I have been fascinated with death since I was 3 years old. I remember going to my great-grandfather’s funeral and asking my mother where my great-grandfather was. She said he is in heaven. I asked her if I were going to heaven, too, and she said, “Yes, but not for a long time.” Today, I don’t...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Elisabete Weiderpass, MD, MSc, PhD, a Brazilian cancer researcher who is a naturalized Swedish and Finnish citizen. She is an expert in cancer epidemiology and cancer prevention. In...
Helena Linardou, MD, PhD, Director of the 4th Department of Oncology and the Comprehensive Clinical Trials Center, Metropolitan Hospital, Athens, served as discussant of the session on antibody-drug conjugates at the 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer. Calling antibody-drug conjugates “the next...
The treatment of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated lung cancer that progresses on EGFR-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors has been challenging. In the phase II HERTHENA-Lung01 trial, the topoisomerase-1 HER3-targeting antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan...
Investigators have discovered that reliable educational materials about breast cancer surgery may be difficult to access and are often presented at much higher reading levels than recommended, according to the findings of two new studies presented by Brennan et al and Satarasinghe et al at the...
Researchers have discovered that it may be possible to detect and treat dormant tumor cells in breast cancer survivors, according to new findings presented by DeMichele et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2023 (Abstract 244MO). The results may have offered a...
In exploratory analyses of results from the SWOG S1801 trial in patients with stage III to IV resectable melanoma, researchers saw a major pathologic response in more than half of surgical specimens taken from patients who had been treated with neoadjuvant pembrolizumab. These and other results of...
Researchers have found that a short course of induction chemotherapy prior to chemoradiation may be effective at reducing the rate of relapse and mortality among patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, according to new preliminary findings presented by McCormack et al at the European...
Targeted treatment with the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor erdafitinib improved responses and overall survival compared to standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with FGFR alterations. Results from the phase III THOR trial, led by...
The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2α inhibitor belzutifan significantly reduced the risk of progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma in patients previously treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors and antiangiogenic therapies compared with everolimus. The phase III LITESPARK-005 trial, led...
Compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone, adding perioperative immunotherapy—given before and after surgery—significantly improved event-free survival in patients with resectable early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results from the phase III CheckMate 77T study were presented at the ...
Among the 198 new oncology drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1998 and 2022, approximately 43% of them were precision therapies, according to a recent study published by Suehnholz et al in Cancer Discovery. Background Precision oncology therapies often require...
Researchers have discovered that patients with longer prostatic urethras may have an increased risk of experiencing moderate and chronic urinary side effects after receiving radiation for prostate cancer, according to a recent study published by Lee et al in Academic Radiology. The new findings...
Women living and working in places with higher levels of fine particle air pollution are more likely to get breast cancer than those living and working in less polluted areas. Results of a study looking at the effects of both residential and workplace exposure to air pollution on breast cancer risk ...
Researchers have identified significant variations in the gut microbiome of patients with precancerous colorectal lesions, suggesting a potential correlation between gut bacteria and the onset of precancerous lesions and colorectal cancer, according to new findings presented by Gacesa et al at...
New research has illustrated the strides being made to apply modern artificial intelligence (AI) computing methods to oncology, according to new findings to be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2023. Background Researchers have long investigated the potential of ...
The MONARCH 3 study’s invited discussant, Meritxell Bellet Ezquerra, MD, PhD, a senior researcher at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, commented: “The second interim analysis for overall survival in MONARCH 31 indicates a positive trend, which was also observed for the subgroup...
Overall survival results from two trials of abemaciclib in advanced breast cancer were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022. Both MONARCH 3 and monarcHER previously met their primary endpoints of progression-free survival. The current results for overall...
Breast medical oncologist Virginia Kaklamani, MD, Professor of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio, MD Anderson Cancer Center, believes the results of the POSITIVE trial will help patients with breast cancer make decisions. “The trial is important because it helps us give advice to younger patients,”...
Preserving fertility is a driving concern for many young women with breast cancer. Many of these women have hormone receptor–positive breast cancer and are treated with adjuvant endocrine therapy for 5 to 10 years, which is known to compromise fertility. Younger women who may want to take a break...
The invited discussant of the SOFT analysis was Polly Niravath, MD, Associate Professor and Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas. She noted that the study evaluated the use of the Breast Cancer Index (BCI) as a prognostic tool in early hormone...
Virginia Kaklamani, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center San Antonio and leader of the Breast Cancer Program at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, was enthusiastic about the results of the phase III CAPItello-291 trial. “The phase III...
Debu Tripathy, MD, Professor of Medicine and Chair of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said that the study points the way to further exploration of the benefit of adding immunotherapy to treatment after patients develop resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors for ...
Commenting on the DESTINY-Breast03 presentation at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Neelima Vidula, MD, a medical oncologist at Mass General Cancer Center, said: “The results highlight the important survival differences of T-DXd [fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki] compared to T-DM1...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) proved to be superior to the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), significantly improving progression-free survival and overall survival, in women with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer as ...
Seth Wander, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mass General Cancer Center, Boston, commented on the findings of the EMERALD trial. “We have seen a large amount of new data emerging related to elacestrant and other novel SERDs [selective estrogen receptor degraders]. Despite initial expectations based...
