October 25, 2015 (View All Issues)
Nivolumab Produces Survival Benefit in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
Patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab (Opdivo) were 27% less likely to die than those receiving everolimus (Afinitor), in a planned interim analysis of the open-label phase III CheckMate 025 trial.1 These positive results prompted an early termination of the study by...
Discussing Financial Toxicity With Patients Who Have Cancer
Patient: “Doc, how much are these drugs going to cost me?”
Physician: “They are expensive, and you can see our financial counselor to help you understand the costs.”
Cancer care is not a black-and-white endeavor, and costs are considered a distasteful subject to be passed over in tactful...
Ovarian Suppression During Chemotherapy Preserves Fertility in Young Women With Breast Cancer
Several studies have addressed the risks and benefits of ovarian suppression during chemotherapy for breast cancer in women of childbearing age. A new meta-analysis of randomized trials found that it prevented premature ovarian failure and was associated with a higher number of pregnancies post...
Phase III METEOR Trial Finds Cabozantinib Improves Progression-Free Survival vs Everolimus in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
Cabozantinib (Cometriq) nearly doubled progression-free survival compared with standard everolimus (Afinitor) therapy in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, according to the phase III METEOR trial.1 Additionally, a preplanned interim analysis found an encouraging trend toward overall...
Atezolizumab Makes Inroads in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
The anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death-ligand 1) antibody atezolizumab (formerly known as MPDL3280A) achieved encouraging outcomes in patients with non–small lung cancer (NSCLC) in two different trials: POPLAR1 and BIRCH.2 PD-L1 has emerged as a predictive biomarker for atezolizumab response in both ...
Chemotherapy/Radiotherapy Safe in Second and Third Trimesters of Pregnancy
Children with in utero exposure to chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy during maternal treatment for cancer had no impairment in cognition, cardiac function, and general early childhood development, according to a study reported at the European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria, and published...
Treatment Options Expanding for Neuroendocrine Tumors
Patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors have two promising new treatment options, according to studies that earned spots in the Presidential Session of the 2015 European Cancer Congress, held recently in Vienna, Austria.
The phase III studies evaluated the mTOR inhibitor everolimus (Afinitor) ...
TAILORx: Chemotherapy Not Necessary for Women With a Low Recurrence Score
The long-awaited first results are in from the TAILORx study, showing that patients with early breast cancer considered at low risk for recurrence can forgo chemotherapy and be treated with endocrine therapy alone.1
“Women with axillary node-negative, estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative...
Aromatase Inhibitors May Decrease Risk of Contralateral Breast Cancer in BRCA Mutation–Positive Patients
Given that BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers have an estimated 40% to 85% lifetime risk of breast cancer and an increased risk of developing contralateral breast cancer, risk reduction in this population remains essential. According to a study presented at the 2015 Breast Cancer Symposium, use of...
MRI Improves Breast Cancer Detection in Women at Average Risk
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening of women at average risk for breast cancer achieved a mean additional cancer yield of 15.8 cases per 1,000 women, greatly surpassing yields for supplemental digital breast tomosynthesis (1.25 per 1,000) or supplemental ultrasound (4.1 per 1,000). The...
Smoking Cessation Reduces Mortality in Lung Cancer Screening Population
Data from an analysis of lung cancer screening programs in Italy add further evidence that smoking cessation reduces mortality. Heavy smokers screened by low-dose computed tomography (CT) who stopped smoking before or during the screening period had a three- to fivefold reduction in mortality...
Delays in Drug Approval Are Deadly, Highlighting the Need for Improved Regulatory Efficiency
Researchers have determined just how many lives are lost when effective investigational drugs are not approved in a timely manner. These delays in the process of anticancer drug approvals result in thousands of premature deaths each year, according to an analysis presented at the 16th World...
Important Research in the Palliative Care of Patients With Cancer
The emphasis at this year’s Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium, held earlier this month in Boston, was on patient-centered care throughout the cancer continuum. The meeting attracted more than 650 attendees and included six general sessions featuring best practices in communication,...
Philip A. Salem, MD, Awarded the FOEDUS Supreme Medal of Excellence
FOEDUS, the Italian Foundation of Culture and Science, awarded the Supreme Medal of Excellence to oncologist Philip A. Salem, MD, Director Emeritus of Cancer Research at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston and President of the Salem Oncology Center at the Texas Medical Center.
The...
Journal of Clinical Oncology’s Fall Special Series, Journal of Global Oncology’s Inaugural Issue
This fall, the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) presented two special series: “Pediatric Cancer—Progress Through Collaboration” and “Head and Neck Cancer: Recent Advances, Changing Epidemiology, and Future Directions.”
