Desmoplastic melanoma is a rare subtype of melanoma that is commonly found on sun-exposed areas, such as the head and neck, and usually seen in older patients. Treatment is difficult, as these tumors are often resistant to chemotherapy and lack actionable mutations commonly found in other types of...
Elderly patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed improved overall survival when treated with chemoradiation compared to definitive radiation alone, according to findings published by Miller et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. NSCLC constitutes between...
The most commonly used gene expression profile test used to help predict breast cancer recurrence may not be as cost-effective as once thought, say a team of researchers led by scientists from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Their study, published by Chandler et al in the Journal...
On January 9, Eisai and Merck announced that they received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Eisai's multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib (Lenvima) in combination with Merck's anti–programmed cell death protein 1...
In a single-center phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Teply et al found that bipolar androgen therapy can induce prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response and resensitization to enzalutamide (Xtandi) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who progressed on...
In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified shift work with circadian disruption or chronodisruption as a probable human carcinogen. Now, a meta-analysis investigating whether long-term shift work increases the risks of common cancers in women has found that, overall, night...
Final results of a phase III trial reported by Stupp and colleagues in JAMA indicate that adding antimitotic treatment with tumor-treating fields to maintenance temozolomide is associated with improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with previously treated glioblastoma. The...
A new genetic-based model may explain how ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) progresses to a more invasive form of cancer, say researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study provides new insight into how DCIS leads to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and provides a clearer...
The cancer death rate dropped 1.7% from 2014 to 2015, continuing a drop that began in 1991 and has reached 26%, resulting in nearly 2.4 million fewer cancer deaths during that time. The data is reported in “Cancer Statistics, 2018,” the American Cancer Society’s...
Despite decades of clinical research establishing chemotherapy with thoracic radiation as the standard of care for the initial management of nonmetastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a large percentage of U.S. patients do not receive these treatments, and in turn have lower overall survival,...
The proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib (Kyprolis) has taken on an increasing role in the treatment of multiple myeloma, but new research from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows the therapy may come with the risk of cardiovascular problems in a higher than expected...
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Francis et al found that receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy before vs concurrently with radiotherapy was associated with improved survival in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) found to have...
On January 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for filing a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in combination with chemotherapy for the front-line treatment of patients with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The FDA also...
On December 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to avelumab (Bavencio) in combination with axitinib (Inlyta) for treatment-naive patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma. “A combination approach with an immunotherapy, whose activity may ...
On December 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the product label for nilotinib (Tasigna) to include information for providers about how to discontinue the drug in certain patients. Nilotinib, first approved by the FDA in 2007, is indicated for the treatment of patients with...
Media technology company, MAZ, has partnered with Harborside, a medical communications company based in Huntington, New York, to launch OncologyGo, a streaming-event coverage and video content app for specialists in oncology health care available on Apple TV, Roku, FireTV, and iOS. Harborside...
Suicidal ideation while receiving end-of-life cancer care is not unusual but can often be reversed by palliative and psychosocial oncology interventions. That said, there are patients who, even after intensive interventions, request medical assistance in dying. Physician-assisted death has been a...
As reported by Scott J. Antonia, MD, PhD, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine, an interim analysis of the phase III -PACIFIC trial showed improved progression-free survival with the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) ...
As reported by Scott J. Antonia, MD, PhD, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine, an interim analysis of the phase III -PACIFIC trial showed improved progression-free survival with the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)...
Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, a long-time member and volunteer, has been elected to serve as the President of ASCO for the term beginning in June 2019. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2018. Additionally, five members were...
Having valued communications from ASCO since its birth, I was disappointed by the Society’s position on alcohol consumption and cancer risk, as published in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO)1 and summarized in the November 25 issue of The ASCO Post. The statement seems to me ...
Results from the C SCANS (Colorectal Cancer: Sarcopenia, Cancer, and Near-Term Survival) study indicate that prediagnosis systemic inflammation and at-diagnosis sarcopenia are associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. The findings were reported...
A meta-analysis of three randomized trials (FOXFIRE, SIRFLOX, and FOXFIRE-Global) indicates no overall survival benefit of adding first-line selective internal radiotherapy to chemotherapy in patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer. The findings were reported by Wasan and colleagues...
Head and neck cancer remains one of the most challenging clinical presentations faced by the oncology community. Patients must not only face a potentially lethal disease, but must also cope with treatments that often result in significant side effects. To gain a better understanding on the...
In a research letter to JAMA, Rebecca L. Siegel, MPH, of the American Cancer Society, and colleagues reported that overall colorectal cancer mortality rates have declined in the United States between 1970 and 2004 in patients aged 20 to 54 years. Between 2004 and 2014, colorectal cancer mortality...
The Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai has been honored with a 3-year accreditation with commendation from the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The accreditation is recognized by the National Cancer Institute, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Joint...
With headlines such as “Cutting back on alcohol can prevent cancers”1 and “Even light drinking may raise your cancer risk,”2 media reports may be generating questions from patients about the ASCO statement summarizing evidence linking alcohol to an increased risk of cancer.3 “What I personally...
A recently released ASCO statement summarizing extensive evidence linking alcohol use to an increased risk of several leading cancers, including breast, colon, and head and neck, called on oncologists “as front-line providers for cancer patients” to help patients reduce excessive alcohol use.1...
My diagnosis of neuroblastoma when I was 14 happened rather accidentally. I was a competitive dancer and very active in sports my first year in high school and had no symptoms of cancer or any illness. It wasn’t until my mother, who is a nurse, came into my room one morning to wake me for school...
On December 19, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to bosutinib (Bosulif) for treatment of patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Approval was based on data from an open-label,...
GUEST EDITOR Dr. Abraham is the Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. For this installment in the Living a Full Life series of articles, Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer ...
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has recently inducted 396 members as fellows, with 21 members having oncology backgrounds. Members have been awarded this honor because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications....
The Connect2Health Task Force, an initiative of the Federal Communmications Commission (FCC), has announced that the FCC and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have joined forces, signing a memorandum of understanding that will focus on how increasing broadband access and adoption in rural areas...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors welcomed seven new members at its annual meeting in early November: Randy A. Foutch, Winell Herron, Cyvia Wolff, Isabella Arjona-Zappala, R. Stan Marek, Jr, Walker N. Moody, and Jerry Simon. The Board of Visitors is a...
On November 6, 2017, alectinib (Alecensa) received regular approval for treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved test.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was...
On September 1, 2017, gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) was approved for treatment for newly diagnosed CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults and for treatment of relapsed or refractory CD33-positive AML in adults and pediatric patients aged ≥ 2 years.1,2 It may be used in combination...
Combinations of targeted therapies (triple, quadruple, or even more) are part of the future of cancer treatment, which means that traditional clinical trials will have to be streamlined and updated to enable greater flexibility and to extract adequate safety and efficacy data. Problems inherent in...
As researchers learn more about the natural history of cancers, as more drugs are effective for more types of the disease, and as the number and complexity of combination therapies increase, the more important it is that new drugs and permutations of old ones be available to patients. The U.S. Food ...
Puma should invest in developing an escalating-dose schedule for neratinib (Nerlynx). If one plans on giving a drug for a year, and starts after finishing a year of effective adjuvant therapy, there is no hurry to begin at full, intolerable doses. Starting at a lower dose and escalating slowly as...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 1 year of extended adjuvant neratinib (Nerlynx) after chemotherapy and a year of trastuzumab (Herceptin) for HER2-positive breast cancer this summer on the basis of the ExteNET trial. Many were surprised at the approval, since the evidence of...
A team of surgeons at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, led by Hyunsuk Suh, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has performed the first robot-assisted radical neck dissection in the United States using the bilateral axillo-breast approach, a...
In 1996, Jimmie C. Holland, MD, the Wayne E. Chapman Chair in Psychiatric Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York, decided to launch the cancer center’s Lung Cancer Survivorship Program after she had a startling encounter with a patient. “The woman said to me, ‘Would...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, explore the role of St....
Breast cancer specialist Katherine E. Reeder-Hayes, MD, MBA, was born on a farm in Morgan County, Alabama. “My family grew soybeans and cotton and raised cattle. None of my family members were in the medical field, but I always felt comfortable around people who were sick or had emergencies and...
Bostjan Seruga, MD, PhD, is a medical oncology consultant at the Insitute of Oncology Ljubljana and Associate Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He has published on barriers in global cancer research. The ASCO Post spoke with him recently about his career path, cancer care in...
Small victories matter when you are conquering cancer. Listen to a patient’s loved one detail the progress of treatment. You will hear the value they give to accomplishments that otherwise seem minor: She rested well last night. He managed to eat. The scan showed no new growth! It is easy,...
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH’S All of Us Research Program and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) have teamed up to raise awareness about the program, a landmark effort to advance precision medicine. Through this 3-year pilot program, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine has...
Women in oncology aren’t ascending the leadership ladder at rates anywhere close to their male counterparts—and ASCO wants to fix that. The most recent report on “The State of Women in Academic Medicine” from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) said that although women make up...
PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL 3-KINASE (PI3K) signaling is important for the proliferation and survival of malignant B cells. Copanlisib (Aliqopa) is a novel pan-class PI3K inhibitor with predominant activity against PI3K-alpha and PI3K-delta isoforms. As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, a phase II ...