As reported by Lee et al in The Lancet, a prospective cohort study from the United Kingdom performed by the UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project (UKCCMP) has found that increased risk of COVID-19 mortality in patients with cancer is associated with such factors as age, sex, and comorbidities,...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Qin et al identified combinations of pathogenic germline mutations in DNA repair genes and cancer treatment exposures that increased risk of subsequent neoplasms in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. Study Details The study involved...
In the phase II L-MIND trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gilles Salles, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of the Fc-enhanced anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody tafasitamab plus lenalidomide produced responses in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma...
Rachel E. Sanborn, MD, of the Providence Cancer Institute, discusses three key abstracts on EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer: a final overall survival analysis of bevacizumab plus erlotinib; concurrent osimertinib plus gefitinib for first-line treatment; and first-line treatment with a...
By analyzing tumors from patients treated with immunotherapy for advanced kidney cancer in three clinical trials, scientists have identified several features of the tumors that influence their response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. The research was presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Jean-Yves Blay, MD, and colleagues, the phase III INVICTUS trial has shown that the oral KIT and PDGFRα tyrosine kinase inhibitor ripretinib prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) whose...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Petersdorf et al found that level of expression of patient HLA-DPB1 mismatches and number of mismatches affect risk of acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) after unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation. Study Details The study...
The American Cancer Society has updated its guideline on diet and physical activity for cancer prevention. Staying at a healthy weight, staying active throughout life, following a healthy eating pattern, and avoiding or limiting alcohol may greatly reduce a person's lifetime risk of developing or...
On June 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic tumor mutational burden–high (TMB-H; ≥ 10 mutations/megabase [mut/Mb]) solid tumors, as determined by an ...
Douglas B. Johnson, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses three important melanoma abstracts: the need for more than two doses of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in combination immunotherapy; antitumor activity for low-dose ipilimumab with pembrolizumab after disease progression on PD-1...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Yang et al described clinical characteristics, outcomes, and risk factors for mortality in patients with cancer hospitalized with COVID-19 over a 2-month period in Hubei, China. Study Details The study included 205 patients with...
In a long-term follow-up of the phase II SABR-COMET trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, David A. Palma, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) to palliative standard-of-care treatment in patients with oligometastatic cancers...
In the phase II portion of a single-center phase I/II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Yu et al found that the combination of first-line osimertinib and bevacizumab resulted in a high rate of 1-year progression-free survival in patients with metastatic EGFR-mutant lung cancer. As stated by the...
New research published by Lage et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found 40.2% of hospitalized patients with advanced, incurable cancer were functionally impaired at the time of admission—meaning they needed assistance with activities of daily living like walking,...
On June 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended the indication of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) for newly diagnosed CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to include pediatric patients aged 1 month and older. AAML0531 Efficacy and safety in the pediatric population were...
On June 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to lurbinectedin (Zepzelca) for adult patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) whose disease progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. PM1183-B-005-14 Trial Efficacy was demonstrated in the...
The availability of an oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) would be good news for patients and clinicians as an alternative to intramuscular fulvestrant. The novel agent LSZ102 might fit the bill, based on early activity shown in combination with the targeted agents ribociclib and...
Advances in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and some of their associated symptoms were presented during EHA25 Virtual, an ongoing online conference from the European Hematology Association (EHA). Advances in the Treatment of High-Risk CLL: CLL2-GIVe Results In the CLL2-GIVe trial, the...
On June 12, Merck announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved an expanded indication for Gardasil 9—a human papillomavirus (HPV) nine-valent vaccine—for the prevention of oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers caused by HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58....
In a study presented at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program (Abstract 5077) and published as a brief report in JAMA Oncology, Ravi et al found that rechallenge with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy was capable of producing responses in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, including...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Chae et al, findings in a cohort of the phase II NCI-MATCH trial (EAY131, Subprotocol W) indicated that the oral inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1, 2, and 3 (FGFR1–3), AZD4547, produced a small number of responses in patients with a...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ghia et al, the phase III ASCEND trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival with acalabrutinib monotherapy vs investigator’s choice of idelalisib plus rituximab or bendamustine plus rituximab in adult patients with relapsed or refractory...
Julia R. White, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology at The Ohio State University, Columbus, and the invited discussant of E2108, put these findings into context with three important studies evaluating the benefit of locoregional therapy for de novo stage IV breast cancer: the study from Tata...
Women presenting with newly diagnosed de novo metastatic breast cancer derived no additional survival benefit from surgery and radiotherapy given after systemic treatment, although the practice may reduce locoregional progression of disease, according to the results of the phase III E2108 study...
As reported in The Lancet by Jeremy L. Warner, MD, and colleagues, a cohort study using the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) database has shown that increased risk of all-cause mortality in patients with cancer infected with COVID-19 is associated with such factors as increased age, male sex, ...
In the Japanese phase III JIPANG trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kenmotsu et al found that adjuvant therapy with pemetrexed/cisplatin did not result in superior recurrence-free survival but was better tolerated than vinorelbine/cisplatin in patients with completely resected...
