ASCO has released a new guideline on the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer in resource-constrained settings, where maximal setting–recommended treatments are not available.1 The guideline, designed for clinicians, policymakers, and patients, provides stratified recommendations...
W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, took the helm as the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), on December 18, 2023. A renowned kidney cancer expert and influential leader in cancer research and patient care, Dr. Rathmell was selected by...
On February 13, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved liposomal irinotecan (Onivyde) for use with oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin in the first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the open-label NAPOLI 3...
The optimal management of high-risk prostate cancer remains a topic of ongoing investigation. The quest for therapy that maximizes cancer control while minimizing toxicity is constant. Over the past decade, there has been mounting evidence that the addition of a brachytherapy boost to external-beam ...
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and lumbar puncture may not always be necessary for diagnosing and managing a serious neurologic complication associated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, according to a new study published by Mauget et al in Blood Advances. Findings further...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Battaglin et al, an analysis from the phase III CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial of first-line chemotherapy plus bevacizumab or cetuximab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer showed differences in outcomes according to HER2 gene–expression status....
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kwak et al found that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels ≥ 0.1 ng/mL within 6 months after completion of radiotherapy were prognostic for poorer outcomes in patients with localized prostate cancer who did or did not also receive...
In a news release issued by ASCO earlier this month, the society reported that The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was calling on President Biden to continue to prioritize access to high-quality, equitable cancer care in his State of the Union address. Specifically, the cancer care...
Adjuvant use of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab achieved a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in disease-free survival in patients with high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma vs observation after surgical resection, according to an interim analysis of the phase ...
Combination immunotherapy with the anti–PD-L1 monoclonal antibody durvalumab and other novel agents seemed to outperform durvalumab alone in the neoadjuvant setting for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,...
“The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade….” —Sir William Osler Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) accounts for approximately 5% to 7% of all lymphomas; the median age of patients with MCL is between 60 and 70 years. This lymphoma is generally considered incurable. Median survival in retrospective...
With a 5-year overall survival of close to 90% in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), there have been large treatment shifts over the past decade in this disease, which now includes “more disciplines than it did before,” commented medical oncologist Danielle Shafer, DO, of Inova Schar Cancer...
The combination of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib (multiple targets, including MET, AXL, VEGFR2, RET, and FLT ) plus the monoclonal antibody atezolizumab achieved statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with second-line novel hormonal therapy in...
On November 15, 2023, repotrectinib (Augtyro) was approved for locally advanced or metastatic ROS1 fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).1 This is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval that includes patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC who have previously received a ROS1...
Managing patients with lung cancer in the current era of an increasing array of systemic treatments has become a complex balancing act of trying to improve outcomes and survival from a cancer perspective while taking the necessary treatment and monitoring steps for cardioprotection. With few...
The combination of avelumab and axitinib may be effective in patients with mismatch repair–proficient recurrent or persistent endometrial cancer, according to new findings presented by Lee et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2024 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. Background...
Monitoring circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels with liquid biopsies could help physicians accurately assess treatment responses and predict future prognoses in patients with operable esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer receiving an immunotherapy doublet, according to a recent study...
Brian M. Slomovitz, MD, of Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, discusses additional phase III data from the innovaTV 301 trial, which showed that in patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, tisotumab vedotin-tftv was more efficacious than chemotherapy as...
On March 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the multitarget kinase inhibitor (Iclusig) with chemotherapy for adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). PhALLCON Efficacy was evaluated in...
In the BLUE-C study—reported in The New England Journal of Medicine—Imperiale et al found that a next-generation multitarget stool DNA test showed high sensitivity for colorectal cancer and high specificity for advanced neoplasia compared with colonoscopy screening. Study Details The U.S....
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jason J. Luke, MD, FACP, and colleagues, the final prespecified analysis of distant metastasis–free survival in the phase III KEYNOTE-716 trial showed continued benefit with adjuvant pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with resected stage IIB or...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced that its members have elected Lillian L. Siu, MD, FRCPC, FASCO, FAACR, as the 2024–2025 President-Elect of the AACR. Professional and Research Background Dr. Siu currently serves as Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto; as ...
Treatment with a short course of intensified hormonal therapy in combination with metastasis-directed stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) may be safe and effective in patients with oligorecurrent and metastatic prostate cancer, according to a recent study published by Nikitas et al in...
In the ECLIPSE study—reported in The New England Journal of Medicine—Chung et al found that a cell-free DNA (cfDNA) blood-based test had high sensitivity for colorectal cancer and high specificity for advanced neoplasia in colorectal cancer screening compared with colonoscopy. Study Details The...
Marcin R. Dzienis, MBBS, of Australia’s Gold Coast University Hospital, discusses the final analysis of KEYNOTE-B10, a phase IV study in which patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) received a first-line combination regimen of pembrolizumab plus...
