The p53-MDM2 inhibitor siremadlin given with the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib showed activity in a subset of patients with well-differentiated/dedifferentiated liposarcomas enrolled in the biology-driven adaptive phase II MEGAMOST Ribociclib/HDM201 basket trial.1 MEGAMOST was designed to evaluate...
In a phase II trial (SU2C-SARC032) reported in The Lancet, Mowery et al found that the addition of perioperative pembrolizumab to preoperative radiation therapy and surgery improved disease-free survival in patients with stage III soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity. Study Details In the...
In a phase II/III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Sarkaria et al found that the addition of veliparib to temozolomide did not improve overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma with MGMT promoter hypermethylation. Study Details In the double-blind Alliance for Clinical Trials...
In a phase I study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Maruyama et al found that valemetostat—a novel dual inhibitor of EZH2 and EZH1—showed activity in patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Study Details In the study, 90 patients from sites in Japan and the United States were...
A small study investigating tumor treating fields—an antimitotic electric fields therapy—in combination with pembrolizumab and temozolomide for the treatment of patients with glioblastoma was found to be a promising strategy, especially in patients with substantial residual tumor, according to the...
In a phase III study conducted in China, the bispecific antibody (targeting both PD-1 and the vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF]) ivonescimab was compared with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as first-line treatment of PD-L1–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Ivonescimab ...
Attendees at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 heard the results of many positive clinical trials that will advance the field of cancer treatment. However, a few late-stage trials of promising adjuvant therapies unexpectedly reported negative results. The ASCO Post...
The use of measurable (or minimal) residual disease (MRD) status to guide treatment in multiple myeloma has become a topic of intense interest. Phase III studies presented at the Plenary Session of the 2024 International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting moved MRD status ever closer to validation in...
In a phase II trial (VALENTINE-PTCL01) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zinzani et al found that valemetostat—a novel dual inhibitor of EZH1 and EZH2—was active in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). Study Details In the trial, 133 patients with relapsed or...
In a phase IIa study (DisTinGuish) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Klempner et al found that use of the DKK1-neutralizing antibody DKN-01 in combination with tislelizumab and chemotherapy showed activity in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal ...
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting. Background Established originally as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, NAM addresses critical issues in health, science,...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Provencio et al, analysis of a Spanish phase II trial (NADIM) showed good long-term outcomes with preoperative chemotherapy and perioperative nivolumab in patients with stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details In the multicenter trial, 46...
Although improving cancer screening participation in the United States is central to the country’s national goals for reducing disability and death, currently, participation is lagging behind the Healthy People 2030 targets set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A study by the...
In a Chinese phase II trial (INOVA) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Peng et al found that the combination of sintilimab and bevacizumab showed activity in patients with relapsed or persistent ovarian clear cell carcinoma. Study Details In the multicenter trial, 37 evaluable patients with exposure...
As reported in The Lancet by Morris et al, the phase III PSMAfore trial has shown improved progression-free survival with lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) vs change in androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) in taxane-naive patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer...
As reported in The Lancet by Spicer et al, overall survival results of the phase III KEYNOTE-671 trial indicate benefit of the addition of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab to chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab in patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). At the first...
In the the phase IA/B dose-escalation and -expansion EMBER study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jhaveri et al, the next-generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader imlunestrant (alone and in combination with other targeted therapies) demonstrated a manageable safety...
As reported in The Lancet by Lorusso et al, overall survival results from the phase III ENGOT-cx11/GOG-3047/KEYNOTE-A18 trial indicated a significant benefit of pembrolizumab vs placebo with concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with newly diagnosed,...
In the phase III ENGOT-cx11/GOG-3047/KEYNOTE-A18 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus chemoradiotherapy, with pembrolizumab continued as monotherapy, improved overall survival in previously untreated, high-risk...
On April 29, 2024, tisotumab vedotin-tftv (Tivdak) was granted regular approval for recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy.1 Tisotumab vedotin is a tissue factor–directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate. The agent was granted...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Habib et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy benefited some groups of patients with resected intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN)-derived pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but that overtreatment and...
Medical oncology had a turbulent beginning. No other specialty we know of struggled as much. But by 1980, it had become a stable specialty of internal medicine and was off and running—with the major problem of how to marshal available resources to freely test the myriad opportunities presented by ...
On September 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy as first-line treatment of unresectable advanced or metastatic malignant pleural mesothelioma. Efficacy and Safety Efficacy was investigated in KEYNOTE-483...
In a phase III study conducted in China, the bispecific antibody ivonescimab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival compared with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment of PD-L1–positive advanced non–small...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Yang et al, the phase III KEYNOTE-789 trial has shown no significant improvement in progression-free or overall survival with the addition of pembrolizumab to pemetrexed/platinum in EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-resistant, EGFR-mutant...
In two studies recently reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Upshaw and colleagues1 examined the impact of preexisting heart failure on mortality in older patients in the United States with newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma, and Gon and colleagues2 analyzed the incidence and impact of arterial...
