Omid Hamid, MD, Chief of Research/Immuno-Oncology at The Angeles Clinic & Research Institute and Co-Director of the Cutaneous Malignancy Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center, Los Angeles, commented on the investigational use of bempegaldesleukin in melanoma. “The role of interleukin-2 [Il-2]...
A first-line regimen combining the novel interleukin-2 (Il-2) agonist bempegaldesleukin (NKTR-214) with nivolumab showed encouraging clinical activity in patients with metastatic melanoma in the phase I/II PIVOT-02 trial, according to a presentation during the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Society for ...
Moderator of the session, Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, a radiation oncologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Executive Director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance in Nashville, underscored the importance of approaching patient survivorship holistically. “As radiation oncologists,...
Sexual dysfunction is prevalent among cancer survivors—and rarely addressed—according to data presented during the 2020 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting.1 A survey of cancer survivors has found that nearly 9 out of 10 respondents reported some change after cancer...
Laura Dawson, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, viewed these initial study results as “a strong signal with high promise.” “Radiation therapy improves local control and delays local disease progression in patients with pancreatic...
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive, lethal malignancies, and life-extending treatments represent a critical unmet need. A pilot study suggests a potential way forward for patients with nonmetastatic unresectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer may be a combination of...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel 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 December 1, 2020, pralsetinib (Gavreto) was granted...
The number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) assessed at baseline and at about 1 month after cancer-directed treatment was strongly associated with overall survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to a large retrospective pooled analysis reported at the 2020 San Antonio Breast...
Edith P. Mitchell, MD, FACP, FCPP, FRCP, Associate Director for Diversity Affairs at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health, has been recognized as a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP). The RCP was founded in 1518 by a Royal Charter from King Henry VIII. RCP...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has named Welela Tereffe, MD, MPH, as Chief Medical Executive. Recognized as a patient-centered and institutionally minded leader, Dr. Tereffe will assume this new position and join the institution’s executive leadership team on January 1, 2021....
ASH President Stephanie Lee, MD, MPH, Associate Director of the Clinical Research Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, congratulated the investigators on this extensive effort to collect real-world data to inform clinical...
The ASH Research Collaborative COVID-19 Registry for Hematology provides up-to-date information on outcomes and the course of illness for a group of patients with hematologic malignancies and COVID-19.1 In general, registry data showed that hematologic malignancies increase the risk of severity of...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recently announced the donation of next-generation sequencing equipment to six reference laboratories in five countries in Latin America. These countries constitute the International Consortium on Acute Leukemia (ICAL), a clinical network supported by the...
“CAPTIVATE is a very important study,” stated Jacob Soumerai, MD, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. “The take-home point is that this [ibrutinib plus venetoclax] is highly effective therapy and achieves a high rate of undetectable...
The randomized phase II CAPTIVATE trial showed that a fixed-duration treatment approach with 12 cycles of ibrutinib and venetoclax as first-line therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) achieved a 30-month progression-free survival of more than 95% in patients with undetectable minimal...
Robert A. Brodsky, MD, Professor of Medicine and Oncology and Director of the Division of Hematology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, included this late-breaking abstract among his picks of noteworthy abstracts at the meeting, in a press briefing with journalists. “The researchers...
Genetic mutations linked to myeloproliferative neoplasms emerge in childhood or even in utero, decades before they cause cancer, according to a late-breaking abstract presented at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 “Our preliminary findings show these...
Six months before my diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer, in 2016, at age 38, I told my mom, “I feel like I’m dying.” Even though more than 10 specialists I had seen over the previous 8 years for unexplained bouts of abdominal pain and bloating, fatigue, and constipation kept assuring me that ...
Ruxolitinib was superior to best available therapy in achieving efficacy as determined by best overall response and duration of response, with acceptable safety in adolescents and adults with steroid-dependent or steroid-refractory chronic graft-vs-host disease effects. These findings were shown in ...
Blowing air from a fan into the face of patients with advanced cancer experiencing breathlessness—and other nonpharmacologic interventions—may offer symptomatic relief, according to new research directed by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators and published in JAMA Oncology.1 In...
Although the field of psychosocial oncology had its roots in the 1970s, it wasn’t until 2007 that the Institute of Medicine acted on the growing data describing the impact of emotional well-being and physical recovery on quality of life, establishing guideline standards requiring that the...
The text and photographs here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Radium Era 1916–1945 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photographs appear courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns...
In 2006, President of Uruguay Dr. Tabaré Vázquez, a radiation oncologist by profession, enacted comprehensive antismoking legislation, eventually leading Uruguay to become the first country in Latin America to prohibit smoking in enclosed public spaces. His bold action drew the ire of international ...
Here we discuss a complex and often emotionally wrenching challenge related to informed consent in the provision of pediatric cancer care. For example, what legal and ethical claims do young patients have to information about their cancer diagnosis and treatment recommendations? What are the...
In a study reported in Nature Communications, Bishoy M. Faltas, MD, of the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, and colleagues identified common germline-somatic variant interactions in advanced urothelial cancer, with these...
