Merry-Jennifer Markham, MD, FACP, FASCO, grew up in Fort White, Florida, a rural speck on the map in the northern part of the state. Fort White is home to the Ichetucknee River and Springs, a crystal-clear natural wonder known only to the locals until 1972, when it was declared a National Natural...
The threat posed by head and neck cancer extends well beyond the physical disease, according to research presented at the 2020 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1,2 The pair of studies underscored the high costs of survivorship, including elevated rates of chronic pain, substance...
The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) presents unprecedented challenges and uncertainty to the cancer care delivery system. ASCO has been actively monitoring and responding to the pandemic to ensure that accurate information is readily available to clinicians and their patients. ...
It’s 1964 in Chicago. Seven forward-thinking oncologists gather to brainstorm what will become the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Among the group is Jane C. Wright, MD, FASCO, the only woman and African American among ASCO’s founders. It’s time for the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting in...
The addition of bevacizumab to the current standard of care of chemoradiation therapy is safe and feasible for the treatment of locally or regionally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer, according to data presented at the 2020 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 “I’m pleased to report...
ASCO commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for releasing draft guidance that encourages inclusion of older adults in clinical trials of drugs for the treatment of cancer. The guidance emphasizes the importance of including adults aged 75 or older in clinical trials to better enable...
Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, Leslye M. Heisler Assistant Professor for Lung Cancer Excellence at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, underscored the paucity of treatment options for metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. “Even though pembrolizumab is...
The first trial to evaluate anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade combined with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibition in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma demonstrates promising activity of the drug combination in patients with platinum-refractory or -ineligible...
The lymphomas are an incredibly complex assemblage of neoplastic diseases. They are not one disease, and, at least based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumors published in 2017, they represent a collection of approximately 80 different malignancies, a number that will...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jonathan U. Peled, MD, PhD, of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), New York, and colleagues found that intestinal microbiota from patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell...
Earlier this month, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced that the group’s Annual Meeting would be held in a two-part virtual format and not in person. Instead, segments of the meeting program will be presented in late April and in June 2020. The decision was made not to...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to advance the FDA’s public health initiative called Project Renewal. Launched in October 2018 by the FDA’s Oncology Center for Excellence (OCE), Project Renewal has an ambitious goal to...
A study showing that statins used alone or in combination with metformin was associated with reduced prostate cancer mortality and all-cause mortality among men with high-risk prostate cancer may raise more questions about these already commonly used drugs.1 “Metformin is the first-line therapy for ...
A population-based retrospective cohort study involving 12,700 patients found that men with high-risk prostate cancer who took a statin alone or in combination with metformin had reduced all-cause and prostate cancer–specific mortality. The associations between the medications and reduced...
In the fall of 2009, I began experiencing some abdominal discomfort, pain in my right shoulder, and severe fatigue that were easily explained away as the result of gallstones and by my career as a paramedic. I had many of the risk factors for gallbladder disease, and both my mother and sister...
On March 10, 2020, the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have been previously treated with sorafenib.1-3 Supporting Efficacy Data The approval was based on findings in a cohort...
The text and photograph here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The X-Ray Era: 1901–1915 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Dr. Burns and The Burns Archive. To view ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of 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, historical...
I read with great interest Jo Cavallo’s article “Maintaining Blood Donations During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. My wife and I have been British residents in the United States for over 6 years and are frustrated that we cannot donate blood, especially during this raging global COVID-19 pandemic, when...
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched the $1 million Technology Accelerator Challenge to spur the design and development of noninvasive, handheld, digital technologies to detect, diagnose, and guide therapies for diseases with high global and public health impact. The challenge is...
To more accurately reflect the mission and vision of the program, Fox Chase Cancer Center recently announced that the name of the Pain and Palliative Care Program has been changed to the Supportive Oncology and Palliative Care Program (SOPCP). The program has also received, for the third time, the ...
Joseph C. Alvarnas, MD, of the City of Hope National Medical Center, discusses the patients with cancer who are at an increased risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19, including those receiving bone marrow or stem cell transplants and CAR-T cell therapy, and what they can do to...
How confident should oncologists be that their patients feel adequately informed about the adverse effects of their cancer treatment? A recent study by Shaverdian et al,1 reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, found that 18% of 403 patients felt...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Narek Shaverdian, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues found that most patients undergoing radiation therapy for cancer reported that anticipated adverse effects did not occur or were no worse than expected.1 However, ...
