March 10, 2015 (View All Issues)
Active Surveillance in Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer Called Into Question
A study presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium calls into question the use of active surveillance in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer managed with active surveillance had almost a four times higher risk of prostate...
Big Data and the Promise of Precision Medicine in Cancer
Precision medicine—and its promise to revolutionize how we understand disease and care for our patients—is a concept that oncology has understood and embraced for well over a decade. But millions of Americans recently heard about the concept for the first time when President Obama announced a...
Addressing the Global Cancer Burden
Since 1990, the annual global death toll from cancer has risen about 40%, and that number is projected to increase from the current level of approximately 8 million cancer deaths per year to more than 13 million by 2030. The poorer, resource-challenged regions of the world will suffer a...
New Data Reported in Colorectal, Gastric, and Pancreatic Cancers
The 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, held January 15–17 in San Francisco, attracted almost 4,000 attendees, who heard or viewed data from nearly 800 scientific abstracts and lectures. Here are our summaries of some of the many important developments from the meeting.
Bevacizumab Plus...
Inhibiting the MET Pathway in Gastroesophageal Cancer: Hits and Misses
The MET pathway appears to be important in gastroesophageal cancers, but response to a targeted agent may depend on the class of drugs. A robust response to the novel small-molecule MET inhibitor AMG 337 was observed, but a monoclonal antibody targeting MET fell flat, in studies reported at the...
Targeting Biliary Tract Cancers Through Genomic Profiling
Biliary tract cancers are challenging, but a large genomic profiling study has identified potentially clinically relevant genomic alterations in up to two-thirds of patients.1
“The diverse landscape of clinically relevant genomic alterations in biliary tract cancers can serve as targets for...
Lanreotide Evaluated in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Subgroup
The somatostatin analog lanreotide (Somatuline) depot extended the time to disease progression in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, in a planned subgroup analysis of the CLARINET trial, Alexandria T. Phan, MD, of The Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, reported at the 2015...
PI3K Inhibition in Hormone Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer ‘Not Ready for Prime Time’
Interest is high in studying the PI3K pathway in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, but it is not clear which of the PI3K inhibitors under development—if any—will be a “home run.” The phase II FERGI study, reported at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, failed to meet its primary...
From ASH 2014: What’s New in the Myeloma Treatment Arsenal?
At the 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, attendance at many multiple myeloma sessions outnumbered the room size, as data from studies of novel agents, such as the monoclonal antibodies, and from key trials, such as ASPIRE, drew crowds. The ASCO Post covered...
HIV-Related Lymphoma Can Be Safely Treated With Transplant
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoma can safely undergo autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation, according to results of a phase II multicenter trial presented at the 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition in...
Nivolumab Shows Activity in Previously Treated Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
In a randomized phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Robert J. Motzer, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues found that the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor antibody nivolumab (Opdivo) was associated with...
Nivolumab in Previously Treated Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer
The approval of multiple inhibitors of either the VEGF or mTOR pathway provided an incremental advance in the treatment of metastatic clear cell renal cancer. However, the agents have several important limitations: For example, the optimal clinical effect appears to be dependent on chronic...
Lenvatinib in Advanced Radioiodine-Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Cancer
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs.
On February 13, 2015, lenvatinib (Lenvima) was approved for the ...
FDA Approves Palbociclib in Combination With Letrozole for Advanced Breast Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to palbociclib (Ibrance) in combination with letrozole for the treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have not yet received an endocrine-based therapy.
FDA Grants Cobimetinib Priority Review for Use in Combination With Vemurafenib in Advanced Melanoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted Priority Review for Genentech’s New Drug Application (NDA) for cobimetinib in combination with vemurafenib (Zelboraf) for the treatment of people with BRAF V600 mutation–positive advanced melanoma. The FDA will make a decision on...
FDA Grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to MPDL3280A for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to Genentech’s investigational cancer immunotherapy MPDL3280A for the treatment of PD-L1–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy (and an...
FDA Approves Lenvatinib for Progressive Radioiodine-Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to lenvatinib (Lenvima) to treat patients with progressive, differentiated thyroid cancer whose disease progressed despite receiving radioactive iodine therapy. Lenvatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that binds to multiple sites...
Human Reovirus Formulation Gets Orphan Drug Designation in Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation for Oncolytics Biotech’s proprietary formulation of the human reovirus (Reolysin) for the treatment of ovarian and pancreatic cancer. The reovirus’s primary mode of activity is to infect and selectively target tumors...
