IN SPITE of the high response rates and lack of progression to active disease with the regimens described at the 2018 American Society of Hematology Meeting & Exposition, several myeloma experts interviewed by The ASCO Post said the data do not yet move them to routinely intervene in high-risk...
MORE DATA are in to support early intervention for high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma—an early, asymptomatic entity lacking the presence of CRAB criteria (elevated calcium, renal failure, anemia, bone lesions). The latest come from two phase II studies presented at the 2018 American Society of...
PRESS BRIEFING moderator Joseph Mikhael, MD, Professor of Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery, Translational Genomics Research Institute, City of Hope Cancer Center in Phoenix, noted that traditional models are based on simplicity, and the scoring system contains few variables. “In an era...
A PERSONALIZED risk-prediction model for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has been developed through the use of a machine-learning approach that analyzes genomic and clinical data for an individual patient. According to lead investigator Aziz Nazha, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, the model provides...
The discussant of the STELLAR trial abstract, Aaron S. Mansfield, MD, a translational scientist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, called the survival outcomes “very promising” for a trial that included a relatively large population of patients with the more aggressive sarcomatoid variant of...
CANCER RESEARCH UK announced recently that it is funding three new international oncology research initiatives. Collectively, the teams have been awarded almost £60 million. These 5-year research programs will investigate how the microbiome can be manipulated to treat bowel cancer, find new ways to ...
Nationally regarded palliative care expert Janet L. Abrahm, MD, was born and reared in San Francisco. Her father was a solo practitioner who saw medicine as a great profession. “My father would come home from his office for dinner and when he finished, he’d do house calls, often bringing us with...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, interviewed multiple myeloma pioneer Robert A. Kyle, MD, whose groundbreaking work has changed the practice of hematology. Among his many honors are the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from ASCO and the Wallace H....
The addition of tumor-treating fields to standard-of-care chemotherapy has been found to be safe and effective in the treatment of unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. Data presented at the 2019 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium showed that patients receiving the combination of...
Results of the phase II SABR-COMET trial reported by Palma et al in The Lancet indicate that stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) was associated with improved survival vs standard palliative treatment in patients with oligometastatic cancers, although it was also associated with...
Previous research has suggested that specific factors about the doctor performing colonoscopy—for example, a gastroenterologist vs a surgeon, female vs male—were associated with different rates of detection of precancerous polyps. However, a Cleveland Clinic–led research team...
We read with interest a recent article published on ASCOPost.com, which summarized a paper on the role of shared decision-making in lung cancer screening.1,2 The summary and original report highlight a mandate by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that bears careful...
Results of a small clinical trial suggest that supplementing chemotherapy with high doses of vitamin D may benefit patients with metastatic colorectal cancer by delaying progression of the disease. These findings were published by Ng et al in JAMA. Initial trial findings were reported at the 2017...
With the recent breakthroughs in immunotherapy, treatments that modulate the immune system are now being used across numerous cancer types and across the spectrum of disease with significant success, but not all patients achieve objective responses. There is still a critical need to better...
Data supporting the use of FLT3 inhibitors in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were featured at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition. Gilteritinib was evaluated in combination with induction and consolidation as front-line therapy in newly diagnosed patients with AML,1 and...
Commenting on the ADMIRAL trial, Tapan Kadia, MD, Associate Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reminded the audience that the most important discovery with genetic sequencing is that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of heterogeneous diseases. “The FLT3-ITD mutation is one...
Treatment with gilteritinib, an oral type 1, FLT inhibitor, significantly improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy in patients with FLT3-positive relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to the final results of the phase III ADMIRAL trial.1 The longest survival for ...
Dietary intake of fat is associated with several types of cancer, but few studies have explored the link between fat intake and the risk of skin cancer. In a study published by Park et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers examined the relationship between fat intake...
A new study reports that a type of cervical cancer that is less amenable to detection by Papanicolaou (Pap) testing is increasing in several subpopulations of women, pointing to the growing importance of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing and vaccination. The study was published by Islami ...
As reported in The Lancet by Mok et al, the KEYNOTE-042 trial has shown an improvement in overall survival with pembrolizumab vs standard chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without a sensitizing EGFR mutation or ...
Over the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted several Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations to treatments for myelodysplastic syndromes, triple-negative breast cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated cancers. Fast Track Designation...
A consortium of researchers have completed an analysis of a new gene fusion they believe is responsible for the development of a wide spectrum of cancer types. According to the investigators, their studies show that errant gene fusions in neuregulin-1, or NRG1, which are present in about...
A new study found wide state-to-state variations in Medicaid reimbursements to physicians who treat patients with cancer with radiation therapies. These differences could compound existing disparities in access to health care in rural communities, which tend to have higher Medicaid...
In a recent study focusing on patients with cancer and cancer survivors, one-third of patient participants reported use of complementary and alternative medicines such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and supplements. These findings were published by Sanford et al in JAMA...
