Andrew X. Zhu, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses an exploratory analysis seeking to identify tumor-based molecular biomarkers that may be associated with clinical response or resistance to the combination treatment of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in patients with advanced...
Qi Liu, PhD, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, discusses data that suggest that patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer who had a past medical history of pneumonitis were more likely to experience treatment-associated pneumonitis in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors or...
In a Childhood Cancer Survivor Study analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Barlow-Krelina et al found that consistent physical activity vs consistent inactivity was associated with reduced neurocognitive problems and greater improvement in neurocognitive domains during long-term...
Over the past few weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designations for an antibody-drug conjugate in the treatment of gastric and lung cancers. The Agency has also issued Orphan Drug designations for agents being investigated in chronic myeloid...
In correspondence published in The New England Journal of Medicine, two practitioners from Tata Memorial Centre, India’s largest cancer center, describe measures taken to continue providing cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. As related by the authors, scaling back of operations at...
On May 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to rucaparib (Rubraca) for patients with deleterious BRCA mutation (germline and/or somatic)-associated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have been treated with androgen receptor–directed therapy...
On May 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ripretinib (Qinlock) for the treatment of adult patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) who have received prior treatment with three or more kinase inhibitors, including imatinib. INVICTUS Trial Efficacy was...
On May 15, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) at ≥ 1%, as...
Although the live 2020 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Annual Conference was canceled, more than 100 posters scheduled for presentation are now available online, as part of the NCCN 2020 Virtual Annual Conference. The ASCO Post has summarized some of the clinical trial updates we found ...
As a result of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19) global pandemic, medicine—including oncology practice—will never be the same. We find ourselves in a time of emergency medicine for all specialties, technologic innovation (eg, more prevalent use of...
The overall risk of needing a total thyroidectomy was found to be 19.4% for patients undergoing lobectomy for indeterminate and high-risk thyroid nodule, according to a report published by Moore et al in the World Journal of Surgery. The study also found that 21% and 26.5% of patients originally...
On May 14, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication of pomalidomide (Pomalyst) to include treating adult patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related Kaposi sarcoma after failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy and those with Kaposi...
In the SWOG S1105 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dawn L. Hershman, MD, MS, and colleagues found that a text message intervention did not reduce the rate of early discontinuation of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy in postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer....
Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, talks about the ways in which social distancing and viral fears have affected the way he delivers treatment for his patients, as well as the effect on their psyches—and his. Recorded April 10, 2020.
Jennifer K. Litton, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses study results of talazoparib vs chemotherapy in patients with BRCA1/2-mutated HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. In this final analysis, patient-reported outcomes continued to favor the PARP inhibitor, even...
Results from an analysis involving both patients with cancer and health-care workers at Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon, France, showed that patients with cancer had a significantly lower detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies 15 days or more after COVID-19 symptoms and a positive reverse transcription ...
Patients with non–immune-infiltrated “cold” tumors have low frequencies of intratumoral tumor-reactive, checkpoint-positive cytotoxic lymphocytes, making them less responsive to checkpoint blockage than patients with immune-infiltrated “hot” tumors. A phase II study by Alain P. Algazi, MD, and...
In a phase II German Hodgkin Study Group trial (NIVAHL) reported in JAMA Oncology, Bröckelmann et al found that both concomitant and sequential nivolumab plus AVD (doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) regimens showed efficacy in first-line treatment of early-stage unfavorable classical...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Shi et al found that use of higher-than-currently-recommended severity thresholds for symptom alerts for patients receiving outpatient chemotherapy would result in failure to identify and treat many patients requiring clinical intervention for ...
People who quit smoking at any time—even 2 years before a lung cancer diagnosis—improve their chances of survival after being diagnosed with the disease, according to the results of a large international study presented by Fares et al in a press briefing in advance of the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific...
Edward B. Garon, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, discusses results from a small study in METex14-mutated advanced non–small cell lung cancer and brain metastases. The trial suggested capmatinib showed antitumor activity in the brain, regardless of...
Edward B. Garon, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, discusses KEYNOTE-189 trial findings that showed adding pembrolizumab to pemetrexed plus platinum—which previously was found to improve overall and progression-free survival—is also safe and has...
Nickolas Papadopoulos, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses a first-of-its-kind prospective study that evaluated a screening blood test in more than 10,000 older women with no history of cancer. The test, called DETECT-A, identified 10 different cancer types, 65% of which were early-stage...
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, the number of adult individuals in the United States providing care for patients with cancer ranges between 2.8 million and 6.1 million. Caregivers for patients with cancer who live more than 1 hour away report having higher levels of anxiety and...
"We have known for a long time, based on good evidence, that geriatric assessment is good at accurately identifying patients at high risk for chemotherapy-induced toxicity, surgical complications, and increased hospitalizations. This study adds an intervention component based on the geriatric...
A full geriatric assessment and geriatrician-led multidisciplinary care improved the quality of life of patients aged 70 and older undergoing chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy, according to results of a prospective, randomized, controlled, open-label trial, reported in a press...
