March 25, 2019 (View All Issues)
- “Improved Overall Survival with Local Consolidative...
CheckMate 384 Supports More Convenient Dosing of Nivolumab in Advanced NSCLC
PATIENTS WITH advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may no longer have to come to the clinic every 2 weeks for treatment. According to a descriptive analysis of the phase IIIb/IV CheckMate 384 study, a more convenient dosing option of nivolumab has demonstrated convincing short-term safety...
Caring: Isn’t That Why We Went to Medical School?
YOU CANNOT write about caring; you must practice it. None of us went to medical school thinking we would be an oncologist or a neurosurgeon or a stem cell biologist. But we did have vague aspirations of wanting to help others: to be involved in other lives. It was an altruistic avocation; how...
New Data in Colorectal, Neuroendocrine, Gastric, and Hepatocellular Cancers
THE ANNUAL GASTROINTESTINAL CANCERS SYMPOSIUM took place earlier this year in San Francisco. In addition to important studies captured in our past few issues, The ASCO Post here briefly summarizes additional interesting studies.
Adjuvant Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in Colon Cancer
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Antibody-Drug Conjugate Shows Activity in Heavily Pretreated Bladder Cancer
PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE suggests that the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan is active in patients previously treated with chemotherapy or checkpoint inhibitor therapy for metastatic urothelial cancer. These results from a phase I/II basket study of this agent were presented at the 2019...
Erratum
In the March 10, 2019, issue of The ASCO Post, a photo on page 10, in the article, “ARAMIS Trial Reports Darolutamide Improves Outcomes in High-Risk Nonmetastatic Prostate Cancer,” was incorrectly identified as Karim Fizazi, MD, PhD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, Université Paris-Sud,...
Trastuzumab Biosimilar for HER2-Overexpressing Breast Cancer
ON DECEMBER 14, 2018, trastuzumab-pkrb (Herzuma) was approved as a biosimilar to trastuzumab for patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer.1 Trastuzumab-pkrb is indicated for adjuvant treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer and metastatic HER2-overexpressing breast cancer.2 Health-care ...
PARP Inhibitors Moving Ahead in Prostate Cancer
MULTIPLE POLY (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are under study in metastatic prostate cancer and no clear winner has emerged yet. Some studies suggest that the best use of PARP inhibitors may be in patients whose cancers harbor DNA-repair defects and BRCA1/2 mutations, but other data...
Antibiotic Treatment Prior to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy Shows Detrimental Effect on Response and Survival
USE OF ANTIBIOTICS prior to checkpoint blockade therapy may attenuate anticancer activity, according to data presented at the 2019 ASCO–Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium.1 Results of the multicenter study suggest that antibiotic therapy administered...
City of Hope Awarded Lymphoma SPORE Grant
CITY OF HOPE announced recently that it received its third lymphoma Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The grant covers a 5-year period and totals $12.5 million.
SPORE grants involve both basic as well as clinical and applied...
American Society of Breast Surgeons Recommends Genetic Testing for Newly Diagnosed Patients With Breast Cancer
IN A MOVE that is a significant departure from current testing recommendations, the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) recommends that genetic testing be available to all individuals newly diagnosed with breast cancer.1 The new recommendations expand on common restrictions by the National...
NCCN Summit Tackles Inequities in Access to Care
WHEN BRANDON CANYON’S mother Leone was diagnosed with uterine cancer, he drove her to treatment sessions at the nearest cancer center—a 200-mile round trip on rough roads. Gas was a significant expense, but their only other option was to forgo treatment. The Canyons are members of the Navajo...
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, Resigns
ON MARCH 5, 2019, Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced his resignation as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a post he began in 2017. Dr. Gottlieb’s resignation will be effective in April.
In a resignation letter to Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of Health and Human Services...
