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Showing 11651 - 11700ASCO Urges Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to Withdraw Medicare Part B Demo in Formal Comments
ASCO President Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, issued this statement on May 10. “In comments1 submitted yesterday to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), ASCO underscored the urgent need to advance a more fair and responsible payment system for oncology than what is proposed in...
Rising Breast Cancer Incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities
The incidence of new cases of breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is rising, and it will take a concerted effort from the international cancer community to counteract this troubling upward trend. It has been estimated that of the 15 million cancer ...
Expert Point of View: Harold J. Burstein, MD, and Ian Smith, MD
“There is a tremendous interest in longer aromatase inhibitor therapy. The Oxford Overview data, presented at ASCO, show the substantial risk of recurrence in years 5 to 15, despite an initial 5 years of adjuvant endocrine treatment. “Women with lower-risk breast cancer will be less inclined to...
Jeffrey Sosman, MD, Joins Northwestern’s Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Jeffrey Sosman, MD, melanoma expert and researcher, will join the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University as Co-Leader of the Translational Research in Solid Tumors (TRIST) Program and Director of the Melanoma Program. He will also serve as Director for Faculty...
Additional 5 Years of Letrozole May Benefit Some Postmenopausal Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Five years of aromatase inhibitor as upfront therapy or after tamoxifen is the current standard of care for postmenopausal women with early hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. A new trial suggests that extending aromatase inhibitor therapy with letrozole for an additional 5 years may improve...
The ENDEAVOR Trial: A Case Study in the Interpretation of Modern Cancer Trials
It can be easy to miss the forest for the trees in the interpretation of clinical trials. In particular, trials for the treatment of cancer are exceedingly complex, with long lists of inclusion and exclusion criteria, designs with hidden biases, drugs with unpronounceable names (if not cumbersome...
Global Economic Crisis May Be Linked to Increased Cancer Mortality
The global economic crisis has been associated with increased unemployment and reduced public-sector expenditure on health care. In a study reported in The Lancet, Maruthappu et al found that the global economic crisis beginning in 2008 was also associated with a large excess in cancer mortality...
Four-Biomarker Panel Identified for Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yu et al identified a four-biomarker panel that was predictive of chronic graft-vs-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Discovery Cohort In the study, a quantitative proteomics approach was used to compare...
Enzastaurin Fails to Improve Outcomes in Patients With High-Risk DLBCL in Remission After Chemotherapy
Crump et al found no disease-free survival benefit of maintenance therapy with the selective protein kinase Cb (PKCb) inhibitor enzastaurin in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who were in complete remission and at high risk of relapse after first-line chemotherapy, according to a ...
ASCO 2016: Significant Cost Differences Found Among Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Regimens
Costs associated with different breast cancer chemotherapy regimens can vary significantly, regardless of effectiveness, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Understanding cost differences should help guide informed discussions between patients and...
ASCO 2016: Local Consolidative Therapy Improves Progression-Free Survival in Patients With Oligometastatic NSCLC vs Standard Chemotherapy
Lung cancer patients with oligometastases, defined as three or fewer sites of metastasis, may benefit from aggressive local therapy, surgery, or radiation, after standard chemotherapy, according to research led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. If validated in larger studies,...
ASCO 2016: Nivolumab Immunotherapy Improves Survival, Quality of Life in Metastatic or Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer
Treatment with nivolumab (Opdivo) doubled overall survival and improved quality of life, with fewer side effects, in a treatment-resistant and rapidly progressing form of head and neck carcinoma, reported a large, randomized international trial co-led by investigators at the University of...
Investigational Drug Abemaciclib Shows Promising Activity Against Several Cancer Types in Early Study
An experimental CDK inhibitor, abemaciclib, yielded encouraging and durable results against several different types of cancers, including breast cancer, lung cancer, glioblastoma, and melanoma, according to a report published by Patnaik et al in Cancer Discovery. The results of the trial supported ...
ASCO 2016: CancerLinQ Extends Its Reach, Announces New Partnerships
ASCO announced that a total of 58 practices in 39 states and the District of Columbia have joined CancerLinQ, ASCO’s big data initiative to rapidly improve the quality of care for people with cancer. CancerLinQ is already up and running in a number of practices and drawing on approximately...
James Kochenderfer, MD, on Inducing Remissions in B-Cell Lymphoma
James Kochenderfer, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, discuss results of a small study on genetically modified CAR-T cells, which may well become a standard lymphoma treatment (Abstract LBA3010).
ASCO 2016: Vast Differences Globally in Cancer Drug Retail Prices
A pilot study revealed large differences in median retail prices for 23 cancer drugs in 7 different countries, with the highest retail prices identified in the United States and the lowest, in India and South Africa. Notably, after the monthly drug price is expressed as a percentage of domestic...
ASCO 2016: Minority BRCA-Positive Breast Cancer Survivors Appear Less Likely to Receive Preventive Surgery
For breast cancer survivors who carry mutations in BRCA genes, preventive surgery may substantially reduce the risk of future breast and ovarian cancers. However, it appears that black women are far less likely to receive these widely recommended procedures than white or Hispanic...
