Luis M. Montuenga, PhD, of the University of Navarra, discusses the potential contributions of biomarkers, promising biomarker panels being tested and published, the need to standardize biospecimen collection, and how to improve the sensitivity of these biomarkers (Abstract PL05.06).
Bruce E. Johnson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, offers his expert perspective on single-arm drug approvals for targeted agents between 2016 and 2020, the need for biomarker testing, and the societal costs of drug development (Abstract PL04.03).
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, of Yale University, discusses two key abstracts from the ADAURA trial: the use of osimertinib as adjuvant therapy for resected EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer; and patient-reported outcomes, which showed a benefit in disease-free survival and maintenance of...
Justin F. Gainor, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses two key phase II studies on non–small cell lung cancer: nivolumab vs nivolumab plus ipilimumab in EGFR-mutant disease and the oral selective AXL inhibitor bemcentinib with pembrolizumab in advanced disease (Abstracts OA01.06 and...
Martin Reck, MD, PhD, of the LungenClinic, discusses findings of the KEYNOTE-598 study, which showed that pembrolizumab plus ipilimumab was more toxic and offered no more benefit in terms of efficacy than pembrolizumab plus placebo in first-line therapy for patients with metastatic high...
Treatment with the immunotherapy nivolumab with or without cisplatin-based chemotherapy following radical surgery significantly improved disease-free survival in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma, irrespective of their PD-L1 status, according to a study that will be presented by...
Reduced levels of screening for prostate cancer using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing correspond with recent increases in the diagnosis of metastatic disease in the United States, according to a study that will be presented by Vidit Sharma, MD, and colleagues at the 2021 Genitourinary...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, Global Head of Translational Clinical Oncology at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research,* and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CROWN trial has shown that first-line lorlatinib significantly improved...
The keynote speaker did not mince words. “I tell everyone, do not use the term age-appropriate therapy,” said Jan White, a cancer survivor and patient advocate who described her own experience with stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “Patients with cancer,” she said, “are more than their age, gender,...
The National ComprehensiveCancer Network® (NCCN) has released new guidance1 on vaccinating people with cancer against COVID-19. The nonprofit alliance of leading cancer centers created an NCCN COVID-19 Vaccine Committee, which includes hematology and oncology experts with particular expertise in...
Jacob Soumerai, MD, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, who was not involved in this study, commented on the MURANO study findings. “MURANO is the definitive phase III trial that established venetoclax/rituximab as a standard of care for...
In the phase II NRG Oncology HN002 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that a reduced-dose intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) regimen for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma satisfied...
Patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treated with the combination of fixed-duration venetoclax/rituximab had a longer overall survival and progression-free survival at 5 years compared with those treated with bendamustine/rituximab, according to a 5-year analysis...
Janet Woodcock, MD, current Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been named acting FDA Commissioner, according to a report published in The New York Times.1Stephen M. Hahn, MD, who had been FDA Commissioner since December 17,...
In the Neurofibromatosis Clinical Trials Consortium phase II NF106 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Weiss et al found evidence of activity of the oral MAPK/ERK kinase inhibitor mirdametinib in adolescents and adult patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1)-related plexiform...
Gene therapy pioneer Arthur W. Nienhuis, MD, the fourth Director of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, died on February 3 at age 79. Under his leadership, the hospital grew exponentially in both size and scientific stature. “At St. Jude, the nature of our work requires a bold, ambitious...
HERO-TOGETHER is an opportunity for people working in health care who receive a COVID-19 vaccine to help the public understand how people fare after vaccination. The COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-generation challenge that health-care providers everywhere have worked together to face. On the...
Jill Feldman, a patient advocate and lung cancer survivor, discusses the current challenges and potential solutions to including more people of color and those in underserved communities in clinical trial research (Abstract PL04.06).
In an analysis of the phase III CheckMate 017 and 057 trials in previously treated patients with advanced squamous (017) and nonsquamous (057) non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hossein Borghaei, DO, MS, and colleagues found pooled 5-year overall...
Information shared by women with metastatic breast cancer on social media platforms like Twitter may be a timely source of data for policymakers hoping to improve care and outcomes for these patients, according to a study published by Shimkhada et al in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance. Role of...
In a U.S. population–based cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Hoskins et al found that among patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, Black women were more likely than White women to have a high Oncotype DX 21-gene recurrence score. Researchers also found that breast...
In an analysis from the COVID-19 Impact Survey reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Islam et al found that U.S. adult cancer survivors were more likely to report mental health–related symptoms vs adults without cancer during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study Details Data for the analysis ...
At-home tests, which measure blood in stool as a potential marker for colon cancer, are often used for colorectal cancer screening. Usage of these tests has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as patients try to avoid clinical visits. However, effectiveness of these screening tools, along with...
