Christine M. Eischen, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Cancer Biology at Thomas Jefferson University and co-leader of the Molecular Biology & Genetics Program at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, was recently invested as the inaugural Herbert A. Rosenthal, MD ’56 Professor in ...
GUEST EDITOR Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology explores the unique physical, psychosocial, social, emotional, sexual, and financial challenges adolescents and young adults with cancer face. The column is guest edited by Brandon Hayes-Lattin, MD, FACP, Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical...
Despite significant gains in improved access to public places, transportation, and job opportunities for people with disabilities since the enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990, the long history of discrimination in the social and medical treatment of people with disabilities is ...
The phase III IMpassion130 study has met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS). Results demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) as first-line treatment significantly reduced the risk of disease worsening or death in patients...
Many cases of early-stage kidney cancer can be treated with a relatively new, nonsurgical procedure used to destroy tumors, a new study by Talenfeld et al in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests. The procedure, called percutaneous ablation, involves the insertion of a needle through the skin into...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for standard review a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of patients with resected, high-risk stage III melanoma. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for Priority Review a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) as a new treatment option for Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. If approved, the sNDA would expand the...
The phase III IMpower133 study recently met its coprimary endpoints of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) at its first interim analysis. The study demonstrated that first-line treatment with the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus chemotherapy (carboplatin and...
As reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice by Kirkwood et al, the recent ASCO Oncology Practice Census survey has identified a number of factors considered to be challenging by oncology practices in the United States. Study Details ASCO used Medicare Physician Compare data to characterize...
The implementation of educational interventions among heavy equipment operators, or operating engineers, in Michigan significantly increased the use of sunscreen and decreased the number of sunburns, reported Duffy et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. “The rates of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for nivolumab (Opdivo) plus low-dose ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the first-line treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with a tumor mutational burden...
The likelihood of severe complications after emergency colon cancer surgery is significantly higher over the weekend, according to a study published by Huijts et al in JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The research was led by Perla Marang-van de Mheen, PhD, of the...
“Biosimilars foster competition and can lower the cost of biologic treatments for patients, yet the market for these products is not advancing as quickly as I hoped. I believe that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can do more to support the development of biosimilars, as well as...
The lungs can be a difficult organ to biopsy with a needle, so the promise of identifying lung cancer through a blood-based biopsy has lung cancer experts and patients optimistic. Knowing how and when to use a liquid biopsy is critically important and led global experts at the International...
New research led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators suggests that patients treated for nonmetastatic colon cancer may sharply reduce the risk that the disease will return by following a diet low in carbohydrates and other foods that raise insulin levels. In a study published by...
As of June 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted the use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing therapy. The restriction results from a...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved encorafenib (Braftovi) and binimetinib (Mektovi) in combination for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test. Approval was based on the randomized,...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a supplementary premarket approval (PMA) application for BRACAnalysis CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic with the poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor talazoparib. The new drug application (NDA) for...
Austrian researchers have discovered that a small number of patients taking targeted drugs known as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors to treat myelofibrosis may develop aggressive lymphomas. They also speculate that screening for a preexisting B-cell clone before starting therapy may help prevent this...
As reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Socinski et al, the phase III IMpower150 trial has shown that the addition of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to bevacizumab (Avastin) plus chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in ...
With growing concern among the medical community and the public regarding physician and medical student depression, burnout, and suicide, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted policy during its Annual Meeting that continues its efforts aimed at improving physician access to mental health...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted accelerated approval to the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for use in combination with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). KEYNOTE-021 This...
In an analysis of long-term outcomes in the SOFT and TEXT trials reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine, Francis et al found that the addition of ovarian suppression to adjuvant tamoxifen significantly improved 8-year rates of disease-free and overall...
THANK YOU for publishing the excellent article “We Need to Fill the Gap Between Pediatric and Adult Oncology Care” by Sarah Stream (as told to Jo Cavallo) in the March 25, 2018, issue of The ASCO Post. Sarah’s story and her connection to Teen Cancer America actually go much deeper than she reported ...
ON JUNE 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of patients with epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel, followed by single-agent bevacizumab, for stage III or IV...
THE U.S. FOOD and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma or who have relapsed after two or more prior lines of therapy on June 13, 2018. The newest ...
When I was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in 2013, I used to joke that if I had to get cancer, this wasn’t a bad one to have. At just 32, I was otherwise healthy, and my prognosis for a cure was good, according to my oncologist. So I felt confident that once I underwent...
