Findings from a phase III clinical trial of about 300 women may introduce poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors as a new type of treatment for breast cancer. Compared to standard chemotherapy, the oral targeted medicine olaparib (Lynparza) reduced the chance of progression of advanced,...
Scientists may have developed the first targeted, oral, tumor-type agnostic therapy—an agent that works comparably well across many kinds of cancer, regardless of patient age. In clinical trials of adults and children with 17 different types of advanced cancer, larotrectinib treatment...
Genomic testing of tumor samples can enable personalized treatment selection, where targeted treatments are matched to genetic changes in the tumor. Although a growing number of patients with advanced cancers receive some genomic testing, comprehensive genomic testing is not yet routine care. A...
In a study of 124 patients with advanced breast, lung, and prostate cancers, a new high-intensity genomic sequencing approach detected circulating tumor DNA at a high rate. In 89% of patients, at least one genetic change detected in the tumor was also detected in the blood. Overall, 627 (73%)...
Findings from a retrospective study of 1,200 women provide reassurance to breast cancer survivors who are contemplating pregnancy. In the study, women who became pregnant after an early breast cancer diagnosis, including those with estrogen receptor–positive tumors, did not have a higher...
Most patients experience significant distress after they are diagnosed with cancer. This distress not only erodes quality of life, but can also negatively affect the course of the disease and the patient’s ability to tolerate treatment. Yet few patients with cancer receive psychological...
Spinal cord compression is a common complication in people with metastatic cancer and is a major detriment to quality of life. Radiation treatment is widely used to relieve pain and other symptoms, but there is no standard recommended schedule, and approaches currently vary. Findings from a phase...
In a large study, 38% of 491 testicular cancer survivors had low testosterone levels. Compared with survivors with normal testosterone levels, survivors with low testosterone levels were more likely to have a range of chronic health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, erectile...
About 50% of all cancer survivors and 70% of young breast cancer survivors report a moderate to high fear of recurrence. The fear can be so distressing that it negatively affects medical follow-up behavior, mood, relationships, work, goal setting, and quality of life. Yet interventions to alleviate ...
In a clinical feasibility trial conducted at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, image-guided biopsies identified select breast cancer patients who achieved pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant systemic therapy consisting of chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy. Should the...
In a study of three radiation therapies for early-stage breast cancer, one treatment option stands out as offering the most value based on factors including health outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and quality of life. The treatment—hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation—also requires...
As reported by Zhao et al in JAMA Oncology, luminal B prostate cancers carry a worse overall prognosis than luminal A and basal-like cancers, but luminal B tumors respond better to postoperative androgen-deprivation therapy. Study Details In the study, the PAM50 classifier was used to subtype...
On May 26, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to ceritinib (Zykadia) for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test. In April 2014,...
After he was not accepted into the University of Hong Kong, plan B for W.K. Alfred Yung, MD, was to leave his country and immigrate to the United States to attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis—a move he considers more exile than choice. Born on April 8, 1948, in Hong Kong, Dr. Yung...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recognized Mina J. Bissell, PhD, FAACR, with the 14th AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research during the 2017 AACR Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research was established in 2004 ...
Robert L. Comis, MD, FASCO, Co-Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, succumbed to a sudden illness at his home and died on May 10, 2017, at the age of 71. A giant in national and international clinical research since 1977, Dr. Comis is known as a champion of patient access to cancer...
Eric Paul Winer, MD, was born in Boston in 1956, a year when gasoline was 22 cents a gallon and IBM released the world’s first computer with a hard drive. His grandfather on his mother’s side had hemophilia and died 5 years before Dr. Winer was born. Although there was a 50% chance that Dr. Winer...
Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) has announced the award of $7.5 million in Innovative Research Grants focused on immuno-oncology to 10 early-career scientists, in a program funded by a grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), an SU2C Visionary Supporter. These awards were announced at the 2017...
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy, received regular approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing...
Daniel Von Hoff, MD, FACP—Distinguished Professor, Physician-in-Chief, and Director of Molecular Medicine at the Translational Genomics Research Institute—received a gold medal for excellence in clinical medicine from his alma mater, Columbia University. Columbia University College of Physicians...
A new survey finds that doctors would refer more patients with incurable blood cancers to hospice for end-of-life care if they could receive transfusions, which are generally not available because of hospice reimbursement policies. The findings, published by Odejide et al in Cancer, help explain...
Draft recommendations as part of a focused update to the ASCO/College of American Pathologists (CAP) evidence-based guideline for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) testing in breast cancer are now open for public comment through June 12, 2017. For patients with invasive breast...
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is mourning the loss of an esteemed colleague: H. Jean Khoury, MD, FACP, died on Monday, May 22, after a year spent battling cancer. His many colleagues and friends remember him as an outstanding physician, researcher, and educator, and a respected and...
In 2009, I was living my dream. My work as a business development manager for a technology company was thriving; I had a satisfying social life; I was active in sports, especially hiking and biking; and I was involved in social justice causes as a volunteer at San Quentin State Prison, helping...
