In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Lindsley et al found that a number of mutations present in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) were associated with poorer clinical outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Study Details The study ...
Recurrences of early-stage (stage II) melanoma are more often detected by patients and their physicians than by routine imaging tests, according to study results published by Berger et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. “We are most concerned about patients who have stage ...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Dréno et al found that two long-term intermittent vismodegib (Erivedge) dosing regimens provided a similar reduction in the number of clinically significant basal cell carcinomas among patients with multiple lesions. Study Details In the ...
In the UK Medical Research Council ST03 phase II/III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cunningham et al found that adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to perioperative chemotherapy did not improve survival in patients with operable esophagogastric cancer and may have been associated with impaired...
In the FIRES prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rossi et al found that sentinel lymph node mapping was highly accurate in detecting metastases compared with complete lymphadenectomy in women with endometrial cancer. Study Details The study included women with clinical stage ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Antonia Sepulveda, MD, PhD, of Columbia University, and colleagues, a joint guideline on the use of molecular biomarkers for evaluation of colorectal cancer has been developed by an expert panel from the American Society for Clinical Pathology...
In the phase II BERIL-1 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Soulières et al found that adding the pan-PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase) inhibitor buparlisib to paclitaxel improved outcomes in patients with platinum-pretreated recurrent metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and ...
In the phase III OPTIMIZE-2 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Hortobagyi et al found that an every-12-week schedule of zoledronic acid was noninferior to an every-4-week schedule in terms of skeletal-related event rate in women with bone metastases from breast cancer who were currently receiving...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Symmans et al found that residual cancer burden (RCB) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was significantly prognostic for long-term outcome across breast cancer subtypes. Study Details The study included 5 patient cohorts from The University of ...
In an Italian phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tiseo et al found that adding first-line bevacizumab (Avastin) to cisplatin/etoposide did not prolong overall survival in patients with extensive-disease small cell lung cancer. Study Details In the open-label trial, 204...
As reported by Zelenetz et al in The Lancet Oncology, an interim analysis of a phase III trial has shown the superiority of adding the phosphoinositide-3-kinase δ inhibitor idelalisib (Zydelig) to bendamustine/rituximab (Rituxan) in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic...
Justin F. Klamerus, MD, MMM, has been appointed President of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Hospital, the clinical operation of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit. The appointment was effective as of January 2017. Dr. Klamerus will report directly to Gerold Bepler, MD, PhD, President and Chief...
Although alcohol consumption is associated with increasing the risk of many cancers, including liver, pancreatic, colon, rectal, and breast, the link between alcohol and higher risk of melanoma is equivocal. Now, a large prospective study by Andrew Rivera, MD, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, and ...
In an analysis of a French trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Balsat et al found that postinduction minimal residual disease was predictive of outcome and benefit from allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Nicolas...
FEBRUARY ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology SymposiumFebruary 23-25 • Orlando, Florida For more information: http://immunosym.org FACTOR (Funding, Awareness, Collaboration, Trials, Osteosarcoma Research) Miami Conference 2017February 24-25 • Coral Gables, Florida For more information:...
Over the past several years, the introduction of decision-making tools for patients from major cancer organizations, including ASCO and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), has been news, applauded as a step toward more patient-centered care and featured at many meetings. Next steps, ...
The multihumoral manifestations of neuroendocrine tumors include diarrhea, cutaneous flushing, wheezing, and right-sided valvular heart disease.1 Serotonin, a biogenic amine and product of tryptophan metabolism,2 mediates several of these symptoms.3,4 Diarrhea is a cardinal and often disabling...
In the phase III TELESTAR trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Matthew H. Kulke, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, telotristat ethyl, an investigational tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor, significantly reduced the frequency of bowel movements in patients with...
Technologic advances for detecting and analyzing cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from peripheral blood offer a precision method for monitoring diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Although most patients with DLBCL are cured with initial therapy, those who are not cured have a poor...
Compared to chemotherapy, the use of first-line ceritinib (Zykadia) resulted in a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in median progression-free survival, with an estimated 45% reduction in disease progression risk, as well as significant improvements in quality of...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Sharma et al, the phase II CheckMate 275 trial has shown nivolumab (Opdivo) to produce durable responses in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who had received at least one prior platinum-based regimen. The study supported the recent accelerated...
Although many studies have linked obesity with an increased risk for endometrial cancer, information about the influence of weight loss on the cancer in postmenopausal women has been limited. Now, a study by Luo et al evaluating the association of weight change and endometrial cancer risk among...
On February 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review two supplemental Biologics License Applications (sBLAs) for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. Specifically, the application for first-line use was accepted and...
