About 14,500 new cases of invasive cervical cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States and nearly 4,300 women die from the disease. Studies show that those living in higher-poverty areas experience higher rates of morbidity and mortality from many preventable cancers, including cervical...
In a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Keehner et al describe a marked resurgence of COVID-19 infections among fully vaccinated members of the University of California San Diego Health (UCSDH) workforce in July 2021. The resurgence appears to be driven by the confluence...
I read with great interest the results from the phase II ZUMA-12 study of axicabtagene ciloleucel, presented during the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 But the results raised several questions for me. Axicabtagene ciloleucel, an autologous anti-CD19...
In a population-based age-period-cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Zhang et al estimated that current human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates will have a limited impact on overall oropharyngeal cancer incidence through 2045, due to a high risk of oropharyngeal cancer in unvaccinated...
The measurement of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is changing the way gastrointestinal cancers are managed, according to Bassel F. El-Rayes, MD, Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, and Associate Cancer Center Director,...
A new study found that incidence rates for malignant brain and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors declined by 0.8% annually during 2008 through 2017 in the United States for all ages combined. The decline was driven by trends in adults, whereas rates have slightly increased by 0.5% to 0.7%...
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Pamela Kunz, MD, Director, Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center. Dr. Kunz is an international leader in the clinical care of patients with neuroendocrine...
For the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, updated data from the ZUMA-5 trial, as compared with the findings of the external control cohort of SCHOLAR-5, showed substantial improvement in all key clinical endpoints with axicabtagene ciloleucel, ZUMA-5 investigators reported in ...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to an agent for the prevention of acute graft-vs-host disease; Breakthrough Therapy designation to an anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma; and Fast Track designation to a ...
A new study from the American Cancer Society published by Xuesong Han, PhD, and colleagues in the journal Cancer has found a link between obesity and the substantial economic burden of nearly $20 billion in 2016 among long-term cancer survivors in the United States, with one-third attributable to...
In the phase I/II ITCC-050 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gaspar et al found that the combination of lenvatinib with etoposide/ifosfamide showed antitumor activity, including good progression-free survival outcomes, in patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma. Study Details...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Elizabeth A. Salerno, PhD, MPH, and colleagues found that higher levels of physical activity before and during chemotherapy in women with early-stage breast cancer was associated with better cognitive function outcomes at up to 6 months...
Outcomes in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are almost rivaling those in pediatric ALL, thanks to the benefits achieved by incorporating blinatumomab and inotuzumab into chemotherapy regimens. New ways of administering the chemotherapy component are also increasing tolerability and...
Prediction models based on clinical characteristics and imaging findings may help reduce the false-positive rate in women with dense breasts who undergo supplemental breast cancer screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), according to a study published by den Dekker et al in the journal...
Consuming higher amounts of vitamin D—mainly from dietary sources—may help protect against developing young-onset colorectal cancer or precancerous colon polyps, according to the first study to show such an association. These findings were published by Kim et al in the journal Gastroenterology. The ...
In a phase I trial (MajesTEC-1) reported in The Lancet, Saad Z. Usmani, MD, FACP, and colleagues found that the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-CD3 bispecific antibody teclistamab produced a high rate of durable responses at the recommended phase II dose in patients with relapsed or refractory...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Scott et al found that application of the genomic-adjusted radiation dose (GARD) model to cohorts of patients with different types of cancer showed a significant association of GARD with benefit of radiotherapy. As stated by the investigators, “We...
Regular muscle-strengthening exercises associated with aerobic activities can reduce cancer mortality, according to a systematic review of epidemiologic studies published by Nascimento et al in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Workouts with activities like...
In a French single-center retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Duléry et al found that posttransplantation cyclophosphamide was associated with a significantly increased risk of early cardiac events among patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation...
Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer have not seen the same improvements in survival over the years as their pediatric and older adult counterparts. Some evidence has suggested that this may in part be a result of low AYA participation in clinical trials, limiting advances in...
A multicenter cohort study found that incomplete polyp removal—polyp removal where neoplastic tissue is found in any of the marginal biopsies—is a likely contributor to neoplasia recurrence and interval colorectal cancer. The results highlight the critical importance of polyp resection technique in ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Nancy Y. Lee, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial has shown no improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab to chemoradiotherapy in patients...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Ji et al found that concurrent chemoradiation with S-1 was associated with improved overall survival and acceptable toxicity vs radiotherapy alone in older patients with esophageal cancer. As stated by the investigators, “Most older patients ...
In the phase II NRG-LU001 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Skinner et al found that the addition of metformin to concurrent chemoradiation did not improve progression-free survival or overall survival at 1 year in patients with unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study...
Pelin Cinar, MD, MS, was born and reared in Istanbul, Turkey. “My father ran a small furniture business, and my mother was a homemaker. However, I had a distant cousin who was an obstetrician-gynecologist, but he did house calls and treated any number of health issues in the community. Early on, I ...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel gene therapies for resistant non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), including...