On February 5, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lisocabtagene maraleucel (Breyanzi) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not...
On February 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to umbralisib (Ukoniq), a kinase inhibitor including PI3K-delta and CK1-epsilon, for the following indications: Adult patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma who have received at least one prior...
This week, we’re hearing from two thoracic oncologists on research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer Singapore, which was moved to a virtual format and held January 28 to 31, 2021, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, of Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses Lung-MAP studies in which a higher tumor mutation burden determined by next-generation sequencing was linked to overall and progression-free survival across two immunotherapy trials, and was independent of PD-L1 status (Abstract...
On February 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the scheduling of a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to discuss the request for emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen Biotech Inc. Additionally, Acting...
A recent study found that long-term aspirin use before a diagnosis of colorectal cancer may be associated with lower colorectal cancer–specific mortality. The report, published by Figueiredo et al in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that the findings for prediagnosis...
Using a host immune classifier (HIC) test for patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may provide better predictors of treatment response and improve outcomes, according to research presented by Akerley et al at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2020 World...
B-cell–depleting immunotherapy may cause B-cell aplasia and impair the body’s immune response. A retrospective, multicentric French study of patients with lymphoma and persistent COVID-19 infection has found that those treated with B-cell–depleting therapies within the previous 12 months had nearly ...
Due to concerns that patients with cancer may be at higher risk for contracting the coronavirus—and may have more severe complications if infected—during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and clinical practices have changed protocols to routine cancer care to reduce patients’ exposure to the virus....
Administering colorectal cancer screening kits through a socially distant drive-by flu vaccination clinic increased access to colorectal cancer screening among Black Americans, according to results presented by Washington et al at the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer (Abstract S02-04)....
Prasad S. Adusumilli, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses ongoing CAR T-cell therapy clinical trials for solid tumors, the key determinants of success for developing this treatment, and some study results to date (Abstract PL03.05).
A recent study has found that more than half (56.4%) of cancer survivors in the United States reported having additional underlying medical conditions associated with severe COVID-19 illness. The report, published by Jiang et al in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggested that...
More than a year since the new coronavirus crisis began, its impact on cancer care has been stark, with “50% of governments (having) cancer services partially or completely disrupted because of the pandemic,” said André Ilbawi, MD, of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Department of...
A study presented by Nobuyuki Takahashi, MD, of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute, at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) Singapore (Abstract OA11.05) demonstrated that there may be an inherited ...
Patient-reported outcomes from the phase III CROWN study showed that time to treatment deterioration in chest pain, dyspnea, and cough was comparable between those who received lorlatinib and patients who took crizotinib. The research was presented at the International Association for the Study of...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Perera et al developed a population-based benchmark model for guideline-recommended use of surgery for primary cancers in high-income countries. Actual use of surgery was often consistent with model predictions but sometimes varied markedly. Study ...
In a population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Spencer et al found that mean weekly radiotherapy courses for cancer and attendance for receipt of fractions declined significantly during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. However, use of hypofractionated radiotherapy...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Fransson et al, analysis of patient-reported quality of life in the Scandinavian phase III HYPO-RT-PC trial showed no significant differences at up to 6 years of follow-up between patients receiving ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy vs conventionally...
Silvia Novello, MD, PhD, of the University of Turin, discusses phase III results from the ITACA trial, which explored the notion of improving survival by customizing treatment and reducing toxicities for patients with completely resected stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract...
A study presented by researchers with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan confirmed low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening may be feasible in a predefined, never-smoking, high-risk population. The research was presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer...
Two presentations based on data from the ADAURA clinical trial advanced previous research that demonstrated improved disease-fee survival outcomes for patients with surgically resected non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving osimertinib, while also maintaining quality of life. The data were...
On February 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to tepotinib (Tepmetko) for adult patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14–skipping alterations. VISION Trial Efficacy was...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Hope S. Rugo, MD, and colleagues, the phase III SOPHIA trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with margetuximab-cmkb plus chemotherapy vs trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who experienced disease...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, members of the international Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) identified the risk of disease associated with germline protein-truncating and rare missense variants of putative susceptibility genes in a large population of breast ...
As reported by Olszewski et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, members of The Burkitt Lymphoma International Prognostic Index Consortium have developed an index—the Burkitt Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (BL-IPI)—that provides “robust discrimination of survival” among adult patients...
Dean Fennell, FRCP, PhD, of the University of Leicester, discusses phase III results from the CONFIRM trial, which sought a standard immunotherapy treatment to improve overall survival for patients with mesothelioma who have relapsed after taking pemetrexed and cisplatin. Globally, the incidence of ...
Molecular profiling allows clinicians to identify the molecular and genetic signatures that help to deliver treatments that are highly specific to a tumor. This tool has made possible a number of advances in the past year that are improving care for patients with gastrointestinal cancers. In...