March 25, 2024 (View All Issues)
Lenvatinib Plus Pembrolizumab Fails to Improve Overall Survival in Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer
Adding the multikinase inhibitor lenvatinib to the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as initial therapy for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma improved response rates and progression-free survival but did not lead to an overall survival advantage over pembrolizumab...
Enfortumab Vedotin Plus Pembrolizumab Yields Benefit in Key Subgroups With Advanced Urothelial Cancer
The combination of the nectin-4–directed antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin-ejfv plus the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab achieved favorable rates of progression-free survival, overall survival, and objective responses compared with chemotherapy among key subgroups of patients with previously...
Cardio-Oncology Is a Growing Subspecialty, but Where Are the Oncologists?
It has been almost 20 years since the approval of trastuzumab for the treatment of early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer. I remember returning from the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting excited to offer patients a treatment that led to significant improvement in clinical outcomes. However, within a short ...
Esophageal Squamous Cell Cancer: Overall Survival Improved With Tiragolumab and Atezolizumab Plus Chemotherapy
For patients with treatment-naive, locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the addition of two checkpoint inhibitors to chemotherapy significantly improved not only progression-free survival but also overall survival, in the randomized, phase III SKYSCRAPER-08 trial...
Risks of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients Receiving Therapies for Lung Cancer
Managing patients with lung cancer in the current era of an increasing array of systemic treatments has become a complex balancing act of trying to improve outcomes and survival from a cancer perspective while taking the necessary treatment and monitoring steps for cardioprotection. With few...
Osimertinib With Chemotherapy for EGFR-Mutated NSCLC
On February 16, 2024, osimertinib (Tagrisso) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administraton (FDA) with pemetrexed and platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tumors having EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R...
Repotrectinib for ROS1 Fusion–Positive Advanced NSCLC
On November 15, 2023, repotrectinib (Augtyro) was approved for locally advanced or metastatic ROS1 fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).1 This is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval that includes patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC who have previously received a ROS1...
Cabozantinib Plus Atezolizumab Improves Progression-Free Survival
The combination of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib (multiple targets, including MET, AXL, VEGFR2, RET, and FLT ) plus the monoclonal antibody atezolizumab achieved statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with second-line novel hormonal therapy in...
Strategies for Cardiovascular Risk Mitigation and Monitoring in Patients With CLL
With a 5-year overall survival of close to 90% in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), there have been large treatment shifts over the past decade in this disease, which now includes “more disciplines than it did before,” commented medical oncologist Danielle Shafer, DO, of Inova Schar Cancer...
Mantle Cell Lymphoma: Front-Line Therapy
“The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade….” —Sir William Osler
Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) accounts for approximately 5% to 7% of all lymphomas; the median age of patients with MCL is between 60 and 70 years. This lymphoma is generally considered incurable. Median survival in retrospective...
Use of Combination Immunotherapy Before Lung Cancer Surgery
Combination immunotherapy with the anti–PD-L1 monoclonal antibody durvalumab and other novel agents seemed to outperform durvalumab alone in the neoadjuvant setting for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,...
Adjuvant Pembrolizumab: A New Option for High-Risk Muscle-Invasive Urothelial Cancer
Adjuvant use of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab achieved a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in disease-free survival in patients with high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma vs observation after surgical resection, according to an interim analysis of the phase ...
Cancer Care Providers Urge President Biden to Make Health Care a State of the Union Priority
In a news release issued by ASCO earlier this month, the society reported that The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was calling on President Biden to continue to prioritize access to high-quality, equitable cancer care in his State of the Union address. Specifically, the cancer care...
Brachytherapy Boost May Decrease the Duration of Androgen-Deprivation Therapy for High-Risk Prostate Cancer
The optimal management of high-risk prostate cancer remains a topic of ongoing investigation. The quest for therapy that maximizes cancer control while minimizing toxicity is constant.
Over the past decade, there has been mounting evidence that the addition of a brachytherapy boost to...
Liposomal Irinotecan in First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
On February 13, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved liposomal irinotecan (Onivyde) for use with oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin in the first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.1
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval was based on the open-label NAPOLI 3...
W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, Selected as 17th Director of the NCI
W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, took the helm as the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), on December 18, 2023. A renowned kidney cancer expert and influential leader in cancer research and patient care, Dr. Rathmell was selected by...
ASCO Releases Resource-Stratified Guideline for the Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer
ASCO has released a new guideline on the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer in resource-constrained settings, where maximal setting–recommended treatments are not available.1 The guideline, designed for clinicians, policymakers, and patients, provides stratified recommendations...
