In a nearly 20-year follow-up of a Scandinavian trial reported in The Lancet, Utjés et al found no difference in survival outcomes with 2-cm vs 4-cm surgical excision margins for primary localized cutaneous melanoma with a thickness > 2 mm. The previous report from the trial showed no...
The biliary microbiome was altered in patients who received neoadjuvant therapy prior to undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer, according to a study published by Goel et al in HPB. Additionally, more bacteria in patients who underwent surgery after neoadjuvant therapy were resistant to...
Blood and intratumoral regulatory T-cell activity may one day provide a method for predicting breast cancer relapse, according to findings published by Wang et al in Nature Immunology. “This is the first success linking a solid tumor with blood biomarkers—an indicator of whether a...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wallner et al found that many patients with differentiated thyroid cancer reported feeling they had no choice in receipt of radioactive iodine treatment. As stated by the investigators, “For many patients with differentiated thyroid...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ehrhardt et al found that long-term health outcomes were comparable in patients receiving contemporary Lymphome Malin de Burkitt (LMB) vs non-LMB chemotherapy regimens for pediatric mature B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, except for adverse...
Ivosidenib, a small-molecule inhibitor of isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1), is currently being studied in a phase I clinical trial assessing its efficacy in patients with IDH1-mutated solid tumors. In a report published by Lowery et al in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, researchers...
There were more than 8.7 million person-years of life lost and $94.4 billion in earnings lost due to cancer among people aged 16 to 84 in the United States in 2015. The calculation comes from a new report published by Islami et al in JAMA Oncology. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death...
Researchers have discovered two distinct subtypes of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) associated with different risks of recurrence following surgical treatment. The finding could yield predictive tests while focusing vigilant follow-up monitoring on patients with pNETs that have a higher...
Fertility treatment is not associated with an increased long-term risk of ovarian cancer, according to the results of a large-scale multicenter study presented by Spaan et al at the 35th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Abstract O-183). The findings,...
A new study published by Robinson et al in Nature Communications aimed to learn more about the biologic characteristics of upper tract urothelial carcinoma to help develop more targeted therapies. “We discovered the defining biologic characteristics of [upper tract urothelial tumors] that...
In the EMPOWER trial, which took place within the larger Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) and was reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Oeffinger et al found that an intervention consisting of mailed educational materials followed by telephone-delivered counseling led to an increased...
The results of an economic modeling study to estimate the cost-effectiveness of multigene panel sequencing as compared to standard-of-care single-gene tests for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed that multigene panel sequencing tests are moderately...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Simonaggio et al found that rechallenge with an immune checkpoint inhibitor after occurrence of immune-related adverse events was associated with occurrence of an immune-related adverse event in approximately half of patients, with no increase in severity....
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sheetz et al identified the degree of centralization of high-risk cancer surgeries within hospital systems and found improved short-term outcomes with increased centralization among Medicare patients. Study Details The study involved...
In a phase III trial (TRINOVA-3/ENGOT-ov2/GOG- 3001) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ignace Vergote, PhD, and colleagues found that addition of the antiangiogenic agent trebananib to carboplatin/ paclitaxel did not improve progression-free survival in first-line treatment of advanced ovarian...
Henry T. Lynch, MD, widely known as “the father of cancer genetics,” had an early life that could have been lifted from the pages of a Louis L’Amour novel. He dropped out of high school and using a falsified birth certificate joined the U.S. Navy at 16 years old, serving as a gunner on a marine...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, explore the current...
Despite an avalanche of novel therapies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the past decade in the treatment of multiple myeloma, including proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs, this blood cancer remains largely incurable, and nearly 13,000 people are expected...
On June 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trastuzumab-anns (Kanjinti) for all approved indications of the reference product trastuzumab (Herceptin): for the treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction...
I sit paralyzed at my desk. Everyone else has left the clinic. I can hear the sound of the broom in the hall as the after-hours cleaning begins. No phones ring, no patients hurry to appointments, no chatter lingers in the air. The silence is oppressive, the air is heavy, and the distance from my...
Karen Gelmon, MD, was born and reared in Saskatoon, the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is surrounded by vast prairie and situated along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway and is home to the University of Saskatchewan. “We lived close to the University,” she shared. “My...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel hematology and oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On February 22, trifluridine/tipiracil...
A risk-prediction model developed using clinical and radiologic features could stratify individuals presenting with a lung nodule as having a high or low risk for lung cancer, according to a study published by Nemesure et al in Cancer Prevention Research. “While lung nodules are not...
In a phase I trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bagot et al found that IPH4102—a first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting KIR3DL2—was safe and showed activity in patients with relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, particularly those with Sézary syndrome....
Long-term results of a single-institution phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Contreras et al showed that the omission of postoperative radiation therapy to the pathologically negative (PN0) neck was associated with good outcomes among patients with primary head and neck...
