June 25, 2022 (View All Issues)
DESTINY-Breast04 Trial: T-DXd Significantly Improves Survival in Patients With HER2-Low Metastatic Breast Cancer
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) doubled progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with “HER2-low” metastatic breast cancer—ie, patients with low levels of HER2 expression. The agent also extended overall survival for patients with low ...
100% Complete Response Rate in 14 Patients With Rectal Cancer Treated With Neoadjuvant Dostarlimab-gxly
In a study of 18 patients with locally advanced mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, 6 months of neoadjuvant treatment with the anti–PD-1 agent dostarlimab-gxly alone led to clinical complete responses in 100% of the study’s first 14 patients.1 These results were presented at the 2022...
TROPiCS-02 Sacituzumab Govitecan Effective in Hormone Receptor–Positive, HER2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer
For advanced breast cancer that is hormone receptor–positive and HER2-negative, sacituzumab govitecan-hziy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression by 34% over physician’s choice of treatment, based on the results of the phase III TROPiCS-02 trial.1 The heavily pretreated patients in...
NOTABLE Trial: Survival in Pancreatic KRAS Wild-Type Cancer Improved With Addition of Nimotuzumab to Gemcitabine
In patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer and KRAS wild-type tumors, novel treatment with the monoclonal antibody nimotuzumab, which targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), plus gemcitabine significantly improved overall survival and other outcomes over...
American Cancer Society Investigators Present Studies on COVID-19 Pandemic, Racial/Ethnic Disparities, and Coverage for Genomic Testing
Investigators at the American Cancer Society presented results of several studies during poster sessions at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting. Summaries of a few of these studies are provided here.
COVID-19 and Cancer Mortality
According to a new study led by researchers at the American Cancer...
Cancer Death Rates Among Black People Declined Over Time but Remain Higher Than Other Racial and Ethnic Groups
From 1999 to 2019, rates of cancer deaths declined steadily among Black people in the United States. Nevertheless, in 2019, Black people still had considerably higher rates of cancer death than people in other racial and ethnic groups, a large epidemiologic study has found. The study was led by...
ASCO’s CancerLinQ and Count Me In Collaborate to Empower Patient Participation in Clinical Cancer Research
ASCO’s CancerLinQ® and Count Me In recently announced a new collaboration that aims to allow cancer researchers to learn from every patient with cancer, by actively engaging patients as part of the clinical research enterprise. CancerLinQ—a real-world oncology data technology platform developed by...
ASCO Relaunches Survivorship Compendium With New Features and Resources
ASCO has made new resources available through its refreshed Survivorship Compendium—an online library of practice tools designed and curated to help oncologists develop high-quality, equitable cancer survivorship care programs and improve existing programs for patients who have completed their...
Interventions Needed to Improve Data Collection on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Oncology Practice, Survey Finds
Recently, a new ASCO study,1 published in JCO Oncology Practice, found that among respondents participating in the survey, most oncology practices do not systematically collect data related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The study points to the need to increase understanding...
Invest in the Unexpected: Basic Research Enterprise Needs Adequate Funding to Foster Treatment Innovation
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) now stands as the largest single public funder of biomedical research in the world.1 The FY2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2471), signed into law in March, increases biomedical research funding by nearly 5%, and it provides a total of $45 billion...
Ariela L. Marshall, MD, Advocates for Equity and Reproductive Health in the Hematology-Oncology Community
In this installment of Living a Full Life, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Ariela L. Marshall, MD, Director, Women’s Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program at Penn Medicine. Along with her clinical and research activities, Dr. Marshall is also an advocate for women’s health and equity in ...
ARIEL4 Trial: Rucaparib Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Chemotherapy in Relapsed Ovarian Cancer With BRCA1/2 Mutations
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Rebecca Kristeleit, MD, of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and colleagues, the phase III ARIEL4 trial has shown a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival with rucaparib vs chemotherapy in relapsed ovarian cancer with...
