Results from the single-institution phase II MANHATTAN study were reported in JAMA Oncology recently by Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, and colleagues. The investigators found that daratumumab in combination with weekly carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone resulted in high rates of minimal residual...
In a phase IIa study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jagasia et al found that the oral ROCK2 inhibitor belumosudil produced high response rates and reduced corticosteroid use among patients with chronic graft-vs-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow or hematopoietic cell...
On March 2, 2021, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) issued the following statement: As one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the NIH [National Institutes of Health], the National Cancer Institute stands with [NIH Director] Dr. Francis Collins and the entire NIH in supporting UNITE. “I ...
On February 5, 2021, umbralisib was granted accelerated approval for the following indications: adult patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma who have received at least one prior anti–CD20-based regimen and adult patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who have...
"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” —Leonardo da Vinci 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...
In a Perspective article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Julia A. Beaver, MD, and Richard Pazdur, MD, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCD), discussed issues surrounding “dangling” accelerated approvals of anti–PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies—ie,...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Thierry Conroy, MD, and colleagues, the French phase III UNICANCER-PRODIGE 23 trial has shown that intensification of preoperative therapy with FOLFIRINOX (oxaliplatin, irinotecan, leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU]) prior to chemoradiotherapy resulted in improved ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Luis Paz-Ares, MD, of the Universidad Complutense & CiberOnc, Madrid, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 9LA trial has shown improved overall survival with first-line nivolumab/ipilimumab plus two cycles of chemotherapy vs four cycles of chemotherapy...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Alexander M.M. Eggermont, MD, and colleagues, the pivotal phase III EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE-054 trial has shown significant improvement in the secondary endpoint of distant metastasis–free survival—as well as continued benefit in the primary endpoint of...
The novel targeted agent CPI-0610 enhanced responses to ruxolitinib in patients with myelofibrosis enrolled in the global phase II MANIFEST-2 trial, investigators reported at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1,2 “Preliminary data demonstrate the...
In a phase II study (innovaTV 204/GOG-3023/ENGOT-cx6) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Robert L. Coleman, MD, and colleagues found that the tissue factor–directed antibody-drug conjugate tisotumab vedotin produced durable responses in previously treated patients with recurrent or metastatic...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robert J. Motzer, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and colleagues, the phase III CLEAR trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival with lenvatinib/pembrolizumab and with lenvatinib/everolimus vs sunitinib and...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Metzger et al found that the integration of brentuximab vedotin into front-line treatment of pediatric patients with high-risk classical Hodgkin lymphoma resulted in avoidance of radiotherapy in many patients, as well as high rates of...
The novel agentSY-1425 combined with azacitidine appears to be active in retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) superenhancer–positive newly diagnosed and relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to the results of a phase II trial presented at the 2020 American Society of...
In a phase I trial reported at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 (Abstract CT018) and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Friedman et al found that oncolytic virotherapy with genetically engineered herpes simplex virus-1...
Cirmena et al discussed whether using a liquid biopsy test to assess plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity could improve the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting the achievement of complete response among patients with locally advanced breast cancer who had received...
Treatment with tebentafusp, a novel bispecific fusion protein, reduced the risk of death from metastatic uveal melanoma at 14 months by half, compared with available treatments, in a phase III study presented by Piperno-Neumann et al at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)...
We who live and work in Seattle recently took note of two milestones: the first death of a patient from COVID-19 reported in the United States in Seattle on February 28, 2020, and recognition of 5,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the state of Washington on March 2, 2021. The juxtaposition of these two...
Next-generation inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations showed promise in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in early-phase trials presented during the International Association Society for Lung Cancer 2020 World Conference on Lung...
At 33, I’m not living the life I had imagined for myself. If cancer hadn’t interrupted my plans, I would be serving in the United States Army Special Forces by now, a profession that was inspired by my father’s career as a military officer and helicopter pilot and one that I had dreamed about since ...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Menjak et al found that a nurse-led telephone surveillance program for toxicity associated with ipilimumab in patients with metastatic melanoma led to earlier identification of toxicities and earlier intervention, with an apparent...
For the treatment of breast cancer, antibody-drug conjugates are emerging as effective players that could impact all subtypes of this disease, according to Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, Director of the Glenn Family Breast Cancer at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta. In the...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Joseph Chao, MD, and colleagues found improved outcomes with pembrolizumab treatment in patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer, irrespective of line of treatment. The findings suggest that...
In a single-institution retrospective study focused on a New York City location reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Satish et al found that more than 40% of patients with breast cancer not infected with COVID-19 had a delay or change in care delivery due to the pandemic. Study Details The study...
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Network Open, Greysen et al found that a strategy of behaviorally designed gamification with social support did not increase mobility among patients discharged from inpatient general medicine or oncology units, although benefit was observed in a...
