October 25, 2025 (View All Issues)
Study Finds Federally Funded Clinical Trials Play a Vital Role in Cancer Research, Especially for Rare and Pediatric Cancers
Although industry-sponsored cancer clinical trials often focus on single-agent drug trials, federally funded cancer clinical trials are more likely to investigate drug combinations with other treatments, including biologics or radiation therapy. An analysis by Joseph M. Unger, PhD, MS, Professor,...
In Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer, Novel Maintenance Regimen Boosts Overall Survival
The phase Ib DeLLphi-303 trial has reported overall survival data for a novel maintenance regimen in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer following first-line chemoimmunotherapy. Patients treated with the bispecific T-cell engager tarlatamab-dlle plus a PD-L1 inhibitor had a median overall...
Considerations on Cancer Drug Development
In the 1940s, the first drugs proven to cause objective responses in human cancers were developed. Mechlorethamine was discovered as a possible treatment of lymphoid cancers after autopsies on military personnel exposed to mustard gas found destruction of lymphatic tissue and bone marrow....
Improved Outcomes Reported With Second-Line Regimen of Ivonescimab Plus Chemotherapy in NSCLC
In the phase III HARMONi trial, when ivonescimab was given with carboplatin plus pemetrexed, vs the chemotherapy regimen alone, after a third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, patients with EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had a significant delay in disease progression.1...
Zidesamtinib Shows Activity in Pretreated and Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor–Naive Patients With ROS1-Positive NSCLC
Zidesamtinib, an investigational oral, highly selective ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor designed to overcome common resistance mechanisms and improve brain penetration, has demonstrated activity in both pretreated and tyrosine kinase inhibitor–naive patients with ROS1-positive non–small cell lung...
Prior Authorization Is Burdensome for Patients and Results in Treatment Delays, Financial Strain, and Stress, Survey Finds
The process of obtaining insurance prior authorization before a medical procedure, service, or medication prescription has typically been left to clinicians. However, as cancer therapies grow increasingly complex, the burden of navigating insurance prior authorization is increasingly being shared...
Early Study Results With Novel Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase Degrader in Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
In a phase I, first-in-human trial of nearly 50 patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies, the orally administered, small molecule degrader bexobrutideg (NX-5948) was reported to be well tolerated, including in those with a longer duration of treatment and higher doses. Clinical...
Use of Obecabtagene Autoleucel CAR T-Cell Therapy for B-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia
Treatment with obecabtagene autoleucel was the focus of the phase Ib/II multicenter FELIX study of more than 100 adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).1 The initial report in 2024 revealed a rate of complete remission or complete remission with incomplete...
AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025 Highlights Breakthroughs in Blood Cancers and How NIH Funding Uncertainty Threatens Advances
The 15th edition of the annual AACR Cancer Progress Report presents a mixed picture of the major advances in cancer care over the past year, including the approval of 20 new anticancer drugs, juxtaposed against the continuing rise in early-onset cancers and disparities in care as well as the...
FANSS: Should Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines Be Expanded to Include Female Asian Nonsmokers?
The results of the multicenter Female Asian Nonsmoker Screening Study (FANSS) suggest that low-dose CT screening is feasible and has value for early lung cancer detection in the historically underserved demographic of Asian women with no history of smoking. These data from the largest United...
Contemporary Management of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, According to Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD, FASCO
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is one of the success stories among the hematologic malignancies. Now, with decades of data informing its management, it is time to change some of the practices to which clinicians have become accustomed, said leukemia expert Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD, FASCO, Professor...
New Approvals in Breast and Bladder Cancers
Here are brief reports on three oncology approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2025:
• Estrogen Receptor Antagonist in Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer: The FDA has approved imlunestrant (Inluriyo), an estrogen receptor antagonist, for adults with estrogen...
How Embedding an Algorithm-Based Referral System Into Electronic Health Records Is Increasing Access to Palliative Care
Despite numerous studies showing the benefits of integrating palliative care in both the early- and advanced-stage cancer settings,1 palliative care remains underutilized for most patients with cancer. A recent study by the American Cancer Society found that only 10% of Medicare beneficiaries with...
A Year of Global Progress Against Cancer—and Persistent Challenges
Despite data from the latest edition of The Cancer Atlas showing that nearly half of cancer mortality worldwide is attributed to modifiable risk factors, cancer incidence and mortality rates continue to soar.1 Globally, approximately 19 million new cases of cancer, excluding nonmelanoma skin...
New Guideline Reflects the Latest Evidence in Support of Postmastectomy Radiation Therapy for Patients With Breast Cancer
A joint task force composed of experts from the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), ASCO, and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) has released new guidance for postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) for patients with breast cancer.1 This guideline—which is intended to replace...
Anthony Letai, MD, PhD, Takes the Helm as New NCI Director
Anthony Letai, MD, PhD, was sworn in on September 29 as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Dr. Letai takes the helm of the world’s most prestigious cancer research agency...
Clonal Hematopoiesis
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Syed Ali Abutalib, MD, and L. Jeffrey Medeiros, MD, focuses on clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (also referred to as CHIP) as well as...
How a $2 Billion Gift to the Knight Cancer Institute May Accelerate Cancer Advances and Streamline Care for Patients
On August 14, 2025, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) announced that Phil Knight, a cofounder of Nike, and his wife, Penny, donated $2 billion to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. The record-setting gift is the largest single donation ever made to a U.S. university, college, or academic ...
Medicine Is in the Genes of Neelima Denduluri, MD, FASCO, a Third-Generation Clinician
Growing up in Draksharamam, a small village in India, Neelima Denduluri, MD, FASCO, was attracted to the field of medicine after witnessing her grandfather, a general practitioner in the village, care for patients so poor he often provided medical services at no cost. Although Dr. Denduluri’s...
How a Novel Coaching Intervention Is Building Resilience and Hope in Adolescents and Young Adults With Advanced Cancer
Each year, nearly 90,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs; aged 15–39) are diagnosed with cancer, and approximately 9,300 die of the disease.1 And although the 5-year survival rate among these young patients is approaching 80%, it lags behind that of the pediatric population, whose 5-year...
Biomarker-Driven Apalutamide Therapy for Patients With Recurrent Prostate Cancer
Use of PAM50 subtyping allowed clinicians to determine which patients with recurrent prostate cancer were most likely to benefit from the addition of apalutamide hormonal therapy to salvage radiotherapy, according to findings from the phase II BALANCE trial (NRG GU006). These results were presented ...
Defying the Odds
In early 2023, I began experiencing serious symptoms that were not easily explained away, including deep vein thrombosis in my left leg, extreme weight loss, bruising, wheezing, and shortness of breath so severe that it was difficult to walk my dog more than a few feet without gasping for air. For...
Advancing Geriatric Oncology: Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going
The aging population is rapidly growing, with the number of older adults rising steadily each year. In the 1980s, experts predicted a rise in the number of older patients with cancer, yet we were unprepared. The shortage of oncologists, along with many experienced clinicians retiring early, has...
