July 10, 2019 (View All Issues)
CLEOPATRA End-of-Study Analysis in Metastatic Breast Cancer: 37% Alive at 8 Years
The end-of-study analysis of the landmark CLEOPATRA trial shows that 37% of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer are still alive at 8 years, according to principal investigator Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, FASCO, Associate Dean for Research Development at Georgetown University Medical ...
Project Facilitate: FDA’s Plan to Ease Expanded Access to Novel Therapies
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to provide oncologists with greater help in acquiring expanded access to investigational therapies. Deemed Project Facilitate, the pilot program was announced at a press briefing during the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Project Facilitate is...
Winning the Lottery
I was born at the beginning of World War II in a country half way around the world from the fighting. As a child, I was immune to the carnage. My father was too old to be included, although his elder brother had been killed in World War I. Thousands of families in many countries lost a father, a...
Clinical Risk Enhances Utility of TAILORx Findings in Young Women With Breast Cancer
Clinical risk factors add prognostic information that complements the 21-gene recurrence score, according to a new analysis from the landmark TAILORx trial.1,2
The integration of clinical risk with the recurrence score provides greater precision in determining recurrence risk and guiding the use...
NALA Trial: Neratinib Plus Capecitabine Shows Benefit in Metastatic Breast Cancer
In the global phase III NALA trial, treatment of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer with neratinib plus capecitabine significantly improved progression-free survival, delayed the time to intervention for central nervous system disease, and showed a trend toward improved overall survival vs...
Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy May Benefit Patients With Early-Stage NSCLC
Neoadjuvant immunotherapy had encouraging activity and demonstrated favorable safety in patients with resectable early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to two studies presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.1,2 This approach has the potential to boost the survival rate in...
Advances in Targeted Therapy for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Targeted therapies for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are a hotbed of investigation. Two new targeted therapies are promising for patients with lung tumors that are either EGFR exon 20 insertions or RET-rearranged. At the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, attendees heard early data on therapies...
IDEA Collaboration Turns to Duration of Adjuvant Treatment in Stage II Colon Cancer
The findings of the landmark IDEA trial in stage III colorectal cancer, presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting and subsequently published in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 were upheld by a subsequent analysis by the same group, the International Duration Evaluation of Adjuvant...
Targeting FOLFOXIRI Plus Bevacizumab to a Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Subset
In a population of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer deemed to be at high risk by the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), first-line treatment with FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab improved progression-free survival by about 3 months, compared with modified FOLFOX plus bevacizumab,...
Study Supports Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Operable Colon Cancer
For patients with operable colon cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy resulted in numerous benefits in the FOxTROT trial but did not reach target significance for the primary endpoint. The study was presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting by Matthew T. Seymour, MD, of the University of Leeds School ...
Study Shows Benefit With Pazopanib in Treatment of Carcinoid Tumors
Pazopanib significantly improved progression-free survival by 47% in patients with progressive carcinoid tumors, in a prospective randomized phase II trial presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “With these results, Alliance A021202 becomes the first randomized study to show that the vascular...
Enfortumab Vedotin After Checkpoint Inhibition in Metastatic Urothelial Cancer
A phase II study found that treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin achieved responses in 44% of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer previously treated with platinum chemotherapy and a checkpoint inhibitor. This is a noteworthy study because it...
SOPHIA Trial Tests Margetuximab in Heavily Pretreated Patients With HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
In the phase III SOPHIA trial of 536 heavily pretreated patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, the novel anti-HER2 antibody margetuximab plus chemotherapy led to significant improvements in progression-free survival, response, and clinical benefit compared with...
APACT Trial: Nab-paclitaxel/Gemcitabine vs Gemcitabine Alone in Adjuvant Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
The largest adjuvant trial in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the global phase III APACT trial, evaluated the combination of adjuvant nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine vs gemcitabine monotherapy in patients with resected pancreatic cancer. Results of the study were reported by Margaret A. Tempero, MD, of the...
Actively Recruiting Clinical Trials for Muscle-Invasive and Non–Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancers
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical research trials for both muscle-invasive and non–muscle-invasive bladder cancers. The studies listed here are evaluating the safety and efficacy of combinations of chemotherapy and...
Combination Immunotherapy and Inhibitors of DNA Damage Repair in the Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer
Unlike non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which has seen a paradigm shift in treatment modalities with the discovery of genetic signatures (including EGFR mutations) that are responsive to targeted drugs, systemic treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has remained largely...
ASCO Endorses Tobacco-Free Youth Act
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the “Tobacco-Free Youth Act,” which will work to protect youth from tobacco products and electronic nicotine delivery systems by raising the national age of sale from 18 to 21. ASCO endorsed the legislation in a...
2019 Presidential Address: Caring for Every Patient, Learning From Every Patient
Welcome, everyone. We are so glad that you are all here today. Those of you attending your first ASCO Annual Meeting: Welcome to this amazing organization. What I’d like to do is to show you some of what ASCO offers, and challenge you all to join in to make a powerful future a reality.
We have a ...
Head and Neck Cancer Researcher Supported by Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, Earns Spot in Clinical Cancer Advances 2019
The work of nine researchers who have previously received funding from Conquer Cancer is featured in ASCO’s Clinical Cancer Advances 2019. Visit CONQUER.ORG/CCA for more details.
Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer
At the Moores Cancer Center at UC (University of California) San Diego...
