October 25, 2024 (View All Issues)
ADRIATIC Trial: Durvalumab Consolidation Extends Survival in Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer
Consolidation therapy with the PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab is set to become the new global standard of care for patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to groundbreaking data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024.1...
AACR Cancer Progress Report Features Breakthroughs in Cancer Science and Persistent Inequities in Care
The AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024, released on September 18, showcases the extraordinary progress being made against cancer. The report highlights continuing reductions in mortality, which has fallen by 33% between 1991 and 2021, translating into more than 4 million deaths averted from cancer,...
Three Days Was Enough
My dad agreed to receive hospice on a technicality. It happened after weeks of trying to get him home oxygen. My brother drove him to the oncologist’s office, and I helped him get into the wheelchair. He did not complain, but just asked me to hold his coffee mug, smiling because I snuck him a...
KEYNOTE-811: Pembrolizumab Combination in First-Line Setting Improves Overall Survival in Gastric Cancer
In the final per-protocol analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-811 trial, an overall survival benefit was shown by adding the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab to trastuzumab and chemotherapy in treatment-naive, unresectable, HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.1
...
NO-CUT Trial: Nonoperative Management of Benefit for Many Patients With Rectal Cancer
Total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) followed by rectal surgery is the standard of care in proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) locally advanced rectal cancer, but studies are finding that patients with clinical complete response may often avoid surgery and be followed “nonoperatively.” In the first...
Overall Survival Analysis Confirms Pembrolizumab Regimen as Standard of Care for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
For women with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, KEYNOTE-522 changed the treatment paradigm several years ago. Support for neoadjuvant use of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab, was bolstered by the positive overall survival analysis...
PEACE-3: Enzalutamide Plus Radium-223 Significantly Improves Survival in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Initial analysis from the PEACE-3 trial suggests that the addition of radium-223 dichloride to enzalutamide could offer a promising new first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to data presented by lead study author, Silke Gillessen, ...
LEAP-012: Combination of Therapies Extends Progression-Free Survival in Intermediate-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma
The combination of the VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared with TACE alone, according to...
Osimertinib Plus Savolitinib: Responses Reported in First-Line Treatment of MET-Aberrant, EGFR-Mutant NSCLC
The combination of the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib and the MET inhibitor savolitinib has demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements compared with osimertinib alone as a first-line treatment of patients with de novo MET-aberrant, EGFR-mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer...
New Hope for Patients With HER2-Mutant NSCLC: Durable Responses to Two Novel Targeted Therapies
Two novel oral HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors have demonstrated promising efficacy in patients with HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), potentially transforming the treatment landscape for this rare but challenging subset of lung cancer cases. According to data presented at the...
CABINET Trial Supports Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor for Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Chan et al, the multicenter phase III CABINET trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with the multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib vs a placebo in previously treated patients with progressive, advanced ...
Cancer Deaths of 5.5 Million Men Worldwide Have Led to 1.41 Million New Paternal Orphans
A preliminary report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) revealed that, in 2020, 5.5 million men worldwide died from cancer, leading to 1.41 million new paternal orphans. The average age of the children at paternal death was 12 years old. The study by Guida et al is being...
Trial Updates in Stage III Melanoma Solidify the Neoadjuvant Use of Immunotherapy as the Current Standard of Care
Neoadjuvant therapy for patients with resectable stage III melanoma has recently emerged as a better approach than resection plus adjuvant therapy. At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024, updates of pivotal neoadjuvant studies demonstrated the long-standing benefit of...
New Directions in ALL, CML, and CLL Treatment
The Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) 2024 Annual Meeting showcased several groundbreaking studies in the field of hematologic oncology, including key findings in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
The ASCO ...
Cancer Clinical Trials Continue to Be Out of Reach for Many Patients
Millions of Americans with cancer likely struggle to access some of the most advanced, state-of-the-art treatments being tested in clinical trials for their disease, according to a recent analysis from ASCO.
The 2023 State of Cancer Care in America Snapshot and corresponding manuscript found 70%...
AMA House of Delegates Adopts ASCO-Sponsored Resolutions on Interpretation of Stark Law and Prior Authorization Costs
On September 23, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act of 2024 (H.R. 5526), which would make permanent a waiver put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed Medicare patients to receive medications dispensed by in-office pharmacies...
Raising Awareness of the Health Consequences of Alcohol Consumption During and After a Cancer Diagnosis
In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that “no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.”1 The warning came decades after the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen, which is the highest risk group, and also includes...
Shared Reflections on the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting: From Networking to Mentorship and More, Part 2
In the October 10, 2024, issue of The ASCO Post, we shared some unique insights from several recipients of the international development and education award (IDEA). As oncologists and cancer researchers from diverse low- and middle-income countries, their experiences at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting ...
Meeting the Long-Term Challenge of Achieving Equity in Global Cancer Care
Although significant progress has been made against cancer, especially in the United States, which has seen the overall death rate from cancer fall by 33% over the past 3 decades, translating into averting an estimated 3.8 million deaths from the disease,1 progress worldwide has not been as...
Conversations on Cancer: Exploring Religious Literacy and Spirituality in Cancer Care
OCE Insights is an occasional department developed for The ASCO Post by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this installment, the OCE’s Steven Clark Cunningham, MD, MLA, FACS, Clinical Reviewer on the Gastrointestinal Cancers...
FDA Approves Perioperative Nivolumab for Resectable NSCLC
On October 3, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nivolumab (Opdivo) with platinum-doublet chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, followed by single-agent nivolumab after surgery as adjuvant treatment, for adults with resectable (tumors ≥ 4 cm and/or node-positive) non–small cell...
Whole-Person Cancer Care: A Transformative Vision for Oncology
Guest Editor’s Note: Advances in cancer treatments have led to an increase in survival rates, but the quality of life is often diminished during survivorship. Because modifiable personal behavior contributes to health-care outcomes, interventions that support healthy behaviors may improve health...
My Melanoma Could Have Been Prevented
I have many of the risk factors for melanoma. I’m fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and have a family history of melanoma, as well as other skin cancers, so I’ve always been diligent about practicing sun safety and maintaining annual full-body skin exams to catch any suspicious moles or lesions that could ...
ACS Report: Despite Overall Decreases in Breast Cancer Mortality, Incidence Rising in Key Groups
The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently released Breast Cancer Statistics, 2024, the organization’s biennial update on breast cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. The new report finds breast cancer mortality rates overall have dropped by 44% since 1989, averting approximately...
