“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” —Mark Twain To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on...
Adjuvant pembrolizumab following surgery significantly improved disease-free survival compared with placebo among patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the international phase III KEYNOTE-564 study presented at the Plenary session during the 2021 ASCO Annual...
When I interviewed for my current post as a first-time consultant in medical oncology in the United Kingdom, I was asked about my 5-year career plan. I remember some detail of my reply, but I don’t think it even remotely encompassed the depth of insight I would gain from the patients I’ve treated...
The role of vaccines in mitigating the significant morbidity and mortality associated with infections in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a developing field of study, punctuated by the advent of novel therapeutic agents and pressing questions regarding the global SARS–CoV-2 vaccination...
In the Korean phase III PRODIGY trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yoon-Koo Kang, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of neoadjuvant docetaxel, oxaliplatin, and S-1 (DOS) to D2 gastrectomy followed by adjuvant S-1 was associated with improved progression-free survival in...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) has announced its inaugural National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week, which is taking place from June 17 through June 23, 2021. Throughout the week, the agency’s social media platforms will serve as the hub for...
The invited discussant of the JUPITER-02 study was Anthony TC Chan, MD, the Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation Professor of Clinical Oncology at Hong King Cancer Institute and Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He noted that anti–PD-1/L1 therapies are at the forefront...
A new first-line standard of care may be emerging for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, based on the findings of the global phase III JUPITER-02 trial presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by investigators from China.1 In the study, toripalimab, an anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody, ...
From routine axillary lymph node dissection to sentinel lymph node surgery, the use of axillary surgery continues to evolve in breast cancer. Recently, surgical oncologists have begun to consider avoiding axillary surgery completely in patients with a low risk of node-positive disease as well as in ...
In the treatment of relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma, a comparison of data from the ZUMA-5 trial with those of the external control cohort of the SCHOLAR-5 trial showed substantial improvement in all clinical endpoints with axicabtagene ciloleucel. John G. Gribben, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath,...
Ann S. LaCasce, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses results from the CALGB 50801 Alliance study, which showed that a PET scan–adapted approach may reduce the need for radiation treatment and may improve progression-free outcomes in patients with stage I/II bulky classic Hodgkin lymphoma...
The PD-L1 inhibitor cemiplimab-rwlc has become the first immunotherapy to yield a statistically significant and clinically meaningful survival benefit in recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer progressing after first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients were enrolled irrespective of...
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) and the Dutch Hodgkin Late Effects and LATER cohorts reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Moskowitz et al developed a model for predicting the risk of breast cancer among childhood cancer survivors treated with chest...
In order to understand and eliminate disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes among transgender people, clinicians and researchers must have data. However, these data are very difficult to obtain because gender identity data are not routinely collected in oncology practice health records. A new ...
In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of mesothelioma have been a keen area of investigation for this immunogenic solid tumor. With recent publications, principally findings from CheckMate 743 by Baas et al1 (reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post), combination immune...
Following a national search, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has promoted Pawel Kalinski, MD, PhD, to Jacobs Family Endowed Chair of Immunology, Chief of the Division of Translational Immuno-Oncology, and Senior Vice President for Team Science. On staff at Roswell Park since 2017, Dr....
COVID-19 pandemic–related disruptions in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and research have varied worldwide and so have the responses to those disruptions. During the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) 2021 International Conference on Surgical Cancer Care, members of the Global Forum of Cancer...
The pace of clinical research in metastatic renal cell carcinoma is faster than ever. Over the past 5 years, we have seen data from six phase III clinical trials evaluating combination strategies with checkpoint inhibitors. The era began with data from CheckMate 214, evaluating nivolumab with...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), such as the use of venetoclax added to...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD, and colleagues, the phase III APOLLO trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with the addition of subcutaneous daratumumab to pomalidomide/dexamethasone in patients with previously treated multiple myeloma....
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Corbett et al found that the majority of phase III trials investigating systemic therapy in patients with advanced lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma over the past 20 years have excluded or restricted enrollment of those with brain...
Even though next-generation sequencing is recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) for biomarker testing for patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the uptake among community oncology practices is suboptimal, and the uptake is even lower among Black patients with...
Immunotherapy following surgery significantly improved disease-free survival compared to placebo among patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to results from the international phase III KEYNOTE-564 study presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by Toni K....
Debora S. Bruno, MD, of Seidman Cancer Center at Cleveland Medical Center, discusses study findings that show Black patients with advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer tend to be less likely to undergo biomarker testing or to be treated in clinical trials than White patients....
Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, FASCO, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago as the middle child of three girls. She was, by her own account, extremely shy by nature. Her mother was a graduate of the University of Chicago, but her father’s college education was preempted by his service as a fighter pilot in...
Peter Marks, MD, PhD, Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), was born in Brooklyn, New York, near Sheepshead Bay—an area named for the Sheepshead, a fish that can no longer be found in the waters that frame the neighborhood....
