A pooled analysis of nine prospective studies involving more than 750,000 adults has found that recommended amounts of leisure-time physical activity were linked to a lower risk for seven cancers, with several cancer types having a dose/response relationship. These findings were published by...
Testicular cancer recurrence may be prevented by giving men one cycle of chemotherapy instead of the two cycles used as standard. Lowering the overall exposure to chemotherapy also reduced side effects. These findings were published by Cullen et al in European Urology. Testicular cancer is the most ...
In a two-institute phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Malone et al found no difference in biochemical relapse–free survival with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) initiated prior to or concurrently with dose-escalated external-beam radiotherapy in patients with localized ...
In a Danish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lauritsen et al found that patients treated for germ cell cancer exhibited an increase of cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease at short- and long-term follow-up. Study Details The study involved 5,185 patients with...
“Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus incidence has increased dramatically in elderly women and young black men,” according to a study of recent trends in incidence and mortality. “Advanced-stage [anal squamous cell carcinoma] incidence tripled with a prominent rise in … mortality,” researchers...
It was a press conference on a cold Saturday in January 1964 that had garnered international attention, but the trappings were those of a secret government meeting, behind locked doors secured by uniformed guards. To the chagrin of the reporters, “no smoking” signs had been hastily posted around...
Among the highlights at the 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium in October was the keynote address by Thomas J. Smith, MD, FACP, FASCO, FAAHPM, the Harry J. Duffey Family Professor of Palliative Medicine and Director of Palliative Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Professor of Oncology ...
A study examining the differences in gene expression between African American and European American men with prostate cancer for three commercially available prostate cancer prognostic biomarker panels—Oncotype DX Prostate Score, Prolaris, and Decipher—has found that these tests may not accurately...
In the spring of 2005, I was launching a new career as a sales consultant for a startup graphics company and wanted to cross off a few essential things on my to-do list, including getting my annual mammogram and physical, before I started my new job. Although I was surprised when I got a call from ...
In a study presented in a brief report in JAMA Oncology,1 David J. Pinato, MD, PhD, of the Imperial College London, and colleagues found that past—but not concurrent—use of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy was associated with poorer treatment outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint...
The European School of Oncology (ESO), together with the Advanced Breast Cancer Global Alliance, bestowed the 2019 Advanced Breast Cancer Award upon Professor Fatima Cardoso, MD, Director of the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Clinical Centre in Lisbon, “in recognition of her foresight in...
A study of more than 1,000 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) revealed that African Americans were more likely to have evidence of abnormal kidney functioning than whites, but this was not associated with any difference in overall survival. The findings, presented by Statler et al at the...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Kazuhiko Nakagawa, MD, of the Department of Medical Oncology, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka, and colleagues, the phase III RELAY trial has shown that the addition of the VEGFR2 inhibitor ramucirumab to the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib improved...
More than three out of four patients with relapsed multiple myeloma, or myeloma that was refractory to at least two therapies, remained in remission 7 months after treatment with a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting two proteins that are frequently found on myeloma...
Does nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer really exist? Although it is considered a disease category, it turns out that the definition depends on the type of imaging used. Many patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer who were categorized as “nonmetastatic” on conventional...
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, Richard T. Lee, MD, describes the symptoms associated with colorectal cancer...
On December 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved FoundationOne CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic for alpelisib in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal female patients as well as male patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative,...
A novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided procedure that uses therapeutic ultrasound may effectively treat prostate cancer with minimal side effects, according to a new study presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) (Abstract SSC07-07)....
As the Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan wrote, “The times they are a-changin’.” Heather Cheng, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Washington, Associate Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Prostate Cancer Genetics Clinic, quoted this line in...
A study comparing the prognostic value of the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score in male and female patients with early-stage estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer has found that the score is associated with mortality in male patients at a much lower threshold than female patients. The...
In 1999, a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College advocated the use of a then-novel practice: low-dose radiation CT screening for lung cancer. It captures a full thoracic image in a single breath hold, and can recognize a tumor in its earliest stages when the chance for cure is...
Two Michigan cancer programs are joining forces to find new solutions for prostate cancer. The University of Michigan (U-M) Rogel Cancer Center and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University have received a $9.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The...
The text and photograph on this page are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Anesthesia Era: 1845–1875 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and...
This year’s meeting of the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit: Cancer and Universal Health Coverage, held on October 15–17 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, brought together more than 350 global health leaders, including ministers of health, first ladies, and industry leaders, from 82 countries to discuss how...
For Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, ensuring that every patient with cancer receives high-quality care is not an abstract goal—it is personal. Princess Dina saw firsthand the life-and-death differences that access to state-of-the-art oncology care makes in a patient’s life when...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Late in 2018, the Hedgehog pathway inhibitor glasdegib...
The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy as first-line therapy for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of at least 1%, according to the results of CheckMate 227....
