In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zandberg et al compared sequential vs concurrent pembrolizumab with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Study Details In the U.S. multicenter noncomparative trial, 80...
Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for adults with resectable, locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) whose tumors express PD-L1 [combined positive score (CPS) ≥ 1] as determined by an FDA-approved test, as a single agent ...
A telehealth-based care program may improve daily functioning, mood, disease understanding, and quality of life among older adults with cancer, according to a recent study published by Bergerot et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Study Methods and Results...
Findings from a first-of-its-kind national survey are included in “The Health Insurance Maze: How Cancer Patients Get Lost in the Red Tape of Utilization Management,” a new report from CancerCare which details the impact that prior authorization requirement and coverage stoppages have on patients...
In a Chinese study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yin et al attempted to develop a cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentomics–based model for early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Study Details The study consisted of training and validation cohorts from several Chinese...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the oral next-generation ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) talectrectinib (Ibtrozi) for the treatment of adults with ROS1-positive locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Investigators reported that the agent has ...
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine1 estimated incidence rates of appendiceal adenocarcinoma across birth cohorts in the United States. Andreana N. Holowatyj, PhD, MSCI, of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, and colleagues observed a sharp increase in incidence...
Mail-in self-collection kits for human papillomavirus (HPV) were found to be effective at increasing cervical cancer screening rates compared with standard telephone reminders alone in a safety-net health-care setting, according to results from the PRESTIS trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine. ...
Stopping the widespread use of unnecessary, potentially harmful cancer screenings may take up to 13 years and potentially longer following the implementation of new guidelines, according to a recent study published by LeLaurin et al in BMJ Quality & Safety. Background The U.S. Preventive...
A study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) investigating cancer incidence in the United States between 2010 and 2019 has found that breast, colorectal, endometrial, pancreatic, and kidney cancers are becoming more common among individuals younger than age 50. Although the study...
“The [National Cancer Institute (NCI)] is a national treasure. If funding is diminished, it will be catastrophic to millions of patients and families who will experience the devastation of cancer in the coming years,” Richard J. Boxer, MD, wrote in an editorial Viewpoint published in JAMA Oncology ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has issued the following statement regarding former President Joseph R. Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis: “The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) offers heartfelt support and well wishes to former President Biden and his family as...
More than a decade after I was diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer, a phase I clinical trial at Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, investigating a dose of a novel follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR)-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced that Jeffrey E. Lee, MD, an internationally regarded leader in the field of oncology, has been appointed Chief Medical Executive (CME). Prior to his appointment, Dr. Lee served as CME ad interim. Assuming the role of CME is the...
Although treatment with the bispecific antibody teclistamab was approved for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, based on the MajesTEC-1 study results, only 15% of patients in the phase I/II trial were aged 75 or older. To learn more about the safety and efficacy of this agent in ...
In May in Vienna, five studies presented at ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) 2025 showcased how radiotherapy is reshaping the landscape for anal and rectal cancers. From reduced-dose treatments to cutting-edge combinations with immunotherapy and chemotherapy, these innovations ...
The disparities in breast cancer incidence and mortality rates between Black and White women in the United States have been well documented. Studies over the past decade consistently show that although Black women have a 4% lower breast cancer incidence rate than White women, they are still between ...
Recent national survey data from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have shown that further cuts to Medicare reimbursement for radiation therapy would increase patient wait times for cancer treatment and force clinic downsizing. Nearly all (96%) of the 675 physicians responding to...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz), a PD-1–blocking monoclonal antibody, with carboplatin and paclitaxel for the first-line treatment of adults with inoperable locally recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal. The FDA also...
The management of metastatic (CRPC) has rapidly accelerated in the past decade, giving oncologists a wider range of tools to work with and patients new opportunities for improving survival and maintaining quality of life. These significant advancements have prompted ASCO to release a guideline...
Within hours of the start of his second administration, on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order proclaiming that the country would now recognize only two sexes, male and female, essentially rejecting transgender identity, and directing all federal agencies to use the...
Experts and patients alike would agree that navigating the current fragmented U.S. health-care system is not an easy task. One component of that disconnection may center on the relationship between oncology and primary care. The benefits of collaboration between oncologists and primary care...
With more than 50 different subtypes, pediatric soft-tissue sarcomas represent a broad category of disease. And given the rarity of these sarcomas, “it is difficult for pathologists to see a sufficient volume to gain expertise across all variants,” stated Adam Thiesen, BA, MD/PhD Candidate at UConn ...
Artificial intelligence (AI) models, which were pretrained on vast data sets, outperformed a standard baseline model in identifying nonmelanoma skin cancers from digital images of tissue samples, based on a session presented during the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual...
With the approval of HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate options for treating patients with breast cancer across different HER2 expression levels, accurate assessment of HER2 expression has become more important than ever. And a recent study may provide a solution to the challenge of accurate...
A 3-year structured exercise program initiated soon after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy improved disease-free survival and overall survival, as well as patient-reported physical functioning and health-related fitness, in patients with stage III or high-risk stage II colon cancer. These...