Triple-negative breast cancer is a particularly devastating subtype of breast cancer, as it is often diagnosed in young women and is associated with an exceptionally poor prognosis. The “triple-negative” designation indicates that the three key features driving most breast cancers (estrogen...
The role of adjuvant treatment for invasive, high-grade bladder cancer remains controversial and challenging. Sternberg et al reported a statistically significant progression-free survival benefit from adjuvant combination gemcitabine/cisplatin (GC) or MVAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Bolla et al, a 12-year analysis among patients with localized intermediate-risk prostate cancer in the EORTC 22991 trial showed improved event-free and disease-free survival with the addition of 6 months of concomitant and adjuvant androgen...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Ashraf Zaghloul, MD, DrPH, Professor at the National Cancer Institute of Egypt and President of the Egyptian Society of Surgical Oncology. Dr. Zaghloul was born in 1956 in ...
Worldwide, the global average surface temperature has risen at a similar rate of 0.17°F per decade since 1901, with the warmest year on record occurring in 2016 and the second warmest occurring in 2020. However, according to NOAA, since the late 1970s, the United States has warmed faster than the...
In the CAVA trial reported in The Lancet, Moss et al found that among central venous access devices used for the delivery of systemic anticancer therapy, totally implanted ports (PORTs) were associated with significantly reduced rates of complications compared with Hickman-type tunneled catheters...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Enzinger et al found that the prescription of opioids for cancer pain dropped markedly in the recent past among patients with poor-prognosis disease near the end of life, with the frequency of pain-related emergency department visits...
In a clinical trial conducted in Malawi, researchers found that combination chemotherapy with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) provided curative benefit compared to current standard-of-care therapy in people diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)—and...
The results of the second interim analysis of the KEYNOTE-629 study of pembrolizumab in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma confirmed durable antitumor activity in both the locally advanced and the recurrent/metastatic settings. Adverse events with pembrolizumab were generally consistent with its...
In a population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rumgay et al provided estimates of the global incidence of new cancers attributable to alcohol consumption, including the estimate that 4.1% of all new cases in 2020 were related to alcohol use. Study Details In the study, population...
On March 22, 2021, pembrolizumab was approved for use in combination with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for patients with metastatic or locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (tumors with epicenter 1 to 5 cm above the gastroesophageal junction) carcinoma who...
Invited study discussant Lisa Horvath, PhD, MBBS, a medical oncologist at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, University of Sydney, Australia, commented on the results of the EORTC 1333/PEACE III trial: “It was good to see the fracture rate in the radium-223 arm did, in fact, improve. However, what I found...
On April 22, 2021, the PD-1 inhibitor dostarlimab-gxly was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adults with mismatch repair–deficient recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer, as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test, that has progressed on or following a...
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, Eugenie Spiguel, MSN, ANP-BC, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on American...
Native Americans are among the most underserved minority populations in the United States and are disproportionately affected by cancer. They have the lowest survival rates for nearly all types of cancer of any minority population and much higher rates of certain types of cancer, including lung,...
From a dramatic drop in caseloads to missed screenings and diagnoses as well as the emergence of telemedicine, COVID-19 turned the world of oncology upside down. During the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Virtual Oncology Policy Summit, “Defining the ‘New Normal’ 2021 and the State of...
In advanced ovarian cancer, the duration of maintenance bevacizumab should remain 15 months, according to the European multicenter phase III ENGOT/GCIG trial. These results were presented during the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by Jacobus Pfisterer, MD, PhD, of the AGO Study Group and Gynecologic...
In a Canadian population-based retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ethier et al identified real-world survival outcomes among women receiving pertuzumab and trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) for stage IV HER2-positive breast cancer, observing that outcomes appeared to be poorer than...
Obese patients with colorectal cancer receive lower cumulative doses of adjuvant chemotherapy relative to their body surface area than nonobese patients, according to results from a large meta-analysis reported by Slawinski et al at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2021 (Abstract...
Today, ASCO and the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) jointly released new Oncology Medical Home (OMH) standards, which provide a comprehensive roadmap for oncology practices to deliver high-quality, evidence-based cancer care. These standards, which were published by Woofter et al in JCO Oncology...
In an analysis from an international consortium reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shern et al identified genomic characteristics and associated outcomes in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma. Among the findings were that MYOD1 and TP53 mutations were associated with poorer outcomes. As stated...
On July 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj (Darzalex Faspro) in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy including lenalidomide and a...
India has witnessed a major paradigm shift in the field of breast cancer and its management over the past 4 decades. The discipline of medical oncology has evolved exponentially over this period—a growth that few other scientific disciplines have experienced. Interventions at the individual,...
In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ellen K. Chang, MD, of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and colleagues found that atrial fibrillation occurs in a substantial proportion of patients who have undergone allogeneic...