IN THE EUROPEAN phase III ESPAC-4 trial reported in The Lancet, John P. Neoptolemos, MD, of the Liverpool Clinical and Cancer Research UK Trials Unit, University of Liverpool, and colleagues found that adding adjuvant capecitabine to gemcitabine significantly improved overall survival in patients...
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO is currently accepting applications for the 2018 Young Investigator Award (YIA) and Career Development Award (CDA). Young Investigator Award (YIA) A 1-year grant totaling $50,000, the YIA provides research funding to promising physicians to support the...
SUPRIYA MOHILE, MD, MS Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of the Geriatric Oncology Clinic University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, New York Older adults are the population most affected by cancer: 60% of all cancer occurs in this group. Yet the field of oncology that focuses on...
AN EFFECTIVE antitumor immune response relies on cytotoxic T cells that are activated and able to target the malignant clone. As T cells become activated, they upregulate suppressive receptors including programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). Upregulation of inhibitory signals is important to...
In 2017, ASCO and the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO are proud to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the International Development and Education Award (IDEA). The IDEA program supports the professional development of early-career oncologists in low- and middle-income countries around the world....
AS REPORTED in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Robert Chen, MD, of City of Hope National Medical Center, and colleagues, the phase II KEYNOTE-087 trial has shown that the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is highly active in patients with relapsed/...
In the past decade, advances in surgical oncology have been echoed in the field of geriatric oncology. The current literature regarding older people with cancer includes mainly retrospective cohort studies, focusing on alternatives to radical surgery in comorbid patients. More recently, work has...
ASCO’s Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study continues to expand and now has more than 300 participants enrolled on study drugs, more than 100 sites in 20 states, new partnerships, and a -revised protocol to lower the age of eligibility. Recently, eight new centers in 36...
Second cancers in children and adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are far deadlier than they are in older adults and may partially account for the relatively poor outcomes of cancer patients between the ages of 15 and 39 overall, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis...
Largely based on studies demonstrating that letrozole can suppress plasma estradiol levels to a greater extent than anastrozole,1 the adjuvant activity of these endocrine agents were compared in 4,136 patients with node-positive breast cancer in the FACE trial. As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ian E. Smith, MD, of The Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research, and colleagues, final results of the phase III FACE trial showed no difference in disease-free or overall survival for adjuvant letrozole vs anastrozole in...
HERE ARE SEVERAL ABSTRACTS selected from the proceedings of the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting clinical trials on autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for various hematologic malignancies. Additional selected...
“PRECISION MEDICINE will lead to fundamental understanding of the complex interplay among genetics, epigenetics, nutrition, environment and clinical presentation, and direct effective, evidence-based prevention and treatment. We can’t measure all that all at once right now, but we are starting to...
TALAZOPARIB, a novel inhibitor of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), showed encouraging efficacy in breast cancer patients with BRCA1/2 mutations in the phase II ABRAZO trial, presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting by Nicholas C. Turner, MD, of the Royal Marsden Hospital and The Institute of...
INCREASING NUMBERS of patients are being treated with checkpoint inhibitors, and about one-quarter to one-third will develop immune-related adverse events. One question on the minds of oncologists is can these patients be safely re-treated once their adverse events resolve? One of the first...
The family and staff of Harborside Press mourn the loss of former colleague, and forever friend James F. McCarthy, who passed away after a brief illness on June 23, 2017. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 7, 1929, to John A. and Eda K. McCarthy, Jim was a graduate of Brooklyn Preparatory High ...
"TO PUT THESE RESULTS into context, currently we have three approved epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors for EGFR-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): gefitinib (Iressa), erlotinib (Tarceva), and afatinib (Gilotrif). Not many studies have compared these drugs ...
Head and neck and lung cancer researcher Missak Haigentz, MD, has joined Atlantic Health System Cancer Care as Chief of Hematology and Oncology at Morristown Medical Center and Medical Director of Atlantic Hematology and Oncology for Atlantic Medical Group at the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center. Dr....
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Giovanni Martinelli, MD, of S. Orsola University Hospital, Bologna, and colleagues found that blinatumomab (Blincyto) produced complete responses in patients with relapsed/refractory Philadelphia chromosome–positive B-precursor...