FDA Approves Amivantamab-vmjw for EGFR Exon 20 Insertion–Mutated NSCLC
On March 1, the FDA approved the monoclonal bispecific anti–EGFR-MET antibody amivantamab-vmjw (Rybrevant) in combination with carboplatin and pemetrexed for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
...
Fruquintinib Plus Paclitaxel Under Study as Second-Line Treatment of Gastroesophageal Cancer
The combination of the small molecule inhibitor of VEGFR fruquintinib and the chemotherapy paclitaxel presents a potential new second-line treatment of patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, according to data presented during the ASCO Plenary Series: February...
In Resectable Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer, Perioperative Use of Tislelizumab Alone or With Chemotherapy Improved Outcomes
In patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), perioperative treatment involving the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab led to a statistically significant benefit in event-free survival and a favorable trend for overall survival, investigators for the phase III RATIONALE-315 trial...
From Fatal to Fearless: How Patients Can Take Control of Their Disease and Fear Cancer Less
In 1996, at the age of 37, Kathy Giusti was diagnosed with the incurable blood cancer multiple myeloma and told she had about 3 years to live. In the mid-1990s, effective therapies for this second most common blood cancer were nearly nonexistent. Standard of care for myeloma consisted of oral...
Kathy Giusti’s Experience With Stem Cell Transplant for Multiple Myeloma
In Kathy Giusti’s empowering and deeply personal book Fatal to Fearless: 12 Steps to Beating Cancer in a Broken Medical System (HarperCollins, 2024), she details the shock of being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, in 1996, at the age of 37. Told she had 3 years to live, the book recounts how Ms....
FDA Approves Nivolumab in Combination With Cisplatin and Gemcitabine for Unresectable or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma
On March 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
CheckMate 901
Efficacy was evaluated in...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Zanubrutinib Plus Obinutuzumab for Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma
On March 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the small-molecule BTK inhibitor zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) in combination with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after two or more lines of ...
Erdafitinib for Previously Treated Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma
On January 19, 2024, erdafitinib (Balversa) was approved for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with susceptible FGFR3 genetic alterations, as determined by a U.S. Food & Drug Administration–approved companion diagnostic test, whose disease has progressed on or...
Enfortumab Vedotin-ejfv Plus Pembrolizumab for Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Cancer
On December 15, 2023, enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev) in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was approved for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.1,2
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval was based on findings in the open-label EV-302 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov...
Promoting Cardiovascular Health in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancers
Although more than 85% of childhood cancer survivors will achieve a 5-year survival,1 that does not tell the whole tale for these individuals who move into adulthood. They are at excess risk of late mortality, even 40 years out from a cancer diagnosis, from non–cancer-related causes,1 and related...
Lifileucel for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma
On February 16, 2024, lifileucel (Amtagvi), a tumor-derived autologous T-cell immunotherapy, was granted accelerated approval for adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma previously treated with a PD-1–blocking antibody, and if BRAF V600 mutation–positive, a BRAF inhibitor with or without a...
Adjuvant Nivolumab in Stage IIB/C Melanoma
On October 13, 2023, nivolumab was approved for adjuvant treatment of completely resected stage IIB/C melanoma in patients aged 12 years and older.1
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval was based on findings in the double-blind CheckMate 76K trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04099251), in...
Integrative Approaches to Managing Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Adults With Cancer
Guest Editor’s Note: Psychological distress is highly prevalent in cancer populations throughout the disease trajectory. Integrative modalities are being increasingly used for managing the associated symptoms. In this article, Joke Bradt, PhD, MT-BC, summarizes the latest joint guideline...
A Clinical Trial for Bladder Cancer Gave Me Back My Life
About 8 years ago, I was just a few years into menopause when I noticed blood in my urine. It wasn’t accompanied by pain, frequent urination, or any other troubling symptoms, so initially I wasn’t too concerned. But when I started passing pieces of tissue, I became alarmed and made an appointment...
Romidepsin Plus CHOP in Previously Untreated Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma: Final Analysis of Ro-CHOP Trial
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Camus et al, the final analysis of the phase III Ro-CHOP trial showed no significant progression-free or overall survival benefit with the addition of romidepsin (Ro) to CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) in previously...
Stool-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening: Comparison of Fecal Immunochemical Tests
In a Dutch study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wisse et al found that a multitarget fecal immunochemical test (mtFIT) improved detection of advanced adenomas vs standard FIT in colorectal cancer screening. The mtFIT used in the study measures hemoglobin, calprotectin, and serpin family F member...
President’s Cancer Panel Report Highlights Opportunities to Accelerate Progress Toward the National Cancer Plan
A new report from the President’s Cancer Panel offers recommendations in five priority areas to accelerate progress toward implementing the National Cancer Plan and achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s Cancer Moonshot goal of ending cancer as we know it. The report, delivered to President...