ASCO and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) have released an update to existing guidelines for the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents to manage anemia in patients with cancer. The update was simultaneously published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Blood Advances. “The...
A study by Bauman et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that patients who kept ice chips in their mouths—what the study authors called “oral cryotherapy”—during oxaliplatin infusions reported less trouble with eating and...
Results of a study published by Stearns et al in JAMA Network Open demonstrated a reduction in health-care utilization and cost for patients cancer-related pain using targeted drug delivery and conventional medical management vs conventional medical management alone. The study found...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Dimitrakopoulos et al found two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in noncoding, functional regions of genes that regulate cancer progression. They were associated with survival after resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The study involved...
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO has announced the recipients of its 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Awards. These distinguished awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting. This year, Conquer Cancer will...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kurian et al found that approximately one-quarter of women with breast cancer and one-third of those with ovarian cancer underwent cancer genetic testing, and that 8% to 15% of those tested had actionable pathogenic variants. Study Details...
The newest study of America’s radiation oncologist workforce finds that gender and racial gaps have narrowed slightly, although persistent and growing geographic disparities point to a need for more equity in access to radiation therapy care. The survey found that fewer radiation oncologists...
The latest edition of the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) review on recent cancer prevention and early detection efforts has found that although many strategies have been proven to reduce cancer risk, their application has been suboptimal in the United States, especially in socioeconomically...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to erdafitinib (Balversa) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with susceptible FGFR3 or FGFR2 genetic alterations that has progressed during or following platinum-containing...
Over the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a Fast Track designation to a treatment for metastatic uveal melanoma and received a biologics application for an agent to control anemia. Fast Track Designation for Tebentafusp in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma The FDA granted...
A newly published Mayo Clinic study has found that a presurgery treatment plan for patients with borderline/locally advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing total neoadjuvant therapy may improve outcomes. The findings were published by Truty et al in Annals of Surgery. The study followed 194...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Chua et al found that opioid-related hospitalizations among American patients with cancer are rare, increasing at a very low rate, and consist mostly of hospitalization for nonheroin opioid poisoning. The study analyzed trends and risk...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the first-line treatment of patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation, or those with metastatic NSCLC....
Yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, ASCO announced a new task force aimed at reducing disparities and improving outcomes for patients and survivors of cancer who live in rural communities. The new Rural Cancer Care Task Force will identify opportunities to close the care gap and ...
Maintenance immunotherapy did not improve survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to late-breaking results from the CheckMate 451 study presented today by Owonikoko et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress 2019 (Abstract LBA1_PR). Around 60% to 70% of...
Two studies reported at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) 2019 provided new insights on the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although around half of all people newly diagnosed with NSCLC are elderly (Pallis ...
Two nonprofit organizations serving the lung cancer community—the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA)—have announced they are joining forces as the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer. With more than 3 decades of combined expertise, a...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Singer et al found that a quality improvement initiative was successful in increasing a radiation oncology department’s efforts in encouraging patients with cancer to cease tobacco use prior to radiation therapy. As noted by the...
ASCO recently announced that it is seeking applications for research grants for projects that use data from CancerLinQ Discovery®—an offering of ASCO’s CancerLinQ® initiative—as a source. CancerLinQ Discovery provides curated sets of deidentified data from patients with cancer to academic...
OVER THE PAST several months, the ASCO in Action Podcast has secured exclusive interviews with high-ranking officials to discuss health policy issues affecting the United States. In March, the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting...
RELIEVING PAIN is an important part of cancer care, and each patient experiences pain differently. Give your patients the information and tools they need to understand and manage their pain. ASCO Answers offers two helpful products on managing cancer-related pain: a one-page fact sheet or an...
As oncology professionals’ schedules become more demanding, mobile technology is often used to efficiently work on the go. Continued education can be conveniently incorporated into clinicians’ routines with apps such as ASCO eLearning’s newly rebranded Self-Evaluation App, formerly the ASCO MOC...
Carson Leslie was a kind, popular, lively teen who loved sports and spending time with his family and friends. He was a devoted student at The Covenant School of Dallas, where he was quarterback on the school’s football team, and he was an active member of Grace Bible Church. He shared a special...
BREAST CANCER SCREENING is no longer “just mammography” but involves a growing list of ever more sophisticated techniques that are improving detection, according to Elizabeth Morris, MD, Professor of Radiology, the Larry Norton Chair, and Chief of the Breast Imaging Service at Memorial Sloan...
Biologic age—a DNA-based estimate of a person’s age—may be associated with the development of breast cancer, according a report published by Jacob K. Kresovich, PhD, of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and colleagues in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.1...
In 1996, an excruciating sore throat sent me first to my primary care physician and then to an ear, nose, and throat specialist, after a suspicious mass was found on the right side of my throat. A biopsy determined that the tumor was squamous cell neck cancer, and additional tests of my neck,...