Commenting on the SOLO2 trial for The ASCO Post was Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP, FASCO, Director of Women’s Cancers at Lifespan Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. “It’s great to get an overall survival advantage from a PARP inhibitor study. Coming...
For the first time, overall survival has been improved with maintenance therapy involving a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer associated with BRCA1/2 mutations. In the final, preplanned, overall survival analysis in the...
States that adopted Medicaid expansion after passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 saw a decline in cancer mortality rates by 29% compared with 25% in states that did not expand access to Medicaid, according to a study by Anna Lee, MD, MPH, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New...
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed cancer care, seemingly overnight, as practices scrambled to ensure a safe environment for caregivers and patients. Although regulatory burdens have been relaxed to allow patients to continue on trial treatment and telemedicine has expanded its competency and reach, ...
The COVID-19 pandemic (caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus) has created a host of diagnostic, treatment, and follow-up problems for patients with cancer of all types, and this is particularly true for patients with lung cancer, their families, and providers. Everyone wanted to...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jaume Capdevila, MD, and colleagues found that the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor spartalizumab produced responses in a cohort of patients with locally advanced or metastatic anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, with all...
Byoung Chul Cho, MD, PhD, of Yonsei Cancer Center and Severance Hospital, discusses the STK11 and KEAP1 mutations in non–small cell lung cancers, and their relationship to the efficacy of pembrolizumab monotherapy vs platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for PD-L1–positive advanced...
This week, we’ll be featuring some research highlights from the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting, including data on a triplet regimen for women with high-risk, HER2-negative breast cancer; findings on immunotherapy combined with targeted therapy for patients with BRAF V600-mutated melanoma; and a paper...
Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, talks about the ways in which social distancing and viral fears have affected the way he delivers treatment for his patients, as well as the effect on their psyches—and his. Recorded April 10, 2020.
Charles L. Sawyers, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented on the SWOG S1320 study presented at the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research Virtual Annual Meeting. “Intermittent therapy is standard with chemotherapy due to toxicity, but targeted therapies...
Continuous dosing with dabrafenib and trametinib improved progression-free survival in patients with BRAF-mutated advanced melanoma compared with an intermittent-dosing strategy, according to results of the phase II SWOG S1320 randomized trial reported at the opening Plenary Session of the 2020...
The universe has an intriguing way of registering our wishes and delivering them in convoluted, mutated forms. Last winter, I recall coming home after a long day at the hospital and being ambushed by my 3-year-old daughter and preteen son. She wanted to play, he needed help with homework, and they ...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Bickell et al found that providing oncologists with communication skills training did not improve the frequency or quality of goals-of-care discussions for patients with advanced cancer. Study Details In the study, 22 oncologists were randomly assigned...
In the phase III REACH2 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Zeiser et al found that the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib improved response rate vs investigator’s choice of therapy in patients with glucocorticoid-refractory acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) following allogeneic stem...
People who received information from the Screen to Save program, a culturally tailored initiative from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD), increased their knowledge of colorectal cancer and indicated willingness to adopt potentially preventive...
A survey of American Cancer Society grantees found that about half reported their cancer research has been halted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Cancer Society reached out to all of its funded researchers to assess the state of their projects and collect information to guide...
On May 8, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to selpercatinib (Retevmo) for the following indications: Adult patients with metastatic RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) Adult and pediatric patients ≥ 12 years of age with advanced or...
It’s one of the worst things Claire Paxman can recall: She’s 14 years old, using orange-handled kitchen scissors to cut her mother’s hair. “You shouldn’t be standing in the bathroom cutting your mom’s hair because of chemotherapy,” said Claire as she describes that defining childhood moment when ...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and new guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) both contain provisions to provide financial support to qualified providers. ASCO strongly encourages providers to immediately begin meticulously documenting...
ASCO has launched the ASCO Survey on COVID-19 in Oncology Registry (ASCO Registry) to help the entire cancer community learn about the pattern of symptoms and severity of COVID-19 among patients with cancer, as well as how COVID-19 infections impact the delivery of cancer care and patient outcomes. ...
Encourage your patients and their caregivers to visit the award-winning Cancer.Net Blog for key information from leading experts for people with cancer and cancer survivors about the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 content is also available in Spanish. Help keep your patients informed by directing...
Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, FACP, works to improve outcomes for patients with colorectal cancer at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The trial: Single drugs aimed at inhibiting the BRAF gene have not been effective against BRAF-mutated colorectal cancers. To explore the effectiveness...
In my native language, there is a saying that is translated as, “A child who does not travel only appreciates their mother’s cooking.” In the broad sense, as we grow up and experience the different things that life has to offer, two things happen if we allow our minds to open up: we realize there...
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading throughout the world, and vaccine developers have responded with unprecedented speed. Since the COVID-19 genome sequence was released in January, human trials of an experimental vaccine candidate have already begun in the Seattle area. Although the...