Elacestrant—an investigational oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD)—achieved longer progression-free survival vs standard-of-care endocrine monotherapy as second- or third-line therapy in patients with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in the ...
Results of a planned interim overall survival analysis of the phase III monarchE trial offered further support for the addition of abemaciclib to adjuvant endocrine therapy for patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-positive, high-risk disease, according to Stephen R.D....
A meta-analysis of randomized trials has revealed a benefit to ovarian ablation or suppression in preventing breast cancer recurrence in premenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive tumors.1 The findings, based on almost 15,000 women in studies spanning several decades, were presented at the ...
Monitored by immune positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging, a novel therapeutic approach combining HER2-targeted therapies with the lipid-lowering drug lovastatin may reduce the number of cancer treatments required to prevent tumor growth, according to a recent study published by Brown et al in ...
Lung cancer is a significant global health issue, remaining the leading cause of cancer-related deaths with 2.1 million new cases and 1.8 million deaths. Complete surgical resection is the treatment of choice for operable early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and resectable stage IIIA...
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer, comprising 80% of all malignant tumors found within the kidney. Although some clear cell renal cell carcinoma tumors are sensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitors, currently, there are no measures to predict whether a tumor...
Sudan is the third-largest country in Africa, spanning 1,886,068 km2. It is situated in an area surrounded by North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. As of 2020, Sudan had a population of approximately 43.8 million people, with a significant proportion being younger than age 15....
The September 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Plenary presentation of the NATALEE health-related quality-of-life (QOL) findings was discussed by Michail Ignatiadis, MD, PhD, and Stephen R.D. Johnston, MD, PhD. Dr. Ignatiadis is Director of the Breast Medical Oncology...
Nonmelanoma skin cancer may be causing a greater number of global deaths than melanoma, according to findings presented by Salah et al at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology Congress 2023. Investigators also suggested that nonmelanoma skin cancer may be underreported and that the...
Investigators have determined that knowing which patient populations are following cancer screening guidelines may be beneficial to public health officials, policymakers, and researchers developing strategies to improve screening adherence, according to a recent study published by Bhattacharyya et...
A guideline update on systemic treatment for melanoma offers new guidance in several areas, including the selection of front-line therapy for patients with metastatic disease with and without BRAF mutations, treatment of patients with earlier-stage disease in the adjuvant setting, and emerging...
After a fast-paced first half of the year, most state legislatures across the 50 states and Washington, DC, have adjourned for the year. The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and State Affiliates successfully collaborated to advance many shared 2023 state advocacy priorities, including those ...
In a study using SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) registry data reported in JAMA Network Open, Daniel Q. Huang, MBBS, MMED, of the National University of Singapore, and colleagues found that the incidence of cancer among U.S. persons up to age 50 (early-onset cancer) increased...
On August 14, 2023, the Hepzato Kit—melphalan for injection/hepatic delivery system—was approved as a liver-directed treatment for adults with uveal melanoma with unresectable hepatic metastases affecting less than 50% of the liver.1 Patients must have either no extrahepatic disease or extrahepatic ...
On August 14, 2023, the bispecific B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CD3 T-cell engager elranatamab-bcmm was granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of...
As a first-line treatment for advanced biliary tract cancer, an experimental formulation of gemcitabine, NUC-1031, given with cisplatin failed to improve outcomes over standard gemcitabine/cisplatin in the global phase III NuTide:121 trial.1 “NuTide:121 has not advanced the field in biliary tract...
Justin F. Gainor, MD, Director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, was invited to discuss IMpower151 and ILLUMINATE at the 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer. IMpower151 vs IMpower150 Dr. Gainor examined why IMpower151 was negative for both...
In advanced non–small cell lung cancer harboring mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors following disease progression with tyrosine kinase inhibitors has been unclear. Several studies reported at the International Association for the Study ...
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, has been in the field of oncology for more than 2 decades, he and says this is both one of the most exhilarating and challenging times in cancer care. “What excites me the most are the innovations in treatment that are literally transforming the lives of our patients and...
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, cautioned that although FLAURA2 is a positive result, most patients will still develop drug resistance. “The result is really good and clearly positive, but if you look at the survival curves, there is still early overlap in a way that makes it unlikely this combination will ...
The Alliance Data and Safety Monitoring Board has determined that adjuvant pembrolizumab may improve disease-free survival in patients with localized muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma and locally advanced urothelial carcinoma, according to the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. ...
Although the development of new therapies for multiple myeloma has significantly improved response rates and outcomes for patients with the blood cancer, most patients eventually relapse, including those who initially achieved remission. A phase I study is investigating whether a dendritic cell...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has released a follow-up survey on the ongoing chemotherapy shortages, refreshing findings they originally shared in June 2023. According to their results, 72% of the cancer centers surveyed continue to experience a shortage of carboplatin, and 59% ...
In August 2014, just a few weeks after my 15th birthday, my body began sending me a lot of worrisome signals that life as I knew it would soon be over. The year before, I had developed a hematoma in my right femur, which was resolved with surgery. But now the pain I was experiencing in that leg was ...