Results of the interim analysis of KEYNOTE-859 are in, and they confirm the overall survival benefit of first-line immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer.1 Pembrolizumab plus a fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing doublet provided a statistically significant improvement in...
Dan T. Vogl, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, told The ASCO Post that the follow-up of the UK NCRI Myeloma XI trial confirms the importance of...
A study aimed at determining the optimal duration of lenalidomide maintenance after autologous stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma has not answered that question, per se, but has yielded some hints that may inform future clinical trials. The follow-up analysis of the UK NCRI Myeloma XI...
Testing for genetic mutations in urine may help clinicians detect bladder cancer years before the disease shows clinical symptoms, according to new findings presented by Le Calvez-Kelm et al at the 2023 European Association of Urology Annual Congress (Abstract A0268). The researchers identified...
“There are misconceptions about prostate cancer screening,” Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, said in an interview with The ASCO Post about newly published cancer statistics, including an increased incidence of prostate cancer, particularly advanced-stage disease. Dr. Knudsen is Chief Executive Officer of...
Overall cancer mortality rates have decreased 33% since 1991, and cervical cancer incidence decreased 65% from 2012 through 2019, according to the latest statistics reported by the American Cancer Society (ACS).1 Amid this good news, however, was a troubling 3% annual increase in prostate cancer...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, Guest Editor of the Integrative Oncology series, and Yen ...
In recognition of her cancer research, Vanessa B. Sheppard, PhD, Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement and Health Disparities Research at Massey Cancer Center, has received the 2022 Researcher of the Year Award from the American Cancer Society (ACS). Dr. Sheppard, who was awarded ...
Steffi Oesterreich, PhD, and Adrian V. Lee, PhD, breast cancer researchers at UMPC Hillman Cancer Center and Magee-Womens Research Institute, along with Wendie Berg, MD, PhD, Professor of Radiology at UMPC Magee-Womens Hospital, all of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, have received ...
Discussant of the February ASCO Plenary session, Anjali S. Advani, MD, Staff Physician in the Department of Hematologic Oncology and Blood Disorders and Director of the Inpatient Leukemia Program, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, noted that the PhALLCON study is the only prospective...
The 2022 Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 28–30, 2022. The meeting was held in conjunction with the SIOG 2022 Public Policy Meeting: Global Policy to Action on Cancer in the Aging Population at UN Headquarters...
Aparna R. Parikh, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s Global Cancer Care Program, Boston, shared her thoughts on the C-800 study of balstilimab plus botensilimab with The ASCO Post. Noting that the...
Two phase III trials evaluating the addition of drugs targeting PD-1 to chemotherapy—RATIONALE 305 and CheckMate 649—confirmed the benefit of this approach as first-line therapy for advanced gastric, gastroesophageal junction, or esophageal adenocarcinoma, in findings presented at the 2023 ASCO GI...
The 3-year follow-up of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial demonstrates superior outcomes with the combination of nivolumab plus cabozantinib vs the former standard-of-care sunitinib as first-line treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.1 These benefits were achieved with the...
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored that public health is the product of one global, integrated ecosystem. Although it is tempting to focus on specific aspects of local health-care systems, or the political or physical environment, health and health care in other countries also impacts the United ...
Formal discussant of the TRITON3 trial, Elena Castro, MD, PhD, of the Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, noted that the study helps to answer several questions raised by the PROfound trial. In the PROfound trial, a cohort of patients with at least one alteration in BRCA1, BRCA2, or ATM...
Investigators have found that in breast cancer survivors, the cancer’s stage and receptor status may help clinicians predict whether and when cancer might recur after initial treatment, according to a new study published by Neuman et al in Cancer. Study Methods and Results In the new study, the...
This is Part 2 of Clinical Considerations in Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease, a two-part video roundtable series. In this video, Dr. Yi-Bin Chen and Dr. Mitchell E. Horwitz discuss the case of a 65-year-old woman with inversion 16 acute myeloid leukemia who is in second complete remission. She...
This is Part 2 of Updates in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, a three-part video roundtable series. In this video, Dr. Srden Verstovsek and Dr. Abdulraheem Yacoub discuss the management of patients with anemia as a presenting symptom of myelofibrosis. The patient is a 68-year-old woman who...
Patients with lung cancer who have moderate to severe depression may be two to three times more likely to have inflammation levels that predict poor survival rates, according to a new study published by Andersen et al in PLOS One. The findings may help explain why a substantial portion of patients...
Chemotherapy may affect the immune system’s ability to attack tumors in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to a new study published by Werba et al in Nature Communications. Background Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is hard to detect and treat, with a 5-year survival rate of ...
Investigators found that American Indian/Native American women living in higher-income communities did not have a higher mammography uptake compared with American Indian/Native American women living in lower-income communities, according to a new study published by Christensen et al in the American ...
Researchers have identified nine new genetic variants that may increase the risk of developing prostate cancer in Black patients, according to a novel study published by Chen et al in European Urology. The investigators also found that genetic differences may help determine which patients are most...
Black women at high risk of developing breast cancer may face a variety of obstacles keeping them from receiving preventive care that could increase their chances of survival if they did develop the disease, according to a new study published by Padamsee et al in PLOS One. The new findings provide...
Discussant of the INTRIGUE abstract, Breelyn A. Wilky, MD, Director of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Deputy Associate Director for Clinical Research, University of Colorado, Aurora, called the data presented “compelling evidence of the power of ctDNA [circulating tumor DNA] to identify predictive...