New ASCO Guideline on Head and Neck Cancer Clarifies Lymph Node Management
A NEW ASCO guideline, “Management of the Neck in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity and Oropharynx: ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline,” aims to clarify issues in lymph node management.1
“This guideline represents a true multidisciplinary synthesis of some important new information about...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Atezolizumab/ Nab-paclitaxel in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
ON MARCH 8, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) for the treatment of adults with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic, PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer. PD-L1 status is determined by...
University of Florida Receives $12 Million Gift for Brain Tumor Research
THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA received a $12 million gift from The Harris Rosen Foundation to advance innovative brain tumor immunotherapy research and care at the University of Florida Health and to launch an unprecedented partnership for the development of novel brain tumor treatments. The Rosen gift ...
IMpassion130 Substudy: Atezolizumab/Nab-Paclitaxel Survival Benefits Limited to PD-L1–Positive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
THE PHASE III IMpassion130 trial, first reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress1 and published in The New England Journal of Medicine,2 found that the combination of front-line atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel significantly improved disease-free and overall...
ASH Reports Show Benefit of Adding Daratumumab to Initial Therapy in Multiple Myeloma
DARATUMUMAB APPEARS to be the “gift that keeps on giving” to the myeloma community. “It seems we can add daratumumab to almost anything and make the regimen better. It’s got good activity and a good safety profile,” said Kenneth Shain, MD, PhD, Director of the Myeloma Working Group at Moffitt...
Maintenance Ixazomib Delays Disease Progression in Newly Diagnosed Myeloma
IN PATIENTS with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who responded well to induction therapy and underwent transplant, 2 years of maintenance therapy with ixazomib led to a 38% improvement in progression-free survival compared with placebo, according to the results of the phase III TOURMALINE-MM3...
Radical Prostatectomy or Watchful Waiting: 29-Year Follow-up of Scandinavian Trial
AS REPORTED in The New England Journal of Medicine by Anna Bill-Axelson, MD, PhD, Lars Holmberg, MD, PhD, both of Uppsala University Hospital, and and colleagues, the 29-year follow-up of the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study Number 4 (SPCG-4) trial has shown that radical prostatectomy is...
National Cancer Institute Designates Comprehensive Cancer Center Status to NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center
NYU LANGONE Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center has been designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Perlmutter Cancer Center is now among 50 cancer centers across the country to earn this distinction.
Perlmutter Cancer Center received an overall...
Prostatectomy vs Watchful Waiting: Clinical Dilemma Centers on Aggressive vs Indolent Disease
THE MANAGEMENT of localized prostate cancer remains controversial. Although the widespread use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has resulted in a dramatic increase in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, many men do not benefit from intervention because the disease is...
CancerCare Celebrates 75 Years of Serving the Cancer Community
RECENTLY, CANCERCARE celebrated its 75th anniversary by revealing a new campaign, “If It Matters To You, It Matters To Us.” The campaign highlights CancerCare’s commitment to holistic, patient-centered support services and comprehensive care for people living with cancer.
The new messaging...
ASCO Endorses Active Surveillance Guideline for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
ASCO ENDORSES and reinforces the evidence-based American Urological Association (AUA), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) Guideline published in 2018 in the Journal of Urology. ASCO’s endorsement of a guideline on clinically localized...
New ASCO Guideline Makes Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs a Priority
ASCO HAS PUBLISHED a new guideline, “Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs: ASCO Standards,” to promote the safety of pharmacists, nurses, and all staff who handle potentially dangerous medicines, such as chemotherapy compounds.1 Safety is pivotal in the entire drug workflow, including drug mixing and...
ASCO Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Course in Azerbaijan: A Well-Attended Success
The National Center of Oncology (NCO) in Azerbaijan partnered with ASCO, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) to conduct a highly successful Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Course (MCMC) in September 2018 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The conference...
Conquer Cancer Honors Researchers With Merit Awards
ASCO’S CONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION is pleased to announce the recipients of the Gastrointestinal Cancers, Genitourinary Cancers, and Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium Merit Awards. Conquer Cancer Merit Awards recognize oncology fellows’ and trainees’ high-quality research submitted in abstracts to...
