The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved bevacizumab-awwb (Mvasi) as a biosimilar to bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of multiple types of cancer. Bevacizumab-awwb is the first biosimilar approved in the U.S. for the treatment of cancer. “Bringing new biosimilars to...
Durvalumab improves progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage III lung cancer, according to late-breaking results from the phase III PACIFIC trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA1_PR) and...
A 14-year randomized trial in more than 600 patients has concluded that chemoradiation should remain the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. The findings were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 928O_PR). ...
The preliminary results of a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid show that sociopsychological factors have become more significant for patients today than physical side effects such as nausea and vomiting, which were among the top concerns in...
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has shown a promising response rate in patients with pretreated metastatic gastric cancer, according to late-breaking results from the KEYNOTE-059 trial presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA28_PR). The expected...
Results from an ASCO-sponsored survey study indicate that despite professed interest in the area, most hematology-oncology fellows have inadequate training in geriatrics/geriatric oncology. These findings were reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice by Maggiore et al. Study Details The...
Adding taselisib to letrozole before surgery significantly improved outcomes for patients with early breast cancer that was both estrogen receptor–positive and HER2-negative, according to results of the LORELEI trial, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress ...
Patients with high-risk prostate cancer starting long-term hormone therapy may benefit from two new treatments, according to late-breaking results from the STAMPEDE trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (LBA31_PR). Long-term hormone therapy...
The superiority of docetaxel-based triplet therapy over standard of care in patients with resectable esophagogastric cancer has been confirmed in late-breaking results from the FLOT4 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA27_PR)....
Due to DNA sequencing, patients with rare cancers for which no standard treatment is available could receive existing therapies that work in patients treated for different cancers but who carry the same genetic mutations. The first results of a multidrug and multitumor clinical trial (Abstract...
Bonnie S. Glisson, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a clinical trial on the combination of ISA101, an HPV-16 vaccine, and nivolumab for patients with incurable HPV-16+ cancer (Abstract 1136O).
Judy E. Garber, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, offers expert perspectives on the role of PARP inhibitors in treating triple-negative breast cancer.
Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses updated overall survival results on cabozantinib vs sunitinib as initial targeted treatment for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Abstract LBA38).
Luis G. Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, of Hospital Universitario 12 De Octubre, discusses phase III study findings on durvalumab after chemoradiation therapy in patients with stage III, locally advanced, unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract LBA1).
Eric Pujade-Lauraine, MD, PhD, of the Université Paris Descartes, discusses phase III study findings on the efficacy of olaparib maintenance therapy in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer by lines of prior chemotherapy (Abstract 932PD).
Michèle Beau-Faller, MD, PhD, of the Hôpital de Hautepierre & Institut Régional du Cancer, discusses study results on ultrasensitive detection of EGFR T790M mutation by droplet digital PCR in TKI naïve non–small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutation (Abstract 85PD).
Combination targeted adjuvant therapy with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) doubles relapse-free survival in patients with stage III BRAF-mutant melanoma, according to late-breaking results from the COMBI-AD trial presented on September 11 at the European Society for Medical Oncology ...
Adjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) is superior to standard-of-care ipilimumab (Yervoy) in patients with surgically resected stage III/IV melanoma who are at high risk of relapse, according to late-breaking results from the CheckMate 238 trial presented on September 11 at the European Society for Medical...
Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, of New York University’s Langone Medical Center, discusses study results on adjuvant therapy with nivolumab vs ipilimumab after complete resection of stage III/IV melanoma (Abstract LBA8).
Some stroke survivors may have underlying cancer, according to an observational study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 1412P_PR). “Postmortem studies have suggested that cancer can develop after a stroke, but the magnitude of...
Rucaparib (Rubraca) maintenance therapy increases progression-free survival in BRCA-mutant recurrent ovarian cancer by 77%, according to late-breaking results from the ARIEL3 trial reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA40_PR). Most...
Patients requiring surgery for esophageal cancer fare better after undergoing a hybrid minimally invasive esophagostomy compared to an open esophagostomy, according to long-term results of the MIRO trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract ...
Caucasian women with ovarian cancer can safely stick to the standard every-3-week dosing schedule for paclitaxel rather than boosting up to a weekly dose-dense regimen, according to results of the phase III ICON8 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in...
Data from two separate phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid show the particular central nervous system (CNS) activity of alectinib (Alecensa) in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer involving a mutation of the...
Bernard J. Escudier, MD, of Gustave Roussy, offers a roundup of the important papers on renal cell cancer presented at this year's ESMO Congress.