The microbiome—and the foods that feed it—is emerging as an important determinant of a patient’s response to immunotherapy. Much of the research in this area comes from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as described at the 2020 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium by...
In a small study published in the Journal of Proteomics, Ayse Leyla Mindikoglu, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that dawn-to-sunset fasting was associated with proteins that were protective against cancer as well as obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, inflammation, and some neurologic disorders...
In this edition of Living a Full Life, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with hematologist Parameswaran Hari, MD, MRCP, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. In addition, Dr. Hari holds the Armand J. Quick/William F. Stapp Chair...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on the Budwig...
Vitamin D is a steroid-like hormone involved primarily in human calcium homeostasis. Obtained through sun exposure as well as food and dietary supplements,1 vitamin D in humans is metabolized in the liver and kidneys to its active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25[OH]2D).2 Other cell types,...
In a Children’s Oncology Group analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gupta et al found that discontinuation of pegylated asparaginase (PEG-ASNase) was associated with poorer disease-free survival among pediatric patients with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However,...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP, and colleagues found that a large commercial payer’s utilization management policy was associated with increased use of hypofractionated radiotherapy among eligible women with early-stage breast cancer. The investigators noted,...
As reported in The Lancet by Jeff P. Sharman, MD, and colleagues, the phase III ELEVATE-TN trial showed significantly improved progression-free survival with both acalabrutinib/obinutuzumab and acalabrutinib monotherapy vs chlorambucil/obinutuzumab in patients with treatment-naive chronic...
On April 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy) for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received at least two prior therapies for metastatic disease. Sacituzumab govitecan-hziy is the first...
In an update of a phase I trial of anti-CD22 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in children and young adults with relapsed or refractory CD22-positive B-cell malignancies reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shah et al described findings in cohorts receiving treatment at doses...
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has released a new surgical resource document, “Local Resumption of Elective Surgery Guidance,” as a guide for health-care facilities preparing to resume elective surgery once COVID-19 has peaked in their area. Health-care facilities have been allocating...
The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected David A. Tuveson, MD, PhD, FAACR, as their President-Elect for 2020–2021. He will officially become President-Elect on April 29, 2020, during the AACR’s Business Meeting of Members. He will assume the presidency in...
In a letter published in the journal Blood, Steven P. Treon, MD, PhD, and colleagues reported a potential protective effect against pulmonary injury with the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were receiving the agent for Waldenström’s...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wagner et al found that patient-reported cognitive impairment was worse at 3 and 6 months in women with early breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy vs endocrine therapy alone in the TAILORx trial, with no significant...
On April 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) to include its combination with rituximab for the initial treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). This review was conducted...
Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses an integrated analysis of five clinical trials, in phases I through III, for a variety of advanced cancers. Findings show that patients treated with talazoparib monotherapy had lower hospitalization rates (compared to those ...
Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses racial differences in self-reported outcomes of patients with HER2-negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer and a germline BRCA1/2 mutation who received talazoparib vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy...
April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. —T.S. Eliot, The Burial of the Dead, The Waste Land, 1922 I started...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the first diagnostic test with a home collection option for COVID-19. Specifically, the FDA re-issued the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) COVID-19 RT-PCR Test to permit testing of samples...
Patients may experience a greater occurrence of infections in the years preceding a cancer diagnosis, according to results from a study published by Inaida et al in Cancer Immunology Research. “Cancer can develop in an inflammatory environment caused by infections, immunity disruption, exposure to...
Patients with cancer and those who have recently completed treatment are finding it challenging to get necessary health care in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are experiencing financial stress trying to afford care in an increasingly difficult economic environment. Delays in Care...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Li et al found that the addition of capecitabine to taxane/anthracycline adjuvant therapy for triple-negative breast cancer was associated with improved disease-free survival. Study Details In the open-label multicenter...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Matthew D. Galsky, MD, and colleagues found that maintenance pembrolizumab produced additional responses and improved progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who had at least stable disease...
The coronavirus pandemic is being compared to a battlefield, with health-care workers seen as the front-line soldiers in the war against the disease. There is certainly truth to that, insofar as doctors and nurses in many countries now face an unprecedented workload in saving lives, along with the...
Giorgio V. Scagliotti, MD, PhD, of the University of Turin, talks about the progression of COVID-19 through his community and how, in nursing homes, lack of experience dealing with a pandemic is fueling a third wave of the virus in Italy. Filmed April 15, 2020.
A high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging technique, when combined with quantitative measurement of tissue elasticity, could accurately detect cancer within the resected margins of surgical specimens taken from patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery, according to a study published by...