IN THE FIRST REPORT of the full cohort of CheckMate-142, nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) led to a 1-year overall survival rate of 85% in previously treated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability–high...
Neil Johnson, PhD Richard Pomerantz, PhD Vasily Studitsky, PhD Italo Tempera, PhD Kuang-Yi Wen, PhD The Fox Chase Cancer Center is pleased to announce the first winners of its new privately funded pilot project grants. The program supports cutting-edge...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clarke et al found that increasing body mass index (BMI) was associated with lower rates of cervical precancer diagnosis and higher rates of cervical cancer diagnosis. The investigators had hypothesized that increased body mass could decrease ...
This past September, Olivier Elemento, PhD, Associate Director of the Institute for Computational Biomedicine and Director of the Laboratory of Cancer Systems Biology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, was named Director of Weill Cornell’s Englander Institute for Precision Medicine. In this...
To ensure that clinicians stay apace and provide optimal patient care, three leading medical societies—the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP)—have updated their...
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that screens for eight common cancer types and also helps identify the location of the cancer. The test, called CancerSEEK, is a unique noninvasive, multianalyte test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer...
In a Hong Kong study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, K.C. Allen Chan, MBBS, PhD, MRCP, FRCPA, FHKCPath, FHMAM, of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Chemical Pathology, and colleagues found that screening for circulating cell-free Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA is...
Nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) led to a 1-year overall survival rate of 85% in previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer patients with DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) tumors. These data were presented in the first report ...
BREAST CANCER Survival in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Explored in Retrospective Study In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stover et al found that cell-free (cf) DNA tumor fraction ≥ 10% was associated with worse survival in metastatic triple-negative breast...
Updated results were recently reported from the 30 patient safety lead-in of the phase III BEACON CRC trial evaluating the triplet combination of encorafenib (a BRAF inhibitor), binimetinib (an MEK inhibitor), and cetuximab (Erbitux, an anti–EGFR antibody) in patients with BRAF-mutant...
Thierry André, MD, of Hôpital Saint-Antoine, and Michael J. Overman, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discuss findings from their respective CheckMate-142 studies on nivolumab and ipilimumab in patients with DNA mismatch repair–deficient/microsatellite instability–high...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Qian et al found that loss-of-function germline TP53 variants increase the risk of childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), as well as the risk of poorer response to therapy and second malignancies. Study Details In the study,...
In patients with early breast cancer, the presence in the blood of circulating tumor cells 5 years after diagnosis increases the risk for recurrence nearly 20-fold, researchers reported at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 “We found that a single positive circulating tumor cell assay...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stover et al found that cell-free (cf) DNA tumor fraction ≥ 10% was associated with worse survival in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, and that several somatic copy number alterations are enriched and prognostic in metastatic...
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...
In a phase II trial (NCI 9012) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hussain et al found no benefit of adding PARP1 inhibition with veliparib to abiraterone (Zytiga) plus prednisone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. ETS fusion status was not predictive of...
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...
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...
Despite advances in prevention, early detection, and treatments, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Although cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, about 10% of these patients are lifelong never smokers for whom the molecular...
For nearly 20 years, chemoradiation using single-agent platinum therapy has been the standard of care for advanced or recurrent cervical cancer.1 More recently, the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) 240 trial tested the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to platinum-based chemotherapy, which...
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 phase III BELLE-3 trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival but a worse safety profile with the addition of the pan-phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor buparlisib to fulvestrant (Faslodex) in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast...
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...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Thomas Karn, PhD, of Goethe-University Frankfurt, and colleagues found that triple-negative breast cancers with high immune gene expression levels were characterized by lower clonal heterogeneity, reduced copy number alterations, and lower somatic mutation,...
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...
NYU Langone Health has announced that nationally renowned physician and researcher Raoul Tibes, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at NYU School of Medicine, will lead efforts to expand the clinical and investigative leukemia programs at its Perlmutter Cancer Center....
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 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...
An analysis of bacteria present in the mouth showed that some types of bacteria that lead to periodontal disease were associated with higher risk of esophageal cancer, according to a study published by Peters et al in Cancer Research. Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the...