The Pediatric Special Series highlighted collaborative efforts that have...
Community Research Forum Holds 2015 Annual Meeting, Explores Developments and Strategies in Conducting Clinical Research
ASCO’s Community Research Forum (CRF) held its 2015 Annual Meeting September 20–21 at ASCO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Over 75 physician investigators, program directors, and research staff attended the meeting, representing a wide range of community-based practices and research sites...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Grants and Awards: Funding Opportunities Now Available
The Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (CCF) is fueling cancer research and pursuing dramatic advances in the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of all types of cancer. CCF’s Grants and Awards program supports clinical and translational cancer...
New: ASCO Answers Fact Sheet for Patients on Blood Test Results
Check out the latest ASCO Answers fact sheet on understanding blood test results. This one-page guide has information on complete blood count, white blood cell count, white blood cell differential, red blood cell count, platelet count, terms to know, and questions to ask the doctor. Download a...
Be a Voice in The Campaign to Conquer Cancer
We’ll provide the resources. You provide the voice. The Campaign to Conquer Cancer is raising $150 million to support a world free from the fear of cancer. Our potential to raise money increases with every new person who learns about our work. We need the most trusted leaders in the oncology...
Alternative Therapies: Knowledge Is Power, but Consider the Source
The use of dietary supplements and other complementary and “alternative” therapies by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 20 years despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about complementary therapies can be...
Many Patients Do Not Accurately Recall Important Colonoscopy Details as Time Lapses
As time lapses, many patients who have undergone a colonoscopy become less and less likely to recall when and where they last had the procedure performed, who the doctor was who performed it, whether polyps were found, and, if so, the number and size of those polyps, according to new study results...
Inconsistent Federal Regulations Undercut U.S. Research Productivity, National Academies’ Report Finds
Ask any U.S. academic investigator whether research is hindered by duplicative or confusing federal regulations, and the answer is usually a resounding “Yes.” Now comes a report written by representatives of research administrators, former federal government officials, and principal...
Endocrine Therapy Alone Linked to Low Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence in Women With a Low-Risk Score on 21-Gene Assay
A prospective validation study of a 21-gene expression assay showed that treatment with endocrine therapy alone in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who had a low recurrence risk score resulted in low risk of recurrence. All patients included in the study were...
Nivolumab and Cabozantinib Improve Outcomes vs Everolimus in Previously Treated Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
The CheckMate 025 trial, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robert J. Motzer, MD, and colleagues, showed that treatment with the programmed cell death protein (PD-1) checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) increased overall survival vs the mTOR inhibitor everolimus (Afinitor) in...
UNC-Chapel Hill Researchers Awarded $11.3 Million for Four Cancer Nanotechnology Projects
University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill researchers received an $11.3 million, 5-year grant to conduct multiple studies exploring the use of tiny nanoparticles to create cancer vaccines and improve cancer drug delivery and responses.
The grant is the third in a series of awards that the...
UPCI Wins $10.9 Million Grant Renewal for Head and Neck Cancer Research
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have received renewal of their head and neck cancer research through the National Cancer Institute’s competitive Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) program. The 5-year, $10.9 million grant includes a new project to study...
UCSF Receives $5 Million NCI Grant to Integrate Data From Cancer Research Models
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has received a National Cancer Institute grant of $5 million over the next 5 years to lead a massive effort to integrate the data from all experimental models across all types of cancer. The Web-based repository is an important step in moving the...
Children’s Healthcare, Emory Name Douglas Graham, MD, PhD, Director of Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University has announced that William G. Woods, MD, has stepped down as Director of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Chief of Hematology/Oncology/BMT in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University....
CancerCare® Welcomes Christine Verini, RPh, as Chief Business Development Officer
CancerCare®, a national nonprofit organization providing free, professional support services to anyone affected by cancer, is pleased to welcome Chief Business Development Officer Christine Verini, RPh.
In her role, Ms. Verini will serve as a key member of CancerCare’s Executive Leadership Team,...
Maternal Cancer During Pregnancy Does Not Appear to Affect Cognitive or General Development in Early Childhood
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Frederic Amant, MD, PhD, of University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, and colleagues in the International Network on Cancer, Infertility, and Pregnancy found that cancer diagnosed during pregnancy did not appear to affect cognitive, cardiac,...
Nivolumab in Combination With Ipilimumab in BRAF V600 Wild-Type Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma
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 September 30, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
Three Young Investigators Named Winners of 2015 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has named three investigators as recipients of this year’s Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research. The award recognizes promising investigators aged 45 or younger for their efforts in advancing cancer research.
The winners are Bradley E. Bernstein, MD, ...
FDA Approves Use of Nivolumab in Metastatic Nonsquamous Lung Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that that blocks the PD-1/PD-L1...
FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation to Bivalent Vaccine for Neuroblastoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to MabVax Therapeutics’ vaccine for the treatment of relapsed or recurrent high-risk neuroblastoma in remission or with limited residual disease after best available treatment. The bivalent vaccine is intended to elicit ...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Pembrolizumab for Advanced NSCLC
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to treat patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has progressed after other treatments and with tumors that express programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)....
Pembrolizumab in Previously Treated PD-L1–Positive Metastatic NSCLC
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 October 2, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
Addition of Necitumumab to First-Line Gemcitabine/Cisplatin Improves Overall Survival in Stage IV Squamous NSCLC
In the phase III SQUIRE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Nick Thatcher, PhD, FRCP, of The Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Manchester, UK, and colleagues found that the addition of the second-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody necitumumab to first-line...
FDA Approves Expanded Indication for Medical Device to Treat Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Multiforme
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an expanded indication for the Optune tumor-treating fields device to treat patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme. It is given along with the chemotherapy drug temozolomide following standard treatments that include surgery,...
Anti-EGFR Therapy in Squamous Cell Lung Carcinoma: Swimming With or Against the Tide?
Lung cancer is the most common, lethal, and costly cancer worldwide, accounting for at least 1.8 million new cases per year (12.9% of the total).1 Over the past decade, there has been a major shift in the treatment of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially in adenocarcinoma, accompanied by...
Addition of Bevacizumab to Standard Chemotherapy Improves Overall Survival Only in High-Risk Ovarian Cancer
Final overall survival results of the phase III ICON7 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Amit M. Oza, MD, and colleagues indicate no significant improvement with the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard chemotherapy in women with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer.1 However, an overall...
Bevacizumab in Ovarian Cancer: Results of ICON7
Based on preclinical (in vitro and in vivo) data, there is a strong biologic rationale for the addition of an antiangiogenic drug strategy in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer.1 Single-agent trials have confirmed both the biologic and clinical activity of bevacizumab (Avastin) in the...
Alexander Eggermont, MD, PhD, to Lead Gustave Roussy for 5 More Years
Alexander Eggermont, MD, PhD, the General Director of Gustave Roussy since 2010, has had his appointment at the Head of the Institute renewed by the French Minister of Health for 5 years, with this term beginning October 1, 2015.
Success of 2010–2015 Period
The 2010–2015 period was primarily one...
California Agency Invests $20 Million in Clinical Trial for Glioblastoma Vaccine
California’s Stem Cell Agency (CIRM) has awarded $19.9 million to ImmunoCellular Therapeutics to carry out a phase III clinical trial in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma using an immunotherapeutic vaccine.
“This kind of deadly disease is precisely why we created CIRM 2.0, our new...
Cancer Researchers Receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 recipients were recently announced. They are Tomas Lindahl, PhD, Paul Modrich, PhD, and Aziz Sancar, PhD, for having mapped, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information. Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of...
Michael Reney, MBA, Named CFO at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has named Michael Reney, MBA, its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), where he will be responsible for all financial operations, including accounts payable, financial planning and reporting, payroll, capital asset management, tax, and general and patient accounting.
...
Trifluridine/Tipiracil in Previously Treated Metastatic Colorectal 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 September 22, 2015, trifluridine/tipiracil (Lonsurf) was...
Glimpses of the Human Condition Through Lively, Medically Themed Short Stories
Bookmark
Title: A View From the Inside: A Collection of Medically Oriented Short Stories
Author: Augustine L. Perrotta, DO
Publisher: Keith Publications, LLC
Publication date: March 31, 2015
Price: $14.95, paperback; 246 pages
The field of medicine, ripe with dramatic tension, offers an endless array ...
Pain, Still Undertreated and Misunderstood
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Title: A Nation in Pain: Healing Our Biggest Health Problem
Author: Judy Foreman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: May 1, 2015
Price: $19.95, paperback; 464 pages
The subject of pain has been written about extensively, from the intriguing sociopolitical history of opium...
A Neurologist’s Life: Oliver Sacks, MD
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Title: On the Move: A Life
Author: Oliver Sacks, MD
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date: April 28, 2015
Price: $27.95, hardcover; 416 pages
Our ability to detect cancer has grown markedly over the past several decades, with the advent of more sensitive screening methods, new...
Confessions of a Neurosurgeon
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Title: Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery
Author: Henry Marsh, CBE, FRCS
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Publication date: May 26, 2015
Price: $25.99, hardcover; 288 pages
“I often have to cut into the brain and it is something I hate doing. With a pair of diathermy forceps ...
