The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends several screening tests for colorectal cancer (CRC) in adults aged 50 to 75, including fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2017, there were an estimated 95,520 cases ...
In the Scandinavian phase III CRITICS trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cats et al found no benefit of postoperative chemoradiotherapy vs chemotherapy among patients with gastric cancer who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Compliance with postoperative regimens was poor in both groups....
Pfizer recently announced that the independent data monitoring committee for the phase III ATLAS trial, which is evaluating axitinib (Inlyta) as adjuvant therapy for patients at high risk of recurrent renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after nephrectomy, recommended stopping the trial at a planned interim...
On April 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved osimertinib (Tagrisso) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations, as...
A diet high in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables—along with exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight—can improve the 5-year survival rate for patients with stage III colorectal cancer, according to a new report published by Van Blarigan et al in JAMA Oncology. The findings...
On April 9, the phase III KEYNOTE-042 trial evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as monotherapy for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, including nonsquamous or squamous histologies) met its primary endpoint of overall survival (OS). An ...
In a UK study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Bhatnagar et al found that outpatient talc vs placebo administration via indwelling pleural catheter was associated with a higher rate of pleurodesis in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Study Details In the study, a target of ...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wu et al found that crizotinib (Xalkori) was highly active in East Asian patients with ROS1-positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details In the study, 127 patients from 37 sites in China, Japan,...
In a pilot study reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting (Abstract CT079) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Forde et al, neoadjuvant nivolumab therapy was found to be feasible and active in patients with resectable non–small cell lung...
As reported at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting & Exposition and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Sattva S. Neelapu, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, a phase II trial has shown high activity of autologous anti-CD19 chimeric...
Some T cells have excellent memories. These subtypes—known as memory T cells—may explain why some immunotherapies are more effective than others and could potentially lead to researchers designing more effective studies using combination checkpoint blockade treatments, according to...
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 14% of all lung cancers and is often rapidly resistant to chemotherapy, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Treatment has changed little for decades, but a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center offers a potential explanation for...
As reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting (Abstract CT001) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Eggermont et al, the phase III EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE 054 trial has shown that adjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly prolonged recurrence-free...
On April 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate (Tavalisse) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to a previous treatment. Fostamatinib is an oral spleen ...
I’ll admit it. When I was first asked if I would chair the Cancer Control for Primary Care (CCPC) Course in Bhutan, I immediately exclaimed yes... and then sheepishly went to look up where exactly Bhutan was on a map. For the uninitiated, Bhutan is a country nestled between India and Tibet in the...
Glioblastoma, a grade 4 astrocytoma, is the most common and most aggressive form of primary brain tumors in adults. The most recent guidance on molecular profiling, diagnostic and prognostic factors, and treatments for newly diagnosed and recurrent diseases was described in the Journal of Oncology ...
For this installment in the Living a Full Life series of articles, Edith Peterson Mitchell, MD, was interviewed by Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP. Dr. Mitchell is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Medical Oncology in the Division of Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University as well as ...
It is a difficult task to include every notable presentation from the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. In addition to our more comprehensive coverage of the news from that meeting over the past several issues, below are summaries of additional key...
Evidence of the numerous health benefits of weight loss continues to mount, and the hope is that doctors and patients are listening. A large observational study presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium showed that weight loss of more than 5% is associated with a significantly lower ...
As reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting (Abstract CT075) in the The New England Journal of Medicine by Gandhi et al, the first interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial has shown significant improvement in overall and progression-free survival with the...
C. Kent Osborne, MD, Director of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and moderator of a press conference where the EMBRACA findings were presented, shared his thoughts on the study. While a few months’ improvement in the risk of disease progression may seem...
As reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting (Abstract CT077) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Hellmann et al, an analysis from the phase III CheckMate 227 trial has shown that the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy)...
In patients with BRCA-positive advanced breast cancer, talazoparib reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 46% vs chemotherapy, according to the phase III EMBRACA trial presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 “We are very pleased that the EMBRACA trial—the largest...
Focusing on the first year after a cancer diagnosis is necessary, but not sufficient, for delivering care to cancer survivors, according to Deborah Mayer, PhD, RN, Director of Cancer Survivorship at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill....
As reported by Vaughn et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a health-related quality-of-life analysis from the phase III KEYNOTE-045 trial in previously treated advanced urothelial cancer showed that patients treated with the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 immunotherapy...
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs)—specifically the short-acting form of CCBs, which are prescribed to treat high blood pressure—were associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a study presented at the American Assocation for Cancer...
Treatment combining the IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat and the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) was found to be safe in patients with advanced solid tumors, with safety data similar to treatment with durvalumab alone, according to data presented from the ongoing...