Over the past 2 decades, the oncologic mantra “early detection leads to cure” has taken on special meaning in lung cancer, persistently a leading cause of cancer death in the United States. “Over a 25-year period, we’ve seen a revolution in early detection, understanding of tumor biology, and...
Peter Marks, MD, PhD, Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), was born in Brooklyn, New York, near Sheepshead Bay—an area named for the Sheepshead, a fish that can no longer be found in the waters that frame the neighborhood....
Even among a large group of cancer survivors who were mostly insured, college-educated, and had annual incomes above the national average, up to 10% delayed care in the previous 12 months because they simply could not afford out-of-pocket expenses like copays and deductibles. These findings were...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Hong et al found that prior frequent emergency department use was the strongest predictor of postdiagnosis emergency department visits among patients with a new diagnosis of cancer. Study Details The study involved data from adults...
On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the kinase inhibitor infigratinib (Truseltiq) for adults with previously treated, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with a fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) fusion or ...
In a secondary analysis of the Dutch phase III TRAIN-2 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Anna van der Voort, MD, and colleagues found similar 3-year event-free and overall survival in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant therapy with vs without an anthracycline plus dual...
On May 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved piflufolastat F-18 injection (Pylarify), an F-18–labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging agent, to identify suspected metastasis or recurrence of prostate cancer. This is...
“Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.” —Hippocrates To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the...
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has appointed Agnes Witkiewicz, MD, as Director of Cancer Genetics and Genomics. She will also hold the John & Santa Palisano Endowed Chair of Cancer Genetics. An internationally recognized clinician-scientist who combines groundbreaking laboratory...
The U.S. right-to-die movement took root in the mid-1970s, when Derek Humphry helped his wife, who was dying of breast cancer, take her own life. Five years later, Mr. Humphry founded the Hemlock Society, the first right-to-die organization in the United States,1 and set off a firestorm of...
On January 15, 2021, the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki was approved for treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma who have received a prior trastuzumab-based regimen.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data...
The EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial, recently reported in The Lancet and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, showed an improvement in progression-free and overall survival with cemiplimab-rwlc in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high PD-L1 expression (tumor proportion score...
As reported in The Lancet by Ahmet Sezer, MD, of Başkent University, Adana, Turkey, and colleagues, the phase III EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial has shown improved overall and progression-free survival with cemiplimab-rwlc vs platinum doublet chemotherapy among patients with advanced non–small cell lung...
Breast cancer screening took a sizeable hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research showing that the number of screening mammograms completed in a large group of women living in Washington state plummeted by nearly half. Published by Amram et al in JAMA Network Open, the study...
Researchers, patient advocates, and global oncology leaders who have worked to reshape cancer care around the world are among the recipients of ASCO’s Special Awards—the Society’s highest honors—and the Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards from Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. “The...
The 2021 Genitourinary (GU) Cancers Symposium was held in a virtual format on February 11–13 and featured the latest developments in the understanding and treatment of genitourinary cancers. The impact of prostate cancer therapies on outcomes in older adults continues to be a growing area of...
The Society ofSurgical Oncology (SSO) recently announced its 2021–2022 elected Executive Council Officers, including its new President, Douglas S. Tyler, MD, MSHCT, FSSO. Dr. Tyler currently holds the John Woods Harris Distinguished Chair in Surgery at The University of Texas Medical Branch in...
A research team has identified a receptor in cells that could play a role in preventing permanent hearing loss in childhood cancer survivors treated with the drug cisplatin. The researchers believe that by inhibiting the receptor, they may be able to better control otoxicity, according to findings...
The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) has released a clinical practice resource from a global team of specialists in cancer genetics that will help inform the clinical management of patients who harbor a PALB2 variant and may be at increased risk of developing breast,...
Except in patients with no smoking history, the addition of chemotherapy to immunotherapy does not add benefit as a first-line treatment in patients with stage IV nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high expression of PD-L1, according to real-world experience. Outcomes from the U.S. ...
Complete morphologic remission is considered the first requirement for achieving long-term, leukemia-free survival and a potential cure in patients with acute leukemia, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and is the goal of all therapeutic strategies to date. Recognizing that the majority of...
ASCO and Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) have jointly published an update1 to the 2017 ASCO guideline2 regarding systemic therapy recommendations for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with driver alterations. Guideline Co-Chair Nasser H. Hanna, MD, of the Indiana University Simon...
In a typical year, the new participants in ASCO and Conquer Cancer’s International Development and Education Awards (IDEA) and International Development and Education Awards–Palliative Care (IDEA-PC) program would arrive at the McCormick Place Convention Center just ahead of the ASCO Annual...
It is incredible to reflect upon the scientific advances in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer over the past 23 years. Once considered the worst subtype of breast cancer, HER2-positive disease is now associated with the best long-term outcomes in this age of targeted treatments. With a...