ASCO 2016: Many Younger Cancer Patients Receive Aggressive End-of-Life Care Despite ASCO’s Choosing Wisely Campaign
An analysis of health claims data from 2007–2014 on more than 28,000 patients under the age of 65 found that a large proportion of patients with advanced solid tumors received at least one form of aggressive care within the last 30 days of life. The study was presented by Chen et al at...
ASCO 2016: Novel Antibody Significantly Improves Survival in Patients With Advanced Gastric Cancer
Findings from the European phase II FAST study showed that the novel, first-in-class antibody IMAB362 can significantly extend median survival when added to standard chemotherapy (13.2 vs 8.4 months) for patients with advanced gastric cancer. This therapy targets a protein called claudin-18 splice...
ASCO 2016: Atezolizumab Benefits Patients With Advanced Bladder Cancer
The anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tecentriq) is effective in patients with previously untreated advanced bladder cancer who are not eligible for the standard treatment with cisplatin. According to a nonrandomized phase II trial, atezolizumab shrank...
ASCO 2016: New Antibody-Drug Conjugate Shows Early Promise in Small Cell Lung Cancer
Early findings from a first-in-human clinical trial showed that the antibody-drug conjugate rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T) shows promising efficacy against recurrent small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The treatment, which combines a novel anti-DLL3 antibody with a powerful anticancer agent, halted...
Usha Menon, MD, on Ovarian Cancer: Advances in Early Detection
Usha Menon, MD, of University College London, discusses a significant new version of a screening test for ovarian cancer that may reduce death from the disease (Abstract 5507).
ASCO 2016: Rucaparib Shows Clinical Benefit in BRCA-Mutated Pancreatic Cancer
The targeted PARP inhibitor rucaparib, which has demonstrated robust clinical activity in patients with ovarian cancer who have a BRCA mutation, also showed promise in previously treated patients with pancreatic cancer who have the mutation, according to results from a phase II clinical study...
ASCO 2016: Innovative Direct-to-Patient Outreach May Accelerate Breast Cancer Research
An innovative project launched in October 2015 may help expedite metastatic breast cancer genomics research and provide leads for development of new treatments. In the 7 months since the launch, more than 2,000 patients have enrolled in the research study designed to collect and...
ASCO 2016: Liquid Biopsy May Help Guide Treatment Decisions for Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors
A large-scale genomic analysis found that patterns of genetic changes detected in blood samples (liquid biopsy) closely mirror those identified in traditional tumor biopsy. With blood samples from more than 15,000 patients and 50 different tumor types, this is one of the largest cancer genomics...
ASCO 2016: Precision Medicine Approach May Expand Therapeutic Options for Patients
Researchers reported encouraging early results from a phase II trial that matches patients with molecular abnormalities in the tumor to corresponding targeted treatments. Twenty-nine of 129 patients with 12 different types of advanced cancers responded to drugs outside of U.S. Food and Drug...
ASCO 2016: Adding Capecitabine Chemotherapy to Gemcitabine Extends Survival After Pancreatic Cancer Surgery
For a more in-depth look at these data, as well as commentary, click here. A European phase III trial, one of the largest ever conducted in pancreatic cancer, showed that adding the oral drug capecitabine chemotherapy to gemcitabine prolongs survival without increased toxicity. Adjuvant...
ASCO 2016: Biosimilar Shows Comparable Efficacy and Safety to Trastuzumab in HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
A biosimilar trastuzumab antibody (MYL-1401O) is comparable in efficacy and safety to trastuzumab (Herceptin) in women with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer, according to a randomized phase III study. The response rates were comparable among women who received trastuzumab and among...
ASCO 2016: Adding Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy to Intravenous Chemotherapy Slows Ovarian Cancer Progression
For some women with advanced ovarian cancer that was successfully treated surgically, delivering chemotherapy intraperitoneally as well as intravenously appears more effective than intravenous chemotherapy alone. For women who were initially treated with chemotherapy prior to surgery, the ...
Statement from FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, on the Release of the Final Individual Patient Expanded Access Form
“Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized its efforts to streamline the process used by physicians to request expanded access, often called ‘compassionate use,’ to investigational drugs and biologics for their patients. As a physician, I understand the...
Poorer Adherence to Endocrine Treatment Associated With Poorer Outcome in Postmenopausal Hormone Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer
In an analysis of the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chirgwin et al found that poorer adherence to endocrine therapy was associated with poorer disease-free survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer ...
FDA Approves EGFR Mutation–Detecting Blood Test for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2, a blood-based companion diagnostic for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor erlotinib (Tarceva). This is the first FDA-approved, blood-based genetic test that can detect EGFR gene mutations...
FDA Approves New Diagnostic Imaging Agent to Detect Rare Neuroendocrine Tumors
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Netspot, the first kit for the preparation of Ga-68 dotatate injection, a radioactive diagnostic agent for positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging. This radioactive probe will help locate tumors in adult and pediatric patients with...