ARIEL4 Confirms Rucaparib’s Efficacy in Recurrent, BRCA-Mutated Ovarian Cancer: Does It Tell Us Anything New?
In March 2022, Kristeleit et al reported the results of the ARIEL4 trial1 of rucaparib in relapsed BRCA-mutant ovarian cancer in The Lancet Oncology (summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post) and are to be congratulated on this accomplishment. This report, along with the almost simultaneous...
History of Radiation Oncology in the United States
Radiation therapy has long been one of the three pillars of cancer therapy—surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy—only recently joined by what is widely considered a fourth pillar, immunotherapy. In part 1 of this two-part report, we trace the beginnings of radiation oncology in the United...
An Oncology Surgeon Leads Mexico’s Melanoma Program
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with surgical oncologist Héctor Martínez-Said, MD, of the Melanoma Clinic at NCI Mexico.
Dr. Martínez-Said’s maternal grandfather was part of a Lebanese immigration movement ...
Cancer and War in Ukraine: How the World Can Help Win This Battle
In Ukraine, with a population of about 44 million, there are more than 1.3 million patients with cancer.
Approximately 160,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year.1 In almost every region, there are local cancer centers; specialized oncologic centers are located in large cities. In Kyiv,...
Nivolumab in Combination With Chemotherapy and in Combination With Ipilimumab in Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
On May 27, 2022, nivolumab was approved for use in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based chemotherapy and in combination with ipilimumab for the first-line treatment of advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.1
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval was based on...
Immunotherapy Has Given Me Back My Life
Hearing the words “You have cancer” is a devastating blow, especially when the biggest health issues you’ve had to contend with over more than 6 decades are common colds and knee and hip replacements. But in 2017, the symptoms I thought were from a lingering summer cold drove me to seek medical...
Addition of Tiragolumab to Atezolizumab in PD-L1–Positive NSCLC
In a phase II trial (CITYSCAPE) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Byoung Chul Cho, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of tiragolumab, an inhibitor of the immune checkpoint molecule TIGIT, to atezolizumab improved objective response rate and progression-free survival in first-line treatment...
Addition of Denosumab to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Containing Two Different Nab-Paclitaxel Regimens for Patients With Breast Cancer
In a German phase IIb trial (GeparX) reported in JAMA Oncology, Jens-Uwe Blohmer, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of denosumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not improve pathologic complete response rate in patients with breast cancer. They also found that weekly vs less frequent...
Elevating Cancer Care in the United States for All: Current Challenges and Potential Solutions
Optimizing oncology care in the United States will require making state-of-the-art care more accessible to all. Delivering quality, equitable cancer care is undoubtedly a challenge in a country as large, diverse, and disparate as the United States, but if it is to be achieved, it will entail the...
Looking Back at Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Era: Lessons Learned and Disparities Identified
Telemedicine stepped up to the plate when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe. Oncology providers—and practitioners in all specialties—had to rapidly adapt to a telemedicine format when face-to-face visits were severely limited. This scenario had its benefits for both patients and providers (and...
CheckMate 274: Adjuvant Immunotherapy Improves Disease-Free Survival in Metastatic Urothelial Cancer
Adjuvant nivolumab could become the standard of care for patients with metastatic bladder cancer, according to data presented at the American Urological Association (AUA) 2022 Annual Meeting.1
With longer follow-up, the results of the phase III CheckMate 274 trial showed that treatment with the...
Rates of Active Surveillance Rising Among Men With Low-Risk Prostate Cancer but Still Suboptimal
Most men with low-risk prostate tumors now opt for active surveillance, but overtreatment remains a problem, according to data presented during the 2022 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting.1
A retrospective analysis of more than 20,000 patients with low-risk prostate cancer showed ...
New Interactive Map of Oncology Puts COVID-19, Equity Data Into Perspective
In an effort to highlight cancer care inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic, ASCO has launched the Interactive Map of Oncology, a data visualization tool that allows users to explore geographic distribution of systemic and socioeconomic factors that influence cancer care delivery in the United...
