The addition of durvalumab to chemotherapy improved overall survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) (Abstract PL02.11)....
Pooled data on two clinical trials demonstrated patients with previously treated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with nivolumab had a greater than fivefold increase in 5-year overall survival rate compared to treatment with the chemotherapy docetaxel. Scott Gettinger, MD, of Yale...
In the August 10, 2019, issue of The ASCO Post, a photo on page 39, in an article about the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Policy Summit, was incorrectly identified as Terrell Johnson, MPA, an NCCN Policy and Advocacy Fellow. We regret the error and apologize to Mr. Johnson for the...
On August 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule to require new health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements to promote greater public understanding of the negative health consequences of smoking. The proposed warnings, which feature photo-realistic...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Nicholas C. Turner, PhD, and colleagues found that detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) during follow-up after initial treatment for early breast cancer was associated with a high risk of relapse. Detection at diagnosis was also associated with poorer...
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Karla Kerlikowske, MD, and colleagues found that the combined use of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) breast density and Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC)-defined risk for breast cancer may be an effective way of...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Douglas Adkins, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor palbociclib and the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab showed activity in patients with either platinum- or cetuximab-resistant human...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Anna E. Coghill, PhD, MPH, and colleagues found that outcomes are often worse among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients aged 65 years or older with cancer vs HIV-negative patients with cancer, after adjustment for first courses of treatment....
The National Library of Medicine, located in Bethesda, Maryland, was started in 1836 as a small collection of medical books and journals in the office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General. In the ensuing years, the library grew to become the world’s largest and most prestigious biomedical library, with ...
Over the past few decades, our understanding of transplant immunology has moved from basic allograft rejection to the current molecular level that offers life-saving treatments for patients with cancer. The scientific elegance of this remarkable therapy’s arc from experimental to standard of care...
In 1994, I was a normal, active 15-year-old, who loved cars, sports, and rock music, especially songs from my favorite group, The Clash. In fact, it was while jubilantly dancing alone in my room to one of their tunes that I vomited into my hands, an early symptom of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I...
“Live while you’re living, friends,” writes Julie Yip-Williams in her memoir, The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After. It was The New York Times bestseller when she died of stage IV colon cancer at the age of 42. She is the most recent of several...
On May 24, 2019, alpelisib was approved for use in combination with fulvestrant for postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, PIK3CA-mutated advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test following...
Imagine undergoing major surgery in a grimy operating room without any form of antisepsis. That was the grim reality in the 1800s, when the ruling theory was that damage from “bad air” was responsible for infections in surgical wounds. Hospitals simply aired out the surgical wards at midday to...
On July 30, 2019, pembrolizumab was approved for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1; Combined Positive Score [CPS] ≥ 10), as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug...
On June 10, 2019, pembrolizumab was approved for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.1,2 Pembrolizumab was approved for use in combination with platinum and fluorouracil (5-FU) for all patients and as a single agent...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
On June 27, 2019, daratumumab was approved for use in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label phase...
For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Tatiana M. Prowell, MD, who currently serves as Associate Professor of Oncology in the Breast Cancer Program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and as a Medical Officer and...
On May 28, 2019, lenalidomide was approved for use in combination with a rituximab product for previously treated follicular lymphoma and previously treated marginal zone lymphoma.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the findings of two clinical trials: AUGMENT (ClinicalTrials.gov...
Over the past 2 years, IBM’s Watson for Oncology cognitive computing system, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to generate treatment recommendations, has come under fire for allegedly not delivering on expectations to provide state-of-the-art personalized treatment for patients...
William G. Cance, MD, has been selected as he Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS). Dr. Cance will lead the integration of the ACS Research and Cancer Control departments, unifying its intramural and extramural research; prevention and early detection; patient...
A prospective cohort study within the phase III Cancer and Leukemia Group B (Alliance)/SWOG 80405 trial found that increased physical activity at baseline was associated with nonsignificant improvement in overall survival, a significant improvement in progression-free survival, and a reduced risk...
Two scientists, whose discoveries in stem cell and cancer cell biology have led to innovative advances in fields ranging from oncology and immunology to cancer genomics and regenerative medicine, will receive the 2019 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. Bert Vogelstein, ...
Two researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle were recently awarded endowed chairs: Nancy E. Davidson, MD, FASCO, and Jerry Radich, MD. Raisbeck Endowed Chair for Collaborative Research Dr. Davidson was awarded the Raisbeck Endowed Chair for Collaborative Research at Fred ...
The Northern California Prostate Cancer Center, an independent oncology practice serving patients with cancer throughout Santa Clara County, has joined the U.S. Oncology Network. The practice, which opened in 2009, was the first prostate-only radiation treatment center in California to obtain a...
The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center (IU Simon Cancer Center) has achieved the highest recognition from the National Cancer Institute (NCI): Comprehensive Cancer Center. With this federal designation signifying research excellence, it becomes the only NCI-designated...
On October 18, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to axicabtagene ciloleucel for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. Specifically, this treatment can be used after two or more lines of systemic therapy for diffuse...
On August 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to entrectinib (Rozlytrek) for adult and adolescent patients whose cancers have an NTRK (neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase) genetic fusion and for whom there are no effective treatments. Entrectinib was also...
On August 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) inhibitor fedratinib (Inrebic) for the treatment of adults with intermediate-2 or high-risk primary or secondary (postpolycythemia vera or postessential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis. “Prior to [this...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology,1Zhaoming Wang, PhD, and colleagues at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, found that the presence of a germline BRCA2 mutation increased the risk of development of pediatric or adolescent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. As noted by the...
I received a coffee mug from a physician colleague some years ago with the tag line: “Please do not confuse your Google search with my Medical Degree.” Physicians of all stripes and colors can relate to the agony of debunking a “Dr. Google” diagnosis. However, in a fast-evolving health-care...
Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, has made patient advocacy—with a specific emphasis on health equity and access to high-quality care—front and center of her oncology practice since she completed her residency at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston, where she noticed that most of the...
In a clinical trial testing the toxicity of a KRAS inhibitor, the treatment demonstrated early promising antitumor activity and few adverse side effects in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring a KRAS G12C mutation. The research was presented by Govindan et al at the...
First-line therapy consisting of nivolumab plus ipilimumab showed a consistent safety profile in special populations with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to research presented by Fabrice Barlesi, MD, PhD, of Aix-Marseille University, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille...
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), two presentations showed that tumor mutational burden is not associated with the efficacy of pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer...
In a single-center study reported at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium and simultaneously published in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Switzer et al found that an intervention consisting of a resident training module and use of a best practice alert (BPA) in electronic medical records (EMRs)...
In a study reported at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium and simultaneously published in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Chineke et al found that a Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) initiated in collaboration with ASCO at the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence (GCCE) at Grady Health...
In a study reported at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium and simultaneously published in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Campbell et al found that an ASCO Quality Training Program Project—the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) initiative—resulted in improvement in primary caregiver identification and...
In a study published in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Mody et al described results from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing in a real-time clinical context. The authors wrote, “[ctDNA assessment] holds incredible promise for early...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to magrolimab in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The agency also granted Breakthrough Therapy designations in lung cancer and desmoid tumors, as well as Breakthrough Device designations...
GUEST EDITOR Integrative Oncology is guest edited by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine and Chief of Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Cancer and its treatments are associated with severe fatigue, depression, ...
Advanced melanoma has become a different entity in the era of immunotherapy and targeted agents. Considering the potential for good outcomes from systemic therapy in advanced disease, has the role of surgery changed? Should it be offered up front or limited to patients with oligometastatic ...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos, MD, PhD, and colleagues found evidence of promising activity of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor avelumab in mismatch repair–deficient (MMRD) recurrent or persistent endometrial...
This week, we’ll be talking about an extended follow-up of a phase III trial that investigated first-line nivolumab and ipilimumab vs sunitinib in advanced renal cell carcinoma. Then we’ll go over a research letter that identified strong predictors of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor...
Women who experienced six or more symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in life had a twofold greater risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women who never experienced any PTSD symptoms. These findings were published by Roberts et al in Cancer Research. The...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) provides recommendations on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, including when radiation treatments are appropriate, as well as the optimal dosing, timing, and...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tobin et al found that low tumor immune infiltration—indicated by low programmed cell death ligand 2 (PD-L2) expression—was associated with earlier disease progression in follicular lymphoma. As stated by the investigators, “Understanding the ...
In a study reported in The Lancet, the Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer found that the use of menopausal hormone therapy is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, with risk increasing as the duration of use increases, in both current and past users. Study...
Pregnancy after breast cancer appears to be safe in patients with germline BRCA mutations—and particularly among those with BRCA1 mutations—according to new research. Limited data are available on the safety of pregnancy and reproductive outcomes in patients with breast cancer and BRCA mutations,...