In the phase III ALASCCA trial, the use of adjuvant daily aspirin for 3 years reduced the risk of recurrence in colorectal cancer harboring PI3K pathway alterations by 51%, according to research in a Scandinavian population presented at the 2025 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Anna...
Genetic material shed by tumors may be detected in the bloodstream 3 years prior to cancer diagnosis, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Cancer Discovery. Study Methods and Results Researchers used highly accurate and sensitive sequencing techniques to analyze the plasma samples ...
In a long-term follow-up of an Israeli phase II trial reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Evron et al compared prophylactic radiation therapy (RT) of the contralateral breast vs surveillance in BRCA pathogenic variant carriers with early-stage breast cancer. Study Details In the...
On May 30, President Donald Trump released his final proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which contains $4.531 billion for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This represents a cut of almost $2.7 billion, or approximately 37.2%, from the current fiscal year. The following is a statement from...
Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, of City of Hope, and Rebecca Alexandra Dent, MD, FASCO, of National Cancer Centre Singapore, review the results of a biomarker analysis of the DESTINY-Breast06 trial, which evaluated trastuzumab deruxtecan after endocrine therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer...
In a Japanese phase II study (NO LIMIT, WJOG13320G) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kawakami et al evaluated whether first-line nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab showed activity in patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) advanced gastric/esophagogastric junction ...
On June 3, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved darolutamide (Nubeqa) for the treatment of metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC). The oral androgen receptor inhibitor had previously been approved by the FDA in combination with docetaxel for mCSPC. Efficacy...
Although the SWOG S2302 Pragmatica-Lung trial did not achieve its primary endpoint of improved overall survival with the combination of ramucirumab and pembrolizumab compared with standard-of-care treatments for patients with stage IV or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who previously...
Patients with stage II and III (early-stage) HER2-positive breast cancer usually undergo preoperative therapy with multiagent chemotherapy in combination with anti-HER2 antibodies, followed by surgery. A less intensive, reduced-chemotherapy treatment approach is currently being evaluated in the...
Consuming an anti-inflammatory diet could improve posttreatment survival among patients with colorectal cancer compared with following a proinflammatory diet, according to new findings presented by Char et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA3509). The findings suggested that engaging...
An investigational dual-target chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy approach could slow tumor growth in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, according to new findings presented by Bagley et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 102) and simultaneously published in Nature ...
The investigational agent ziftomenib, a menin-MLL inhibitor, demonstrated activity in patients with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML), regardless of prior venetoclax treatment, according to findings from the phase II KOMET-001 trial. Findings from the study were...
Rami Manochakian, MD, FASCO, of Mayo Clinic Florida, offers his thoughts on findings from the primary analysis of the phase III DeLLphi-304 trial, which compared tarlatamab-dlle, a bispecific T-cell engager immunotherapy targeting delta-like ligand 3 and CD3, with chemotherapy as a second-line...
The combination of avelumab and cetuximab may improve progression-free survival in patients with advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma compared with avelumab alone, according to recent findings presented by Zandberg et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6002) and simultaneously...
Rami Manochakian, MD, FASCO, of Mayo Clinic Florida, offers his thoughts on findings from the primary analysis of the phase III DeLLphi-304 trial, which compared tarlatamab-dlle, a bispecific T-cell engager immunotherapy targeting delta-like ligand 3 and CD3, with chemotherapy as a second-line...
Results from an international clinical trial demonstrated that DB-1310, a new antibody-drug conjugate, is showing early signs of effectiveness in patients with advanced solid tumors that have not responded to standard treatments, particularly those with EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer...
Results from the phase III DESTINY-Breast09 clinical trial found that the combination of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) with pertuzumab may delay cancer growth for longer than the current standard of care in people with HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The...
Switching to treatment with camizestrant if an ESR1 mutation is detected during first-line treatment can help slow cancer growth for patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, according to findings from the phase III SERENA-6 clinical trial. The research is...
Greater intake of a proinflammatory dietary pattern may be linked to worse overall survival in patients with stage III colon cancer who have undergone curative-intent resection. Sara K. Char, MD, a clinical fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, presented the results of a prospective...
Results from an international phase III clinical trial found that treating patients with stage II, III, and IVA resectable gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer with perioperative durvalumab and FLOT chemotherapy (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) helped...
A phase III study has found that a 3-year structured exercise program initiated soon after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy improves disease-free and overall survival, as well as patient-reported physical functioning and health-related fitness, in patients with stage III and high-risk stage II...
Adding nivolumab to chemoradiotherapy after surgery can decrease the chance of recurrence in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to findings from the international phase III NIVOPOSTOP trial. This study is one of the first to show an improvement in the...
Results from the international phase III ATOMIC study demonstrated that patients with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) colon cancer who receive atezolizumab in addition to adjuvant chemotherapy experience a 50% reduction in disease recurrence or death compared with chemotherapy alone. The findings...
Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, of Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, IRCCS, University of Milano, discusses patient-reported outcomes from the phase III EMBER-3 trial, which investigated treatment with imlunestrant, investigator’s choice of standard endocrine therapy, or imlunestrant plus abemaciclib in ...
Results from an international phase III clinical trial show that treatment with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy and pembrolizumab helps patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer live longer without disease progression compared with...
The international phase III DESTINY-Gastric04 clinical trial found that second-line treatment with fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki can help people with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancers that have grown during first-line treatment live about 3 months longer. These findings further support the...
Results from VERITAC-2 trial showed that the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) vepdegestrant could extend progression-free survival for people with previously treated estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer with an ESR1 mutation. The research will be presented at...
Universal germline testing is essential for identifying hereditary cancer risk, especially for patients with young-onset colorectal cancer who were diagnosed before the age of 50. However, the implementation of universal germline testing has been hampered by increasing demand and limited physician...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, DiplOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus...
In a phase II trial (RAVENS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al attempted to determine whether the addition of the bone metastasis–targeting agent radium-223 to stereotactic ablative radiotherapy improved progression-free survival as metastasis-directed therapy in patients...
In a French phase III trial (NEOPAN) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ducreux et al evaluated whether FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan) significantly improved progression-free survival vs gemcitabine in patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma not...
At just 5 years old, Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO, already knew that she wanted to be a physician when she grew up, although she can’t explain where the idea came from. She just knows the desire to help others was ingrained in her from a very early age. Growing up in New Delhi, India, where...
Investigators may have uncovered a modest but potentially significant association between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a recent study published by Naudin et al in PLOS Medicine. Background Pancreatic cancer is the twelfth most common cancer type...
In a phase III trial (CheckMate 9DW) reported in The Lancet, Yau et al evaluated whether first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab improved overall survival vs investigator's choice of lenvatinib or sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Study Details In the open-label trial,...
In a single-center phase I trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Svoboda et al assessed the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an enhanced chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (huCART19-IL18) in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma after previous...
With the currently available BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has transformed from an invariably fatal disorder (10-year overall survival < 10%) to an indolent one, associated with a near-normal life expectancy on optimal tyrosine kinase inhibitor...
In a Belgian phase III trial (ROBOMET) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mercier et al attempted to determine whether dose-escalated, single-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy was associated with statistically significant benefit vs conventional, single-fraction, 3D conformal...
In a Danish Breast Cancer Group nationwide prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jensen et al attempted to develop a prognostic standard mortality rate index to predict excess mortality based on risk-adapted adjuvant therapy in postmenopausal patients with early-stage breast...
Despite the significant rise over the past 50 years in the use of evidence-based integrative medicine in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments—up from just 20% in the 1970s to about 80% in 20171—training opportunities in the fundamentals of this emerging field within the specialty of...
In January 2025, the Trump Administration issued executive orders asserting opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on the federal level1,2 and rescinding Biden Administration orders that emphasized the importance of these efforts to promote equal opportunity across government ...
The JAK (Janus kinase) inhibitor ruxolitinib may prove to be an effective treatment of parkinsonism arising from immunotherapy for patients with multiple myeloma, according to the results of two case reports by Baldeep Wirk, MD, and Jin Lim, MD, PhD, both of Virginia Commonwealth University,...
Several recent studies have shown the value of cancer screening in reducing the number of deaths from the disease. One study using computer modeling to estimate the number of cancer-related deaths that could be averted by increasing the use of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)...
Thousands of forward-looking research studies defined the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. Here, aside from our fuller coverage of key presentations in The ASCO Post, we offer a snapshot of a few additional abstracts that may be of interest to cancer researchers...
Mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) tumors beyond those in the rectum may respond to PD-1 blockade in the neoadjuvant setting, offering the option of organ preservation in early-stage cancer regardless of the tumor type, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center reported at the...
For more than 25 years, my goal as a community oncologist has been to ensure that all patients have access to the highest-quality cancer care. This is the future I stood for when I became ASCO’s 61st President and what I know our more than 50,000 members stand for. And I believe we will get there...
Despite a 30-year history as an ASCO volunteer, for Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, this past year as President-Elect has opened new perspectives on the organization he will soon lead as ASCO’s 62nd President, effective during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 30–June 3, 2025, in Chicago. After serving...
Zongertinib, an investigational oral, HER2-selective, EGFR-sparing tyrosine kinase inhibitor, elicited durable responses and demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced, previously treated, HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented by John V. Heymach,...
New findings from the phase III INAVO120 trial showed that adding inavolisib to palbociclib and fulvestrant may help extend survival and delay the time until treatment with chemotherapy in previously treated patients with PIK3CA-mutated, HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. The...
Results from a global phase III clinical trial found that maintenance therapy with a combination of the alkylating agent lurbinectedin and the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab improved survival in some patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) compared with maintenance therapy with...
Cellular therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy are transforming outcomes for patients with cancer, particularly in the relapsed or refractory setting. “We’re seeing outstanding response rates in patients with B-cell malignancies...