Victoria was a 79-year-old woman living alone in a London suburb. Having no children of her own, she visited us regularly here in the United States. She was one of three sisters and my sister-in-law. I knew her for more than 50 years, and she always reminded me of Audrey Hepburn, both in looks and ...
On November 25, 2020, naxitamab-gqgk (Danyelza) was granted accelerated approval for use in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for pediatric patients 1 year of age and older and adult patients with relapsed or refractory high-risk neuroblastoma in the bone...
Following an extensive national search, Stephanie Halene, MD, PhD, has been appointed Chief of Hematology at Yale Cancer Center, Smilow Cancer Hospital, and the Yale School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine. “Dr. Halene has served with distinction as Interim Chief, leading the section...
C. Kent Osborne, MD, Founding Director of the Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Dudley and Tina Sharp Chair for Cancer Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, said in a press briefing that the results of the study were clear, but the explanation for the findings is less so....
For patients with indolent follicular lymphoma, generally take a conservative approach to treatment unless the patient is symptomatic, advised John P. Leonard, MD, Executive Vice-Chair of Weill Department of Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian, New York.1 “Prognostic scores are...
Just in are the results of the SWOG S1007 RxPONDER trial, which evaluated the benefit of chemotherapy in women with early-stage hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and node-positive disease.1 The data showed that many postmenopausal women can skip adjuvant chemotherapy, based on ...
Over the past year (January to December 2020), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to several novel drugs and new indications for older therapeutic agents used in oncology and hematology. A brief review of new approvals appears here. For complete prescribing information for ...
Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer, after non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diagnosed in the United States. In 2020, it is estimated that about 32,270 people will be diagnosed with the cancer, and despite advances in more effective treatments, nearly 13,000 will die of the disease.1...
Stem cell transplants are not frequently offered to older patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). According to a study from the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMTCTN 1102), these patients may indeed achieve a survival benefit from stem cell transplant. As...
A study by Ivy Abraham, MD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues, investigated the contribution of structural violence, specifically neighborhood socioeconomic status, on the racial/ethnic differences in the survival of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They found that ...
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) has announced the recipient of the ACCC 2020 Clinical Research Award: Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pharmacology, Chief of Medical Oncology, and Associate Director for Translational Research at the Yale Cancer...
Electra D. Paskett, PhD, was born in New York City, the daughter of a Greek immigrant who led a notable dance band. As a young child, Dr. Paskett frequented her parents’ rehearsal and dance studio, which was situated above a bustling Woolworth’s Five-and-Dime store. One of the studio’s famous...
On December 18, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved selinexor (Xpovio) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. The FDA granted selinexor accelerated...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved relugolix (Orgovyx) for the treatment of adult patients with advanced prostate cancer. “Today’s approval marks the first oral drug in this class and it may eliminate some patients’ need to visit the clinic for treatments that require...
The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium took place virtually from December 8 to 12th. This week, we’re featuring three important studies from the meeting, focusing on a new prognostic tool; the treatment of depression and related symptoms in young breast cancer survivors; and a chemoimmunotherapy...
On December 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rituximab-arrx (Riabni), a biosimilar to rituximab (Rituxan), for the treatment of adult patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's granulomatosis), and...
Sibylle Loibl, MD, of the German Breast Group, discusses the first phase III results from the PENELOPE-B study of palbociclib combined with endocrine therapy in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative primary breast cancer who are at high risk for relapse after neoadjuvant...
Joyce V. Lee, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses data that suggest the MYC oncogene may indicate whether a patient with triple-negative breast cancer will respond to immunotherapy. Dr. Lee’s study is the first to describe MYC downregulation of MHC-I and to demonstrate...
In 2017, a workgroup task force, made up of medical students and faculty at George Washington University, Texas Christian University, and the University of North Texas Health Science Center, conducted a literature review to identify best practices for teaching and learning about race and culture in ...
Findings from a propensity-matched survival analysis presented by van Breeschoten et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Immuno-Oncology Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 37P) suggest that patients with advanced melanoma and a BRAF V600 mutation derive an enhanced survival benefit...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Bahadoer et al, the phase III RAPIDO trial has shown improved 3-year disease-related treatment failure with preoperative short-course radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy and total mesorectal excision (TME) vs preoperative chemoradiotherapy, TME, and optional...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Bernardo H.L. Goulart, MD, and colleagues found that higher out-of-pocket costs for tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) were associated with reduced adherence to and increased discontinuation of TKI therapy—as well as poorer overall...
A new study published by Codipilly et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention investigated the trends in incidence, stage at presentation, and survival outcomes of young-onset esophageal adenocarcinoma—defined as patients aged 50 and younger at diagnosis—over the past 4 decades....
Roisin M. Connolly, MD, of University College Cork, discusses phase III results from the E2112 trial, which showed exemestane plus entinostat did not improve survival in aromatase inhibitor–resistant advanced HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer (Abstract GS4-02).
A prospective cohort study found sentinel lymph node biopsy had a 96% sensitivity rate and a 99% negative predictive value for detecting nodal metastasis among patients with clinical stage I low-grade and high-grade endometrial cancer.1 “Our study suggests that [sentinel lymph node biopsy] has...