Studies have shown that being overweight or having obesity increases the risk of developing more than a dozen cancers, including meningioma, multiple myeloma, esophageal, thyroid, breast, gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidney, ovarian, uterus, and colorectal.1 The presence of excess body...
Maintenance treatment with the alkylating agent lurbinectedin plus the monoclonal antibody atezolizumab significantly improved both progression-free survival and overall survival compared with atezolizumab alone in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to data...
“Inavolisib plus palbociclib and fulvestrant significantly improved overall survival compared with placebo plus palbociclib/fulvestrant…. This is the first time overall survival has been significantly improved by a PI3K pathway–targeted drug,” said Nicholas Turner, MD, PhD, FRCP,FMedSci, who...
Researchers may have uncovered genetic differences that may help predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors among patients with metastatic melanoma, according to a recent study published by Monson et al in Nature Medicine. Background The investigation revolved around mitochondrial haplogroups ...
In the phase III ALASCCA trial, the use of adjuvant daily aspirin for 3 years reduced the risk of recurrence in colorectal cancer harboring PI3K pathway alterations by 51%, according to research in a Scandinavian population presented at the 2025 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Anna...
Genetic material shed by tumors may be detected in the bloodstream 3 years prior to cancer diagnosis, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Cancer Discovery. Study Methods and Results Researchers used highly accurate and sensitive sequencing techniques to analyze the plasma samples ...
In a long-term follow-up of the phase III MD Anderson dose-escalated, hypofractionated prostate radiation study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hassanzadeh et al compared hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiation therapy (HIMRT) vs conventionally fractionated intensity-modulated...
In a long-term follow-up of an Israeli phase II trial reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Evron et al compared prophylactic radiation therapy (RT) of the contralateral breast vs surveillance in BRCA pathogenic variant carriers with early-stage breast cancer. Study Details In the...
On May 30, President Donald Trump released his final proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which contains $4.531 billion for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This represents a cut of almost $2.7 billion, or approximately 37.2%, from the current fiscal year. The following is a statement from...
Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, of City of Hope, and Rebecca Alexandra Dent, MD, FASCO, of National Cancer Centre Singapore, review the results of a biomarker analysis of the DESTINY-Breast06 trial, which evaluated trastuzumab deruxtecan after endocrine therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer...
A novel therapy based on the plant-derived molecule resiniferatoxin could be a safe and effective agent for patients with difficult-to-control cancer pain, according to a recent study published by Mannes et al in NEJM Evidence. Background Resiniferatoxin is derived from Euphorbia resinifera, a...
Although alcohol consumption is a known leading preventable cause of cancer, public awareness of the connection may remain concerningly low in the United States, according to a recent study published by Domgue et al in JAMA Oncology. Background Consuming alcohol has been linked to at least seven...
The first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate pivekimab sunirine was found to be safe and effective, with high response rates, in patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendric cell neoplasm (BPDCN), according to data from a phase I/II study presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6502). These ...
Although the SWOG S2302 Pragmatica-Lung trial did not achieve its primary endpoint of improved overall survival with the combination of ramucirumab and pembrolizumab compared with standard-of-care treatments for patients with stage IV or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who previously...
Researchers have identified a gene that could play a key role in the transition to a more aggressive, treatment-resistant type of prostate cancer, according to a recent study published by Duan et al in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The findings indicated that the gene may be indirectly...
Patients with stage II and III (early-stage) HER2-positive breast cancer usually undergo preoperative therapy with multiagent chemotherapy in combination with anti-HER2 antibodies, followed by surgery. A less intensive, reduced-chemotherapy treatment approach is currently being evaluated in the...
New long-term follow-up data from the phase Ib/II CARTITUDE-1 study demonstrated that one-third of patients in the study with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma treated with the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy ciltacabtagene autoleucel achieved progression-free survival of 5 years or...
Consuming an anti-inflammatory diet could improve posttreatment survival among patients with colorectal cancer compared with following a proinflammatory diet, according to new findings presented by Char et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA3509). The findings suggested that engaging...
An investigational dual-target chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy approach could slow tumor growth in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, according to new findings presented by Bagley et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 102) and simultaneously published in Nature ...
The integration of a "best practice advisory" alert into electronic medical record system regarding referrals for fertility preservation programs for young patients with cancer improved referrals to the Oncofertility program at Fox Chase Cancer Center by 450% over 6 months, according to findings...
Neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival rates at 5 years compared with chemotherapy alone before surgery in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to findings from the final analysis of the phase III CheckMate 816 trial. The...
Marital status significantly impacts survival rates for patients with colorectal cancer, according to a new Fox Chase Cancer Center study that was presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 3628). Married individuals were found to have better survival rates than single or separated and...
The investigational agent ziftomenib, a menin-MLL inhibitor, demonstrated activity in patients with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML), regardless of prior venetoclax treatment, according to findings from the phase II KOMET-001 trial. Findings from the study were...
Results from the international phase III AMPLITUDE clinical trial found that adding niraparib to abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AAP) may help to slow cancer growth for people with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene...