October 10, 2020 (View All Issues)
Addition of Abemaciclib to Endocrine Therapy Reduces Recurrence in Early Breast Cancer
For the first time, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) has reduced the risk of invasive disease recurrence in patients with early breast cancer when combined with standard endocrine therapy, investigators reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual...
Mobilizing for Greater Equity in Health Care Despite the Challenges of COVID-19
The lockdown phase of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and continued measures, such as social distancing, while necessary, are disrupting cancer care in ways that will have consequences for months, if not years, to come. Studies are showing that delayed or suspended cancer treatments,...
A Primary Care Physician Explores Barriers to Cancer Prevention and Clinical Trial Accrual
To accelerate progress in the survival rates of people with cancer in the United States and to reduce cancer disparities across the entire spectrum of cancer from diagnosis to survivorship, there needs to be increased access to cancer screening and prevention programs. To shed light on this...
Study Questions Role of Routine Postoperative Radiotherapy in NSCLC With Mediastinal Nodes
The Lung ART trial was designed to demonstrate whether there is any benefit to the routine use of modern mediastinal postoperative radiotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) stage IIIA N2 (ie, patients with mediastinal nodal involvement) following complete resection and neo...
Impact of Adjuvant Osimertinib on CNS Recurrence of NSCLC: ADAURA Trial
Osimertinib significantly prolonged disease-free survival compared with placebo in patients with completely resected stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the results of the large randomized phase III ADAURA trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology...
Total Neoadjuvant Therapy for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who underwent total neoadjuvant therapy, consisting of chemotherapy followed by chemoradiation prior to surgery, had improved overall survival compared with those who had single-agent neoadjuvant therapy or surgery first, according to a large cohort study...
Long-Term Outcomes With Neoadjuvant Therapy Followed by Surgery in Rectal Adenocarcinoma: Focus on Pathologic Response
For patients with rectal adenocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant therapy followed by operative resection, “achieving a pathologic complete response is associated with excellent long-term disease-free and overall survival,” according to the results of a study reported by Naomi M. Sell, MD, MHS, of...
Carfilzomib and Daratumumab With Dexamethasone for Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
On August 20, 2020, carfilzomib and daratumumab were approved for use in combination with dexamethasone for treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received one to three lines of therapy.1-3
Supporting Efficacy Data
Approval was based on findings in two clinical...
Newer Therapeutic Approaches Improving Outcomes in Hodgkin Lymphoma
At the 2020 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Virtual Conference, sponsored by Emory University School of Medicine and Winship Cancer Institute, Pamela Allen, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory, described recent trials on therapeutic approaches that are informative on this...
Immunologist Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, PhD, Receives NCI Outstanding Investigator Award
Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, PhD, Vice Chair of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Department of Immunology, has received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award to build on her discoveries related to the innate immune system, inflammation, and cell death in health and ...
Neoadjuvant Therapy for Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer
The challenge in treating patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer is how to render tumors resectable and how to achieve the negative surgical margins that enhance long-term survival odds. Fortunately, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is helping to achieve these important goals, according to...
IMpassion131: No Benefit for Atezolizumab Plus Paclitaxel in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Based on some unexpected negative results, oncologists using atezolizumab for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer should pair it with nab-paclitaxel, not paclitaxel. In contrast to the overall survival benefit shown for atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel in the previous IMpassion130...
Nivolumab Plus Chemotherapy: New Standard of Care in Advanced Gastric Cancer?
As first-line treatment for advanced gastric cancer, nivolumab plus chemotherapy leads to significantly improved progression-free and overall survival over chemotherapy alone, investigators reported during a Presidential Symposium of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress ...
Debbie’s Dream Foundation Launches New COVID-19 Resources and Support Program
Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) recently announced its new COVID-19 Resources and Support Program. The program’s primary goal is to support, educate, and protect the already vulnerable stomach cancer community during the pandemic. The new initiative will help patients with...
Addition of Nelarabine to Standard Therapy Improves Disease-Free Survival in Newly Diagnosed T-Cell ALL
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kimberly P. Dunsmore, MD, of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Carilion Clinic, Roanoke, and colleagues, the phase III Children’s Oncology Group AALL0434 trial has shown that the addition of nelarabine to standard therapy improved...
