Kathy S. Albain, MD, of Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, discusses study findings on race, ethnicity, and patient outcomes in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-negative breast cancer (Abstract GS4-07).
Allison Magnuson, DO, of the University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital, discusses the development of a chemotherapy toxicity risk score that is associated with dose reduction as well as reduced respiratory distress and fewer hospitalizations (Abstract GS6-04).
Roberto A. Leon-Ferre, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses study findings on the effectiveness of oxybutynin in decreasing the frequency and severity of hot flashes (Abstract GS6-01).
Dejan Juric, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses phase III study findings on liquid biopsy–based assessment of PIK3CA mutational status and the combination of the selective PI3K-alpha inhibitor alpelisib plus fulvestrant in the treatment of advanced breast cancer (Abstract GS3-08).
Laura S. Dominici, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the lower quality-of-life scores seen after unilateral or bilateral mastectomy compared with breast-conserving surgery in women younger than age 40 who are treated for breast cancer (Abstract GS6-05).
Judy E. Garber, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, summarizes a special session she moderated, which included discussion of polygenic risk scores, genetic testing in diverse populations, and what to do when presented with moderate-penetrance mutations.
Shoshana M. Rosenberg, ScD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses her study findings on the lower quality of life associated with mastectomy, and the need for intervention and timely referrals to supportive resources, especially for underserved populations (Abstract GS6-04).
Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Daniel F. Hayes, MD, of the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center debate whether all women with breast cancer and positive lymph nodes should receive chemotherapy.
Treatment with oxybutynin helped reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes for women who could not take hormone replacement therapy, including breast cancer survivors, according to the results of a trial presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by Leon-Ferre et al (Abstract ...
Liquid biopsy–based assessment of PIK3CA mutational status served as a better indicator of progression-free survival compared with analysis of tissue biopsy in patients with breast cancer enrolled in the phase III SOLAR-1 clinical trial, according to data presented by Juric et al at the 2018...
On December 6, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin), paclitaxel, and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic, nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no EGFR or...
François-Clément Bidard, MD, PhD, of the Institut Curie and the University of Versailles, discusses phase III study findings on the clinical utility of circulating tumor cell count as a tool to choose between first-line hormone therapy and chemotherapy for estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative...
Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Richard G. Gray, MA, MSc, of the University of Oxford, discuss a meta-analysis of individual patient data from 12 randomized trials including 24,912 women on the effects—in terms of recurrence and cause-specific mortality—of...
Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Miguel Martín, MD, PhD, of the Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, discuss phase III study findings on adjuvant capecitabine after standard chemotherapy for people with early triple-negative breast cancer...
Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Charles E. Geyer, MD, of Virginia Commonwealth University, discuss phase III study findings on ado-trastuzumab emtansine vs trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy in patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer with residual invasive ...
Eva M. Ciruelos, MD, PhD, of the University Hospital 12 de Octubre and the SOLTI Group, discusses study findings on palbociclib and trastuzumab in postmenopausal patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (Abstract PD3-03).
Zaida Morante, MD, of the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, discusses retrospective study findings showing the importance of starting adjuvant chemotherapy for people with triple-negative breast cancer within 30 days of surgery (Abstract GS2-05).
Shoichiro Ohtani, MD, PhD, of Hiroshima City Hiroshima Citizens Hospital, discusses study findings on extending anastrozole to 10 years, which led to higher rates of disease-free survival and distant disease–free survival (Abstract GS3-04).
The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) recognized outstanding contributors in research, treatment, and caregiving at its Simply the Best Dinner and Gala, which took place recently in San Francisco. The annual event is a celebration of survivors, hope, and determination that brings...
BOOKMARK Title: Cancer Crossings: A Brother, His Doctors, and the Quest for a Cure to Childhood LeukemiaAuthor: Tim WendelPublisher: ILR PressPublication date: April 2018Price: $24.95, hardcover, 256 pages Tim Wendel is a journalist and author of several noted books, mostly concerning sports. In...
BOOKMARK Title: Your Happy Brain: Why and How to Hug ItAuthors: Philomena Lawrence, BA, BEd, and Gilbert Lawrence, MD, FRCRPublisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication date: June 2018Price: $16.00, paperback, 390 pages Some 2,400 years ago, the ancient Greeks were among the...
To grant more children with cancer access to clinical trials, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has awarded 29 infrastructure grants totaling $1.7 million to institutions across the country. This series of grants brings the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s funding total to more than $26 million awarded in...
Kathryn J. Ruddy, MD, MPH, of the Mayo Clinic, summarizes a special spotlight session that included discussion of interventions to improve quality of life and the importance of lifestyle in the prevention of cancer and cancer recurrence.
Xavier Pivot, MD, PhD, of the Paul Strauss Cancer Center, discusses final study findings comparing 6 and 12 months of trastuzumab in adjuvant early breast cancer (Abstract GS2-07).
Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the natural history and novel combinations for HER2-positive disease as well as predictive and prognostic markers for this type of breast cancer.
Despite the fact that I had to have open heart surgery at age 7 to fix a congenital heart defect and then more surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy to treat a diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma a year later, I never felt like I was a sick kid. Children don’t have the existential worries about...
Data from the NSABP B-39/RTOG 0413 trial indicated that ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) rates 10 years after treatment could not reject the hypothesis that accelerated partial-breast irradiation (PBI) after lumpectomy was inferior to whole-breast irradiation (WBI), according to a...
Treatment with a low dose of tamoxifen (5 mg/d), compared with placebo, decreased the risk of disease recurrence and new disease for women who had been treated with surgery following a diagnosis of breast intraepithelial neoplasia. Moreover, it did not cause more serious adverse events, according...
Patients with early-stage breast cancer who had cancer detected in a sentinel lymph node biopsy had comparable 10-year recurrence and survival rates following either axillary radiotherapy or axillary lymph node dissection, according to data from the randomized, phase III AMAROS clinical trial...
Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) & Research Institute, LLC, the largest physician-owned oncology/hematology practice in the country, announced Lucio N. Gordan, MD, has been named Managing Physician and President. Dr. Gordan, a hematologist/oncologist, replaces Dr. William Harwin, who recently...
BOOKMARK Title: Doing Harm: The Truth About Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and SickAuthor: Maya DusenberyPublisher: HarperOnePublication date: March 2018Price: $27.99, hardcover, 400 pages Over the past year or so, there have been several books by women focused...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
The National Cancer Institute has provided a grant to develop a joint cancer drug discovery/development and research education program to focus on cancers that have an increased risk of incidence and/or mortality among underserved communities, namely African Americans, Hispanics, and Native...
The Skin Cancer Foundation recently held its 22nd annual Gala at The Plaza Hotel in New York. The Champions for Change Gala is the Foundation’s signature fundraising event, and $600,000 was raised to support the organization’s educational campaigns, community programs, and research initiatives....
Integrative Oncology is guest edited by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine and Chief, Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. GUEST EDITOR The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the...
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of The Chemotherapy Foundation. Founded by Ezra M. Greenspan, MD, in 1968, with the goal of advancing effective cancer treatments, The Chemotherapy Foundation helped propel the modern era of chemotherapy and the later development of targeted...
Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has been recognized for her contributions to the field of immuno-oncology with the Pandolfi Award for Women in Cancer Research at the 11th Annual Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Cancer Symposium. Dr. Sharma was...
Penn Medicine has announced a new Translational Center of Excellence in the Abramson Cancer Center, focused on glioblastoma multiforme. The team will investigate new immune therapies for glioblastoma and, in particular, design and test new chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. “Penn...
Four breast cancer researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hillman Cancer Center have received nearly $1 million from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) to further breast cancer research from the most basic biology of a cancer cell to developing innovative new...
Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related childhood death. To better serve the special needs of this highly vulnerable patient population, pediatric palliative care teams use a personalized, holistic, and interdisciplinary approach tailored to relieve the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual ...
Pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a significantly lower recurrence risk and higher overall survival in patients with breast cancer, and pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a similar association with improved outcomes...
The 20th Annual Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium was hosted earlier this year by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago. “A new era of cancer vaccines” and encouraging data from early trials were among the topics discussed by Mary (Nora) Disis, MD...
Investigators from Australia have identified a genetic mutation that causes resistance to the targeted drug venetoclax (Venclexta) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to research presented by Blombery et al at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting...
Researchers, patients with cancer, and philanthropists have come together to launch Count Me In, a nonprofit organization aimed at patient-partnered research. Count Me In allows patients with cancer anywhere in the United States or Canada to easily share their medical information, personal...
A 6-month course of chemotherapy-based treatment with FCR (intravenous fludarabine and cyclophosphamide plus rituximab [Rituxan]) has historically been the most effective treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), especially in patients 70 years of age and younger. However, results from a...
Treating patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer with capecitabine after surgery and standard chemotherapy did not significantly improve disease-free or overall survival compared with observation, according to data from the randomized, phase III GEICAM/CIBOMA clinical trial...
Laurie H. Sehn, MD, MPH, of the British Columbia Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer, discusses a study by the Lunenburg Lymphoma Biomarker Consortium that confirmed previous reports on the negative prognostic impact of an underlying MYC-translocation for both progression-free and overall survival in ...
Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, of Stanford University, discusses phase III study findings on ibrutinib-based therapy vs standard fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab chemoimmunotherapy in untreated younger patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (Abstract LBA4).
Shaji K. Kumar, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses phase III findings on daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone vs lenalidomide and dexamethasone in people with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for transplant (Abstract LBA2).