Delivering stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT also called stereotactic ablative radiotherapy) in one or four treatment sessions led to similar outcomes in patients with up to three lung metastases (ie, oligometastatic disease) in the phase II randomized SAFRON II trial. The study, conducted...
Caring for older adults with cancer is the purview of every oncologist. Over the next 30 years, the older adult population (65 years and older) will represent the fastest-growing segment of the world population. Globally, the number of persons 80 years and older is expected to triple from 143...
Colombia is located in the northwestern corner of South America, geographically privileged with coasts on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Andean region, and the Amazon rainforest. Based on its population of nearly 50 million (see Table 1), Colombia is the second largest country in South...
A systematic meta-analysis has shown that statin users had a significantly reduced risk of colorectal cancer. The study included patients with and without inflammatory bowel disease, which is associated with an increased risk of this type of cancer. The largest chemopreventive effect was observed...
Social needs—such as food and economic insecurity, poor housing and neighborhood conditions, and lack of access to transportation—were common in a group of Black cancer survivors in Detroit. These factors were associated with lower health-related quality of life, according to findings published by...
In a retrospective case series reported in JAMA Network Open, Poon et al found that definitive stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) was associated with good long-term overall survival and delayed widespread disease progression—but “modest” progression-free survival—in adults with extracranial...
The Immunoscore assay can assess the risk of disease recurrence in Asian patients with early-stage colon cancer and may be used together with TNM classification to guide clinical decision-making, according to findings presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia Virtual...
Early identification and removal of cancerous colorectal polyps are critical to preventing the progression of colorectal cancer and improving survival rates. The U.S. Multisociety Task Force on Colorectal Cancer has released new guidance for endoscopists on how to assess colorectal lesions for...
In states that have expanded Medicaid availability as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), mortality rates for three major types of cancer are significantly lower than in states that have not expanded Medicaid availability, according to a recent study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) Cancer Action Network has released new policy recommendations to increase the uptake of biomarker testing and to advance the use of precision medicine in cancer care. A recent report by the ACS Cancer Action Network and the LUNGevity Foundation found that although...
Numerous studies over the past 4 decades have chronicled the lack of progress in improved outcomes for adolescents and young adults (AYAs)—defined by the National Cancer Institute as those ranging in age from 15 to 39—diagnosed with cancer compared with children and older adults diagnosed with the...
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance, a national nonprofit committed to ending colorectal cancer, has launched a comprehensive marketing campaign. The effort will alert the public to the continued risk of colorectal cancer and the necessity of life-saving screening, which can be conducted safely during...
Another novel oral KRAS inhibitor—adagrasib (MRTX849)—has shown promise in early clinical trials, according to investigators of the KRYSTAL-1 study who reported findings at the virtual 32nd EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.1,2 The conference is jointly provided...
Envafolimab (also known as KN035), a novel PD-L1 antibody, demonstrated antitumor activity and was safe in patients with diverse, advanced microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair–deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) tumors, according to findings presented by Shen et al at the ESMO Asia Virtual Congress...
In a German single-institution study reported in JAMA Surgery, Rahbari et al found that the anterior approach to the resection of colorectal liver metastases was not associated with a reduction in the detection of intraoperative circulating tumor cells vs conventional hepatectomy. As stated by the...
The Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL), which was completed in 2018, found that vitamin D did not reduce overall incidence of cancer, but it hinted at a decreased risk of cancer deaths. Now, in a secondary analysis of VITAL, a research team focused on the connection between taking vitamin D...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Smith Giri, MD, MHS, and colleagues found that 27% of patients with cancer aged 60 or older reported financial distress in response to a query prior to starting systemic therapy. Numerous demographic and geriatric assessment...
A new study by Tsay et al sheds light on the role the lung microbiome may play in lung cancer pathogenesis and prognosis. According to the study’s findings, enrichment of the lungs with oral commensal microbes was associated with advanced-stage disease, worse prognosis, and tumor progression....
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zhu et al found that the addition of irinotecan to neoadjuvant capecitabine chemoradiation (CapIriRT)—with irinotecan dosing guided by UGT1A1 genotype—followed by capecitabine/irinotecan (XELIRI) significantly improved...
In a study reported as a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Brajcich et al found that higher-rated surgical technical skill was associated with significantly improved long-term survival in patients undergoing surgery for colon cancer. Study Details In the study, surgeons were recruited from the...
In states that have expanded Medicaid availability as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), mortality rates for three major types of cancer are significantly lower than in states that have not expanded their Medicaid, according to findings from a new study published by Miranda B. Lam, MD, MBA, and ...
A large body of research has shed light on how the cancer experience and related losses often leave patients and their families struggling to find a sense of meaning in their lives.1-7 The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified these difficulties, as meaningful activities and experiences have been...
Randall A. Oyer, MD, President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), released a statement regarding the rise in mortality rates of specific cancers and the rise in the occurrence of advanced metastatic cancers in 2020. New research presented at the United European Gastroenterology ...
Geriatric oncologist and researcher Enrique Soto Pérez de Celis, MD, MSc, was born in Mexico City and grew up in the nearby city of Puebla. “There were no physicians in the family who might have influenced my decision to become a doctor, but both of my parents were academics; my mother was a...
Reducing the financial impact of cancer diagnosis and treatment may save not only bank accounts but lives as well, according to recent data. Two separate survey studies presented during the 2020 ASCO Quality Care Symposium have highlighted the pervasiveness and deadliness of financial toxicity,...
The invited discussant of PRODIGE 13 was Tim Price, MBBS, DHthSc, Professor at the University of Adelaide, Australia, senior consultant medical oncologist, and Director of Medical Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. As he reminded listeners, the current ASCO...
