Survey results released by the Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) show that general awareness about lung cancer has improved significantly over the past decade, with 94% of the public reporting familiarity with lung cancer. Despite this change in overall perspective, findings also indicate that lung cancer ...
A group of men with especially aggressive prostate cancer may respond unusually well to immunotherapy, according to a study published by Rodrigues et al in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The research offers the possibility of effective treatment, with clinical trials already underway. An...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk (Lumoxiti) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia (HCL) who have received at least two prior systemic therapies, including treatment with...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has released its annual Cancer Progress Report highlighting how federally funded research discoveries are fueling the development of new and even more effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat cancer. Key advances outlined...
A research team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has discovered a way to use computed tomography (CT) imaging to assess kidney tumors that test positive for the biomarker CD117 and accurately determine—before surgery—whether the tumor is benign or malignant. Their findings...
Nearly 350 organizations—including medical societies and oncology treatments centers—are advocating for robust, sustained, and predictable annual funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the 6th annual Rally for Medical Research Hill Day, taking place...
Bleeding in patients treated with anticoagulants may indicate an increased probability of cancer, according to late-breaking results from the COMPASS trial presented at the 2018 European Society of Cardiology Congress. Principal investigator John Eikelboom, MD, of the Population Health Research...
The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation today announced the winners of its 2018 Lasker Awards: C. David Allis, PhD, of Rockefeller University and Michael Grunstein, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, will receive the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research...
Recent research and genomic studies have revealed a number of genes that accumulate somatic mutations and alterations in estrogen receptor (ER)–positive breast cancer. However, while a few alterations are quite common and relatively well-understood, many genes are mutated in less than 5% of...
A new study suggests chemotherapy may cause acute amenorrhea, leading to early menopause in women with lung cancer. The study is the first to comment on amenorrhea rates in women younger than 50, concluding that women with lung cancer who desire future fertility should be educated about risks and...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Randy A. Taplitz, MD, of UC San Diego Health, and colleagues, ASCO and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have updated their joint guideline on antimicrobial prophylaxis for adult patients with immunosuppression associated with...
THE ASCO ANSWERS Palliative Care booklet shares how palliative care or supportive care is used to manage symptoms and side effects; help with practical concerns; address spiritual questions; and support caregivers, family, and friends. Your patients will find: Practical advice on how to access...
ON SEPTEMBER 25–26, oncology care providers from across the United States will head to Capitol Hill to participate in the 3rd annual ASCO Advocacy Summit. Over 2 days, ASCO volunteer advocates will meet with members of Congress and their staff to educate them on critical issues affecting patients...
HOW DO patients really feel when they are in your care? What does it feel like to cure a cancer? How are the children of oncologists affected when grief is a parent’s occupational hazard? They are the personal topics explored in the candid and inspirational mini-podcast series, Your Stories:...
Research grants are vital to the success of academic research and researchers apply for these grants at all stages of their career. This makes writing stand-out grant applications an incredibly valuable skill for clinical investigators—and an intimidating task for first-time grant applicants....
Cory Wiegert has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO. Mr. Wiegert, a proven expert in building and successfully launching innovative technology solutions, began his new role on August 13, 2018, and is overseeing the continued...
ASCO offers a portfolio of prestigious leadership training opportunities for those who are ready to take the next step in their careers. This includes the Leadership Development Program (LDP), a program that began in 2009 and was created to teach mid-career oncologists leadership skills and help...
The tumultuous history of modern South Africa has numerous stories that lie beneath the surface of the sociopolitical headlines, such as the story of lung cancer expert Leora Horn, MD. “I was born and reared in Johannesburg, South Africa, a second-generation African family. In 1987, because of the...
THE GEORGETOWN Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center has developed and released a cache of brain cancer biomedical data and made them freely available to researchers worldwide. The database, referred to as REMBRANDT (Repository for Molecular Brain Neoplasia Data), contains information on 671 adult...
Male breast cancer is a rare and understudied malignancy when compared with female breast cancer, with conflicting literature on survival outcomes in men and women. The ASCO Post spoke recently with breast cancer expert Sharon Giordano, MD, MPH, FASCO, Professor at The University of Texas MD...
Patients with advanced cancer often get more aggressive treatment than they want because too few oncologists elicit their end-of-life treatment preferences.1,2 In response to this problem, leading associations, including ASCO3,4 and the Institute of Medicine,5 have called for more advance care...
BRIAN C. CAPELL, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award. He plans to use the $450,000 research grant to study epigenetic targets in the skin to develop more effective...
THE PERSHING Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance will open for applications for its 2019 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research on October 1, 2018. At least six New York City area–based scientists will each be awarded $200,000 per year for up to 3 years. Applicants...
ANA MARÍA LÓPEZ, MD, MPH, has joined the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (Sidney Kimmel), Jefferson Health, as Vice Chair of Medical Oncology and Chief of Cancer Services. Dr. López brings her expertise in breast and gynecologic cancers, integrative medicine, telehealth, and cancer disparities with...
USING THE National Cancer Database, Bhatt et al1 recently reported that of the 61,775 adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), those who received chemotherapy from 2003 to 2011 lived longer than those who, in those same years, did not; the study is reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post....
