Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) recently announced the appointment of Ishwaria Subbiah, MD, MS, as Executive Director, Cancer Care Equity and Professional Wellness. In this role, Dr. Subbiah will focus on reducing cancer outcomes disparities and diversifying clinical trial participation...
Novel treatments beyond the current chemoimmunotherapies are offering more treatment options in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), though real breakthroughs remain elusive, according to Ticiana Leal, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School...
A new artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic tool for colposcopy examinations may improve the accuracy of diagnosing cancerous and precancerous cervical lesions, including cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), according to a retrospective validation study presented at the 2023 ASCO...
ASCO EXPERT Peter Paul Yu, MD, FACP, FASCO, commented on the implications of the study presented by Zhao et al. Dr. Yu is Physician-in-Chief at the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute. “Tumor microbiome studies are at the cutting edge of precision medicine metabolomics,” Dr. Yu stated....
It seems that exercise is good for almost everything, including prostate cancer. In fact, exercise had a positive effect on sexual function and enjoyment in men with prostate cancer, according to a recent study presented at the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting by lead study author Daniel Galvão, PhD, ...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)—a not-for-profit alliance of leading academic cancer centers—announced Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, FACP, as incoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Dr. Denlinger—who is currently NCCN’s Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer—will lead the ...
ASCO is saddened by the passing of Irwin H. Krakoff, MD, on August 9, 2023, at the age of 100. He is remembered as one of the founding fathers of modern chemotherapy. Dr. Krakoff was born on July 20, 1923, in Columbus, Ohio. He attended The Ohio State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in...
After a year of hard work preparing a strong abstract for the prestigious 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, I finally received an acceptance letter from the scientific committee. I was overjoyed to see the efforts of our multinational team being rewarded. A few moments later, I received the decision...
Hematologic malignancies make about 10% of all cancer types in the United States, and the multidisciplinary care of these malignancies has evolved rapidly over the past 20 years. In fact, death rates across all blood cancers have been reduced, and once rapidly fatal diseases such as chronic myeloid ...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Benjamin Besse, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Oncology at Paris-Saclay University, Orsay, France, and lung cancer specialist at Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Villejuif. Currently, Dr....
Guest Editor’s Note: Insomnia is common in patients with cancer and cancer survivors, and it has significant negative consequences. Cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective approach for managing insomnia but is not easily available to many patients. In this installment of The ...
My intuition about my health has served me well over the past 10 years, possibly even saving my life from two serious cancers. In 2013, I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. I believe that my awareness of changes in my body led to its early discovery. One evening, after exercising at the gym...
Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) recently announced that Vivek Subbiah, MD, has joined the organization as Chief, Early-Phase Drug Development. In his role, Dr. Subbiah will oversee SCRI’s nine drug development units and lead the expansion of early-phase capabilities and programs across the...
Pediatric patients with Down syndrome may undergo almost 10 times as many medical imaging examinations as other pediatric patients, potentially exposing them to more ionizing radiation, according to a recent study published by Marlow et al in PLOS ONE. Background Ionizing radiation is present in...
In an analysis of the UKCTOCS study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Menon et al found that patients with high-grade serous tubo-ovarian cancer detected on multimodal screening may have a survival benefit over those whose disease was diagnosed without screening. The investigator stated, “In...
Improving hospital care pathways may help reduce inpatient opioid use by 50% and cut the median opioid prescription volumes at discharge to zero in patients undergoing pancreatic cancer surgery, according to a recent study published by Boyev et al in JAMA Surgery. The new findings could help reduce ...
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) has provided standardized guidance on the selection and management of patients receiving lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) radionuclide therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a new consensus...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Bell et al found individuals with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease were more likely to have a subsequent cancer diagnosis than individuals with no cardiovascular disease diagnosis. Risk was elevated among persons with...
Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma who were treated with a chemoimmunotherapy regimen containing the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab experienced significantly improved overall survival compared with those treated with chemotherapy alone, with acceptable tolerability, according...
A commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm may perform comparably to human readers at assessing screening mammograms, according to a recent study published by Chen et al in Radiology. False-positive interpretations on screening mammograms can result in women without cancer...
23andMe has announced that the company has received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance to expand its existing BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants) Genetic Health Risk Report. The clearance allows 23andMe to report an additional 41 variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes known to be ...
Cholesterol-lowering statins may reduce colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in patients with ulcerative colitis, according to a recent study published by Sun et al in eClinicalMedicine. The findings also suggested that statin use may be associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in...
Researchers have identified new strategies to help physicians predict which patients with advanced colorectal cancer may benefit from immunotherapy, according to a recent study published by Saberzadeh-Ardestani et al in Clinical Cancer Research. The findings demonstrate the potential of using...
A new report published by Knudsen et al in PLOS ONE focused on the clinical validation of a drug response predictor (DRP) biomarker algorithm for dovitinib, a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGFR1–3, PDGFR, FGFR1/3, c-KIT, FLT3, and topoisomerase 1 and 2. Data showed that the DRP-dovitinib...
Researchers have identified potential strategies to promote healthy dietary habits in female cancer survivors with fertility challenges, according to a recent study published by Klobodu et al in Integrative Cancer Therapies. Background Cancer may increase the risk of infertility in young female...
Researchers have demonstrated that, in preclinical models, multiple beams and intervals in delivery during FLASH radiation therapy may compromise the skin-sparing effects of the technique, according to a novel study published by Mascia et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology •...