First-Line Crizotinib Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Chemotherapy in ALK-Positive NSCLC
In a phase III trial (PROFILE 1014) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Benjamin J. Solomon, MB, BS, PhD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, and colleagues found that the ALK inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori) improved progression-free survival vs standard chemotherapy in...
Crizotinib Crosses Another Finish Line in Lung Cancer
Treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)–positive lung cancer has been one of the great success stories in oncology in the past decade. First discovered in lung cancer in 2007, ALK rearrangements are found in 3% to 5% of patients and define a distinct molecular subgroup of the disease with...
Determining Why Not All Patients Respond to PD-1 Inhibitors
Recent research1 conducted by Robert H. Pierce, MD, and his colleagues investigating why PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) inhibitors result in remarkably durable clinical remissions in some patients with melanoma, whereas others reap a short-term benefit or no benefit at all is showing that...
Jennifer Adair, PhD, Recognized as ‘Outstanding New Investigator’
Jennifer Adair, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has been named a 2015 Outstanding New Investigator by the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT). The award recognizes Dr. Adair’s independent research efforts to understand and improve blood stem cell–based gene...
Clonal Hematopoiesis With Somatic Mutations Increases Risk of Hematologic Cancer, Mortality, and Cardiovascular Disease
In two studies recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine,1,2 whole-exome sequencing of DNA from peripheral blood cells of individuals unselected for hematologic phenotype showed that clonal hematopoiesis with somatic mutations is increasingly common with increasing age and is...
Aged to (Im)Perfection: Age-Related Clonal Hematopoiesis?
Five decades ago, the analysis of metaphase chromosomes in the hematologic malignancies provided our first broad glimpse into the genetic anatomy of a malignant cell. Today, the advent of high-throughput methods such as next-generation sequencing, capable of surveying the entire genome, provides an ...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Researcher Spotlight
James D. Murphy, MD, MS, Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, received a 2012 Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) of ASCO Young Investigator Award for his research focusing on access to the delivery of palliative radiation therapy. Dr....
Expanding the Reach of ASCO’s Educational Efforts
Catherine H. Van Poznak, MD, Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Michigan, uses the skills she learned as a 2010–2011 participant in ASCO’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) to further the Society’s educational efforts through her service on the Professional Development...
Highlights From the 2014 ASCO Quality Care Symposium
The 2014 ASCO Quality Care Symposium was held October 17 to 18 in Boston and featured research on combating disparities, improving end-of-life care, and finding opportunities for cost reduction. These highlights have been adapted from ASCO Quality Care Symposium Daily News (quality.asco.org/dn).
...
Introduce Your Patients to PRE-ACT
This free, video-based program, called Preparatory Education About Clinical Trials (PRE-ACT), helps patients and their caregivers learn about clinical trials and address barriers to participation. Direct your patients to cancer.net/preact to learn more about this online resource. Also, visit
ASCO Supports HHS Shift Toward Alternative Payment Models
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced its intention to shift Medicare away from the current fee-for-service model and toward a system that pays providers based on the quality—rather than the quantity—of care they provide their patients. The announcement marks the...
Highlights From the 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium
The inaugural 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium was held October 24 to 25 in Boston. Over 200 abstracts were presented, covering topics such as the integration of palliative care into treatment and the financial hardships facing people living with cancer. The following abstracts were among ...
ASCO Collaborates in Launch of Crowd-Sourced Molecular Oncology Tumor Board Series
The ASCO University®, the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) recently announced their collaboration to create the Molecular Oncology Tumor Board series, an online and user-driven resource designed to help cancer care providers with the...
Combination Treatment Every 2 Weeks May Benefit Some Women With High-Risk Early-Stage Breast Cancer
In a phase III trial (SWOG S0221) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, George T. Budd, MD, of Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues found no difference in disease-free survival among four different combinations of continuous or every-other-week...
The Search for Optimal Adjuvant Breast Cancer Chemotherapy: The End of an Era?
Using a complex and innovative study design, Budd and colleagues from the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) addressed, in a randomized multicenter trial,1 an issue that has been under evaluation for over 40 years—namely, what are the optimal dose and schedule for adjuvant breast cancer chemotherapy?...
