The addition of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the EGFR antibody cetuximab to chemotherapy with FOLFIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil, and irinotecan) in the first-line treatment of BRAF V600E–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer led to a significant improvement in overall response rate—compared...
Pfizer has announced positive topline progression-free survival results from cohort 3, a separate randomized cohort of the pivotal BREAKWATER trial, evaluating encorafenib in combination with cetuximab and FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan) in patients with previously untreated...
Treatment with a single injection of an oncolytic virus induces persistent T cell–mediated immunity in glioblastoma, according to findings from a trial published in Cell. “Patients with glioblastoma have not benefited from immunotherapies that have transformed patient care in other cancer types...
The first-in-human clinical trial of an in vivo CAR T-cell therapy for multiple myeloma has shown encouraging clinical outcomes at an early time point, with a safety profile and ease of administration that indicates the off-the-shelf KLN-1010 could be easily deployable, researchers from Australia...
In patients with CALR exon 9–mutated myelofibrosis who were resistant or intolerant to prior Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor therapy or ineligible for such treatment, the first-in-class mutant calreticulin–specific monoclonal antibody INCA033989 as monotherapy or in combination with ruxolitinib...
As front-line therapy, a chemotherapy-free regimen combining the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) ponatinib and the bispecific T-cell engager blinatumomab significantly outperformed standard treatment with imatinib plus chemotherapy in adults with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive...
At this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, we had the opportunity to navigate both manned and unmanned traffic, contend with temperamental weather, and count our steps as we took in the most consequential developments in hematologic oncology....
For patients with previously treated multiple myeloma, the greatest risk reduction yet achieved in a phase III clinical trial was reported with the BCMA-directed CD3 T-cell engager teclistamab-cqyv plus daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj. Treatment with this combination resulted in an 83% reduction ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided communication to increase awareness of recent updates to the product labeling of capecitabine (Xeloda) and fluorouracil—indicated for colorectal, breast, gastric/esophageal/gastroesophageal, and pancreatic cancers—related to risks associated...
As the organizer of World Cancer Day on February 4, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) is mobilizing organizations and individuals worldwide to ensure that the voices of people affected by cancer are heard and drive a new vision of cancer care. Now in its second year, the World...
The use of oxybutynin led to statistically significant reductions in the number of hot flashes per day compared with placebo for men with prostate cancer receiving androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), according to findings from the Alliance A222001 trial published in the Journal of Clinical...
The first prospective, randomized phase III trial of a noncovalent Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor exclusively in treatment-naive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL)—BRUIN CLL-313—demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically...
A response-adapted approach to treatment decision-making for patients with resectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma demonstrated that with the use of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab, many patients could avoid surgery and/or radiotherapy. Findings from the De-Squamate study were published in the...
In patients with advanced HER2-positive gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, treatment with the bispecific antibody zanidatamab-hrii and chemotherapy, with or without the PD-1 inhibitor tislelizumab-jsgr, reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 35% over trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in the...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced its newly elected 2026 class of Fellows of the AACR Academy. The Fellows of the AACR Academy was established to honor scientists, clinicians, and physician-scientists whose visionary work has reshaped the landscape of cancer...
The second annual report from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) documents a substantial rise in neoadjuvant treatments, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and hormone therapy, often allowing for less invasive surgery and helping clinicians assess how a...
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) in collaboration with 10x Genomics, Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, has launched an open foundational database for cancer immunotherapy research. The...
The U.S. cancer workforce faces critical challenges that may affect Americans' access to lifesaving cancer care and delay progress in cancer research. A new report from the President's Cancer Panel, Ensuring a Strong Future for America's Cancer Workforce, underscores these key issues—including...
Studies have demonstrated a link between alcohol consumption and an elevated risk of colorectal cancer. New research now reveals that higher lifetime alcohol consumption is also associated with a higher risk, especially for rectal cancer, and that quitting drinking can lower a person’s risk. The...
The oncology community is mourning the loss of Paul E. Goss, MD, PhD, who died on December 19, 2025, at his home in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, from multiple system atrophy—a rare, progressive neurologic disorder with symptoms resembling those of Parkinson’s disease. He was 70 years old. Born in...
A new study by American Cancer Society (ACS) researchers shows that overall cancer mortality in people younger than age 50 in the United States has decreased by 44%, from 25.5 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 14.2 in 2023. The progress is due to declines in mortality for four of the five leading...
Editor’s note: On November 22, 2025—the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather President John F. Kennedy’s assassination—Tatiana Celia Kennedy Schlossberg published an essay in The New Yorker detailing her diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia with chromosome 3 inversion, a rare and aggressive subtype...
In patients with advanced HER2-positive gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, treatment with the bispecific antibody zanidatamab-hrii and chemotherapy, with or without the PD-1 inhibitor tislelizumab-jsgr, reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 35% over trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in the...
Although it’s been widely reported for years that colorectal cancer incidence has been increasing among younger adults under age 50 by between 1% and 2% annually since the mid-1990s,1 two new studies by Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, Associate Chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology and Founding...