The three-drug combination of encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab significantly improved overall survival in patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results of the phase III BEACON CRC clinical trial. These findings were presented by Kopetz et al at the European...
Regorafenib is often administered to patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. However, some of the adverse events related to the use of this drug often limit its use in clinical practice. A study reported by Argilés et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)...
The incidence of gastric cancer has been increasing in younger individuals, and those under 40 with chronic digestive symptoms should be more actively investigated. These findings follow new data from a retrospective, observational study in Mexico, which showed that 1 in 7 of over 2,000...
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Kelly et al identified the frequency of diagnostic and postprogression biopsies, complication rates, and associated costs in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study involved patient data from the...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Jiang et al found that 34.6% of cancer survivors in the United States report chronic pain and 16.1% report high-impact chronic pain. The study included data from 4,526 adult cancer survivors identified from 59,770 participants in the...
The final overall survival analysis of the phase III GOG-0218 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Tewari et al, showed no benefit of adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy in women with newly diagnosed, incompletely resected, advanced ovarian cancer. The trial included 1,873 women...
Positive findings from fully enrolled cohorts in non–small cell lung cancer and metastatic breast cancer from ASCO’s Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR™) study were presented in poster sessions at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting. In addition, the study is being expanded to...
Welcome, everyone. We are so glad that you are all here today. Those of you attending your first ASCO Annual Meeting: Welcome to this amazing organization. What I’d like to do is to show you some of what ASCO offers, and challenge you all to join in to make a powerful future a reality. We have a...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to selinexor (Xpovio) in combination with dexamethasone for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior therapies and whose disease is refractory to at least two...
Unlike non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which has seen a paradigm shift in treatment modalities with the discovery of genetic signatures (including EGFR mutations) that are responsive to targeted drugs, systemic treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has remained largely unchanged for over...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical research trials for both muscle-invasive and non–muscle-invasive bladder cancers. The studies listed here are evaluating the safety and efficacy of combinations of chemotherapy and...
“The jury is still out,” said APACT’s invited discussant, Jiping Wang, MD, PhD, a biostatistician and hepatobiliary pancreas surgical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. “The final overall survival analysis is needed to know the real benefit from...
The largest adjuvant trial in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the global phase III APACT trial, evaluated the combination of adjuvant nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine vs gemcitabine monotherapy in patients with resected pancreatic cancer. Results of the study were reported by Margaret A. Tempero, MD, of the...
In the phase III SOPHIA trial of 536 heavily pretreated patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, the novel anti-HER2 antibody margetuximab plus chemotherapy led to significant improvements in progression-free survival, response, and clinical benefit compared with...
A phase II study found that treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin achieved responses in 44% of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer previously treated with platinum chemotherapy and a checkpoint inhibitor. This is a noteworthy study because it...
Patients with cancer who took cholesterol-lowering statin medication following radiation therapy of the chest, neck, or head had significantly reduced risk of suffering a stroke—and possibly other cardiovascular complications—according to research published by Boulet et al in...
A novel therapy using two targeted treatments for prostate cancer has been shown to maximize efficacy while reducing side effects, according to research presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and published by Emmett et al in The Journal ...
The efficacy results of Alliance A021202 suggest that pazopanib is another promising systemic option for carcinoid tumors, according to William P. Harris, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle. “Progression-free...
Pazopanib significantly improved progression-free survival by 47% in patients with progressive carcinoid tumors, in a prospective randomized phase II trial presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “With these results, Alliance A021202 becomes the first randomized study to show that the vascular...
Jordan Berlin, MD, the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, discussed the FOxTROT study at the oral session. “FOxTROT did reach its targeted hazard ratio, but the bottom line is the P value did not quite make it to where...
For patients with operable colon cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy resulted in numerous benefits in the FOxTROT trial but did not reach target significance for the primary endpoint. The study was presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting by Matthew T. Seymour, MD, of the University of Leeds School...
Study discussant Hanna K. Sanoff, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Center, summarized the key results of VISNU-1: first, survival is shorter for patients with high circulating tumor cell (CTC) count; second, the incremental benefit from FOLFOXIRI (fluorouracil...
In a population of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer deemed to be at high risk by the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), first-line treatment with FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab improved progression-free survival by about 3 months, compared with modified FOLFOX plus bevacizumab,...
The primary analysis of the IDEA trial demonstrated that low-risk stage III colorectal cancer could be acceptably treated with 3 months of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX), invited discussant David P. Ryan, MD, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center,...
The findings of the landmark IDEA trial in stage III colorectal cancer, presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting and subsequently published in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 were upheld by a subsequent analysis by the same group, the International Duration Evaluation of Adjuvant...