Cora N. Sternberg, MD, of the San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, summarizes a session on the STAMPEDE and LATITUDE trials, as well as a third trial on docetaxel with androgen suppression for localized prostate cancer patients who relapsed after radical prostatectomy and/or radiotherapy (Abstracts...
Domenica Lorusso, MD, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute of Milan, discusses neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery vs concurrent cisplatin and radiation therapy in patients with stage IB2 to IIB squamous carcinoma of the cervix (Abstract 928O_PR).
Robert A. Figlin, MD, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, discusses an interim analysis of phase III findings on rocapuldencel-T, an individualized immunotherapy, for newly diagnosed patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Abstract 1137O).
Bernard J. Escudier, MD, of Gustave Roussy, discusses efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs sunitinib for treatment-naïve advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, including IMDC risk and PD-L1 expression subgroups (Abstract LBA5).
Karl D. Lewis, MD, of the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion, discusses study findings on adjuvant vemurafenib in patients with completely resected BRAF V600–positive melanoma at high risk for recurrence (Abstract LBA7).
Andrew R. Clamp, PhD, of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, discusses his phase III study findings on dose-dense chemotherapy integration in first-line treatment of epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal carcinoma (Abstract 929O).
Sandro Pignata, MD, PhD, of the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, summarizes findings from the ICON8 study on dose-dense chemotherapy integration in first-line epithelial ovarian/fallopian tube/primary peritoneal carcinoma treatment; the ARIEL3 study on rucaparib vs placebo in recurrent ovarian...
Simone Koole, MD (and a PhD candidate), of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses phase III findings on health-related quality of life after hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for stage III ovarian cancer.
Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, of Gustave Roussy, characterizes complete responses in patients with advanced melanoma who received the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab, or nivolumab or ipilimumab alone (Abstract 1213O).
Marleen Kok, MD, PhD, of The Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses findings from an adaptive phase II noncomparative trial of nivolumab after induction treatment in triple-negative breast cancer (Abstract LBA14).
Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, discusses updated phase III findings on relapse-free survival and first overall survival results in adjuvant GEMOX (gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin) for biliary tract cancer (LBA29).
Robert I. Haddad, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase III study results on treatment beyond disease progression with nivolumab in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (Abstract 1043O).
Jaafar Bennouna, MD, of the University of Nantes, discusses findings from a phase II French study of bevacizumab or cetuximab plus chemotherapy after progression with bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract 477O).
David A. Tuveson, MD, PhD, of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, discusses the most lethal of cancers. Although treatments are improving, the challenges are great, including early detection of this malignancy, which metastasizes early in its development.
Luis G. Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, of Hospital Universitario 12 De Octubre, discusses phase III study findings on durvalumab after chemoradiation therapy in patients with stage III, locally advanced, unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract LBA1).
Sibylle Loibl, MD, PhD, of the German Breast Group, summarizes a session she chaired in which the rationale to target CDK4, data on efficacy of the inhibitors, and triple combination therapy with PI3K were discussed.
Mansoor Mirza, MD, of Copenhagen University Hospital, discusses quality of life in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer treated with niraparib (Abstract 930O).
The optimal follow-up protocol for patients with completely resected non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains elusive after results of the IFCT-0302 trial, presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid, did not show a difference in overall survival...
Even small tumors in the breast can be aggressive, according to a study in patients with early-stage breast cancer presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid (Abstract 150O_PR). Researchers found that 24% of small tumors were aggressive, and patients...
The vast majority of tumor marker tests in primary and secondary care are not necessary, according to a study presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid (Abstract 1410P_PR). The tests assisted with a cancer diagnosis in just 2% of patients....
When I was in high school, I spent summers working as a restaurant dishwasher, grocery store stock boy, and gardener in northwest Indiana. The idea of spending those weeks learning about science and medicine would not have been an option for me at that time. Yet it is precisely those students who...
Applications Being Accepted Through October 31, 2017 THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION AWARD (IDEA) provides support for early-career oncologists in low-and middle-income countries and facilitates the sharing of knowledge between these oncologists and ASCO members. The program pairs IDEA ...
Two scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will receive the 2017 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for their significant research leading to the development of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. The award is the country’s most prestigious biomedical research prize,...
Although Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it someday may prove to be an effective treatment for glioblastoma. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine showed that...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is granting exceptions under certain Medicare quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs without having to submit an extraordinary circumstances exception request if they are located in one of the Texas counties or...