MD Anderson Receives $22.3 Million in CPRIT Research Funding
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has received more than $22 million in research grants from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The CPRIT awards will go toward studies in the areas of breast, skin, prostate, pancreas, colon, and lung cancers in adults,...
PD-1 Blockade With Nivolumab Produces High Response Rate in Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma
Anti–PD-1 antibodies have been shown to be effective in solid tumors. There is evidence that the malignant Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin lymphomas use the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathway to evade immune detection, with alterations in chromosome 9p24.1 increasing levels of the PD-1...
For Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients, It Ain’t Over
With less than 10,000 patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma each year and a cure rate of approximately 75% to 80%, drug development for this disease was never a priority for pharmaceutical companies. So when the antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) was approved by the U.S. Food ...
Clinically Inappropriate Patient Demands of Oncologists Happen More Infrequently Than Expected
A new study1 conducted at outpatient oncology centers found that only 1% of 5,050 patient-clinician encounters resulted in a clinically inappropriate request, of which very few were complied with by physicians.
Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues analyzed ...
Treating Head and Neck Cancer in 2015
Each year in the United States, about 55,000 people will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer, and of them, about 12,000 will die of the disease. Although advances have been made in the treatment of head and neck cancer, this disease remains persistently problematic, due, in part, to the complex...
American Association for Cancer Research Inducts 2015 Class of Fellows of the AACR Academy
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced 11 new fellows of the AACR Academy.
The AACR Academy is an entity that recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to cancer research and/or cancer-related biomedical science. Only individuals whose work has had a ...
MD Anderson Names Patrick Hwu, MD, Head of Cancer Medicine
Patrick Hwu, MD, Chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Sarcoma Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, has been named Division Head of Cancer Medicine.
He will take over from Richard Champlin, MD, who has been acting Division Head on an ad interim basis....
AAHPM Unveils List of Inspiring Hospice and Palliative Medicine Leaders Under 40
The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) has released a list of Inspiring Leaders Under 40 in the field.
Eligible candidates were evaluated on involvement in AAHPM, educating others about hospice and palliative medicine, participation in charitable work, mentoring of...
The Current State of Hematologic Malignancies
Due in part to the refinement of bone marrow transplantation and its many innovations, some leukemias that once were death sentences now have cure rates of up to 90%. As research in transplantation and other promising areas accelerates, we are on the verge of breaking new clinical boundaries in...
FDA Approves Panobinostat Combination for the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved panobinostat (Farydak) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. Panobinostat is the first histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor approved to treat multiple myeloma. It is...
FDA Approves Lenalidomide in Combination With Dexamethasone for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the existing indication for lenalidomide (Revlimid) in combination with dexamethasone to include patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone was previously approved in June 2006 for use in multiple myeloma...
Improving the Quality of Palliative Care in Oncology
Two years ago, ASCO collaborated with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine to develop the Virtual Learning Collaborative, a virtual quality improvement program intended to address the complex care needs of patients with advanced cancer and the care quality for all patients with...
Kay Research and Care Center Opens at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis has officially opened the Kay Research and Care Center. The new $198 million center houses the Eric Trump Foundation Surgery and ICU Center, and the Marlo Thomas Center for Global Education and Collaboration. The St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton...
Palbociclib as Initial Endocrine-Based Therapy in Postmenopausal Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs.
On February 3, 2015, palbociclib (Ibrance) was granted...
International Marketing Expert Claire Huang Appointed to Conquer Cancer Foundation Leadership
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO has announced the appointment of Claire Huang to its Board of Directors. Ms. Huang, an established leader in the fields of marketing, communications, and brand management, will serve a 3-year term.
“It is a privilege to welcome Claire Huang to the Conquer...
Douglas R. Lowy, MD, Receives Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine
The second annual Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine has been awarded to oncologist/researcher Douglas R. Lowy, MD, Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology and Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute.
The Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine, established in 2014 by...
Texas Center for Proton Therapy Names Andrew K. Lee, MD, Medical Director
Andrew K. Lee, MD, has been named Medical Director of the Texas Center for Proton Therapy. Dr. Lee launched proton therapy treatment at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center almost 9 years ago, treating the facility’s first proton therapy patient in 2006. In his new role, Dr. Lee will...
Bringing the History of Cancer to Film
Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, A Film by Barak Goodman will be broadcast on PBS on March 30, March 31, and April 1. Check local listings for broadcast times.