Research shows that the United States’ health-care delivery and financing system is so complex that streamlining administrative costs alone could reduce total health-care spending by 15%. In addition, health insurance payment and medical billing processes are time-consuming and expensive for both...
The Program for Lung Cancer Screening and Tobacco Cessation trial tested different adaptive interventions based on the evidence-based Tobacco Longitudinal Care (TLC) program, in part to learn how best to incorporate TLC into annual lung cancer screening as a smoking cessation standard. The findings ...
Researchers have found that about one-third of treatment recommendations from the artificial intelligence (AI) model ChatGPT 3.5 were nonconcordant with the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology® (NCCN Guidelines®), according to a recent study published by Chen et al in JAMA Oncology. The...
Patients with cancer who live in rural Pennsylvania counties appear to know that they may have better outcomes if they receive their cancer surgery at a hospital that performs a high volume of those procedures—but many still opt for lower-volume hospitals closer to home when their cancer is likely...
Short-term use of immunosuppressants in patients with ocular inflammatory disease may not be associated with an increased risk of developing cancer, according to a recent study published by Buchanich et al in BMJ Oncology. Background The Systemic Immunosuppressive Therapy for Eye Diseases (SITE)...
Partaking in cardiorespiratory fitness in youth may be associated with up to a 40% lower risk of developing nine cancer types later in life, according to a recent study published by Onerup et al in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Background Cardiorespiratory fitness—including sustained...
Fifty-two years ago, President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act of 1971 into law, which established the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in its current form. At the time, the budget was $1.6 billion. Today, it is $7.8 billion, $4.5 billion less than the amount needed to keep up with...
Researchers have found that the novel targeted therapy zolbetuximab in combination with a standard chemotherapy may extend survival in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma and overexpression of the claudin-18 isoform 2 protein (CLDN18.2), according to a novel...
On August 23, 2023, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) announced Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, FACP, as incoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Dr. Denlinger, who is currently Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of NCCN, will lead the global guidelines organization...
Investigators have demonstrated that bariatric surgery may be associated with a lower incidence of all-cancer and obesity-related cancer among female patients, according to a recent study published by Adams et al in Obesity. The new findings also suggested cancer mortality was significantly reduced ...
We read with interest the recent commentary by S. Monica Soni, MD, and Andrew A. Hertler, MD, FACP, on prior authorization (June 10, 2023, issue of The ASCO Post). The nuances of prior authorization in our health-care landscape are both complex and consequential. Conceived as a safeguard against...
Several recent studies have shown an increasingly disturbing trend: the incidence of early-onset cancers—those diagnosed in individuals younger than age 50—is on the rise, and not just in the United States but globally as well. Worldwide, in 2019, there were a reported 1.19 million new cases of...
A new ASCO guideline rapid update provides updated recommendations for the management of stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These updated recommendations made by the ASCO expert panel cover treatment options for patients with resected disease and specific genetic mutations as well as...
Researchers may have discovered how to prevent the cellular-cleaning protein ABCG2 from removing chemotherapeutics from tumor cells, according to a recent study published by Gose et al in Nature Communications. These research findings may improve future cancer therapeutics. Background Most new...
Patients with pancreatic cancer who were treated with the benzodiazepine lorazepam had shorter progression-free survival periods than patients who were not, according to study results published by Cornwell et al in Clinical Cancer Research. In contrast, patients who were treated with the...
Researchers have identified genes that may be associated with breast cancer and could eventually be included in tests to identify high-risk patients, according to a recent study published by Wilcox et al in Nature Genetics. Background Currently, genetic tests for breast cancer consider a few genes...
Rami S. Komrokji, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses an assessment of new classifications for myeloid neoplasms and the ongoing efforts to harmonize these classifications, so researchers can better understand risk, outcomes, and survival among patients with genetically distinct types of the...
Grim, grimmer, and grinding are among the terms reported in the press to describe the current chemotherapy shortage.1,2 And, “it is not going away,” Mark J. Ratain, MD, FASCO, Chief Hospital Pharmacologist, University of Chicago Medicine, told The ASCO Post. “This is a progressive problem like...
Researchers have discovered that ipilimumab in combination with nivolumab may be an effective second-line therapy in patients with PD-1 blockade–refractory metastatic melanoma, according to a recent study published by VanderWalde et al in Nature Medicine. These findings demonstrated the combination ...
Long-molecule scars may help identify patients with BRCA1- and BRCA2-deficient cancer types, according to a recent study published by Setton et al in Nature. Background Once DNA is damaged by toxins, radiation, or normal cell division, human cells must continually fix DNA breaks to survive. When...
Investigators may have uncovered the impact of the 2014 and 2015 Medicaid expansion on cancer clinical trial participation, according to a recent study published by Unger et al in JAMA Oncology. The new findings suggested that Medicaid expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
Investigators have identified a need for strong coordination between clinicians and skilled pathologists to ensure accurate, timely diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The study findings were recently published by Gorak et al in Blood Advances. Background MDS—a collection of chronic...
Researchers have identified a cell metabolism process found in male patients with West African ancestry who have diabetes and metastatic prostate cancer that could potentially lead to improved testing and treatments for Black patients with both diseases. The findings by Shuck et al were presented...
Researchers have found that the new PENK methylation (mePENK) test could potentially pave the way for a breakthrough in early bladder cancer detection in patients with hematuria, according to a novel study published by Oh et al in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. The findings could reduce the...