Results from a phase II clinical trial presented by Kean et al at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting (Abstract 212) show that the drug abatacept (Orencia) nearly eliminated life-threatening severe acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in patients receiving hematopoietic...
An analysis from the Children’s Oncology Group Study AREN0532 reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Fernandez et al showed that positive lymph nodes and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at chromosome 1p or 16q are associated with poorer event-free survival in patients with stage III...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Mørch et al, a Danish study has shown that the risk of breast cancer is increased in hormonal contraception users vs nonusers, with the absolute increase in risk being small. Study Details The study assessed the association between the...
In the phase III MURANO trial, treatment with the targeted cancer drug venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) more than doubled the likelihood that patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) would survive for 2 years without cancer progression, compared to treatment...
The first randomized trial to evaluate the use of a monoclonal antibody for treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma showed that adding the drug daratumumab (Darzalex) to one of the standard treatment regimens reduced the likelihood of disease progression or death by 50%. The regimen also induced...
In the first comprehensive analysis of clinical trial enrollment among older adults with blood cancers, researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found significant gaps in participation among those aged 75 and older when considered against the incidence of these malignancies in...
In a study using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data reported in JAMA Oncology, Murphy et al found that among persons newly diagnosed with cancer, 25% of those aged ≥ 65 years and 11% of those aged < 65 years had a history of a prior primary cancer. Prevalence of Prior...
Maria-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, of the University Hospital of Salamanca, discusses phase III study findings on daratumumab plus bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone vs bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone in patients ineligible for transplant who have been newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma...
Michael Unterhalt, MD, of the University Hospital Grosshadern, discusses study findings on rituximab maintenance after first-line immunochemotherapy among older patients who are not candidates for autologous stem cell transplantation (Abstract 153).
A one-time infusion of an investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that targets a protein found on most multiple myeloma cells elicited an 86% overall response rate in 21 patients whose disease had come back or had not responded after a median of seven prior treatments,...
Six months after receiving a single dose of tisagenlecleucel, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that targets CD-19, high response rates persist among adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to findings reported by Schuster et al at...
Among 108 patients with fast-growing and refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), more than half were still alive at least a year after receiving a single infusion of a CAR T-cell therapy called axicabtagene ciloleucel that targets the CD-19 protein frequently found on cancerous lymphoma...
One-third of patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) had no detectable disease after 6 months of combination therapy with the targeted agents ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and venetoclax (Venclexta), with no increase in the occurrence of tumor-lysis syndrome, a serious treatment ...
Patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who were treated with a multidrug regimen that included the targeted agent brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) had a 23% reduction in the risk of disease progression, death, or the need for additional therapy, compared with patients who received the standard...
In a large, international, randomized phase III trial presented by Kim et al at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition (Abstract 817), patients with previously treated cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) who received the investigational targeted drug...
The results of a pooled analysis of patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) treated with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) were presented at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition (Abstract 151). The extended follow-up data demonstrated that...
At the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, the 3-year follow-up data from the RESONATE-2 study (PCYC-1115/1116) were presented. The investigators found that patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL)...
People with cancer have an increased risk of developing blood clots, with roughly one in five experiencing venous thromboembolism (VTE). International guidelines recommend treatment using low–molecular-weight heparin, an anticoagulant that is injected subcutaneously; however, new results from ...
Older women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who were treated with cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors achieved progression-free survival at a rate similar to that of younger women, according to data presented by Singh et al at the 2017 San...
Postmenopausal women who lose weight may have a significantly reduced chance of developing breast cancer, according to data presented by Chlebowski et al at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract GS5-07). “Breast cancer is among the leading types of cancer and...
Among patients with hormone receptor–positive HER2-negative stage II–III breast cancer without clinical evidence of recurrence, those who had circulating tumor cells (CTCs) detected in blood 5 years after diagnosis had an increased risk for late recurrence of breast cancer, according to ...
On November 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved CDx (F1CDx), a breakthrough-designated, next-generation sequencing–based in vitro diagnostic test that can detect genetic mutations in 324 genes and 2 genomic signatures in any solid tumor type. The Centers for Medicare &...
Patients with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer with germline BRCA mutations had significantly prolonged progression-free survival when treated with the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor talazoparib, compared with those who received chemotherapy of physician’s choice, according...
The randomized phase II LOTUS trial has shown improved progression-free survival with the addition of the AKT inhibitor ipatasertib to paclitaxel in the first-line treatment of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. These results were reported by Sung-Bae Kim, MD, of the University of Ulsan...
The UK IMPORT LOW phase III trial has shown noninferiority in local relapse for partial-breast and reduced-dose vs standard whole-breast radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery in early breast cancer. These study results were reported by Charlotte E. Coles, PhD, of the University of...
An observational study reported in The Lancet Oncology by -Wolthers et al in the Ponte di Legno Toxicity Working Group identified characteristics and the course of asparaginase-associated pancreatitis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Kjeld Schmiegelow, MD, of The University Hospital...
