Nonpharmacologic approaches to managing pain have a fairly robust base of science and research supporting their use but are not as widely accepted and understood as drug therapy in the realm of cancer care. In a breakout session at the 2015 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium in Boston, experts...
The investigational agent anamorelin significantly increased lean body mass, body weight, total body mass, and fat mass in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and cachexia, according to Jennifer S. Temel, MD, who presented the results of two phase III studies at the 2015...
The addition of olanzapine to standard antiemetics significantly reduced chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, according to Rudolph M. Navari, MD, PhD, and colleagues. “As far as I know, this is the first trial that looked at no nausea as the ...
We have a responsibility to develop better treatment for inflammatory breast cancer,” Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, FACP, told participants at the 17th Annual Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium in Chicago. As recently appointed Associate Director of Translational Research and Precision Medicine at the ...
As summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post (see "ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline: Use of Biomarkers to Guide Systemic Therapy for Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer"), Van Poznak and colleagues recently presented an ASCO clinical practice guideline on the use of biomarkers for decisions...
The following new hematology/oncology agents and expanded indications were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in 2015: Alectinib (Alecensa), an ALK inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive...
A phase III Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) trial (E1A060) comparing melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide (Thalomid) with melphalan, prednisone, and lenalidomide (Revlimid) in elderly patients with untreated multiple myeloma found that at the end of the induction period, patients...
A study finding that the incidence of prostate cancer has declined in recent years may at first seem like good news to physicians and patients, but, as widely reported by the media, the decline is not seen as an indication that prostate cancer has become less prevalent, but that screening for it...
Two recent studies1,2 found that the rates of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening have declined since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against PSA screening in 2012. One of those studies additionally found that the incidence of early-stage prostate cancer also...
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced a new Radiation Oncology Practice Assessment (ROPA) program to leverage recent advances in information technology to improve radiation therapy cancer care for our nation’s veterans. VA is working with the American Society for Radiation Oncology...
Bookmark Title: The Laws of Medicine: Field Notes From an Uncertain Science Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee Publisher: TED Books/Simon & Schuster Publication date: October 13, 2015 Price: $16.99; hardcover, 96 pages The Emperor of All Maladies, written by the Indian-born American oncologist...
Although formal mentoring programs in medical education were not launched in the United States until the late 1990s,1 today they are regarded as playing an essential role in the career development of medical trainees and have been associated with improvements in research, teaching, and patient...
The 15th Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) took place in Prague, Czech Republic, over 3 days (November 12–14, 2015). At the heart of the meeting were presentations on supportive care, comprehensive geriatric assessment and treatment—so that we fully...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with pancreatic cancer. The trials are investigating preoperative rehabilitation; chimeric antigen receptors; T-cell transplants; combination chemotherapy; chemoradiotherapy; ...
The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) is developing a marketing campaign to highlight the value of academic cancer centers to their communities and the nation. Called “The Academic Difference,” the 2-year campaign is the initiative of AACI President George J. Weiner, MD, Director of...
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have high relapse rates after induction chemotherapy, low survival rates, and fewer treatment options compared with younger patients. One of the options for both younger and older patients is hematopoietic cell transplantation, but relatively few...
ASCO’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) offers mid-career oncologists the opportunity to learn valuable leadership skills from ASCO’s exceptional leaders and participate in networking and mentoring opportunities. Participants work on strategy development, interpersonal effectiveness and...
Sometimes, cancer treatments that initially appear promising begin to lose their effectiveness. This is due to the ability diseases like cancer have to develop resistance to treatments over time and, essentially, outsmart them. But what if there were ways to ensure this didn’t happen? What if...
Question 1: Based on the rationale for the current “standard of care” for primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the CNS, what is the optimal induction therapy? Correct Answer: C. A high-dose methotrexate–based regimen. Expert Perspective Untreated primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the CNS ...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has opened the St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, the first proton therapy center in the world dedicated solely to children with cancer. Patients are now being treated at the center using precisely delivered, high-energy protons to kill or shrink...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On November 24, 2015, necitumumab (Portrazza) was approved for use ...
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has become home to The Cancer Imaging Archive of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), with the transfer to UAMS of more than 40 terabytes of data from the archive’s former home at Washington University in St. Louis. Cancer researchers can use...
In the current climate of rising health-care costs, particularly in the field of oncology, clinical guidelines provide a crucial tool to guide practitioners in evidence-based care and to improve the quality and consistency of care.1 The ASCO review and endorsement of the American College of Chest...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 ASCO has endorsed the current American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guideline on treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), released in 2013.2 After review of evidence from an updated literature search covering 2011 to March 2015, an ASCO...
The optimal management strategy for ductal carcinoma in situ has become increasingly controversial with respect to potential overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Much of the controversy for ductal carcinoma in situ stems from its exceptional breast cancer–specific survival, which approaches close to...
Lawrence J. Solin, MD, of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, and colleagues reported the 12-year results from the ECOG-ACRIN E5194 trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Among women with ductal carcinoma in situ with low-risk clinical and pathologic characteristics, they found...