In an analysis from the phase III EORTC 1325-MG/KEYNOTE-054 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bührer et al found that adjuvant pembrolizumab was not associated with significant differences in long-term health-related quality of life (HRQOL) compared with placebo in patients with stage III...
Immune checkpoint inhibitors, including atezolizumab, have been evaluated in several phase II trials for neoadjuvant therapy in resectable lung cancer, both with and without chemotherapy, such as the LCMC3 trial and CheckMate 816. Ongoing studies, including the IMpower030 trial, are further...
In a retrospective study (TURBO-NSCLC) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pike et al found that the addition of upfront stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to central nervous system (CNS)-penetrant tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment prolonged time to CNS progression vs TKI treatment...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Marcin Dzienis, MD, and colleagues, the phase IV KEYNOTE-B10 trial of pembrolizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel in the first-line treatment of recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) showed that the regimen produced...
On July 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Guardant Health’s Shield blood test for colorectal cancer screening in adults aged 45 years and older who are at average risk for the disease. It is the first blood test to be approved by the FDA as a primary screening option for...
In a Chinese phase II study (NEOCAP) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Yu et al found that neoadjuvant camrelizumab plus apatinib produced promising complete response rates in patients with locally advanced microsatellite instability–high or mismatch repair–deficient colorectal cancer. Study ...
Those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods have significantly higher activity of stress-related genes, new research suggests, which in turn may contribute to higher rates of aggressive prostate cancer in African American men. These findings were published by Boyle et al in JAMA Network Open....
As reported in The Lancet by Peter Borchmann, MD, and colleagues, the phase III HD21 trial showed that first-line positron-emission tomography (PET)-guided BrECADD (brentuximab vedotin, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, dacarbazine, and dexamethasone) exhibited greater efficacy and...
Based on the results of the Chinese multicenter phase III CONTINUUM trial, which were reported in The Lancet by Liu et al, the addition of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab to standard chemoradiotherapy seemed to improve event-free survival—albeit with more frequent but manageable adverse events—in...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Bumma et al, the phase II portion of a first-in-human phase I/II trial (LINKER-MM1) showed strong activity with the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) x CD3 bispecific antibody linvoseltamab in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma....
Second-line therapy with the KRAS inhibitor adagrasib modestly improved progression-free survival and objective response rate over docetaxel in previously treated patients with advanced KRAS G12C–mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the primary analysis of the phase III...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Yu et al, based on results from the ongoing phase II NEOCAP trial, neoadjuvant therapy with the PD-1 inhibitor camrelizumab plus the angiogenesis inhibitor apatinib appears to demonstrate “promising” antitumor activity and a manageable toxicity profile in...
In a single-center phase I/II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Douglas Adkins, MD, and colleagues found that the recommended phase II dose of ramucirumab combined with pembrolizumab was active in the first-line treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Javier Cortés, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III AMEERA-5 trial of first-line treatment with the selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) amcenestrant plus palbociclib vs letrozole plus palbociclib in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive,...
Recent phase III findings support the antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin-blmf as a treatment option for patients with multiple myeloma in early relapse. Belantamab mafodotin is an antibody-drug conjugate targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) expressed on multiple myeloma cells,...
On April 23, 2024, lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lutathera) was approved for pediatric patients 12 years and older with somatostatin receptor–positive gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, including foregut, midgut, and hindgut neuroendocrine tumors.1 Lu-177 dotatate is a radiolabeled...
On November 16, 2023, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was approved with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy for first-line treatment of locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval ...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) announced that following a nationwide search, Vivek S. Kavadi, MD, MBA, FASTRO, will become Chief Executive Officer of the Society, effective November 1, 2024. Dr. Kavadi will succeed Laura Thevenot, who had already announced her intent to retire...
As reported in The Lancet by Ken Kato, MD, and colleagues, the Japanese phase III JCOG1109 NExT trial showed that neoadjuvant triplet chemotherapy was associated with superior overall survival vs doublet chemotherapy among previously untreated patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell ...
On June 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by single-agent pembrolizumab for adult patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma; on June 14, the agency approved durvalumab...
The novel therapy INB-200 in combination with concomitant temozolomide may improve survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, according to preliminary findings from a phase I clinical trial presented by Lobbous et al at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 2042). “For far too long, there...
The highly anticipated ENGOT-en9/LEAP-001 trial in endometrial cancer has missed both its primary endpoints. At the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2024 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, the study investigators reported no significant benefit in progression-free survival or overall survival...
Leukemia expert Eunice S. Wang, MD, is the daughter of first-generation immigrants, whose work ethos inspired in her a world without boundaries. “My parents were born in China during the communist era, and they immigrated to Taiwan when the communists took over in the 1940s and then subsequently...
Serving as ASCO’s 60th President over the past year has been an honor and a privilege, said Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, FASCO, who will end her Presidential term during ASCO’s Annual Meeting, being held from May 31 to June 4, 2024, in Chicago, and welcome incoming President Robin Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO,...