In an analysis of long-term data from NRG Oncology’s RTOG 9408 trial reported in JAMA Network Open, Zumsteg et al found that patients with favorable vs unfavorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer had improved overall survival, and that androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) vs no ADT was associated...
In the Chinese phase III SANET-ep trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Xu et al found that surufatinib improved progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with advanced extrapancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Surufatinib is a novel small-molecule inhibitor that targets VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2,...
In the phase III DANUBE trial, reported in The Lancet Oncology, Thomas Powles, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that durvalumab monotherapy did not prolong overall survival vs standard chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with largely metastatic urothelial carcinoma with high PD-L1...
As reported in The Lancet by Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, and colleagues, results from the phase III IMpassion031 trial showed improved pathologic complete response rates with the addition of atezolizumab to sequential nab-paclitaxel and anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Stephen R.D. Johnston, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III monarchE trial has shown that adjuvant abemaciclib plus endocrine therapy significantly improved invasive disease–free survival vs endocrine therapy alone in patients with hormone...
Five years ago, as Rachel B. Issaka, MD, MAS, was beginning her second year as a gastroenterology fellow and feeling proud of the progress she was making in her training, she was suddenly confronted with an all-too-familiar slight that underrepresented minority providers may often experience. As...
In a paper published by Banerjee et al in JAMA Network Open, researchers reported that genetic testing is cost-effective and beneficial for newly diagnosed patients with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), a type of soft-tissue sarcoma that develops in specialized nerve cells in the...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by David S. Hong, MD, and colleagues, the phase I CodeBreaK100 trial showed activity of the oral KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib in heavily pretreated patients with KRAS p.G12C–mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cancer,...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Gallamini et al, the final analysis of the phase III GITIL/FIL HD0607 trial has shown that consolidation radiotherapy did not improve progression-free survival vs no further treatment in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma and a baseline large...
Each year in the United States, about five million adults with cancer are admitted to hospitals. Given our aging population, this trend will increase, putting added stress on the oncology community, which is already dealing with an impending workforce shortage. Although physician extenders, such...
Monika K. Krzyzanowska, MD, MPH, of the Princess Margaret University Health Network, discusses study findings on remote proactive telephone-based toxicity management for patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. Although the telehealth program was associated with fewer grade 3 toxicities...
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina, discusses phase III results from two IMpassion trials, 130 and 131, which explored, respectively, atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel vs placebo plus nab-paclitaxel in previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast...
MK-4830—a novel, first-in-class human IgG4 monoclonal antibody targeting the myeloid-specific anti–immunoglobulin-like transcript 4 (ILT4) receptor—administered either as a single agent or in combination with pembrolizumab was well tolerated and showed activity in heavily pretreated patients with...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis is a minimally invasive genomic assessment tool utilizing targeted next-generation sequencing of peripheral blood. At the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020, Zengin et al reported genomic results from a large cohort of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dores et al found that patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma continue to be at elevated risk for mortality from causes other than lymphoma, despite advances in treating this disease. As stated by the investigators, “Mortality for patients...
In a National Cancer Database analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Amin et al found that among patients with brain metastases who underwent definitive surgery for primary tumors, the combination of immunotherapy and radiotherapy prolonged overall survival compared with radiotherapy alone. Study...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Alexander M.M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, and colleagues, adjuvant pembrolizumab maintained a significant recurrence-free survival benefit vs placebo in patients with high-risk stage III melanoma after a median 3-year follow-up in the phase III EORTC...
Alexander M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, of the Princess Maxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, discusses final results of the phase III EORTC 1325-MG/Keynote 054 trial, which confirmed a sustained recurrence-free survival benefit of pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with resected high-risk stage III...
Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, discusses results from the phase III ASCENT trial, which showed the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy improved progression-free and overall survival more than standard single-agent chemotherapy in patients...
Upon hospital admission for cancer, many patients already demonstrated a high prevalence of malnutrition per Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria, which was associated with the risk of developing a nosocomial infection, according to findings presented by Nuñez Abad et al at...
Pembrolizumab monotherapy induced responses in patients with rare sarcomas that varied by histotype, according to findings presented by Jean-Yves Blay, MD, at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 1619O). Methods Dr. Blay presented first results from a cohort of patients with rare sarcomas in...
Pralsetinib (also known as BLU-667) showed activity in patients with advanced RET mutation–positive medullary thyroid cancer, including high rates of durable response, disease control, and 18-month progression-free survival. These findings were presented by Hu et al at the ESMO Virtual Congress...
In a quality-of-life analysis from the phase IV CARD trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Karim Fizazi, MD, and colleagues found that cabazitaxel was associated with improved pain response, time to pain progression, and time to symptomatic skeletal events vs abiraterone or enzalutamide in...
In a Danish Breast Cancer Group phase III trial (DBCG HYPO) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Offersen et al found no difference in the rates of breast induration with moderately hypofractionated vs standard fractionated radiotherapy in women with early breast cancer or ductal carcinoma ...