Retroviral Replicating Vector That Delivers Cytosine Deaminase to Cancer Cells Active in Recurrent Glioblastoma
A phase I study by Cloughesy et al published in Science Translational Medicine investigating the effectiveness of vocimagene amiretrorepvec (Toca 511), an experimental nonlytic, retroviral replicating vector that delivers cytosine deaminase to cancer cells, and an investigational...
Nearly 20% of Patients With Ovarian Cancer Do Not Undergo Surgery
Nearly 20% of women with ovarian cancer do not undergo surgery, despite it being a standard part of treatment recommendations, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings, which suggest that women may live four times longer with...
ASCO Guideline on Endocrine Therapy for Hormone Receptor–Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
As reported by Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on endocrine therapy for hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer. The...
Vulnerable Hospitals, Cancer Surgery Readmissions, and Penalizing Payment Programs
Readmission rates after complex cancer operations tend to be higher in hospitals that are considered to be vulnerable because they serve as safety nets in their communities or have a high number of Medicaid patients. Reasons for higher readmission rates are highly complex and involve socioeconomic...
ASCO Value Framework Update: A Statement by Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO
ASCO today published an updated framework for assessing the relative value of cancer therapies that have been compared in clinical trials. The framework, published by Schnipper et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, defines value as a combination of clinical benefit, side effects, and...
FDA Approves New Diagnostic Imaging Agent to Detect Recurrent Prostate Cancer
On May 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fluciclovine F-18 (Axumin), a radioactive diagnostic agent for injection. Fluciclovine F-18 is indicated for positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging in men with suspected prostate cancer recurrence based on elevated...
Women With New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation May Be at Increased Risk for Malignant Cancer
Among nearly 35,000 initially healthy women who were followed for about 20 years, those with new-onset atrial fibrillation had an increased risk of cancer, according to a study published by Conen et al in JAMA Cardiology. Atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia, is associated with...
QOPI-Certified Practices Eligible to Receive Discount on Medical Malpractice Rates
ASCO and its wholly owned subsidiary, Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program, LLC (QCP), announced May 25 that The Doctors Company, the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer, will recognize QOPI® Certification in its rate structure....
DDW 2016: Low-Residue Diet Prior to Colonoscopy Shows Improved Tolerance and Bowel Preparation vs Clear Liquid Diet
A new study finds that patients who ate certain solid foods, considered “low residue,” were better prepared for their colonoscopies than individuals who followed the conventional liquid diet. Additionally, researchers saw that these patients who ate foods such as eggs, white bread,...
DDW 2016: Racial Disparities Found in Liver Cancer Survival Rates
Black patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common liver cancer, had a 33% increased risk of death compared to non-Hispanic whites. They also were far less likely to receive lifesaving liver transplants, according to a new study presented by Jones et al at Digestive Disease...
New ASCO Cervical Cancer Guidelines Address Global Resource Disparities
On May 25, ASCO issued its first clinical practice guideline on invasive cervical cancer. This resource-stratified guideline is the first of its kind from ASCO, offering treatment recommendations tailored to resource availability. Access to cervical cancer care varies between regions of the...
Play-Based Procedural Preparation May Aid Children Undergoing Cranial Radiation Therapy
Play-based procedural preparation not only helps children cope with the stress and anxiety of radiation therapy, but can also help reduce the amount of sedation used and cut costs, according to a study from the Child Life Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The study was...
2016 Oncology Meetings
MAY Lymphoma: State-of-the-Art in Biology Therapy, and Patient CareMay 13-14 • New York, New YorkFor more information: msklymphoma2016.com NCI “Sandpit” on Individual and Contextual Factors of Population-Level Cancer ControlMay 16-18 • Montgomery County, MarylandFor more...
Lisa A. Newman, MD, MPH, FACS, FASCO, Balances Her Passions of Surgical Breast Oncology and Breast Cancer Disparity Research, Both Home and Abroad
Lisa A. Newman, MD, MPH, FACS, FASCO, Director of the Henry Ford Health System’s Breast Oncology Program, was born in New York, New York and, according to her, was blessed to have had parents who lived the African American version of the “American Dream.” Dr. Newman’s father was the son of...
Monitoring Survivors of Childhood Cancers for Late Effects of Treatment
This past January, ASCO held its inaugural Cancer Survivorship Symposium, which brought together the fields of medical oncology and primary care to address the critical need for coordinated care for cancer survivors. Among the presenters at the symposium was Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, who gave the...
The Role of Occupational and Physical Therapy in Geriatric Oncology
With individuals aged 65 and older accounting for more than 50% of the U.S. population diagnosed with cancer,1 the demand for occupational and physical therapists to treat this population will increase in the years to come. Thus, it is essential for primary care providers to know that the...
Occupational Therapy for Adults With Cancer: An Unmet Need
Adults with cancer are at high risk for functional limitations that would negatively affect their quality of life. Occupational therapy offers a range of supportive services, with the specific goal of helping these patients engage in life as independently as possible. To provide a better...
