In an article published recently in TheNew England Journal of Medicine, Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, FACP, FRCP (Edin), FASCO, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and colleagues reviewed opportunities, issues, and challenges posed by the advent of biosimilar medications, focusing on...
The Fox Chase Cancer Center announced the hiring of Pooja Ghatalia, MD, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Ghatalia joined the faculty after graduating from a 3-year hematology/oncology fellowship and started in her new position on July 1. Dr. Ghatalia is a...
LUNGevity Foundationhas announced the launch of a new lung cancer awareness campaign called 234. The social media campaign utilizes graphic animation to engage the public in understanding facts about lung cancer. “Our goal with the 234 campaign is to educate the general public about the...
Prior to ASCO’s 2016 endorsement of the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) guideline on active surveillance in the management of localized prostate cancer,1 most men—over 90%—diagnosed with low-risk localized disease were treated with active therapy.2 Today, about 50% of American men with low-risk disease...
Critics of health-care consolidation have cited higher costs of chemotherapy administration as an example of how mergers drive up costs. A new study by Kalidindi et al in The American Journal of Managed Care found that although drug administration costs in hospitals are higher,...
The US Oncology Network (The Network) announced the appointment of Loren Rourke, MD, MHCM, as its Chief Surgical Officer, a new role created to support and enhance the surgical community within The Network. With more than 15 years of surgical experience, Dr. Rourke served as Regional Breast...
A new study by Meulepas et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that computed tomography (CT) scans may increase the risk of brain tumors. The use of CT scans has increased dramatically over the past 2 decades. CT scans greatly improve diagnostic capabilities,...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) as a first-line treatment for people with advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver...
ERIC TETZLAFF, MHS, PA-C, DFAAPA, a physician assistant at Fox Chase Cancer Center, has received the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) 2018 Publishing Award for his article, “National Study of Burnout and Career Satisfaction Among Physician Assistants in Oncology: Implications for...
STEPHEN J. FORMAN, MD, the Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been inducted as a member of the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Forman has been a leader in the field of ...
Difficult-to-treat, cancer-related fatigue is a common, distressing clinical issue. It impedes daily activities, severely affecting patients’ quality of life. Compounding the problem is a lack of consensus on an effective pharmacologic intervention. Acupressure is a traditional Chinese medicine...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib and Medeiros explore the recently updated World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
ON JULY 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). This approval broadens the indicated patient population to include patients with either nonmetastatic CRPC or metastatic CRPC. Enzalutamide was ...
Patients with cancer receiving anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (anti–PD-1) therapies who develop lesions, eczema, psoriasis, or other forms of autoimmune diseases affecting the skin may experience those adverse reactions on a delay—sometimes even after treatment has...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a biologics license application (BLA) for filing and granted Priority Review for sacituzumab govitecan for the treatment of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who previously received at least two prior therapies for...
On July 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved filgrastim-aafi (Nivestym), a biosimilar to filgrastim (Neupogen), for all eligible indications of the reference product. “The FDA approval of filgrastim-aafi marks an important step in helping expand access to critical...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ivosidenib (Tibsovo) tablets for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have a specific genetic mutation. This is the first drug in its class (isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 [IDH1]...
Mailing colorectal cancer screening tests to patients insured by Medicaid increased screening rates for this population, reported researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In collaboration with the Mecklenburg County Health Department in...
The gains in insurance coverage with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have already translated into improved health for young women with gynecologic cancers, who are getting diagnosed at earlier stages of their disease because of ACA benefits. That’s the conclusion of a new ...
For patients with early kidney cancer, surgically removing a portion of the kidney instead of the whole organ is often a preferred treatment, because the procedure can effectively remove tumors while preserving kidney function. But when it comes to the best surgical approach—robotic,...
A study published by Patil et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology explores the occurrence and treatment of brain metastases in stage IV ROS1-positive non–small cell lung cancer. ROS1-Positive Disease vs Other Genetic Mutations Importantly, and in contrast with the findings ...
The randomized, phase III TOURMALINE-MM3 study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating single-agent oral ixazomib (Ninlaro) as a maintenance therapy resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) vs placebo. The trial evaluated the effect of ixazomib as a...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has recently released The NCCN Guidelines for Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), which includes resources for better-informed medical decision-making. The NCCN Guidelines for Patients with AML is endorsed by the Aplastic Anemia and MDS...
Veterans with cancer who receive treatment from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will now have easier access to clinical trials of novel cancer treatments, thanks to an agreement between the VA and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The NCI...