This week on The ASCO Post Podcast, we're discussing three reports on genitourinary cancers presented at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020. We’ll hear directly from the researchers about first-line treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, as well as the long-term results of a doublet therapy for ...
In response to studies showing that between 30% and 60% of patients with blood cancer are at risk of death if infected with COVID-19 compared with patients who are cancer-free, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has announced its launch of the first clinical trial dedicated solely to this...
A gift of $126 million to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine will accelerate advances in finding cures for cancer and expand innovative treatment options. The donation is the single largest in the University of Miami’s 95-year...
Before Judith Kaur, MD, the self-proclaimed “Mother of the YIA” became Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation’s first grant recipient more than 35 years ago, she was a wife, a teacher, and then a stay-at-home mom. Going to medical school and becoming a research pioneer was just a daydream. “When I...
Incidence rates for pancreatic cancer were 6-fold to 10-fold higher among participants in a study who had recent-onset diabetes and weight loss.1 This led the study authors to write: “The coexistence of these symptoms should be recognized by clinicians given that both the relative and absolute...
Flexibilities in reimbursement that have allowed the expanded use of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic should continue and be made available to more providers and patients, according to a recent statement from ASCO. ASCO Interim Position Statement: Telemedicine in Cancer Care also calls for ...
A large cohort study with close to 160,000 men and women reported that “recent-onset diabetes accompanied by weight loss was associated with a substantial increase in risk for pancreatic cancer and may represent a high-risk group in the general population for whom early detection strategies would...
In 2019, ASCO launched an Asia-Pacific Regional Council, a group of distinguished oncology leaders from countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The Council’s purpose is to advise ASCO on the needs of members in the region and facilitate and encourage member involvement in ASCO’s global activities....
MorphoSys and Incyte have announced that tafasitamab-cxix, a humanized Fc-modified cytolytic CD19-targeting monoclonal antibody, has been included in the latest National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines® (NCCN Guidelines®) in Oncology for B-Cell Lymphomas. Specifically,...
Are you looking to provide trusted education materials to your patients and their caregivers for October cancer awareness month? Cancer.Net, ASCO’s patient information website, and ASCO Answers patient education materials have everything you need to stock your practice and inform your patients....
Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation has joined forces with the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) to grant a 2020 Career Development Award (CDA) to a physician-scientist in Israel. The CDA supports early-career clinical and translational investigators during their first few years of faculty...
Cancer in My Community is a Cancer.Net Blog series that shows the global impact of cancer and how providers work to care for people with cancer in their region. Why I Care for People With Cancer When you tell someone that you are a pediatric oncologist and treat children with cancer, the first...
In the phase III VIALE-A trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Courtney D. DiNardo, MD, MSCE, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues found that venetoclax plus azacitidine significantly improved overall survival vs azacitidine alone in previously...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has announced the availability of multiple non–English-language versions of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology® (NCCN Guidelines®) for numerous high-incidence cancer types. These treatment recommendations can be accessed for free at...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Stephen W. Duffy, MSc, of the Centre for Cancer Prevention, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues, final results of the UK Age Trial show that initiation of annual mammography screening for breast cancer at...
Cleveland Clinic has appointed Patrick J. Byrne, MD, MBA, as Chair of the Head & Neck Institute. Dr. Byrne joins Cleveland Clinic from The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he served as Director of the Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head...
The Corporation of Brown University has approved the establishment of the Cancer Center at Brown. The center takes a broad-spectrum approach to research, from working to understand how cancer develops, grows, and metastasizes, to developing new therapeutics for patients in a personalized way that...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jean-Jacques Grob, MD, PhD, of Aix-Marseille University, France, and colleagues, the first interim analysis of the phase II KEYNOTE-629 trial has shown the achievement of durable responses with pembrolizumab treatment of recurrent or metastatic...
Delays and cancellation of cancer treatments and other safety measures undertaken to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 have generated a huge backlog in oncology care and research. The threat of delayed diagnoses looms while oncology professionals face burnout, according to new studies...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Daniel O. Persky, MD, of the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, and colleagues, the phase II Intergroup National Clinical Trials Network Study S1001 has shown good outcomes with positron-emission tomography (PET)-directed therapy in...
In september, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released new data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). The results, published by Wang et al in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), showed 1.8 ...
“Older adults form the majority of patients with cancer.” For more than 3 decades now, almost every article, presentation, or discussion related to cancer and aging started with this statement. As I entered the field of geriatric oncology, I thought that by simply stating this fact, everyone would...
Most of the newer systemic treatments for breast cancer can be safely and effectively paired with radiation therapy—although there are some exceptions, according to Mylin A. Torres, MD, the Louisa and Rand Glenn Family Chair in Breast Cancer Research and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at ...
Neratinib is an oral pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for two indications. The first is as adjuvant treatment of early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer following adjuvant trastuzumab therapy. The second is in combination with...