Eliminating Routine Opioids While Maintaining Pain Control for Women Undergoing Lumpectomy or Excisional Biopsy
Changing from routinely prescribing opioids for patients who were having a lumpectomy or excisional biopsy to instead routinely prescribing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs] resulted in a sharply decreased opioid prescription rate with “no difference in the proportion of patients...
Rucaparib Produces Durable Responses in Previously Treated Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wassim Abida, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase II TRITON2 trial has shown that the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor rucaparib produced durable responses in patients with previously treated...
Impact of Cytotoxic Chemotherapy Within 5 Weeks of COVID-19 Diagnosis in Patients With Cancer
In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Justin Jee, MD, PhD, of the Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), New York, and colleagues found that receipt of cytotoxic chemotherapy within 35 days of COVID-19 diagnosis in patients with...
How Anxiety, Depression, and Low Social Support Impact the Intensity of Cancer Pain
Pain is one of the most common byproducts of cancer and its treatment. Tumors, surgery, intravenous chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, supportive care therapies (such as bisphosphonates), and diagnostic procedures can all cause pain in patients and may contribute to symptoms of...
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to Establish Benderson Family Program for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has received a $5 million gift from the Benderson Family of Sarasota, Florida, that will accelerate research in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and strengthen Dana-Farber’s capabilities for treating this disease. The gift establishes the Benderson Family Program...
A Leader in Drug Development, Patricia Keegan, MD, Reflects on Making a Difference in Cancer Care
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Patricia Keegan, MD, who served at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 30 years, most recently as Acting Associate Director of Medical Policy at the Oncology Center for Excellence (OCE)....
Pralsetinib for NSCLC With RET Gene Fusions
On September 4, 2020, pralsetinib (Gavreto) was granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of adults with metastatic RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as detected by an FDA-approved test.1,2 The FDA simultaneously approved the...
Trends to Watch in Early-Onset Cancer Among Young Adults
Although cancer incidence and mortality rates for all cancers combined are considerably lower in younger adults than older adults, a disturbing pattern is beginning to emerge in the development of early-onset cancers, typically diagnosed in older patients, occurring in younger adults. The rising...
Addition of Veliparib to Carboplatin/Paclitaxel in BRCA-Mutated Advanced Breast Cancer
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Véronique Diéras, MD, of the Institut Curie, Paris, and Centre Eugène Marquis, Rennes, and colleagues, the phase III BROCADE3 trial has shown a significant improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)...
Surgical Oncologist Diane M. Simeone, MD, Strives to Improve Outcomes for Patients With Pancreatic Cancer
Despite decades of research and clinical advances, the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer remain formidable challenges. Recently, enormous efforts have been made to develop new methods for the early diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer, such as those led by Diane M. Simeone, MD, a ...
Dana-Farber Opens Clinical Trial to Evaluate Simple Blood Test for Many Types of Cancer
Recent advances such as immune, cellular, and targeted therapies have provided new and effective means to treat a variety of cancers. Despite this considerable progress, cancer caught in its earliest stages remains the most curable. That is why Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is opening a new clinical ...
Red Flag Presentations of Immunoglobulin Light Chain Amyloidosis in Patients With Multiple Myeloma
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that occasionally quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, the authors highlight the most common type of systemic amyloidosis in the United States: immunoglobulin light chain [or amyloid light...
Cancer Centers Nationwide Join to Address the Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Prevention and Treatment
A consortium of 17 cancer centers in the United States, including the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), have come together to better understand the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in delaying cancer detection, care, and prevention. The cancer ...
AACR Releases 10th Edition of Annual Cancer Progress Report
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has released the 10th edition of its annual Cancer Progress Report. The report highlights how cancer research, largely supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is...
Retrospective Analysis From the BIG 2-98 Trial of Adjuvant Docetaxel-Based Chemotherapy for Early Breast Cancer
A retrospective analysis from the BIG 2-98 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Christine Desmedt, PhD, of the Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Belgium, and colleagues showed poorer disease-free and overall survival with...
Astragalus
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Yen Nien Hou, PharmD, DipIOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on the ...
Dana-Farber Researcher Receives Victoria Mock New Investigator Award
Robert Knoerl, PhD, RN, Instructor in Medicine and Nurse-Scientist at the Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has been awarded the 2020 Oncology Nursing Society’s Victoria Mock New Investigator Award. This prestigious award...