Is intensive monitoring of patients after curative colorectal cancer resection warranted? Not necessarily, according to the findings of PRODIGE 13, reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress 2020.1 “After curative surgery, the addition of CEA [carcinoembryonic...
Chile has a population of approximately 19 million living predominantly in urban areas (87.7%), with a population density of 66 inhabitants per square mile.1 For the year 2020, approximately 12% of its population was older than 65 years.1 Socioeconomic Trends and Cancer The country has experienced ...
Universal genetic testing may uncover inherited genetic mutations, and could individualize cancer therapies, improve survival, and strengthen the use of precision medicine. In a new study published by N. Jewel Samadder, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology, researchers conducted genetic testing in...
In a single-center phase I dose-escalation and basket dose-expansion study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Guo et al identified the phase II dose and schedule for the oral RAF/MEK inhibitor CH5126766 in patients with RAS/RAF-mutant cancers. The agent also showed antitumor activity across various...
A strategy for giving intermittent, high doses of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib seemed to be well tolerated by patients with advanced cancer and increased drug concentrations in solid tumors, which was associated with improved survival. This research was presented by Gerritse et al at the ...
A nonsurgical treatment option for rectal cancer that preserves quality of life may be safe for selected patients, according to a new study comparing it with standard surgical treatment. These findings were published by Beard et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons and were...
Delivering stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT, also called stereotactic ablative radiotherapy) in either one or four treatment sessions led to similar outcomes in patients with up to three lung metastases in the randomized SAFRON II trial. The study, reported by Shankar Siva, PhD, and...
On October 27, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) posted a draft recommendation statement on screening for colorectal cancer. For the first time, the Task Force is recommending that screening start at age 45. This is a B recommendation, meaning the USPSTF recommends the service; that...
Adagrasib (MRTX849), a novel agent that targets a mutated form of the KRAS gene—the most commonly altered oncogene in human cancers, and one long considered “undruggable”—caused tumor shrinkage in most patients in a clinical trial, with manageable side effects, researchers reported at the 32nd...
Editor’s Note: The ASCO Post learned of the death of Patrick Beauregard due to colorectal cancer on September 6, 2020. Just weeks after my wedding in late summer of 2017, I had a sudden bout of abdominal pain so severe that it sent me to the emergency room. I was just 29 years old and in great...
The editors of The ASCO Post are sad to report the death of Patrick H. Beauregard on September 6, 2020. The cause was colorectal cancer. Diagnosed with stage IV disease in 2017 at the age of 29, Mr. Beauregard dedicated the last 3 years of his life to raising awareness of colorectal cancer in...
Disturbance of the gut microbial metabolism is thought to be the root cause of human diseases. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi affect their human hosts in numerous ways. There is evidence to support the theory that microbes, through their genetic makeup, gene products, and metabolites, play a role in...
A pay-for-performance program that offers enhanced reimbursement to oncology practices for prescribing high-quality, evidence-based cancer drugs increased use of these drugs without significantly changing total spending on care, Penn Medicine researchers reported in a study published in the Journal ...
Isabelle Tabah-Fisch, MD, a medical oncologist in Paris who contributed greatly to drug development, died August 28, 2020, at age 64. An announcement about Dr. Tabah-Fisch’s death was made by GamaMabs, where she served as Chief Medical Officer until her retirement in March 2020. Under her...
As one might expect, the focus on older patients developed in surgical and radiation oncology at the same time as in medical oncology. As we have done in our overview of medical oncology, we may recognize a prehistory, past history, and present history in surgical and radiation geriatric oncology....
The KEYNOTE-177 invited discussant, Chiara Cremolini, MD, PhD, of the University of Pisa, Italy, welcomed the patient-reported outcomes of the study, noting that such data are frequently missing. “Unfortunately, quality of life is an often-disregarded issue in colorectal cancer clinical trials,”...
In KEYNOTE-177, the anti–PD-L1 antibody pembrolizumab reduced the risk of disease progression by 40% vs chemotherapy in a targeted subset of previously untreated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Now, in terms of health-related quality of life, pembrolizumab is also the clear favorite,...
As reported inThe New England Journal of Medicine by David S. Hong, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues, a phase I trial (CodeBreak 100) has shown activity of the oral KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib in heavily pretreated patients with KRAS G12C–mutant...
Steven D. Wexner, MD, PhD (Hon), FACS, FRCS (Eng), FRCS (Ed), FRCSI (Hon), Hon FRCS (Glasg), was recently elected Vice-Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) during the College’s virtual Clinical Congress 2020, held October 3–7. Dr. Wexner is Chair of the...
Although KRAS is one of the most frequently mutated oncogenes in human cancers, an almost 4-decade long search for drugs that hit this target has been elusive—until now. Sotorasib (formerly called AMG-510), a small-molecule inhibitor of the KRAS G12C mutation, demonstrated clinical activity and...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to treatments for EGFR-mutant lung cancer and advanced renal cell carcinoma; granted Fast Track designation to agents in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors; and more....
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) provides guidance for physicians who use radiation therapy to treat patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Recommendations outline indications and best practices for pelvic radiation treatments, as well as the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Schmoll et al, the phase III PETACC 6 trial has shown no benefit of the addition of preoperative and adjuvant oxaliplatin to preoperative capecitabine-based chemoradiation and adjuvant capecitabine in patients undergoing total mesorectal excision...
In a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Keith T. Flaherty, MD, and colleagues describe the current status of and findings from the ongoing NCI-MATCH (National Cancer Institute Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice) trial. The aim of the trial is to determine the likelihood of identifying...