Urge Congress to Support Medicaid Coverage of Routine Care Costs for Clinical Trials
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS recently reintroduced bipartisan legislation, the ‘Covering Life-Saving Investigations Needed in Cancer and Other Life-Threatening Conditions Through Timely Use of Resources for Easy and Affordable Treatment from Medicaid for Enrollees in Need Today Act,’ or the CLINICAL...
ASCO Weighs in on Widespread Youth Tobacco Use: See the Latest National Youth Tobacco Survey Results
APPROXIMATELY 5 MILLION middle and high school students reported currently using a tobacco product, with over 3.6 million currently using e-cigarettes and about 2.5 million currently using a combustible tobacco product, according to the latest findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS).
...
Looking for Trusted Patient Information Resources?
CHECK OUT ASCO Answers patient education materials in the ASCO University Bookstore. ASCO Answers includes award-winning guides, fact sheets, and booklets covering a broad range of important and popular topics in cancer care. Bulk quantities of these high-quality print materials are available at...
Assessing the Clinical Utility of ASCO’s and ESMO’s Value Frameworks
In 2015, ASCO and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) introduced value frameworks that utilize algorithmic scales to evaluate the clinical benefit of cancer therapies and provide an objective assessment of outcomes and treatment toxicities experienced by patients.1,2 Although the two...
Actively Recruiting Clinical Trials Focused on Treatments of Kidney Cancer
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies that are focused on several different kinds of treatments for kidney cancer. These trials are evaluating gene therapy, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and combinations thereof.
...
American Skin Association Announces 18 New Grants for Skin Cancer and Disease Research
For more than 3 decades, the American Skin Association (ASA) and its affiliates have funded more than $50 million in grants to address the causes and treatments of melanoma, vitiligo, and psoriasis, as well as other skin diseases, and to search for cures. Recently, the American Skin Association...
Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, Named Executive Director of New Center for Thoracic Oncology at Mount Sinai
Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, an authority on lung cancer treatment and research, has joined Mount Sinai Health System as Executive Director of the newly created Center for Thoracic Oncology in The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai and will also serve as the Richard M. Stein, MD, Joe Lowe, and...
Tisagenlecleucel Active in Adult Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Stephen J. Schuster, MD, of Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, the international phase II JULIET trial has shown high response rates with the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel in...
CAR T-Cell Therapy for DLBCL: At the Crossroads of Hype and Reality
In the 20-plus years I have spent in hematologic oncology, I have been fortunate to have a ringside seat to watch “game-changing” advances come into our field—all-trans retinoic acid for acute promyelocytic leukemia, tyrosine kinase inhibitors starting with imatinib for chronic myeloid leukemia,...
Stephen J. Forman Awarded Two Bone Marrow Transplantation Honors
Stephen J. Forman, MD, Leader of City of Hope’s Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute and the Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, recently received the 2019 DKMS Mechtild Harf Science Award in...
ASCO President-Elect Howard A. Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, Gained Leadership Skills From His Experience at West Point
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 Living a Full Life, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD,...
Johns Hopkins Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute Awards Research Grants to Women’s Bladder Cancer Projects
The Johns Hopkins Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute awarded research grants to four projects that focus on bladder cancer treatments in women and how biology could offer new targets for cancer therapy.The Institute awards grants of $25,000 to $50,000. David McConkey, PhD, Director of the...
Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD, Awarded Distinguished Lectureship
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has awarded the 15th AACR–Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship to Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD. The award was presented during the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Dr. Bluestone is President and Chief Executive Officer of the...
National Brain Tumor Society and Brain Science Foundation Partner to Fund Research in Meningioma
The National Brain Tumor Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the brain tumor community in the United States, recently announced a new partnership with the Brain Science Foundation. Under the terms of the partnership, the organizations have established the Meningioma Research Fund to raise and grant...