Like the book it’s based on, the television documentary Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,...
Telling the Story of Cancer
Acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns (The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The Central Park Five, and The Roosevelts: An Intimate History) has been making films for more than 35 years. His most recently completed project, scheduled to air on PBS this spring, is Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All...
The Journey From Book to Film
Soon after publication of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (Scribner) in 2010, the book’s author Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, PhD, received a call from Laura Ziskin, a film producer and cofounder of Stand Up To Cancer, who was interested in obtaining the film rights to Dr....
Cancer Was My Wake-Up Call to a Healthier Life
I come from strong physical stock and inherited a sort of “tough it out mentality” when it comes to coping with the usual aches and pains that creep up as you age. So by the time I realized that my legs had become so swollen and my breathing so labored it was difficult for me to walk, I could...
2015 Oncology Meetings
MARCH
Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference
March 12-14 • St. Gallen, Switzerland
For more information:
www.prostatecancerconsensus.org
NCCN Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care
March 12-15 • Hollywood, Florida
For more information:
ASCO Commends Margaret Hamburg, MD, for Leadership as FDA Commissioner
ASCO expresses deep gratitude to Margaret Hamburg, MD, for her 6 years of vision and progress as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Hamburg, one of the longest-serving FDA commissioners, leaves a legacy of important advances in regulatory science and medicine. The...
Thomas J. Rutherford, MD, PhD, Named Network Physician Director of Cancer Services at Western Connecticut Health Network
Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) has named gynecologic oncologist Thomas J.
Rutherford, MD, PhD, an expert in the area of ovarian cancer, as the Network Physician Director of Cancer Services.
As Director, Dr. Rutherford will create a new model of cancer delivery in the dynamic...
John A. Hartford Foundation Names Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, as New President
The John A. Hartford Foundation announced that Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, University Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University, will become its new President.
Dr. Fulmer, who is also Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs in the...
Theodore Lawrence, MD, PhD, Named Director of University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Theodore S. Lawrence, MD, PhD, has been named Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lawrence succeeds Max S. Wicha, MD, who founded the Cancer Center 27 years ago.
“This is a tremendous program, with talented and dedicated faculty and staff, a terrific research...
Lee Schwartzberg, MD, Appointed Vice Chairman of Caris Centers of Excellence Network
Caris Life Sciences, a biosciences company focused on precision medicine, announced the designation of West Cancer Center in Memphis as a Center of Excellence site in the Caris Centers of Excellence for Precision Medicine Network. Additionally, Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, Medical Director of West...
Lee W. Wattenberg, MD, the ‘Father of Chemoprevention’ Dies at 92
One of the early giants in the field of cancer prevention, Lee W. Wattenberg, MD, died on December 9, 2014, at the age of 92.
A native New Yorker, Dr. Wattenberg received his BS from City College of New York in 1941 and then went on to attain his medical degree from the University of Minnesota...
Measles Presents Greater Risks in Children Being Treated for Cancer
Measles outbreaks in the United States during 2014 and early 2015 have yielded an unprecedented number of cases nationwide, raising concerns about the threat measles poses to cancer patients (especially children) who may be at risk for severe complications and even death due to measles infection.
Dianne Knight, MD, Awarded Fellow Status from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Dianne Knight, MD, Physician in the Supportive Care Medicine Department at Moffitt Cancer Center, has been honored with the designation of Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The Academy is the professional organization for physicians and other health care...
High-Quality Diet Before Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis May Lengthen Survival
An overall high-quality diet at least 12 months before a diagnosis of ovarian cancer “was associated with a statistically significant 27% lower risk of death after ovarian cancer,” an analysis of dietary data from the Women’s Health Initiative showed. The protective effect was strongest among women ...
Racial Disparities in Survival Related More to Health Differences at Diagnosis Than to Subsequent Treatment
The persistent disparity in colon cancer survival by race seemed to be related more to differences in health at diagnosis than to differences in subsequent treatment, according to an analysis of data from the Survey, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)–Medicare database. “Our study suggests that...
Cutaneous Adverse Effects Associated With Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors May Impact Quality of Life and Adherence to Treatment
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors “are associated with numerous adverse effects, many of which are cutaneous and can affect patients’ quality of life and impede their adherence to long-term treatment,” National Cancer Institute (NCI) investigators concluded after studying the adverse effects of the...