A randomized trial that sought to determine the optimal approach to treating locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer has ended in “equipoise,” according to the investigators of the Neo-AEGIS trial. In a study reported at the 2023 ASCO GI Cancers Symposium, perioperative...
Invited discussant Laura Goff, MD, MSCI, Associate Professor of Medicine and Executive Medical Director for the Cancer Patient Care Center at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, said that with the results of NAPOLI-3, clinicians have a third effective first-line regimen for metastatic...
Investigators have uncovered how current and historical experiences—including discrimination, violence, family rejection, and exclusion—have created a legacy of distress and fear, adversely impacted trust in health-care professionals, and resulted in unmet needs in cancer survivorship and care for...
Investigators have found that pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who lived along the Texas-Mexico border were more likely to die within 5 years than those living in other areas of the state, according to a new study published by Castellanos et al in Cancer. Background...
Results of the interim analysis of KEYNOTE-859 are in, and they confirm the overall survival benefit of first-line immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer. Pembrolizumab plus a fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing doublet provided a statistically significant improvement in...
As in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 ASCO GI Cancers Symposium—its 20th such gathering—played to a full ballroom. It featured a stellar lineup of experts in the field as well as high-quality, impactful research in esophageal, gastric, hepatocellular, pancreatic, biliary tract, and ...
On February 2, 2023, President Joseph Biden announced his intent to appoint six members to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB). The NCAB plays an important role in guiding the Director of the National Cancer Institute in setting the course for the national cancer research program. The NCAB...
This is Part 3 of Updates in Melanoma, a four-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Omid Hamid, Sapna Patel, and Ryan Sullivan discuss the first-line treatment of metastatic melanoma. The patient is a 32-year-old woman...
Researchers have found that an algorithm that calculates patient-reported symptom complexity scores may help oncologists identify patients who are at an increased risk for unplanned visits to the emergency department (ED), creating the potential for additional proactive care and reduced health-care ...
Urvi A. Shah, MD, Assistant Attending at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, moderated the session where the MagnetisMM trial updates1,2 were reported and was interviewed by The ASCO Post. Elranatamab vs Teclistamab Dr. Shah noted...
Offering their thoughts on the study by Williams et al from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort were Jane N. Winter, MD, Immediate Past President of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and Catherine Bollard, MBChB, MD. Both moderated press briefings where the results were presented or discussed....
Long-term follow-up of survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort showed signs of “epigenetic accelerated aging,” and many of these survivors had signs of neurocognitive impairment by their late 30s, researchers reported at the 2022 American Society of Hematology...
Catherine S. Diefenbach, MD, Associate Professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Director of the Clinical Lymphoma Program, and Director of Hematology Translational Research at Perlmutter Cancer Center, in New York, called the findings from the TRANSFORM trial “very striking.” “This study...
The next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor zanubrutinib demonstrated superior progression-free survival compared with ibrutinib, with an improved cardiac safety profile, in the first head-to-head comparison between these two BTK inhibitors in relapsed or refractory chronic...
Patients with prostate cancer who reported the highest amounts of plant-based foods in their diets had a 52% lower risk of disease progression and a 53% lower risk of recurrence compared with those who had the lowest amounts of plants in their diets. The diet assessments were based on...
Investigators have developed a predictive model that may be used in research and eventually clinical settings to identify individuals at high risk of developing endometrial cancer who would benefit from screenings, according to a report published by Shi et al in the Journal of the National Cancer...
Researchers have discovered that dietary interventions may help reduce fatigue, improve diet quality, and lead to an overall better quality of life for cancer survivors, according to a new study published by Weinhold et al in Nutrition and Cancer. Background For many cancer survivors, the side...
The most humbling—and fortunate—experience I’ve had since I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma 13 years ago at the age of 43 was being treated in the pediatric wing of a major cancer center in New York City. It is pretty difficult to feel sorry for yourself when you are sitting next to a 14-year-old...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Kristin Flowers, MD, a general surgeon at Tanana Valley Clinic at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital in rural Alaska. Dr. Flowers’ surgical areas of interest include treating...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Derek Raghavan, MD, PhD, FACP, FRACP, FASCO, Founding President of the Levine Cancer Institute. Established in 2011, the Levine Cancer Institute is part of Atrium Health (formerly the...
In recognition of her work in uncovering the mechanisms of the p53 tumor suppressor, Guillermina “Gigi” Lozano, PhD, Chair of Genetics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, has received the 2022 Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences by the Association...
At the inaugural MD Anderson Clinical Education Symposium on Immunotherapy Organ Toxicity Management (IOTOX), a panel of experts discussed common immune-related adverse events associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, including gastrointestinal (GI), hepatic, dermatologic, pulmonary, and ...
Jefferson Health’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC) recently welcomed transdisciplinary population health researcher Terry Hyslop, PhD, as Co-Leader of the Cancer Risk and Control Program. Dr. Hyslop is returning to SKCC from the Duke Cancer Institute, where she served as Professor of...
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has named Michelle W. Krause, MD, MPH, Senior Vice Chancellor for UAMS Health and Chief Executive Officer for UAMS Medical Center, and Ahmed Abuabdou, MD, MBA, Chief Clinical Officer for UAMS Medical Center. Dr. Krause and Dr. Abuabdou have...
Maryam B. Lustberg, MD, MPH, Chief of Breast Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, shared her thoughts on TROPiCS-02 with The ASCO Post. “The progression-free survival and overall survival results of the phase III TROPiCS-02 trial position sacituzumab govitecan-hziy as an important...