Early Research of David G. Nathan, MD, Ushered in the Field of Pediatric Hematology
When David G. Nathan, MD, was admitted to Harvard University in 1947, he had every intention of becoming an English professor. It was only his lack of writing talent that dissuaded him from a life in the classroom and propelled him into a medical career that has spanned more than 5 decades and has...
$12 Million Multi-institutional SPORE Grant to Focus on Mutations in the NF1 Gene
A new, multi-institution research endeavor brings together scientists from nine leading institutions to find treatments for a group of rare cancers, all caused by a particular gene mutation.
The researchers won a 5-year, $12 million grant through the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) competitive ...
2015 Oncology Meetings
OCTOBER
Modern Management of Urologic Cancers:
A Multidisciplinary Approach (Memorial Sloan Kettering)
October 29-31 • New York, New York
For more information:
http://www.themerzgroup.com/mskcc/mskcc-urologic-conference/
Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium
October 29-November 1 • Chicago,...
Questions: Primary Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of the Central Nervous System
Hematology Expert Review is an occasional feature that includes a case report followed by questions,
answers, and expert commentary. In this issue of The ASCO Post, Drs. Abutalib and Lukas present part 1 of a case report on primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Part 2 will be published in an...
A Snapshot of Early Immunotherapy
Over the past several years, immunotherapy has had a renaissance of sorts, emerging as one of the most active areas in cancer research. For instance, we have seen the therapeutic promise of disrupting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) immune checkpoints in cancer,...
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Breast Cancer
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with breast cancer. The trials are investigating cancer risk based on breast density; novel imaging techniques; fasting and chemotherapy; radiosurgery; lymph node...
American Cancer Society Awards 2015 Medals of Honor
The American Cancer Society has bestowed its highest honor on four individuals and one foundation during the Society’s 2015 Medal of Honor ceremony and celebration dinner in Washington, DC. The Medal of Honor is awarded to those who have made the most valuable contributions and impact in the fight...
The Race of My Life
I've lived my adult life by three guiding principles I learned as an adventure racer: to set goals, to determine how to achieve them, and to persevere in the face of adversity. Those standards helped me complete more than 70 marathons and 7 Ironman competitions, and they helped me conquer breast...
Important Caveats to Consider Concerning Low-Dose Daily Aspirin for the Primary Prevention of Colorectal Cancer
The use of low-dose aspirin by most adults aged 50 to 59 for the primary prevention of colorectal cancer is now included in the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated draft recommendation statement, “Aspirin to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer.”1 The release of the statement...
UC Davis Granted $15.5 Million to Build World’s First Total-Body PET Scanner
A University of California, Davis research team has been awarded $15.5 million to build the world’s first total-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, which could fundamentally change the way cancers are tracked and treated.
The Transformative Research Award, part of the National...
Patients Whose Treatment Included Bevacizumab Were More Likely to Experience Toxicity but Less Likely to Be Hospitalized
A study among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel or carboplatin-paclitaxel-bevacizumab (Avastin) found that those receiving the triplet were more likely to experience a toxicity event but less likely to be hospitalized within 180 days after ...
Patient Characteristics Differ in Some Clinical Trials From Real-World Population
Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in real-world clinical practice tend to be older and sicker than the patients enrolled in pivotal clinical trials of these agents. In addition, patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with the mTOR...
What Do You Say When She Is No Longer Living With Cancer?
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
Mayo Clinic Receives Federal Grant to Fund Clinical Test of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Vaccine
Researchers on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus have been awarded a $13.3 million, 5-year federal grant to test a vaccine designed to prevent the recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer. This Breakthrough Award from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Program will fund a...
Noted Integrative Oncology Specialist Mitchell L. Gaynor, MD, Dies at 59
Integrative oncology had a long road to acceptance by the mainstream medical community; the field is now widely accepted for its healthful benefits, especially in assuaging the more troublesome side effects of cancer treatments. Many well-known oncologists have adapted integrative oncology into...
Joann B. Sweasy, PhD, Named Associate Director for Basic Sciences at Yale Cancer Center
Joann B. Sweasy, PhD, has been named Associate Director for Basic Sciences for Yale Cancer Center. In this role, Dr. Sweasy will be a member of Yale Cancer Center’s senior leadership team, and will help enhance the cancer research environment for scientists engaged in fundamental cancer research...
Constantinos G. Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, Joins Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Tisch Cancer Institute
Renowned surgical neuro-oncologist Constantinos (Costas) G. Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, has been named Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. He has also been appointed as Director of Neurosurgical Oncology for the Mount Sinai Health System and Director of the ...
Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD, Joins the Lurie Cancer Center
Edward (Ted) M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized physician-scientist with expertise in urologic oncology, will join the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. Dr. Schaeffer has been named Chair of the Department of Urology at the Feinberg School of...