Cancer in Older Adults: The History of Geriatric Oncology, 1980–2015
The development of geriatric oncology has been slow but progressive. Thanks to the effort of investigators throughout the world, embattled but undeterred by the objection of a cautious establishment, geriatric oncology has provided a blueprint for the treatment of cancer in the population of...
Cancer in Older Adults: The History of Geriatric Oncology, 1980–2015, Part 1
In this first installment of our history of geriatric oncology, we outline what we consider the most relevant steps in the prehistory and past history of geriatric oncology. In a future issue of The ASCO Post, we will explore the contemporary history of the field.
The Prehistory of Geriatric...
An MSK Hospitalist Looks at Oncologists’ Attitudes About Inpatient Cancer Care
Each year in the United States, about five million adults with cancer are admitted to hospitals. Given our aging population, this trend will increase, putting added stress on the oncology community, which is already dealing with an impending workforce shortage. Although physician extenders, such...
A Leading Light in Cancer Advances, Mary Lasker Used Wealth and Connections to Increase Funding for Medical Research
Born in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1900, Mary Woodard Lasker was introduced to the ravages of cancer when she was just 3 or 4 years old and went with her mother to visit the family’s laundress, Mrs. Belter, who had just undergone surgery for breast cancer. On the way over to Mrs. Belter’s home, Ms. ...
Managing Breast Cancer in a Pregnant Patient
“One of the most challenging oncologic situations is the diagnosis of breast cancer in a young pregnant patient,” Jacqueline Jeruss, MD, PhD, Associate Dean, Regulatory Affairs; Director of the Breast Care Center; and Professor of Surgery, Pathology, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of...
Chemistry of Caring: Timeless Lessons From Oncology Fellowship
As a high school student growing up in St Petersburg, Russia, I was so obsessed with chemistry that I begged my professor for extra problems to complete after school. When I rode the bus home on cold winter evenings, I traced chemical reactions with my finger in the frost on the window. By the...
Deirdre J. Cohen, MD, MS, Appointed Director of Mount Sinai Health System’s GI Oncology Program
Deirdre J. Cohen, MD, MS, an expert in pancreatic and other gastrointestinal cancers as well as an accomplished clinical trial leader, has joined Mount Sinai Health System as Director of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Program and Medical Director of the Cancer Clinical Trials Office at The...
Wesley Family Donates $10 Million to Seidman Cancer Center
In honor of a transformational $10 million gift from Kimberly and Joseph Wesley, University Hospitals is establishing the Wesley Center for Immunotherapy at University Hospitals (UH) Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland. This gift will further enable physician-scientists to engage in groundbreaking...
City of Hope Scientists Explore Combination Immunotherapy for Solid Tumors
City of Hope scientists have combined two immunotherapies—an oncolytic virus and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy—to target solid tumors that are otherwise difficult to treat with CAR T-cell therapy alone, according to a recent study in Science Translational Medicine.1
In preclinical ...
A Young Oncologist Cares for Patients With Cancer Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the face of U.S. health-care services in such rapid fashion that many providers were caught off guard, learning and preparing on the fly. Patients with cancer, given their multiple physical and emotional challenges, were especially vulnerable. To get a sense of the...
Cedars-Sinai Announces Addition of New Researchers, Physicians to Faculty
In a news release issued earlier this month, Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, Director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, welcomed several new researchers and physicians to the faculty of the institution. “I am very grateful to the institutional leadership that our efforts to expand the breadth ...
Ending Systemic Racism in Oncology Is Everyone’s Responsibility
Five years ago, as Rachel B. Issaka, MD, MAS, was beginning her second year as a gastroenterology fellow and feeling proud of the progress she was making in her training, she was suddenly confronted with an all-too-familiar slight that underrepresented minority providers may often experience. As...
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Names Ruth O’Regan, MD, Chair, Department of Medicine
Ruth O’Regan, MD, Chief of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care at the University of Wisconsin, has been named the next Charles A. Dewey Professor and Chair of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s (URMC) School of Medicine and Dentistry, pending approval by the...
Neck Tumor
The text and photographs here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Anesthesia Era 1845–1875 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns...
Study Finds Racial Disparities in Management of Colorectal Cancer Spreading to the Liver
Colorectal cancer is more prevalent among Black people, a group with the highest rates of death for an illness that is curable if caught early. “The unfortunate reality is that minorities, especially Black people, have a much lower chance of getting life-saving cancer treatment. Health care works...