Over 10 years ago, we welcomed a new approach to cancer surgery when the 2004 COST trial demonstrated the benefits of laparoscopic compared with open surgery for colon cancer. This randomized trial of 872 patients showed improved perioperative recovery with laparoscopic colectomy without...
Two phase III trials, reported in JAMA by James Fleshman, MD, of Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, and colleagues1 and Andrew R. Stevenson, MBBS, FRACS, of the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues,2 failed to show noninferiority of surgical outcome for laparoscopic...
Launched by ASCO in 2005 to provide oncologists with original research on the delivery of high-quality cancer care, the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) enters its 11th year with a new look and feel. Beginning in January 2016, JOP will be copublished by ASCO and Harborside Press, the publisher of ...
On November 17, Friends of Cancer Research (FOCR) released a white paper report, Enhancing Use of Patient-Centered Data in Regulatory Decision Making.1 The contents of that paper are summarized below. Improving Patient Input Many stakeholders agree that to ensure truly transformational therapies,...
Cancer clinical trials in three distinct phases, as they have been conducted for decades, are probably no longer the best way to bring a drug or biologic agent to market. This was the consensus of three panels at the 8th Annual Conference on Clinical Cancer Research convened by Friends of Cancer...
City of Hope recently announced the following new staff additions. Bart O. Roep, PhD Internationally recognized immunologist Bart O. Roep, PhD, has joined City of Hope as Chair of the Department of Diabetes Immunology within the Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute. An expert in the...
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection generally can be treated the same as lymphoma in non–HIV-infected patients, with a few caveats, according to Lawrence D. Kaplan, MD, of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On November 24, 2015, nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved for use as...
An intervention called the Serious Illness Care Program helps clinicians to conduct more, earlier, and better conversations about goals of care with their seriously ill patients, according to Rachelle E. Bernacki, MD, MS, who presented the preliminary results of a study using this approach at the...
This is a group of patients who have not done very well over the years. The cure rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is over 90%, whereas this group of patients (ie, aged 18–50) typically has a 5-year survival of 40% to 50%. Use of pediatric regimens has boosted that survival, ...
Both the concept of an antibody-drug conjugate combined with less-intensive chemotherapy and the actual regimen used in this study are exciting, according to Nikolai Podoltsev, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology, Yale University Medical Center, New Haven, Connecticut. “This has...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On November 23, 2015, nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved for use in...
Upfront treatment with midostaurin added to standard chemotherapy improved survival compared with placebo plus chemotherapy in high-risk patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) characterized by FLT3 mutations. No new drugs have been approved for AML since 1990, and midostaurin is the first...
Press conference moderator Virginia Kaklamani, MD, commented on these results from the ABCSG-18 trial: “It’s pretty clear that 3 years of adjuvant denosumab not only reduced fracture risk but improved disease-free survival. It’s also pretty clear that adjuvant bisphosphonates improve disease-free...
Treatment with capecitabine increased disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to a study reported by researchers from Japan and Korea at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 “It has been unclear whether...
At an educational session at the 2015 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Sagar Lonial, MD, of Emory University, Atlanta, elaborated upon this topic. The pooled analysis of daratumumab (Darzalex) monotherapy, he said, “demonstrated significant activity and, not only this,...
Breast cancer afflicts 1 in 8 women in their lifetime, and 1 in 25 die from this disease. Although a number of randomized trials have demonstrated the clear benefits of mammography screening in women up to age 74 on reducing mortality, data are sparse in women over age 74, especially among...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Killelea et al found that chemotherapy, particularly neoadjuvant chemotherapy, was more frequently given to black, Hispanic, and Asian women vs white women with stage I to III breast cancer, with the difference largely attributable to more...
The requirement for tumor tissue specimens and associated analyses in order to participate in clinical trials appears to be a significant barrier to clinical trial enrollment and may delay treatment. Potential solutions to reducing or eliminating these barriers include routine tissue banking at...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Basch et al, a trial conducted among patients receiving routine outpatient chemotherapy for advanced solid tumors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center indicated that patient use of tablet computers to report common symptoms was associated with ...
Alysa M. Fairchild, MD, of the Cross Cancer Institute and the University of Alberta, discusses her study on the use of dexamethasone to reduce pain flare in patients receiving palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases (Abstract LBA6663).
Jame Abraham, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, discusses findings on the use of avelumab, an anti–PD-L1 antibody, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as well as the preliminary efficacy and safety findings of pembrolizumab in patients with PD-L1–positive, estrogen...
Hans Wildiers, MD, PhD, of the University Hospitals, Leuven, discusses this phase III study on the use of ado-trastuzumab emtansine vs treatment of physician’s choice in previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (Abstract S5-05).
Sagar Lonial, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine, and Torben Plesner, MD, of Vejle Hospital, discuss the latest findings on the use of daratumumab in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (Abstract 507).