On March 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a revised label for the combination of daunorubicin and cytarabine (Vyxeos) to include a new indication to treat newly diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) in...
A retrospective analysis of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) identified potentially targetable alterations in the PI3K pathway that were not mutually exclusive to mutations in other pathways, according to findings presented by Lage et al during the European Lung Cancer Virtual...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by John Kuruvilla, MD, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-204 trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with pembrolizumab vs brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma....
Computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated that 39% of patients diagnosed with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) presented with de novo brain metastases during the COVID-19 pandemic. This percentage was higher than the historic rate of 25%, and many of these...
Gastric cancer appears to have a new druggable target: fibroblast growth factor receptor 2b (FGFR2b). Targeting FGFR2b with bemarituzumab plus chemotherapy led to clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival, overall survival, and response rate in...
As first-line treatment for advanced gastric cancer, nivolumab plus chemotherapy leads to significantly improved progression-free and overall survival over chemotherapy alone, investigators reported during a Presidential Symposium of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress ...
The much-anticipated SWOG S1505 trial has failed to show that one preoperative regimen is better than another in resectable pancreatic cancer.1 “Perioperative modified FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel appear to have similar efficacy, with acceptable safety and resectability rates,”...
In 2007, sorafenib became the first approved systemic therapy for hepatocellular cancers and the first agent to improve overall survival in these patients.1 In a similar multikinase inhibitor strategy, lenvatinib was found to be noninferior to sorafenib in overall survival in the same patient...
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Oncology, Reyngold et al found that definitive hypofractionated ablative radiation therapy following induction chemotherapy was associated with prolonged locoregional control and favorable survival in patients with inoperable locally advanced...
Egypt is a country of 1,010,408 km2 located on the northeast corner of Africa with a population exceeding 100 million. In 2018, there were about 134,632 new cancer cases and 89,042 cancer-related deaths in Egypt. Liver and breast cancers are the most common tumors in terms of incidence and...
United in their commitment to eliminate human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancer, the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) and the Foundation for Women’s Cancer (FWC) recently endorsed a series of vaccine recommendations. HPV vaccines are among the most effective vaccines available worldwide,...
On January 22, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the combination of nivolumab and cabozantinib as first-line treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.1-3 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the findings of the phase III, open-label CheckMate 9ER trial...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Hawrot et al found that there was no increase in time to treatment initiation after histologic diagnosis in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, they did find...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Joaquim Bellmunt, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III IMvigor010 trial showed no improvement in disease-free survival with adjuvant atezolizumab vs observation in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma. Study Details In the open-label trial, 809...
Treatment with image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IG-IMRT) led to reduced late toxicities vs standard three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy in patients with cervical cancer, according to data presented by Supriya Chopra, MD, and colleagues during the Society of Gynecologic...
The addition of niraparib maintenance to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy with bevacizumab demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, according to data from the OVARIO study presented by Melissa M. Hardesty, MD, MPH, during the Society of Gynecologic Oncology...
Women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and elevated decision scores had a significantly higher risk of ipsilateral breast events and a greater relative benefit from radiation therapy compared to women with lower decision scores, according to research presented by Mann et al at the Society of...
An analysis of 546 patients with breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy demonstrated that residual cancer burden is prognostic for overall survival, recurrence-free survival, and distant relapse–free survival, according to research presented by White et al at the Society of Surgical...
According to a report published by Pickhardt et al in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), compared with multitarget stool DNA and fecal immunochemical tests, computed tomography (CT) colonography using a polyp size threshold ≥ 10 mm most effectively targeted advanced neoplasia—preserving...
In an analysis of updated evidence on low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer reported in JAMA, Jonas et al found that screening can reduce lung cancer mortality but may be associated with a range of potential harms. The analysis was performed to inform the new U.S. Preventive...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Duncavage et al found that whole-genome sequencing in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) provided rapid genomic profiling that improved diagnostic yield vs conventional cytogenetic analysis, as...
Vaccinating adults aged 26 and older against the human papillomavirus (HPV) may not be cost-effective, according to a new study published by Kim et al in PLOS Medicine. “Our study found that the added health benefit of increasing the vaccination age limit beyond 26 years is minimal, and that the...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Grønberg et al found that use of high-dose vs standard-dose twice daily thoracic radiotherapy as part of first-line chemoradiotherapy was associated with significantly improved overall survival and similar toxicity in patients with limited-stage...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the agency will hold a public meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee on April 27 to 29 to discuss six indications granted accelerated approval that have since reported results from confirmatory trials that have not...
Guest Editor’s Note: Although many cancer centers recognize the value of integrative therapies in oncologic care, cancer prevention, its treatment, and survivorship care continue to pose a challenge in many low- and middle-income countries. In this article, Alejandro Salicrup, PhD, highlights the...