2020 Class of Giants of Cancer Care Announced
The Eighth Annual Giants of Cancer Care class of inductees was recently announced by OncLive, a multimedia resource focused on providing oncology professionals with relevant information on patient care. The virtual awards ceremony will be held on November 5 at 7.30 PM EST and will be available...
City of Hope Hires Stephen Gruber, MD, PhD, MPH, to Head Its Center for Precision Medicine
Cancer geneticist Stephen Gruber, MD, PhD, MPH, has joined City of Hope as Director of its newly founded Center for Precision Medicine. He will lead a team of more than 14 researchers who will work across the institution to pioneer personalized cancer prevention and treatment plans.
As a medical ...
My Inherited Condition Has Led to a Life and Career I Love
My father died of thymic cancer when I was 14, and that’s when I decided to become an oncologist. Ironically, the first patient I diagnosed with cancer was me. In 2009, during my first week of training in hematology/oncology at the Mayo Clinic, I began having severe abdominal pain, which had...
LUNGevity Foundation Recognizes Recipients of 2020 Career Development Awards
LUNGevity Foundation, a nonprofit organization, recently announced three recipients of its 2020 Career Development Awards for lung cancer research. These awards were presented to Kathyrn Arbour, MD, Assistant Attending at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Carl Gay, MD, PhD, of The University...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy After Pancreatic Cancer Resection and Neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX: Improvement in Overall Survival?
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, van Roessel et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy after pancreatic cancer resection and neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) was associated with an improvement in overall survival. The benefit was...
First-Line PD-1 Inhibitor With or Without Chemotherapy vs Chemotherapy Alone in Advanced Gastric Cancer: KEYNOTE-062
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Kohei Shitara, MD, and colleagues, the phase III KEYNOTE-062 trial showed no significant improvement in overall or progression-free survival with first-line pembrolizumab with or without chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in patients with PD-L1–positive advanced...
Surgery With or Without Preoperative Radiotherapy for Primary Retroperitoneal Sarcoma
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Bonvalot et al, the phase III EORTC-62092 (STRASS) trial showed that the addition of preoperative radiotherapy to surgery did not improve abdominal recurrence–free survival in patients with primary retroperitoneal sarcoma.
Study Details
In the open-label...
$111 Million NIH Grant Awarded to Prevent and Treat HIV-Associated Cancers
The widespread use of antiretroviral therapy to suppress the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has helped tens of millions of people with HIV live healthier, longer lives—but an unfortunate consequence of people living longer with HIV is an increased risk of cancer. For 25 years, the AIDS...
Art of Oncology: On the Page and in a Podcast, Personal Reflections From Oncologists Are a Fitting Companion Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
The well-loved Art of Oncology section of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and its pioneering podcast are both resonating as never before, as cancer specialists are prompted into deeper reflections about the poignant moments that give life meaning by the COVID-19 pandemic.
JCO’s Art of...
Conquer Cancer Offers New Research Grants Targeting Diversity in Research, Underserved Patients
The oncology workforce struggles with adequate representation of racial and ethnic minorities, with only 2.3% of practicing oncologists self-identifying as Black or African American and 5.8% of practicing oncologists self-identifying as Hispanic.1
Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation® is offering a ...
Bolder, More Aggressive Steps Needed to Achieve Cancer Care Equity
ASCO called for new actions to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes affecting racial and ethnic minorities, rural populations, sexual and gender minorities, people without insurance, and other disadvantaged populations. In a policy statement published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO),...
Conquer Cancer Announces 2020 Quality Care Symposium Merit Awards
Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation® is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2020
Quality Care Symposium Merit Awards.
These distinguished awards recognize oncology fellows and trainees who are first authors on top-ranking abstracts selected for presentation at the virtual ASCO Quality...
Unique Patient Identifiers Could Help Streamline Nation’s Health Information Technology Infrastructure
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently submitted comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in response to its request for comments on improving patient identification and matching in the nation’s health information technology...
Tell Your Patients About ASCO’s Oncologist-Approved Patient Information Website
ASCO believes that the best cancer care starts with the best cancer information. Its patient education website, Cancer.Net, gives patients and caregivers expertise and resources from ASCO in plain, easy-to-understand language so that they may make informed health-care decisions. Refer your patients ...
