Long-term follow-up of the phase III KEYNOTE-590 trial confirms the benefit of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in advanced esophageal cancer. As compared with chemotherapy alone, after a median of follow-up of almost 59 months, patients treated with the chemoimmunotherapy...
he latest findings for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in colorectal cancer were discussed at the 2024 ASCO Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers Symposium by Aparna R. Parikh, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has become an established biomarker of measurable or molecular residual disease (MRD) after curative-intent surgery in patients with colorectal cancer. The research focus is now on linking ctDNA to long-term outcomes and using it to guide treatment decisions—which was...
In the phase III CheckMate 8HW trial, previously untreated patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) nonresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer derived significant benefit from an immunotherapy doublet, with nivolumab plus ipilimumab reducing the...
In the third prespecified interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-564 trial,1 adjuvant treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab significantly improved overall survival compared with placebo in patients with intermediate- or high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, a...
For patients with treatment-naive, locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the addition of two checkpoint inhibitors to chemotherapy significantly improved not only progression-free survival but also overall survival, in the randomized, phase III SKYSCRAPER-08 trial...
In an Indian single-center phase III trial (D-TORCH) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Santhosh et al found that topical diclofenac gel significantly reduced the risk of capecitabine-associated hand-foot syndrome vs placebo gel in patients with breast or gastrointestinal cancer who were ...
As reported by Marie Plante, MD, and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine, the phase III CX.5 SHAPE trial has shown noninferiority of simple vs radical hysterectomy in terms of pelvic recurrence in women with low-risk cervical cancer. Simple hysterectomy was associated with a reduced...
Postoperative adjuvant therapy—both chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone—for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma may be safely de-escalated, according to results presented by Thorstad et al at the 2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium...
Adding the multikinase inhibitor lenvatinib to the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as initial therapy for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma improved response rates and progression-free survival but did not lead to an overall survival advantage over pembrolizumab...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Woriax et al identified racial/ethnic differences in pathologic complete response rates and overall survival among women with triple-negative breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Study Details The study involved data from the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gagelmann et al have developed a predictive model (Myeloma CAR-T Relapse [MyCARe] model) for outcomes after B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple...
In a Chinese phase III study reported in JAMA Oncology, Dai et al found that induction chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy alone was noninferior in terms of progression-free survival vs induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy in the first-line treatment of locoregionally...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Camus et al, the final analysis of the phase III Ro-CHOP trial showed no significant progression-free or overall survival benefit with the addition of romidepsin (Ro) to CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) in previously...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, and colleagues, 3-year follow-up of the phase III CheckMate 649 trial has shown the continued benefit of the addition of nivolumab to chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of advanced gastric, gastroesophageal junction,...
Studies presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) significantly moved the needle forward in our treatment of breast cancer. We are increasingly learning how to stratify risk, so we can optimize therapy and minimize our patients’ exposure to treatments that will not be...
Pembrolizumab added to neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab plus endocrine therapy improved pathologic complete responses in patients with early-stage, high-risk, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to updated results of the phase III...
At a median follow-up of 8.4 years, adjuvant use of ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) continued to improve invasive disease–free survival and overall survival compared with trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer with residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant therapy. These ...
Heather Han, MD, Research Director, Department of Breast Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, commented on the latest update from the NATALEE trial: “Despite the established standard adjuvant therapy, many patients with hormone receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer (including stages...
Invasive disease–free survival continued to be significantly improved for patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, early-stage breast cancer who received the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib plus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor compared with a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor alone....
The addition of inavolisib to first-line treatment with palbociclib plus fulvestrant more than doubled progression-free survival in patients with recurrent PIK3CA-mutated, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, according to a late-breaking primary analysis of the phase III ...
Adding the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) to the HER2-targeted agent tucatinib extended progression-free survival by about 2 months vs treatment with T-DM1 alone among patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, according to...
Belzutifan is a first-in-class, oral hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2α inhibitor, and active HIF-2α is a key oncogenic driver in clear cell renal cancer. The manufacturer has filed a new drug application for the treatment of adults with RCC who experienced disease progression after PD-1/PD-L1– and...
Updates of two key phase III trials presented at the 2024 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium showed the benefit of adding a checkpoint inhibitor to standard perioperative chemotherapy with FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, docetaxel) in locally advanced, resectable gastric and...
Patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma derived significant benefit from the addition of the monoclonal antibody durvalumab and the angiogenesis inhibitor bevacizumab to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), which alone has been a standard of care for 20 years. Investigators of the...
Adding the radioligand lutetium-177 dotatate (Lu-177 dotatate) to standard therapy almost tripled the median progression-free survival in patients with untreated, high-grade, gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in the randomized phase III NETTER-2 study, researchers reported at the 2024...