In a nearly hour-long address to more than 4,500 attendees at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) on April 3, former Vice President Joe Biden lambasted President Trump’s proposed $5.8 billion budget cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and...
If enacted, the proposed budget reduction of $5.8 billion to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will slow research, deprive patients afflicted with cancer of hope, and deliver a devastating blow to our science workforce and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This proposed reduction directly...
Bisphosphonates were first synthesized more than a century ago, with their initial usage restricted to a range of industrial processes until their potential clinical relevance was appreciated in the late 1960s.1 Then, following development for the treatment of osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of...
In the phase III OPTIMIZE-2 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues found that an every-12-week schedule of zoledronic acid was noninferior to an every-4-week schedule with regard to skeletal-related event...
Is there enough evidence to support the incorporation of weight management and physical activity interventions into an oncology practice? And if so, what is the best way to do it? The answer to the first question was a resounding yes from oncologists, patient advocates, dietitians, public health...
Research is still lacking to support a link between obesity and an increased risk of developing all types of cancer. Nevertheless, a review1 of more than 1,000 epidemiologic studies by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization, examining...
Patients with some types of breast cancer will have a new clinical trial option at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Medical oncologists Lori Goldstein, MD, and Elias Obeid, MD, MPH, are opening a phase II immunotherapy clinical trial for newly diagnosed, locally recurrent, or metastatic HER2-overexpressing ...
On March 30, 2017, osimertinib (Tagrisso) was granted regular approval for the treatment of patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M–mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test, who have progressed...
In response to the introduction of the Cancer Drug Parity Act (H.R. 1409) by Representatives Leonard Lance (R–NJ) and Brian Higgins (D–NY), American Society of Hematology (ASH) President Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, issued the following statement: “Oral and...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Chair of Immunology, James Allison, PhD—whose pivotal insight to attack cancer by treating the immune system instead of the tumor revived cancer immunotherapy—has been named to the 2017 TIME 100 Most Influential People. His approach launched a...
According to the American Cancer Society, over 252,700 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2017, and about 40,610 women will die of their disease. Between 7% and 10% of those new cases will be diagnosed in women younger than age 40, accounting for more than 40% of all cancer...
Sir Richard Peto, FRS, will receive the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), to be held December 5–9. The McGuire Award was established in 1992 to honor William L. McGuire, MD, who, along with Charles A. Coltman, MD, founded SABCS in...
On March 31, 2017, palbociclib (Ibrance) was granted regular approval for treatment of hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as initial endocrine-based therapy in postmenopausal women.1,2 Palbociclib received...
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance announced the six winners of the 4th annual Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research, awarded annually to promising early-career, New York City–area scientists. Recipients receive $200,000 in funding per year for up...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recognized Mina J. Bissell, PhD, FAACR, with the 14th AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research during the 2017 AACR Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research was established in 2004 ...
The University of Minnesota Medical School has announced the addition of Clark Chen, MD, PhD, as the Lyle French Chair in Neurosurgery and the Head of the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Neurosurgery. He will assume his new position in August 2017. Dr. Chen is a nationally...
On March 27, 2017, the oral poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor niraparib (Zejula) was approved for maintenance treatment of patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.1,2...
As the subtleties of metastatic prostate cancer become increasingly recognized, treatment should evolve accordingly, said Jessica M. Clement, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health System and Neag Cancer Center, Farmington. Of particular interest to Dr. Clement ...
Ensuring that all patients with cancer have access to the potential benefits of precision medicine regardless of where they are treated has been a primary goal of Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, since the concept was first introduced following completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. Dr....
Radiotherapy at a high enough dose may increase survival in early-stage pancreatic cancer, according to research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 36 Conference.1 Previous research has suggested that radiotherapy may be of little help in this setting. The...
Encourage your practice to participate in the 2017 ASCO Practice Census—the only annual survey of the entire U.S. oncology practice community that aims to capture and describe changes in cancer care and oncology practice over time. The data and insights obtained from the Practice Census are...
The hematology/oncology workforce continues to struggle with adequate representation of racial and ethnic minorities. To promote the development of an oncology workforce that reflects the demographics of the population it serves, ASCO has introduced its Strategic Plan for Increasing Racial &...
Next month, more than 30,000 oncology professionals will gather in -Chicago for the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting. This year’s theme, “Making a Difference in Cancer Care WITH YOU,” speaks to driving advances in cancer care and treatment through teamwork among clinicians, researchers, educators, and...
On May 23, President Trump presented the White House’s fiscal year 2018 budget request, which proposes a $7.18 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—a budget decrease of 21%. In addition, it cuts the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s chronic disease...
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics in smoldering and relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma. For the full details of these study abstracts, visit...
Adding hydroxychloroquine, an inhibitor of autophagy, to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer increases its efficacy and alters the tumor’s molecular profile in a way that may render the tumor more susceptible to immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to interim data from a phase II...