THREE SCIENTISTS whose work in immuno-oncology has led to a revolutionary way to treat cancer have been announced as the recipients of the 2018 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. The awardees were chosen to receive the 2018 Albany Prize for their research in...
IN PATIENTS with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, adding epacadostat to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) did not result in greater clinical benefit over pembrolizumab alone, according to data from the phase III ECHO-301/KEYNOTE-252 study. These results were originally presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual...
THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) issued the following approvals and prescribing information revisions in August 2018. Lenvatinib Approved for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma THE FDA approved lenvatinib (Lenvima) for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable...
IN PATIENTS with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, nimotuzumab—a humanized monoclonal antibody against the epidermal growth factor receptor—in combination with cisplatin and radiotherapy was superior to cisplatin and radiotherapy alone in improving progression-free...
ON AUGUST 27, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the combination of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and rituximab (Rituxan) for patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia. The recent approval expands the label for ibrutinib in Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia beyond its current...
AS MORE is learned about the genomic landscape in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, clinicians are grappling with how to apply this information in the clinic. At the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference, Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, helped them understand this emerging area.1 Dr. Zelenetz is Professor of...
In triple-negative breast cancer, researchers have so far been unable to identify markers that can classify patients by prognosis or probability of responding to different treatments. In a study published by Zagorac et al in Nature Communications, researchers from the Spanish National Cancer...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to LOXO-292, a selective RET inhibitor, for: the treatment of patients with metastatic RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who require systemic therapy and have had...
More than 130 iconic buildings and landmarks across the United States and Canada will be illuminated in a show of support for the 6th biennial Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) “roadblock” telecast airing in both countries on Friday, September 7 (8:00–9:00 PM ...
U.S. Senator from Arizona John McCain passed away on August 25, 2018. The cause of death was glioblastoma multiforme. A number of medical societies issued statements remembering Senator McCain, a few of which are reprinted below. The ASCO Post shares in remembering Senator McCain for his service to ...
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and the Movember Foundation recently announced four new Movember Foundation–PCF Challenge Award teams at some of the world’s leading academic research institutions will receive a total of $3.5 million to support cross-disciplinary pioneering research toward the...
I have always been plagued with nagging headaches, so when they intensified in late 2010, I wasn’t too concerned. But when my eyes began involuntarily moving rapidly back and forth as I was writing Christmas cards, I knew the symptoms were a sign of something serious. A magnetic resonance imaging...
A MAN in his early 70s sits in our office. His general health is good, and he is feeling well. Yet he is deeply worried. Four years ago, when his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level rapidly increased after radical prostatectomy and subsequent radiation therapy, he was started on...
IN PATIENTS with advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma, combining the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib (Braftovi) with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib (Mektovi) improved overall survival compared to vemurafenib (Zelboraf) or encorafenib as monotherapy, with a favorable toxicity profile, according to updated...
A new method may predict the course of human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative head and neck cancer after radiochemotherapy. According to findings published by Hess et al in Clinical Cancer Research, five microRNAs (miRNAs) may be able to provide the decisive data. Squamous cell carcinomas of the head ...
BOOKMARK Title: The Cookie Cure: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of Cookies and CancerAuthors: Susan Stachler With Laura StachlerPublisher: SourcebooksPublication date: February 2018Price: $19.95, paperback, 320 pages Cancer memoirs vary in their voice and message. Some are slapstick humorous attempts to ...
In the July 10, 2018, issue of The ASCO Post, the article “KEYNOTE-407: Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy Benefits Response, Survival in Squamous NSCLC” contained an error in the regimen for pembrolizumab (Keytruda). The study regimen, which has been corrected in the online version on ASCOPost.com,...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is embarking on a new collaboration with the Caribbean Association for Oncology & Hematology (CAOH) to develop a library of NCCN Harmonized Guidelines™ for the Caribbean. The archipelago that extends from the Bahamas in the north to Trinidad...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted priority review for a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) seeking accelerated approval for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic...
Blood tests could predict how long it takes until colorectal cancer becomes resistant to treatment based on the same principle used in forecasting the weather, a new study by Khan et al in Cancer Discovery has found. The liquid biopsies could also predict patients that are unlikely to initially...
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. Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on the potential...
Karen E. Knudsen, PhD, Enterprise Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC), Jefferson Health, has been elected Vice President/President-Elect of the Association of American Cancer Institutes’ (AACI) Board of Directors, a 2-year term that will begin September 30. Dr. Knudsen, who has...
Fox Chase Cancer Center has announced the hiring of Kristen Whitaker, MD, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Genetics. Dr. Whitaker treats patients with breast cancer and serves as a member of the clinical genetics team. Dr. Whitaker earned her medical degree from Drexel...
E. John Wherry, PhD, has been appointed Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Wherry is the Richard and Barbara Schiffrin President’s Distinguished Professor in the Department of...
Ronald D. Alvarez, MD, MBA, has been elected Director-At-Large of the Board of Directors for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), a 6-year position he assumed on July 1. Until recently, he served as the ABOG Division Chair for the Gynecologic Oncology Subspecialty and the ABOG...