THE COLORECTAL CANCER Alliance has announced up to $775,000 in available funding for up to five grants supporting research in young-onset colorectal cancer, rectal cancer, and colorectal cancer prevention. The Colorectal Cancer Alliance is committed to investing $10 million in research by 2021,...
JENS HILLENGASS, MD, has been announced as the new Chief of Myeloma of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. As part of his new role, Dr. Hillengass will continue his research on hematologic diseases, including multiple myeloma and its precursor diseases. A scientist with more than 15...
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) has designated St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as the first WHO Collaborating Center for Childhood Cancer. With this collaboration, both organizations aim to expand efforts to develop strategies to strengthen the global resources, organization, and planning ...
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND the causes of resistance to treatment in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, the Department of Defense has awarded researchers at Baylor College of Medicine multiple grants to study gene anomalies in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer that are associated with...
DESPITE STEADY declines in death rates in recent years, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in wealthy countries. In a study published by Anita Andreano, MD, of the University of Milan-Ciocco, and colleagues in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology,1 Yale researchers collaborated with ...
On June 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for recombinant human papillomavirus (HPV) 9-valent vaccine (Gardasil 9). The application is seeking approval for an expanded age...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, recently issued the following statement: Over the past decade, advances in our understanding of the basic biology of serious and life-threatening diseases has led to the development and FDA approval of targeted treatments for ...
Building on the efficacy of colorectal cancer screening, the American Medical Association (AMA) endorsed a plan at its Annual Meeting to work with physicians and payers to make the screening more available and affordable. Challenges with insurance coverage remain a barrier to colorectal cancer...
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. Gary Deng, MD, PhD, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on the potential health benefits ...
THE HARVARD BUSINESS School Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator, a multidisciplinary initiative with aims to advance precision medicine, focuses on four workstreams: Direct to Patient, Data & Analytics, Clinical Trials, as well as Venture and Investment. It was recently announced that under...
RICHARD D. SCHULICK, MD, MBA, a cancer surgeon and administrative leader, has been named Director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, a consortium of three universities and three academic teaching hospitals. The University of Colorado Cancer Center is the hub of cancer research in the...
THE 2018 JACOBSON INNOVATION AWARD of the American College of Surgeons was recently presented to Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, Chief of the Surgery Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as well as Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and at the...
It may sound too good to be true, but asking patients a simple question about what is on their bucket list can actually spark a dialogue about how best to make their cancer care and survivorship fit into their life plans, as well as be an effective way to identify their end-of-life care goals,...
AT THE 71ST World Health Assembly in Geneva, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) delivered two statements positioning cancer as a priority on the global agenda of the World Health Organization (WHO). Presenting its recommendations for action to the international community, ESMO...
Terminally ill patients with cancer will sometimes ask their clinicians for help with assisted or hastened death.1 Although palliative care and hospice care can usually address the concerns of most patients, some have physical or existential suffering that is refractory to comfort and supportive...
The QOPI® Reporting Registry, a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) brought to you by ASCO and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), is your one-stop shop for 2018 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting. The new...
RESEARCHERS AT the University of California (UC), Davis, have shown that patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who received their care at a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center in California had a dramatically reduced risk of early mortality. Using data from the California Cancer...
By including a planned gift to ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation in your estate plans, you can help make a dramatic difference for patients with cancer years—even decades—into the future. With just one small change to your will or trust, your planned gift of any size will deliver a big impact, and: ...
This year’s ASCO Research Community Forum (RCF) 2018 Annual Meeting will not be one to miss! Though still a few months away, I am thrilled to share the work that is already underway to bring the research community together for 2 days of learning and collaboration. During my term as Chair of the...
Tell your patients about Cancer.Net’s award-winning mobile app! Recently updated, the newest version features several performance upgrades to improve the user experience, plus all the same great features offered before, including filtering capabilities, calendar integration, and native Spanish...
A career in oncology can be extremely rewarding. Fast-paced advances in research and treatment, exciting changes in the practice environment, and the opportunity to build strong relationships with and provide critical support to patients can be incredibly professionally satisfying—but they can...
FOLAKEMI ODEDINA, PhD, Professor of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, has been awarded a 2018 Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship to help expand oncology clinical trials in Africa. Dr. Odedina will travel to South Africa to collaborate...
DAN THEODORESCU, MD, PhD, has been named Director of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai, a position he will assume starting July 1, 2018. Dr. Theodorescu, a translational cancer researcher and expert in bladder cancer, will direct the oncology enterprise at...