Data from a major clinical trial from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology have uncovered a genetic factor that may inform how to optimize the dosing of abiraterone, a widely used hormonal treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Published by Norton et al in Clinical and Translational...
A deep learning model demonstrated the ability to predict breast cancer recurrence risk and possible benefit from the addition of chemotherapy based on histopathologic images rather than genomic testing in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to findings...
Giredestrant, a next-generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) and full antagonist, significantly improved invasive disease–free survival as adjuvant treatment for patients with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer compared with standard-of-care endocrine...
New data published by Siegel et al in the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Cancer Statistics, 2026 report show that, for the first time, the 5-year survival rate for all cancers combined has reached 70% for individuals diagnosed during 2015 to 2021 in the United States. In addition, those diagnosed...
For patients with previously treated multiple myeloma, the greatest risk reduction yet achieved in a phase III clinical trial was reported with the BCMA-directed CD3 T-cell engager teclistamab-cqyv plus daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj. Treatment with this combination resulted in an 83% reduction ...
An artificial saliva in the form of a mouthwash, produced with a protein extracted from sugarcane and modified in a laboratory, may aid in treating hyposalivation among patients with head and neck cancer, a new study has found. Radiotherapy delivered very close to the mouth can destroy salivary...
In the phase III BRUIN CLL-314 trial, response rates were found to be as good with the noncovalent Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor pirtobrutinib as with ibrutinib in both patients with treatment-naive and relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic...
The combination of the hypomethylating agent azacitidine and the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax is an established regimen in older, unfit patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Now, a phase II randomized trial indicates potential for less intensive therapy in the newly diagnosed fit population. In...
Self-collection of vaginal samples for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing is now being considered an acceptable, recommended option for cervical cancer screening, per recent updates to the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) guidelines published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Another...
Steve Brown, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CureWise (curewise.com), an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven patient advocacy app, describes his year-long quest to understand a series of symptoms that ultimately led to a diagnosis of light chain (AL) amyloidosis—a disease closely related to ...
Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2025, about 154,270 individuals were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and approximately 53,000 individuals died from the...
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has linked obesity to increases in the development of 13 cancers, including breast, colorectal, kidney, endometrial, thyroid, pancreatic, liver, multiple myeloma, gastric cardia, meningioma, ovarian, esophageal, and gallbladder cancers. Now, a new...
On December 19, 2025, ASCO announced its members had elected Deb Schrag, MD, MPH, FASCO, as President for the 2027–2028 term. Dr. Schrag will begin her term as President-Elect following the conclusion of the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting. Dr. Schrag, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist, is the George ...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels may help to determine which patients with colon cancer could benefit from the addition of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as celecoxib, to chemotherapy following surgery, according to findings from a post hoc analysis of the CALGB/SWOG 80702...
A report recently released by McKesson on the state of community oncology highlights the current challenges facing physicians, administrators, and clinical staff who work in community practices. The "Advancing Community Oncology Report" details these challenges as well as opportunities for growth...
Patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancers had similar progression-free survival whether they were treated with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy or standard-of-care chemotherapy as the first treatment after endocrine therapy, according to results from the phase III...
A multicenter trial led by investigators at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated that a 5-day regimen of azacitidine provides the best balance of efficacy and safety for patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The researchers compared three abbreviated...
I was diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung (NSCLC) adenocarcinoma on August 1, 2013—World Lung Cancer Day. If it hadn’t been for an article that caught my eye the year before about the recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force that all men aged 65 to 75 who have...
We read with interest the commentary by Stuart Lichtman, MD, FASCO,on “Advancing Geriatric Oncology: Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going,“ in the October 25, 2025 issue of The ASCO Post.1 Dr. Lichtman outlines the challenges in delivering cancer care to the elderly population. Among these...
As a medical oncologist and palliative care physician, I have spent years preparing for difficult conversations. I’ve guided patients and families through the uncertainty of cancer, helped them navigate complex decisions, and sought meaning amid shifting prognoses. As an academic, I teach future...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will honor U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Patty Murray (D-WA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), as well as the patient groups Sick Cells, The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (SCDAA), and The Sickle Cell Disease...
A new multicenter study reports that nearly one-third of families with children undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) develop substantial financial hardships during the 2 years of treatment. These difficulties—defined as the inability to pay for housing, food, or utilities, ...
On October 30, 2025, Google Cloud held its second annual Cancer AI Symposium to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment, in unparalleled ways. Held at Google’s St. John’s Terminal office in New York City, the event brought together leaders in...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved sevabertinib, an oral targeted therapy, for adult patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors harbor certain HER2 (ERBB2) mutations and who have previously received chemotherapy or immunotherapy. The approval reflects a...
Clinicians have traditionally prioritized high-level human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching to minimize graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). New data from the ACCESS study, sponsored by the National Marrow Donor Program, indicate that the use of...
Measurable residual disease (MRD), regardless of the method of assessment, is a robust individual-level predictor for overall survival among patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have already received induction therapy, according to findings from a pooled analysis presented at the 2025...