Sarcoma Coalition Launched as Collaboration of Advocacy Organizations
Those dealing with sarcoma know that resources and support can be difficult to find. Members of the newly formed Sarcoma Coalition are working together to change that.
The Sarcoma Coalition is a nonprofit collaboration of sarcoma advocacy organizations from around the country working toward a...
The Risks of Drug Approval Based on Shaky Evidence
Two recent publications in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and the resulting drug approval applications that have already been filed, lead to concern that the basis of medical practice on valid evidence may be corrupted. Each involves statistically shaky analysis leading to a striking ...
WebMD Recognizes Seven Cancer Innovators With Its Health Heroes Award
On January 15, 2019, WebMD, an online and print health-care resource for consumers, presented its 2018 Health Heroes Award in New York City to 7 people who are making a difference in oncology care. The honorees include Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Wake ...
Sweet Surrender
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
Florida Cancer Specialists Welcomes Nalini Hasija, MD
Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute have announced that medical oncologist/hematologist Nalini Hasija, MD, has joined the statewide practice, which encompasses a network of nearly 100 locations. Dr. Hasija will be seeing patients at the Tampa Cancer Center.
Professional Training
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Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Accepting Candidates for Sjöberg Prize 2020
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is accepting candidate nominations for The Sjöberg Prize 2020.
The Sjöberg Prize for Cancer Research is awarded to scientists who have made major contributions to our knowledge about disease mechanisms, risk factors, or the treatment or prevention of cancer....
New England Cancer Specialists to Join Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced recently that New England Cancer Specialists is the newest member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative. Participation in the Collaborative reflects a demonstrated commitment to excellence by meeting a wide array of standards and best practices....
Obesity, Examined and Explained
BOOKMARK
Title: The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss
Author: Jason Fung, MD
Publisher: Greystone Books
Date: March 2016
Price: $18.95, paperback; 296 pages
According to data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), obesity plays a significant role in developing at least 12...
Restarting My Life After Terminal Cancer
At the end of 2015, I was dying. I was just 50 years old and a wife and mother of 2 teenage boys. Twelve years earlier, I had been diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ in my left breast. Despite a modified radical mastectomy and removal of nearly all of the lymph nodes in my left...
Knowing Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation of Patients Is a Vital Aspect of Medical Care
A survey of oncologists from National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers found that 95.3% of oncologists who responded are comfortable with treating lesbian, gay, and bisexual patients with cancer, and 82.5% are comfortable treating transgender patients with cancer.1...
Patient-Reported Outcomes With Enzalutamide Treatment in Nonmetastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
As reported by Bertrand Tombal, MD, of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, and colleagues in The Lancet Oncology, treatment with enzalutamide was associated with clinically meaningful delays in pain progression, symptom worsening, and deterioration in...
Docetaxel Plus Androgen-Deprivation Therapy After Primary Local Therapy in High-Risk Prostate Cancer
In a French phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Stéphane Oudard, MD, PhD, of Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, and colleagues found that the addition of docetaxel to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) did not improve prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival in men with...
Intracranial Malignancy After Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Nonmalignant Conditions
In a retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Douglas Kondziolka, MD, of NYU Langone Health System, and colleagues found that patients undergoing Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery for nonmalignant neurosurgical conditions did not appear to be at long-term increased risk of...
President’s FY2020 Budget Threatens Progress Against Cancer, Patient Access to Care
“We strongly oppose the White House budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, which would stall our nation’s progress against cancer and impede access to needed care for the millions of Americans dealing with cancer. The proposal would make drastic, unprecedented cuts to the U.S. Department of...
Coming In Future Issues of The ASCO Post
Watch upcoming issues of The ASCO Post for news reports from the 2019 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium, taking place March 14-16, 2019, in San Diego.
Watch for reports on these presentations, plus much more.