In a phase Ib study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Powell et al found that the addition of pembrolizumab to curative chemoradiotherapy was safe and associated with response in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Study Details The U.S. multicenter...
Patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who had germline or somatic mutations in DNA repair genes had better clinical outcomes after platinum-based chemotherapy compared to patients without these mutations, according to results from a study published by Park et al in Clinical Cancer Research....
Black and Hispanic children admitted to pediatric intensive care units for cancer treatment have significantly higher death rates than non-Hispanic white patients, according to findings from a study published by Laurens et al in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. Nationwide, 8.5% of black and 8.1%...
On June 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a biosimilar to pegfilgrastim (Neulasta), pegfilgrastim-apgf (Nyvepria), to decrease the incidence of febrile neutropenia in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anticancer drugs associated with a...
The importance of first-line therapy in multiple myeloma is that the first therapy typically achieves the most impact, and subsequent lines of therapy tend to be less effective, explained ENDURANCE study discussant Jesús G. Berdeja, MD, Director of Myeloma Research at the Sarah Cannon Research...
For newly treated patients with standard- and intermediate-risk multiple myeloma who are not slated for immediate autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), the triplet regimen of carfilzomib/lenalidomide/dexamethasone (KRd) failed to improve progression-free survival vs the current...
According to research from the National Cancer Institute published by Mariotto et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, the national cancer-attributable cost for medical services and prescription drugs is expected to increase from $183 billion in 2015 to $246 billion by 2030—an...
A meta-analysis of published studies of immune checkpoint inhibition for advanced microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) cancers—published as a brief report in JAMA Oncology by Petrelli et al—found high activity of these therapies across tumor types and evaluated agents. Study Details The...
In a retrospective study reported by Nastoupil et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers in the U.S. Lymphoma CAR T Consortium described outcomes with standard-of-care use of the autologous CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel in patients ...
On June 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) for patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent, or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after prior fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based chemotherapy. ATTRACTION-3 Efficacy was investigated in...
Professor Lourdes Gil Deza, of the Instituto Oncológico Henry Moore, Buenos Aires, discusses her findings on the shortcomings of medical training when it comes to treating transgender patients, and the need to deepen clinical and communication skills to assist this population (Abstract 11002).
ASCO joined hundreds of health organizations in signing four separate letters to Congress regarding future COVID-19 legislation as part of an effort to ensure patient access to high-quality, high-value cancer care during the pandemic. The four comment letters address different areas of the cancer...
Direct your patients to the award-winning Cancer.Net Blog (www.cancer.net/blog) to stay up to date on the latest research and learn what it means for their care and treatment. This summer, the Cancer.Net Blog will also offer continuing coverage from the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program with the...
An article recently published in JCO Oncology Practice (JCO OP) written by the ASCO Ethics Committee focused on the causes of burnout in oncology, as well as intervention methods. The article provides recommendations for individuals, organizations, and the Society to address burnout and ensure...
ASCO Chief Executive Officer Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, hosts the ASCO in Action Podcast, which focuses on policy and practice issues affecting providers and patients. An excerpt of a recent episode is shared below; it has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full podcast on...
Although early-stage disease is highly curable, most ovarian cancers are diagnosed at later stages due to a lack of effective screening. As a result, less than 50% of women survive beyond 5 years. Improving prevention by identifying modifiable risk factors could dramatically change the outcome of...
In a pooled analysis reported in JAMA Oncology,1 Naoko Sasamoto, MD, MPH, of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and colleagues found that breastfeeding, even for durations of 1 to 3 months per birth, was associated with a significant reduction...
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo has named Eunice Wang, MD, Medical Director of Infusion Services for Roswell Park’s Chemotherapy and Infusion Centers. Dr. Wang will oversee infusion services on the main campus and at Roswell Park’s satellite clinics, focused on a...
Kathleen N. Moore, MD, Associate Professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Director of the Oklahoma TSET Phase I Clinical Trials Program, Stephenson Cancer Center, Oklahoma City, underscored the importance of studying patients with stable disease and less robust partial response, not just those with...
An updated analysis of the phase III VELIA/GOG-3005 trial, presented during the 2020 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer Webinar Series,1 suggested synergy between the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor veliparib and platinum chemotherapy in the...
On April 29, 2020, niraparib was approved for maintenance treatment of adult patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on...
Thomas J. Herzog, MD, Deputy Director, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, who presented a distillation of the PAOLA-1 trial findings along with updated results of the PRIMA trial, called the difference in progression-free survival with the addition of olaparib to bevacizumab “remarkable” after ...
Proponents of combining bevacizumab with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibition to treat advanced ovarian cancer now have more data to support the maintenance regimen, according to an updated analysis of the phase III PAOLA-1 trial presented during the 2020 Society of Gynecologic Oncology...
Formal discussant of KEYNOTE-555, Siwen Hu-Lieskovan, MD, PhD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, commented on the advantages of the new schedule. “Along with the promise of prolonged survival associated with checkpoint inhibitors, convenience, quality of life, and reducing health-care...