November 25, 2022 (View All Issues)
First-Line Maintenance Therapy With Olaparib Improved Outcomes in BRCA-Mutated, HRD-Positive Advanced Ovarian Cancer
First-line maintenance therapy with olaparib extended survival beyond historical expectations in some women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer, according to long-term follow-up of two phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022.1,2...
How ASCO Is Helping Members Navigate the Cancer Care Terrain for Pregnant Patients Since the Reversal of Roe v Wade
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion and returning the power to regulate reproductive health for women to the states, ASCO, the American Cancer Society Action...
The NordICC Trial: The Devil Is in the Details
Colorectal cancer ranks third among cancer deaths in both men and women in the United States, with an estimated 150,000 new cases and 52,000 deaths anticipated in 2022.1 Colorectal cancer rates have declined by approximately 2% per year from 2014 to 2018 in people older than age 50, which is...
Short Course of Radiotherapy With Concurrent Radiation Boost for High-Risk, Early-Stage Breast Cancer
A 3-week course of radiation therapy including a concomitant boost of radiation to the surgical site appears to be as safe and effective as 4 to 6 weeks of radiation therapy given with a sequential boost of radiation for patients with early-stage breast cancer who have a high risk of recurrence....
PALLAS Trial: No Benefit Reported for Adjuvant Palbociclib in Stage IIA Hormone Receptor–Positive, HER2-Negative Breast Cancer
In a preplanned analysis of the stage IIA cohort of the PALLAS trial, the addition of adjuvant palbociclib to standard endocrine therapy did not improve outcomes over endocrine therapy alone. This finding suggests this agent provides no benefit in reducing the risk of early relapse in patients with ...
Trastuzumab Deruxtecan for Advanced HER2-Low Breast Cancer
On August 5, 2022, fam-trastuzumab deruxte-can-nxki was approved for patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-low (immunohistochemistry [IHC] 1+ or IHC 2+/in situ hybridization–negative) breast cancer who have received prior chemotherapy in the metastatic setting or developed disease...
New Leadership Elected to the American Society of Hematology
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recently announced the election of four new members to its Executive Committee for terms beginning after the 2022 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in December in New Orleans.
Belinda R. Avalos, MD, will serve a 1-year term as Vice President,...
Building a New Normal: Symptom Self-Management Intervention May Benefit Cancer Survivors
An easy-to-deploy, automated self-management intervention may prove to be of benefit in supporting competence and symptom management among cancer survivors, according to data presented during the 2022 ASCO Quality Care Symposium.1
Analysis of the randomized controlled trial found that 12 months...
Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia: Treatment and Prognosis, Part 1
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Syed Ali Abutalib and Mrinal M. Patnaik explore the current treatment and prognosis of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. For each quiz question...
Longer-Term Follow-up From ADAURA Supports Adjuvant Osimertinib as Standard of Care for EGFR-Mutated Stage IB to IIIA NSCLC
With longer-term follow-up, adjuvant treatment with osimertinib led to a 77% reduction in the risk of disease recurrence or death following complete resection vs placebo-treated patients with EGFR-mutated, stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Disease-free survival was improved...
ASCO Publishes Rapid Guideline Update on PARP Inhibitors in Ovarian Cancer
An ASCO guideline rapid update is revising guidance for the use of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor therapy for the management of ovarian cancer to include updated considerations for the use of several different PARP inhibitor therapies based on recent phase III clinical trial data.1...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Teclistamab-cqyv for Resistant Myeloma
On October 25, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to teclistamab-cqyv (Tecvayli), the first bispecific B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CD3 T-cell engager, for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four...
Before Becoming a Leader in Multiple Myeloma Research, Sarah A. Holstein, MD, PhD, Considered a Career in Music
Myeloma expert Sarah A. Holstein, MD, PhD, was born and reared in Iowa City, a college town in eastern Iowa along the banks of the Iowa River. “The town itself is small, but it doubles in population when all the college students are present. Both my parents had a PhD in humanities, so I had no...
Effect of Invitation to Colonoscopy Screening on Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Risk of Mortality: The NordICC Trial
In a pragmatic trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Bretthauer et al, on behalf of the Nordic-European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer (NordICC) Study Group, found a reduced risk of colorectal cancer diagnosis but no significant reduction in disease-specific mortality among...
C.S. Pramesh, MS, FRCS, Seeks to Bring Equity to India’s Sprawling Cancer Care System
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with C.S. Pramesh, MS, FRCS, Director of the Tata Memorial Hospital and Professor and Head of Thoracic Surgery at the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India. Dr. Pramesh is the Convener of the...
Annual Report to the Nation: Cancer Deaths Continue Downward Trend
OVERALL CANCER death rates continued to decline among men, women, children, and adolescents/young adults in every major racial and ethnic group in the United States from 2015 to 2019, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer.1 From 2014 to 2018, the overall cancer ...
Pharmacology Researcher James Turkson, PhD, to Become Director for Diversity, Inclusion, and Strategy at Cedars-Sinai
JAMES TURKSON, PhD, Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology in the Department of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, is uniquely positioned for a new role developed at Cedars-Sinai Cancer: Director for Diversity, Inclusion, and Strategy. “I have great confidence that Dr. Turkson will provide superb...
Report on Brain Cancer: Crisis in the Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Community
A RECENT REPORT published in Neuro-Oncology1 exposes an alarming reality for children, adolescents, and families facing pediatric brain cancer across the country. The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) funded this groundbreaking report by the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States...
A Laryngectomy Altered How I See Myself in the World
There is a 2-decades-long separation between the time I was diagnosed with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in 1996 and my laryngectomy in 2016. The surgery was necessary because of the long-term damage to my larynx from the radiation therapy I received.
In 1996, I had a low-grade sore throat ...
Breast Cancer Advocate and Chief of Surgical Oncology at Howard University, Lori Wilson, MD, FACS, Dies
Lori Wilson, MD, FACS, was the first woman to hold the surgical oncology division chief position at Howard University Hospital and the first woman to be promoted to full professor in surgery at Howard University College of Medicine. Known as a fierce advocate for patients with cancer in underserved ...