Your Stories: Kindred Spirits
It only takes one discovery to change the course of a rare disease. “Kindred Spirits” is a conversation from the Your Stories series between Breelyn Wilky, MD, and a patient with sarcoma whose life she helped save during a recent clinical trial.
Developed by Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation,...
Positive Findings From Two TAPUR Study Cohorts Presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting
Positive findings from fully enrolled cohorts in non–small cell lung cancer and metastatic breast cancer from ASCO’s Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR™) study were presented in poster sessions at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting. In addition, the study is being expanded to...
Improve Quality of Life With This Palliative Care Education Resource for Your Patients
Do your patients know that supportive care can help them manage their symptoms and side effects, regardless of age, cancer type, or disease stage? Make sure your patients understand the benefits of palliative care and where to access services with the ASCO Answers Palliative Care booklet. Your...
FDA Approves First-Line Ivosidenib for IDH1-Mutated AML
On May 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its approval of ivosidenib (Tibsovo) to include newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible IDH1 mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test, in patients who are at least 75 years old or who have comorbidities that ...
Joann Sweasy, PhD, Joins University of Arizona Cancer Center as Associate Director for Basic Sciences
Joann Sweasy, PhD, an expert in DNA repair and genomic instability, has joined the University of Arizona Cancer Center as Associate Director for Basic Sciences. Dr. Sweasy also has been appointed to a joint faculty position at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, in the...
Erratum
In the June 10, 2019, issue of The ASCO Post, a photo on page 69, in an article about the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Board of Directors, was incorrectly identified as Ronald Walters, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The photo was actually of Roland B. Walter,...
Willie Underwood III, MD, MSc, MPH, Elected to AMA Board of Trustees
The American Medical Association (AMA) announced the election of Willie Underwood III, MD, MSc, MPH, a urologist based in Buffalo, New York, to its Board of Trustees.
A board-certified urologic surgeon specializing in prostate cancer, Dr. Underwood has been an active leader in organized medicine ...
Queen Elizabeth II Bestows Honor on V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc, FMedSci
On June 7, 2019, Professor V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc, FMedSci, was appointed Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George by Queen Elizabeth II on her 93rd birthday. Each year, the Queen recognizes the achievements of people from across the British Commonwealth....
Endowment Helps George Washington University Cancer Center to Create Position of Dr. Cyrus Katzen Family Director
The George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center has announced the establishment of the Dr. Cyrus Katzen Family Director of the GW Cancer Center, thanks to a gift from GW alumnus and former Board of Trustee member Jay Katzen, MD.
The gift will support the ongoing growth and expansion of the ...
Trifluridine/Tipiracil in Recurrent, Metastatic Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma
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 February 22, trifluridine/tipiracil...
Growing Up in a Medical Family Planted the Seed for a Career in Oncology for Karen Gelmon, MD
Karen Gelmon, MD, was born and reared in Saskatoon, the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is surrounded by vast prairie and situated along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway and is home to the University of Saskatchewan. “We lived close to the University,” she shared. “My...
The Bomb
I sit paralyzed at my desk. Everyone else has left the clinic. I can hear the sound of the broom in the hall as the after-hours cleaning begins. No phones ring, no patients hurry to appointments, no chatter lingers in the air. The silence is oppressive, the air is heavy, and the distance from my...
FDA Approves New Trastuzumab Biosimilar
On June 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trastuzumab-anns (Kanjinti) for all approved indications of the reference product trastuzumab (Herceptin): for the treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction...
How Immunologic Dysregulation in the Multiple Myeloma Microenvironment May Affect Response to CAR T-Cell Therapy
Despite an avalanche of novel therapies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the past decade in the treatment of multiple myeloma, including proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs, this blood cancer remains largely incurable, and nearly 13,000 people are expected...
Chaga Mushroom
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, explore the current...
Henry T. Lynch, MD, Trailblazer in Hereditary Cancers, Dies at 91
Henry T. Lynch, MD, widely known as “the father of cancer genetics,” had an early life that could have been lifted from the pages of a Louis L’Amour novel. He dropped out of high school and using a falsified birth certificate joined the U.S. Navy at 16 years old, serving as a gunner on a marine...
A Pioneering Surgeon Who Opened Doors for Others, LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr, MD, Dies at 89
Lifting himself from the barriers of the segregated South, LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr, MD, would become a nationally regarded oncologic surgeon who opened doors for other in the medical profession. His career was distinguished by “firsts,” such as the first African America President of both the...
Addition of Antiangiogenic Agent to First-Line Carboplatin/Paclitaxel in Ovarian Cancer
In a phase III trial (TRINOVA-3/ENGOT-ov2/GOG- 3001) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ignace Vergote, PhD, and colleagues found that addition of the antiangiogenic agent trebananib to carboplatin/ paclitaxel did not improve progression-free survival in first-line treatment of advanced ovarian...
Effect of Bortezomib/Dexamethasone Plus Pomalidomide on Progression-Free Survival in Multiple Myeloma Pretreated With Lenalidomide
In the phase III OPTIMISMM trial, reported by Paul G. Richardson, MD, and colleagues in The Lancet Oncology, researchers found that the addition of pomalidomide to bortezomib/dexamethasone improved progression-free survival in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma previously treated with...
Combination Therapy With Immunochemotherapy and an Antibody-Drug Conjugate in DLBCL
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hervé Tilly, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of polatuzumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting the CD79b component of the B-cell receptor, with immunochemotherapy showed high response rates in the phase II portion of a phase I/II study in ...
