Dr. Krop will work...
ASCO Unveils New Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan
Building on its long history of advancing health equity in cancer care, ASCO recently released “The ASCO Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan: A Legacy of Commitment, A Future of Promise for Individuals with Cancer.” The plan aims to infuse equity into all of the organization’s...
ASCO Statement on 50th Anniversary of Signing of National Cancer Act
“Fifty years ago, just a few days before the new year, former President Richard Nixon signed into law the National Cancer Act (NCA), setting a clear national priority to conquer cancer.
“At the time the bill was signed into law, pioneers in our field had already made substantial discoveries, but...
Promise and Need for More Progress in Treatment of Squamous Cell NSCLC
A greater understanding of the mutational landscape in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has identified key oncogenes, such as EGFR, ALK, ROS, RET, and BRAF, among others. These discoveries, coupled with the availability of specific targeted small-molecule inhibitors, have transformed the...
Adjuvant Atezolizumab Improves Disease-Free Survival Following Adjuvant Chemotherapy in PD-L1–Positive Resected Stage II–IIIA NSCLC
As reported in The Lancet by Enriqueta Felip, MD, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, and colleagues, the phase III IMpower010 trial has shown improved disease-free survival with adjuvant atezolizumab vs best supportive care in the predefined population of patients with resected stage ...
Adjuvant Atezolizumab in IMpower010: Moving the Needle in Early-Stage NSCLC
Adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is currently almost an afterthought and is taken for granted as a standard of care for patients with stage II to IIIA NSCLC after resection. The earliest meta-analysis, published in 1995,1 gave the first hint of ...
Roswell Park Receives Nearly $1 Million to Address Race-Related Disparities in Prostate Cancer
African American men currently have the highest rates of prostate cancer in the United States and the poorest outcomes. New grants from the U.S. Department of Defense and American Cancer Society will fund work by two Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center teams focused on understanding and...
Does Geography Play a Role in Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer in Young Black Men?
Although the incidence and mortality rates in colorectal cancer have dropped by 3.6% each year from 2007 to 2016 for people aged 55 and older—mainly because of increased colorectal cancer screening, advances in therapy, and reductions in smoking—these rates have increased by 2% each year during the ...
Tennessee Oncology Appoints Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, as Chief Medical Officer and Natalie Dickson, MD, as Chief Strategy Officer
Tennessee Oncology, one of the largest providers of oncology care in the country, announced that Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, has been appointed Chief Medical Officer (CMO) effective January 1, 2022. Natalie Dickson, MD, President and CMO, will remain in her role as President of the company while...
Developing a Comprehensive System for Personalized Survivorship-Centered Care Plans
By 2040, the number of cancer survivors in the United States is expected to climb from 17 million today to 26.1 million, with most living 5 years or more after their diagnosis. However, many of these survivors will need ongoing monitoring for treatment-related side effects and cancer recurrence...
Rituximab Plus Chemotherapy for Pediatric Mature B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Mature B-Cell Acute Leukemia
On December 2, 2021, rituximab was approved for use in combination with chemotherapy for pediatric patients (≥ 6 months to 18 years) with previously untreated, advanced-stage, CD20-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, Burkitt-like lymphoma, or mature B-cell acute leukemia.1
Daratumumab/Hyaluronidase-fihj and Carfilzomib in Multiple Myeloma
On November 30, 2021, daratumumab/hyaluronidase-fihj and carfilzomib were approved for use in combination with dexamethasone for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who had one to three prior lines of therapy.1,2
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval was based on findings in a cohort ...
Pembrolizumab for Adjuvant Treatment of Stage IIB or IIC Melanoma
On December 3, 2021, pembrolizumab was approved for adjuvant treatment of adult and pediatric (≥ 12 years of age) patients with stage IIB or IIC melanoma following complete resection.1
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval was based on findings in the phase III, double-blind KEYNOTE-716 trial...
Project Catalyst: Educating Industry to Help Develop Successful Cancer Therapies
OCE Insights is written by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) and the Office of Oncology Diseases (OOD) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In this installment, Jeff Summers, MD, OOD Acting Associate Director for Translational Sciences, and Marc R. Theoret, MD, OCE Deputy...
From the Vietnam War to the Stanford Cancer Institute: The Professional Journey of Quynh-Thu Le, MD
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor, Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Quynh-Thu Le, MD, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Co-Director of the Radiation Biology Program of the Stanford Cancer Institute, and one of the Group Chairs of the NRG Oncology...
An Adventurous Spirit Led to a Prominent Role in Radiation Oncology for Geraldine Jacobson, MD, MPH, MBA, FACR, FASTRO
Geraldine Jacobson, MD, MPH, MBA, FACR, FASTRO, founding Chair of the West Virginia University (WVU) Department of Radiation Oncology, was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Her father was a military officer, and his various duty posts offered an adventurous childhood for Dr. Jacobson.
“One of my...
Cancer on the Global Stage: Incidence and Cancer-Related Mortality in Burundi
The ASCO Post is pleased to continue this occasional special focus on the worldwide cancer burden. In this issue, we feature a close look at the cancer incidence and mortality rates in Burundi. The aim of this special feature is to highlight the global cancer burden for various countries of the...
Recent Study Aims to Improve the Quality of Cancer Care in Rural Areas
Despite growing national awareness of health-care inequities, cancer care for many rural Americans remains inadequate. To shed some light on the challenges faced by patients with cancer in rural areas, The ASCO Post spoke with Mary Charlton, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the...
A Guide for Patients With Breast Cancer, Their Families, and Their Oncologists
Writing a comprehensive book about breast cancer that is also concise and highly readable is no easy task. However, the authors of The Breast Cancer Book: A Trusted Guide for You and Your Loved Ones have done that and more by deftly communicating science and medical content for the lay public....
Cancer Has Made Me a Risk-Taker, and That’s Good
In 2017, I was caring for my brother, who was suffering from respiratory failure due to complications from cerebral palsy, and working full-time as a registered nurse. I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted all the time. I was also losing weight at an alarming rate—more than 70 pounds in just a...
Disconnect Between Expectations and Outcomes: Major Factor in Treatment-Related Regret Among Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer
“A disconnect between patient expectations and outcomes” is a major contributor to treatment-related regret among patients with localized prostate cancer, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology.1 The disconnect, “both as it relates to treatment efficacy and adverse effects, appears to...
Sotorasib in Previously Treated Patients With KRAS G12C–Mutant Colorectal Cancer
In a prespecified analysis of the phase II CodeBreaK100 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Marwan Fakih, MD, and colleagues found that the KRAS G12C protein inhibitor sotorasib showed modest activity in patients with previously treated KRAS G12C–mutant colorectal cancer.
Study Details
The...
Effect of Statin Use on Outcomes of PSA Screening for Prostate Cancer
In a Finnish study reported in JAMA Oncology, Vettenranta et al found that statin use did not appear to markedly affect the benefits of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer.
As stated by the investigators, “PSA screening for prostate cancer has resulted in a slight...
Cancer Biologist Beatrice Mintz, PhD, FAACR, Dies at 100
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) issued the following statement regarding the passing of Beatrice Mintz, PhD, FAACR, a trailblazing pioneer in multiple fields of cancer biology, who died January 3, 2022, at the age of 100.
Born on January 24, 1921, in New York, New York, Dr....