An analysis of cancer registry data from a California hospital system showed that women with head and neck cancer were less likely to receive intensive chemotherapy (35% vs 46%) and radiation (60% vs 70%) compared to men. Controlling for factors such as age and serious medical conditions, a...
The ASCO Post presents these brief summaries of important studies in breast cancer, presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. Ribociclib Plus Fulvestrant in Metastatic Breast Cancer The benefit of an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) added to fulvestrant has now been proven to...
It would be impossible to cover all of the important presentations from the 5,000-plus abstracts accepted for the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. In addition to our regular meeting coverage of the top news stories, the following highlights focus on novel investigational approaches to therapy for various...
On July 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) plus low-dose ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal...
As first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer, the oral taxane tesetaxel produced a 45% confirmed response rate and was well tolerated, producing little alopecia or neuropathy, according to Andrew D. Seidman, MD, and colleagues from several cancer centers. Dr. Seidman, of Memorial Sloan...
Shannon Westin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, served as an ASCO expert for the press briefing and made several comments. “What we’re learning is that among tumors with...
When it comes to how much end-of-life care a patient with cancer receives, geography may, indeed, be destiny, according to new research led by Harvard Medical School that found differences in this type of cancer care across different parts of the country. The findings, published by Keating et al...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for ribociclib (Kisqali) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor for premenopausal or perimenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer as initial...
In a study that many consider to be practice-changing, Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome, was found in many persons who would not ordinarily be suspected of having it.1 The study, which was presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, has implications for broader testing...
ASCO expert David Graham, MD, FASCO, of the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, was encouraged by the IMpower131 findings. “This is one more example of how immunotherapy is making steady gains against a number of cancers. Immunotherapy has been shown to be effective in other...
Patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had a greater benefit from first-line treatment with the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in the randomized, phase III, IMpower131 clinical trial.1 At the landmark of 12-month...
Selma Ugurel, MD, of the Skin Cancer Center Essen at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, discussed the Merkel cell carcinoma presentations at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. “Immunotherapy is of high interest in Merkel cell because of the high immunogenicity of the tumor—viral-induced and...
At the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, investigators presented long-term follow-up data for immunotherapy in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma and new data for its use in the neoadjuvant setting. The results drew high interest from attendees and a number of questions were raised following the...
Two pancreatic cancer specialists commented on the PREOPANC-1 study for The ASCO Post: Colin D. Weekes, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, who had discussed the abstract at the ASCO Annual Meeting, and Manish A. Shah, MD, FASCO, Chief of the Solid Tumor...
For patients with newly diagnosed, potentially resectable pancreatic cancer, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy led to better outcomes when compared with immediate surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy in the phase III PREOPANC-1 trial. Approximately 25% fewer deaths occurred among patients in the...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted and granted priority review for a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) seeking approval for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. This sBLA, which is...
Pancreatic cancer often metastasizes to the liver or lungs. The prognosis is better for patients with metastases in the lungs. However, the organ that is more likely to be affected depends on the cancer cells’ ability to alter their characteristics and shape—as a research team at the...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is outlining its vision for cancer control in the decades ahead in a series of articles that began publishing in early July in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The series of articles forms the basis of a national cancer control plan, with a blueprint...
On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). This approval broadens the indicated patient population to include patients with either nonmetastatic CRPC or metastatic CRPC. Enzalutamide was ...
Veterans with cancer who receive treatment from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will now have easier access to clinical trials of novel cancer treatments, thanks to an agreement between the VA and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The NCI...
Men with advanced cancer are 30% less likely than women to consider palliative care, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) study. Researchers believe the findings reflect social norms about gender roles, as well as widespread messages in the media and society about...
Squamous cell carcinoma is the second-most-common form of skin cancer. Evidence suggests the human papillomavirus (HPV) plays a role in the development of some types of this skin cancer. Two years ago, a 97-year-old woman whose right leg was covered with squamous cell tumors went to see...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Sharon H. Giordano, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on systemic therapy for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. The guideline update...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, recently issued the following statement. The opioid epidemic continues to take an emotional, physical, and financial toll on Americans. The FDA is committed to taking every possible step to address the many facets of this...
Following concerns over many years that hormonal stimulation of the ovaries necessary for in vitro fertilization (IVF) may increase the risk of ovarian cancer, a nationwide cohort study from Denmark has now concluded that any perceived increase in risk is actually a statistical bias resulting from...
Important steps in the development of an artificial ovary have been successfully completed. Researchers from the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, reported that they have—for the first time—isolated and grown human follicles to a point of biofunctionality on a bioengineered ovarian ...