Latest analysis of the results from the phase III DUO-E trial showed durvalumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy followed by durvalumab plus olaparib demonstrated an improvement in multiple key secondary efficacy endpoints, particularly in patients with mismatch repair–proficient (pMMR) advanced or ...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Daniel E. Spratt, MD, and colleagues found that treatment with relugolix was associated with rapid achievement of sustained castration in patients with localized or advanced prostate cancer who were also receiving radiotherapy. Study Details The analysis...
The artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot ChatGPT version 3.4 may correctly answer a majority of the common genetic counseling questions related to gynecologic oncology, according to new findings presented by Patel et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2024 Annual Meeting on...
Researchers have identified two genetic markers that may illuminate the association between red and/or processed meat consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer, according to a novel study published by Stern et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Background Previous studies...
In a phase II study (FASTRACK II) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Shankar Siva, MBBS, PhD, and colleagues found that stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) was effective in patients with primary kidney cancer who did not undergo resection. Study Details Seventy patients were enrolled in...
In a study among U.S. veterans reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shah et al found that Helicobacter pylori infection was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and cancer-related death; additionally, treated H pylori infection was associated with reduced cancer incidence ...
On March 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to lisocabtagene maraleucel (Breyanzi), a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small...
On March 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the humanized immunoglobulin G4 anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody tislelizumab-jsgr (Tevimbra) as monotherapy for adults with unresectable or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after prior systemic chemotherapy that did not...
The combination of the nectin-4–directed antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin-ejfv plus the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab achieved favorable rates of progression-free survival, overall survival, and objective responses compared with chemotherapy among key subgroups of patients with previously...
In a retrospective review reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gharzai et al identified intermediate clinical endpoints that may serve as surrogates for overall survival in trials assessing definitive treatment of patients with p16-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Study Details The...
Investigators may have identified a decrease in newly diagnosed breast cancer cases during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent study published by Fefferman et al in Cancer Medicine. The findings highlight that breast cancer was not immune to pandemic-related stressors and ...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Thomas Powles, MD, and colleagues, the phase III EV-302 trial has shown that the combination of the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin-ejfv and the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab improved progression-free and overall survival vs...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, David A. Palma, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) met criteria for efficacy and toxicity in patients with early non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and interstitial lung disease (ILD). As stated by the investigators,...
Philip A. Salem, MD, Director Emeritus of Cancer Research at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston, was born and reared in Bterram, a village that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. “I had the most beautiful and blessed childhood, as I lived in a household dominated by a father who believed in the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wagner et al, final analysis of the phase II AMPECT trial has shown a median duration of response of more than 3 years in patients with advanced malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumors treated with nab-sirolimus. The primary analysis of the...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) and Flatiron Health announced the recipients of the 2023 Real-World Data Impact Awards, which will support clinically relevant research regarding the treatment of and outcomes for patients with cancer. 2023 marks the fourth year of the joint grant-making program,...
Targeting two brain tumor–associated proteins with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may reduce solid tumor growth in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, according to results from a phase I trial published by Bagley et al in Nature Medicine. The findings suggest that the new...
Female patients with ovarian germ cell tumors may have worse prognoses compared with male patients with testicular germ cell tumors, according to a recent study published by Sköld et al in the Journal of Internal Medicine. Background Both ovarian and testicular germ cell tumors predominantly...
This is Part 3 of Optimizing Outcomes for Patients With Locally Advanced and Metastatic NSCLC, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Melissa Johnson, Vamsidhar Velcheti, and Helena Yu discuss the neoadjuvant treatment ...
This is Part 2 of Optimizing Outcomes for Patients With Locally Advanced and Metastatic NSCLC, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Melissa Johnson, Vamsidhar Velcheti, and Helena Yu discuss the management of stage...
This is Part 1 of Optimizing Outcomes for Patients With Locally Advanced and Metastatic NSCLC, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Melissa Johnson, Vamsidhar Velcheti, and Helena Yu discuss the management of locally ...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, De Angelis et al estimated the numbers of patients alive after a cancer diagnosis in Europe as of 2020. Study Details The study used data from the EUROCARE-6 study to estimate the prevalence of cancer in 29 European countries and the 27 countries in the ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, and colleagues, final results of the phase III ASCENT trial showed continued superior progression-free and overall survival with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy, an anti–trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (Trop-2) antibody-drug...
In a phase II trial (FIRSTMAPPP) reported in The Lancet, Eric Baudin, MD, and colleagues found that the multikinase inhibitor sunitinib was active in patients with metastatic progressive pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas. As stated by the investigators, “No randomized controlled trial has ever...
In a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pooled analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bernardo Haddock Lobo Goulart, MD, and colleagues found that response rate and progression-free survival were only moderately correlated with overall survival in first-line immunotherapy trials for...