It is well established that smoking increases the risk for developing cancer, but when it comes to tobacco cessation in the cancer survivor population, should oncologists be stepping in, and what resources should they be using? Graham W. Warren, MD, PhD, posed these questions to the audience at the ...
A combination of CMP-001, an intratumoral Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was well tolerated and had clinical activity in patients with metastatic melanoma resistant to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) checkpoint inhibition, according to preliminary data...
In breast cancer survivors after lymph node dissection, a combined education and exercise intervention resulted in patients regaining full range of motion in both arms sooner than those who received education alone, according to follow-up from a phase III clinical trial reported by Electra D....
In general, the risk of suicide among cancer survivors is about 50% higher than in the general population, but this risk is especially elevated among survivors of head and neck cancer, according to research presented by Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, BDS, MPH, CHES, of the Department of...
The results of a phase II clinical trial suggest that patients with head and neck cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) may receive significantly lower doses of radiation safely and effectively after response to induction chemotherapy.1 These findings from the OPTIMA study,...
Advancing therapeutics and augmenting curability in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have been very challenging. Although many novel approaches have offered promise and continue to be developed, we have not yet identified a clearly superior approach to R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan],...
How should clinicians position anti-HER2 agents and also incorporate endocrine therapies in the treatment of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer? At the 2018 Miami Breast Cancer Conference, this question was explored by Sunil Verma, MD, Medical Director of the Tom Baker Cancer Center and...
In the phase III METIV-HCC trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rimassa et al found no improvement in overall survival with the investigational MET inhibitor tivantinib vs placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with high MET expression previously treated with sorafenib...
FT819—an off-the-shelf, T-cell receptor–less CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product that could potentially be made more accessible to patients with cancer than conventional CAR T-cell therapies—showed positive results in preclinical specificity, functionality, and...
BLU-667, a next-generation inhibitor that selectively targets the oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase RET, was well tolerated and had broad clinical benefit in patients with advanced cancer that had progressed on previous therapies, including multikinase inhibitor therapy. Proof-of-concept data from ...
Among patients with inoperable, advanced, or metastatic ALK-positive inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, 50% were confirmed to have partial or complete tumor shrinkage after treatment with the ALK-targeted anticancer therapeutic agent crizotinib (Xalkori), according to data from the phase II EORTC...
Children with nonchromosomal birth defects—such as congenital heart disease—had a significantly higher risk of developing childhood cancer than children who did not have birth defects, according to a study presented at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual...
In a study among California residents reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Pham et al found that those designated as Asian/Pacific Islanders were at elevated risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) vs other racial/ethnic groups, with the highest risk observed among Southeast...
Investing in the continuity of care for lung cancer patients can bring tremendous benefits in terms of patient satisfaction and quality of life. In Quebec, this investment has taken the form of a dedicated role on the medical team: The Pivot Nurse in Oncology (PNO). A study presented by Kassouf et...
Erlotinib (Tarceva) or high-dose erlotinib provides benefit in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who develop leptomeningeal metastasis during or after treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Findings supporting second-line...
Alectinib provides longer symptom improvement than crizotinib in <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results from the ALEX trial presented by Pérol et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) in Geneva, Switzerland (Abstract...
Further evidence that immunotherapy provides long-term survival benefit for patients with lung cancer was presented by Mazières et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) in Geneva, Switzerland (Abstract 136PD_PR). Researchers presented the 3-year survival results of the randomized...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Laetsch et al, phase I results from an ongoing phase I/II trial have shown activity of the TRK kinase inhibitor larotrectinib in pediatric patients with solid tumors harboring TRK fusions. Study Details In the study, 24 patients in a dose-escalation cohort...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jongen-Lavrencic et al found that molecular minimal residual disease identified by next-generation sequencing during complete remission was associated with increased risk of relapse and mortality over 4 years of follow-up in patients with...
A study by Eberl et al in Cancer Cell has pinpointed a mechanism that controls how basal cell cancers respond to treatment and offers new ideas for controlling this disease. Basal cell carcinomas are incredibly common—somewhere between 1 million to 3 million diagnosed each year—and...
In the phase II BOLERO-4 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Royce et al found that the combination of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus (Afinitor) and endocrine therapy was active in first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor...
In a preplanned pooled analysis of phase III trials reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Grothey et al did not establish noninferiority of 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) or CAPOX (capecitabine and oxaliplatin) in disease-free survival in...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cheson et al, an updated analysis of the phase III GADOLIN trial showed an overall survival advantage with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) plus bendamustine induction followed by obinutuzumab maintenance vs bendamustine alone in patients with rituximab...