On November 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the FoundationOne CDx (F1CDx), the first 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 ...
Donald Coffey, PhD, a distinguished Johns Hopkins Professor and prostate cancer expert, who was the former Director of the Brady Urological Research Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, died on November 9, 2017, at the age of 85. In his more than 50 years at...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Wyatt et al found high agreement between driver mutations in plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and metastatic tissue biopsy in castration-resistant prostate cancer. Martin Gleave, MD, and Alexander Wyatt, DPhil, of Vancouver...
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE (NCI) researchers have found that for the most common high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV) to cause cervical cancer, an important viral gene may need to have a precise DNA sequence. The findings, published by Mirabello et al in Cell,1 contribute to a better...
CHILDREN WITH relapsed or refractory malignant rhabdoid tumors, epithelioid sarcomas, or poorly differentiated chordomas with a particular genetic defect were treated with the investigational drug tazemetostat and appeared to tolerate treatment well. Some patients had objective and durable...
Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, of Sarah Cannon and Tennessee Oncology, and Therese Marie Mulvey, MD, FASCO, of Massachusetts General Hospital North Shore Cancer Center, were selected by the ASCO Nominating Committee as candidates for ASCO President-Elect. Below, the candidates share...
Stand Up To Cancer, joined by the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, LUNGevity, and the American Lung Association, announced that four teams of top researchers will study lung and pancreatic cancers using a new approach of “cancer interception” at their earliest stages. “The...
In a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia 2017 Congress (Abstract 35P_PR), researchers analyzed the presence of mutations in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with lung cancer and brain metastases. Tumor tissue from brain metastasis is difficult to obtain,...
Poly (ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are among the most exciting new classes of oncology drugs, and their development has coincided with the increasing recognition of the therapeutic vulnerability in targeting DNA damage response and DNA repair. The initial clinical testing of PARP...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s MSK-IMPACT tumor profiling assay, an in vitro diagnostic test that can identify more biomarkers that may be found in various cancers than any test previously reviewed by the...
On November 14, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted clearance to the Ventana MMR IHC Panel, which provides clinicians with a comprehensive group of immunohistochemistry (IHC) tests for patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The tests detect proteins associated with the DNA...
Donald Coffey, PhD, a distinguished Johns Hopkins professor and prostate cancer expert, who was the former Director of the Brady Urological Research Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, died on November 9 at the age of 85. Long Career at Johns Hopkins In his...
A cohort study in Ashkenazi Jewish women with breast cancer identified mutations other than BRCA1 and BRCA2 founder alleles that were associated with cancer risk. These results were reported by Walsh et al in JAMA Oncology. Among Ashkenazi Jewish women, three mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2...
PAUL NEIMAN, MD, PhD, a founding member of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch), transplant physician, and cancer biologist, died on October 11 of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 78. Dr. Neiman was also one of the founders and leaders of the Basic Sciences Division,...
Aldous Huxley’s classic 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World pictures an eerie future where humans are genetically bred, altered to create worthy citizens. Welcome back to the future. First there was the astounding feat of sequencing the entire human genome; now, thanks to a revolutionary...
Tumor mutation burden is emerging as a biomarker for selecting non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients for immunotherapy, according to Naiyer Rizvi, MD, the Price Family Chair of Clinical Translational Medicine, Professor of Medicine, and Director of Thoracic Oncology at Columbia University,...
In a St. Jude Adrenocortical Tumor Registry and Children’s Oncology Group study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pinto et al found that a positive Ki67 labeling index was associated with a poorer outcome in children with adrenocortical tumors independent of germline TP53 mutation ...
JOAN H. SCHILLER, MD, Deputy Director of Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Fairfax, Virginia, pointed out that no one particular chemotherapy regimen has been shown to improve overall survival vs other standard regimens. “So if we can’t identify one best chemotherapy, what else can we do to make...
IN PATIENTS with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the use of expression of BRCA1 failed as an approach to customize chemotherapy, investigators from the Spanish Lung Cancer Cooperative Group reported at the 2017 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World...