BOOKMARK Title: Hematopoietic Cell Transplants: Concepts, Controversies, and Future DirectionsEditors: Hillard M. Lazarus, MD; Robert Peter Gale, MD, PhD, DSc (hon), FACP; Armand Keating, MD, FRCP(C); Andrea Bacigalupo, MD; Reinhold Munker, MD; Kerry Atkinson, MBBS, MD, DTM&H, FRCP, FRACP; and...
BOOKMARK Title: Cancer: What You Need to Know: Overcome the 10 Common Mistakes Patients MakeAuthor: Stephen A. Rosenberg, MDPublisher: Stephen Rosenberg, MDYear Published: November 2017Price: $9.99, paperback, 248 pages Stephen A. Rosenberg, MD, is Chief Resident in Radiation Oncology at the...
BOOKMARK Title: Tripping Over the Truth: How the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Is Overturning One of Medicine’s Most Entrenched ParadigmsAuthor: Travis Christofferson, MSPublisher: Chelsea Green PublishingPublication Date: February 2017Price: $24.95, hardcover; 288 pages Bringing a book to market is...
BOOMARK Title: The Last LectureAuthor: Randy Pausch with Jeffrey ZaslowPublisher: HyperionDate: April 2008Price: $21.95, hardcover; 206 pages Faced with imminent death, how does one chose to live out the remainder of one’s life? Such is the question at the heart of The Last Lecture, a memoir...
BOOKMARK Title: The Red Devil: To Hell With Cancer—and BackAuthor: Katherine Russell RichPublisher: CrownDate Published: October 1999Price: $23.95, hardcover, 256 pages Over the past year or so, there have been several best-selling memoirs of people fighting and ultimately losing their battle with ...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies focused on pediatric leukemia. These studies highlight quality-of-life reporting; neutropenia management; combination chemotherapy; chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and some...
The following essay by Stan Winokur, MD, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Dr. Winokur and -Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. I looked into her...
On August 3, 2017, a liposome-encapsulated combination of daunorubicin and cytarabine (Vyxeos) was approved for treatment of adults with newly diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes.1,2 This is the first U.S. Food and Drug...
On August 2, 2017, ibrutinib (Imbruvica) was approved for treatment of adult patients with chronic graft-vs-host disease after failure of one or more lines of systemic therapy.1,2 This is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapy for treatment of chronic graft-vs-host...
On October 31, 2017, the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor acalabrutinib (Calquence) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on objective response...
Results from a validation study to better define the risk of breast cancer in women of European ancestry who tested negative for a hereditary cancer mutation with a hereditary cancer risk test (myRisk Hereditary Cancer test) were reported earlier this week in a spotlight presentation at the 2017...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy burst upon the scene as an innovative approach to the treatment of hematologic malignancies, mainly for patients who have exhausted all other treatment options. Recently two CAR T-cell products were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
On August 17, 2017, olaparib -(Lynparza) in tablet form was granted regular approval for maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.1,2 Olaparib...
Nationally recognized lymphoma expert Sonali M. Smith, MD, was born and reared in Chicago to a mother who was a pediatrician and allergist, and a father who was an engineer. Her parents were first-generation immigrants from India who placed the value of education second to none. “I became used to...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Oncology Research Program in collaboration with Pfizer Global Medical Grants announced they have awarded funding to nine projects that use clinical care pathways to implement quality-improvement initiatives along the continuum of care for...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Arlene A. Forastiere, MD, of The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the use of larynx-preservation strategies in the treatment of laryngeal cancer. The ...
Postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer who took the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole for 2 years after an initial 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy received an equal benefit to those who took the drug for 5 additional years. The trial results suggest that a...
Disease-free survival after 9 weeks of adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) and standard chemotherapy was not comparable to disease-free survival after 12 months of adjuvant trastuzumab and standard chemotherapy for women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, supporting the current...
Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy is the preferred first-line therapy for metastatic urothelial cancer and the only treatment shown to improve survival in patients with previously untreated disease for many years. This chemotherapy also has proven to be beneficial in the neoadjuvant and...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Arjun V. Balar, MD, of Perlmutter Cancer Center of New York York Langone Medical Center, and colleagues, first-line pembrolizumab (Keytruda) produced durable responses in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced and unresectable or metastatic...
Ipilimumab (Yervoy) is a fully human monoclonal antibody that inhibits cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and was the first checkpoint inhibitor approved after showing survival benefit in metastatic melanoma.1 Indeed, in the first-line setting for metastatic melanoma, ipilimumab ...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has created a new resource for patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who develop acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related Kaposi sarcoma. This newly released NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN...
While hope for a cure after a cancer diagnosis is a feeling both patients and oncologists rightly cling to during treatment, when too much emphasis is placed on this type of “focused” hope, it can make it more difficult for patients to face their mortality. Moreover, such a focus can deny patients ...
The Walther Cancer Foundation, Inc., a private foundation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, has endowed a new ASCO award and lecture bearing its name to be presented annually at the Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. This grant represents a new foray for the foundation as it...