In a single-center pooled analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al found that a higher dose of radiation to the heart was associated with an increased risk of cardiac events in patients receiving high-dose radiation therapy for stage III non–small cell lung cancer...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Polgár et al, 5-year late side effects and cosmetic results were similar with accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI) with interstitial brachytherapy vs whole-breast irradiation (WBI) after breast-conserving surgery for low-risk invasive and in...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Shipley et al in the NRG Oncology Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), the final analysis of the phase III RTOG 9601 trial showed that the addition of antiandrogen therapy with bicalutamide to radiation therapy significantly improves overall ...
“This drug [durvalumab] clearly shows activity in the third-line and beyond setting, and the higher the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, the higher the response rate,” noted Michael Boyer, MBBS, PhD, Chief Clinical Officer and Conjoint Chair of Medical Oncology (Thoracic...
Durvalumab was active and led to long-lasting response in a cohort of heavily pretreated patients with epidermal growth factor receptor/anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EGFR/ALK) wild-type locally advanced and metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly among patients whose tumors...
At the 2016 American Society for Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, researchers reported early success with two new experimental agents for high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes—enasidenib (also known as AG-221), a potent oral inhibitor of the isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) enzyme,...
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics in several different types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs), including mantle cell lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma. For...
Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the malignancies most susceptible to treatment with monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein (PD-1). Nivolumab (Opdivo) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in patients with relapsed/refractory...
A randomized phase II study in women with metastatic breast cancer who have mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 evaluated the addition of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor veliparib to combination chemotherapy. The trial did not meet its primary endpoint.1 Hyo Sook Han, MD, of Moffitt...
Three clinical trials of the immunotherapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) have shown that it is active against a rare subtype of skin cancer, mucosal melanoma. The findings were presented by Butler et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (ECCO) (Abstract 1142). Until now, mucosal melanoma has often...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Smith et al, the final results of the phase III FACE trial showed no difference in disease-free or overall survival for adjuvant letrozole vs anastrozole in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive node-positive early breast...
On February 2, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have...
Studies presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium added to growing evidence that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are important prognostic factors in breast cancer. One investigation evaluated their impact in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, finding a linear relationship between...
Gastric cancer can apparently be added to the growing list of malignancies for which drugs targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD‑1) receptor are effective, according to the results of the phase III ONO-4538 investigation conducted in Asia and presented at the 2017 Gastrointestinal...
It was a call from a referring physician who wanted the patient to be transferred to our major academic center. The patient had a history of a lethal malignancy in a very advanced stage. The patient was already outside the bell curve, for she had survived far longer than expected for a malignancy...
In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have mutations in BRAF V600, the addition of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) to cetuximab (Erbitux) and irinotecan significantly improved progression-free survival, results of the phase II Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) 1406 trial have...
By 2050, the death rates from malignant melanoma will have decreased from their current levels, but the numbers of people dying from the disease will have increased due to the aging of populations. However, if new treatments for the deadly skin cancer prove to be effective, the numbers of deaths...
A test that measures the levels of five chemicals in the breath has shown promising results for the detection of cancers of the esophagus and stomach in a large patient trial presented by Markar et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 6LBA). Together, stomach and esophageal...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ornstein et al found that an intermittent schedule of sunitinib (Sutent) may be feasible in patients with previously untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Study Details In the study, 37 patients with clear cell metastatic...
In a phase III trial (ASCEND-4) reported in The Lancet, Soria et al found that ceritinib (Zykadia) improved progression-free survival vs platinum-based chemotherapy in first-line treatment of advanced ALK-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Ceritinib is a next-generation selective...
A growing number of patients with cancer are benefiting from research advances in immunotherapy, leading ASCO to name immunotherapy as the Society's Advance of the Year for a second year in a row. Released today, Clinical Cancer Advances 2017: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer...
In the UK PROMIS study reported in The Lancet, Ahmed et al found that use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MP-MRI) might reduce the need for transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsy and may improve detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. Study Details In the ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Antonio Finelli, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on management of small renal masses. The guideline was derived from an expert panel literature search for and...
An Italian single-center trial compared treatment with sublingual fentanyl tablets and subcutaneous morphine in managing severe pain episodes in cancer patients receiving opioid treatment. In the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zecca et al reported that the trial did not show noninferiority of...
In the European phase III ESPAC-4 trial reported in The Lancet, Neoptolemos et al found that adding adjuvant capecitabine to gemcitabine significantly improved overall survival in patients with resected pancreatic cancer. Study Details In the open-label trial, 730 patients from 92 hospitals in...
The BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (Venclexta) was found to be active in patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to a phase I study reported by Davids et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Further study of this agent, including in combination therapy to augment...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Bell et al derived a molecular-based recursive partitioning analysis model for overall survival in glioblastoma multiforme in the temozolomide era with the aim of refining existing clinically based models. Study Details The study involved analysis of 452...