More Americans than ever are surviving lung cancer. While the disease remains the leading cause of cancer deaths among both women and men, over the past decade, the survival rate has increased. A new report from the American Lung Association—the 2019 State of Lung Cancer—examines this promising...
Young male cancer survivors may significantly benefit from testosterone replacement therapy—especially after testicular cancer. Research published by Walsh et al in PLOS Medicine looked at one of the most common late-onset side effects experienced by young male survivors—reduced levels of the male...
In a phase IIb study (STORM Part 2) reported in TheNew England Journal of Medicine, Ajai Chari, MD, of Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues found that oral selinexor and dexamethasone were active in some patients with multiple myeloma refractory to prior...
The ESMO Congress continues to grow as a pivotal platform for research in clinical oncology. At the ESMO Congress 2019, important findings were showcased in more than 2,200 studies, including 93 late-breaking abstracts. The ASCO Post summarized much of that news in separate articles over several...
Treatment with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib delayed disease progression and appears to improve survival, compared with newer hormonal agents in men with pretreated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and homologous recombinant repair (HRR) genetic...
In a phase IIb study (STORM Part 2) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Ajai Chari, MD, of Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues found that oral selinexor and dexamethasone were active in some patients with multiple myeloma refractory to prior...
The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy as first-line therapy for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of at least 1%, according to the results of CheckMate 227....
Head and neck melanoma appears to be on the rise in young people in the United States and Canada, according to a study by Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, BDS, PhD, MPH, CHES, of the Saint Louis University (SLU) School of Medicine, and colleagues. Because the prognosis of head and neck melanoma is...
Third-line treatment with cabazitaxel extended progression-free survival and overall survival in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in the CARD trial. These results provide the first evidence from a randomized phase III trial for a survival benefit with third-line therapy, and ...
In an analysis of the phase III TITAN trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Neeraj Agarwal, MD, and colleagues found that that treatment with apalatuamide was associated with preserved health-related quality of life, including pain and fatigue outcomes, in patients with metastatic...
In an analysis from the phase III PACE-B trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Nicholas van As, MD, and colleagues found that shortened treatment courses with stereotactic body radiotherapy did not increase gastrointestinal or genitourinary acute toxicity vs intensity-modulated fractionated...
Men with higher levels of free (biologically active) testosterone and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in their blood are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to research presented by Travis et al at the 2019 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference....
From 1997 to 2016, incidence and deaths from hepatocellular carcinoma have tripled in England, according to research presented by Burton et al at the 2019 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference. Anya Burton, PhD, a cancer epidemiologist at Public Health England, said in a press ...
In a pooled analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Yang et al found that higher fiber and higher yogurt consumption were associated with significantly reduced risk of lung cancer. Study Details The analysis included 627,988 men (mean age = 57.9 years) and 817, 862 women (mean age = 54.8 years) from...
A computer-aided diagnosis system using deep-learning analysis to detect lung lesion locations and quantitatively characterize the lesions on computed tomography (CT) images offered a fast and convenient approach for assisting radiologists in the diagnosis of lung nodule pathologies. These findings ...
The American Thyroid Association held its 2019 Annual Meeting from October 30 to November 3 in Chicago. Below are brief summaries of important oral presentations on thyroid cancer from the meeting. Incidence and Incidence-Based Mortality in a State Results of a retrospective analysis of thyroid...
Treatment with olaparib delayed disease progression, and early survival data suggest a positive trend in favor of olaparib compared with newer hormonal agents in men with pretreated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and homologous recombinant repair genetic alterations—specifically...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Carrie et al, the 112-month follow-up of the French phase III GETUG-AFU 16 trial has confirmed the initial 5-year report of the trial, which reported improved progression-free survival with the addition of short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) to...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to trastuzumab deruxtecan for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer; granted Fast Track designation for bemcentinib for elderly patients with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML); granted Breakthrough...
Susan G. Komen recently unveiled the Susan G. Komen Center for Public Policy, which is part of the organization’s growing efforts to fight for the interests of those impacted by breast cancer among state and federal policymakers. Through the Center, Komen will educate and mobilize breast cancer...
A study investigating the utilization of hospice care among racial/ethnic minority patients following treatment for pancreatic cancer has found that African American and Hispanic patients who underwent surgical removal of the pancreas were less likely than white patients to use hospice services at...
In an analysis of the phase III TITAN trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Neeraj Agarwal, MD, and colleagues found that that treatment with apalatuamide was associated with preserved health-related quality of life, including pain and fatigue outcomes, in patients with metastatic...
Early salvage radiotherapy appears to be a better choice after radical prostatectomy for men with prostate cancer than adjuvant radiotherapy, according to late-breaking results from the RADICALS-RT trial and the ARTISTIC meta-analysis of three trials that included RADICALS-RT. Observation after...