ASCO has released a guideline rapid recommendation update addressing radiotracers used for prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron-emission tomography (PET) diagnostic imaging for selecting patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) to receive...
In patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), perioperative treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy led to a statistically significant benefit in event-free survival and a favorable trend for overall survival, investigators for the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Alison Jane Birtle, MD, MBBS, MRCP, FRCR, and colleagues, final results of the UK-based phase III POUT trial showed survival benefits with adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy vs surveillance after radical nephroureterectomy in patients with upper...
Researchers have found that ablative stereotactic magnetic resonance (MR)-guided adaptive radiation therapy may improve local control and overall survival in patients with borderline resectable and locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to a recent study published by Chuong et ...
Two experts in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) discussed the findings on the combination of venetoclax plus azacitidine in the treatment of higher-risk MDS with The ASCO Post. David A. Sallman, MD, Assistant Member in the Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffit Cancer Center, Tampa, provided...
For the treatment of high-risk, treatment-naive myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the regimen of venetoclax plus azacitidine led to high response rates, durable responses, and encouraging overall survival, in a phase Ib study reported at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting...
Prithviraj Bose, MD, Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, shared his thoughts on MANIFEST-2 and TRANSFORM-1 with The ASCO Post. While both were international phase III trials that showed similar benefits with two different...
In two international phase III trials in myelofibrosis, drugs given in combination with the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor ruxolitinib in JAK inhibitor–naive patients significantly improved outcomes vs ruxolitinib alone. Both studies were presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual...
The ASCO Post obtained comments on the Smart Stop study from Dipenkumar Modi, MD, a medical oncologist and hematologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit. Dr. Modi applauded the investigators for...
For patients with gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoma, an “ultra-low dose” of radiotherapy was as effective as the higher, standard dose in providing local control and freedom from distant relapse, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at...
At the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, researchers from Emory University presented a real-world comparison of the largest cohort of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma consecutively treated with either bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone ...
Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, and Dan Vogl, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, shared their thoughts on the PERSEUS trial for The ASCO Post. Dr. Nooka noted that ...
Hordes of classical and malignant hematologists returned to the tranquil city of San Diego for the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition this past December. The packed agenda lit the Gaslight District up with neuron-searing data, creating an environment for...
In a patient-reported outcomes analysis from the phase III OlympiA trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Patricia A. Ganz, MD, FASCO, and colleagues found no clinically important differences in fatigue—the outcome of primary interest—between adjuvant olaparib and placebo in patients...
Peter Voorhees, MD, a multiple myeloma specialist at Levine Cancer Institute and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Durham, North Carolina, introduced the plenary presentation of the phase III IsKia trial by Gay et al and further commented on the study for The ASCO...
In the phase III IsKia trial in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, therapy incorporating the CD38-directed monoclonal antibody isatuximab-irfc with a carfilzomib-based regimen led to high rates of minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity at postconsolidation cutoffs, as reported at the 2023...
Patients with multiple myeloma treated in the “real world” had worse outcomes than patients who received the same treatment on clinical trials, according to research presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 In a pooled analysis of clinical trial...
The addition of the CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab to a standard regimen for patients with newly diagnosed transplant-eligible multiple myeloma significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs standard treatment in the phase III PERSEUS trial. The study was reported as a late-breaking...
The combination of the anti–PD-L1 antibody durvalumab and the ATR kinase inhibitor ceralasertib may help overcome inherent immune resistance and reinvigorate antitumor activity in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent study published by Besse et al in...
In a Chinese single-institution phase II trial (FUTURE-SUPER) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fan et al found that molecular subtype–based therapy produced promising results in the first-line treatment of metastatic or recurrent triple-negative breast cancer. Study Details In the open-label...
In a phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Cynthia X. Ma, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that neither neoadjuvant fulvestrant nor anastrozole plus fulvestrant improved the endocrine-sensitive disease (ESD) rate vs anastrozole alone among postmenopausal patients with phase II to III estrogen...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Domenica Lorusso, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the Italian phase III MITO-23 trial showed no overall survival benefit with trabectedin vs chemotherapy in women with recurrent ovarian cancer with a BRCA mutation or BRCAness phenotype. Study Details In ...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Xu et al identified incidence of primary invasive breast cancer according to race/ethnicity, disease stage, and hormone receptor status among U.S. women with breast cancer aged 20 to 49 years diagnosed between 2000 and 2019. Study Details The study used...
Studies have shown that millions of people in the United States are financially vulnerable because of low income, limited savings, or high levels of debt. In 2021, 32% of U.S. adults reported being unable to cover an unexpected expense of $400. A recent study by researchers at the American Cancer...