A book aimed at helping young families understand cancer, Hair to the Queen! is now available on Amazon. Written by first-time author Tamara B. Rodriguez and illustrated by Carole A. Smith, the book empowers adults to discuss cancer with children in a simple and compassionate way. Hair to the...
BOOKMARK Title: The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our WorldAuthor: Pedro DomingosPublisher: Beacon PressPublication date: February 2017Price: $24.95, hardcover, 288 pages Technology is revolutionizing our understanding and treatment of diseases....
THE COMBINATION of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) showed promising results as first-line treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to a phase II trial called IMmotion 150. Based on these results, the phase III IMmotion 151 trial is comparing...
The use of fat grafting as a tool for breast reconstruction following a mastectomy may improve breast satisfaction, psychosocial well-being, and sexual well-being in patients, according to a study published by Bennett et al in JAMA Surgery. Fat grafting as an adjunct to breast reconstruction...
On June 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted marketing approval to the Praxis Extended RAS Panel, a next-generation sequencing test to detect certain genetic mutations in RAS genes in tumor samples of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The test is used to aid in the...
The addition of ublituximab (a glycoengineered anti-CD20 antibody) to ibrutinib (Imbruvica) improved response rates, depth of response, and led to quicker resolution of ibrutinib-associated lymphocytosis in patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in the phase III GENUINE trial,...
Chinese investigators reported that 100% of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma responded to autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, and 14 of 19 (74%) who were followed for a median of 4 months achieved a stringent complete response and have not recurred.1...
All patients with cancer experience some level of distress associated with their cancer diagnosis and the effects of the disease and its treatment—regardless of the stage of disease. Not only does distress affect a patient’s mental and psychosocial well-being, but because distress is a risk...
The troubling results from a survey1 investigating the sexual harassment and discrimination experiences of academic medical faculty show that such incidents continue to happen with unexpected frequency despite increasing awareness of the problem. The study by Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, and...
Although several treatment options are available for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains the only curative therapy.1 The risks of complications and death from transplantation can be substantial. Determining which patients may...
Leisha A. Emens, MD, PhD, of the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Johns Hopkins University, commented on the promise of anti–programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) agents in triple-negative breast cancer. She noted that “an emerging theme...
In the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer, checkpoint inhibition is making inroads in both early- and late-stage disease, and the line of treatment and expression of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) could be important in determining outcomes, according to studies reported at the...
Gastrointestinal cancer researcher Angela Alistar, MD, has joined Atlantic Health System Cancer Care as Medical Director of GI Medical Oncology at Morristown Medical Center. Dr. Alistar is a board-certified medical oncologist who specializes in translational research. She comes to Atlantic Health...
The World Health Assembly (WHA)—the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO)—adopted a long-expected cancer resolution at its 2017 meeting, the body’s first resolution on cancer in 12 years and the first to emphasize, among other issues, the accessibility and affordability of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of the monoclonal antibody daratumumab -(Darzalex) in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide ...
In oncology, sometimes we forget about the small, everyday things that can significantly impact a patient’s life. When patients are explained the side effects of chemotherapy and chemotherapy-induced alopecia, most women will cry or become visibly upset. When a woman loses her hair, it represents...
An interim analysis of the SCALP trial, reported in JAMA by Julie Nangia, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, and colleagues, showed that use of a scalp-cooling device significantly reduced hair loss in women receiving chemotherapy for stage I or II breast cancer compared with no scalp cooling.1 The ...
GUEST EDITOR Addressing the evolving needs of cancer survivors at various stages of their illness and care, Palliative Care in Oncology is guest edited by Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD. Dr. Von Roenn is ASCO’s Vice President of Education, Science, and Professional Development. Because cultural origins...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Dr. Andrew Zelenetz and colleagues and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, an international phase III trial in 416 patients with refractory or recurrent chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) addressed the benefit of adding the first-in-class phosphoinositide...
NewYork-Presbyterian has established the William Rhodes and Louise Tilzer-Rhodes Center for Glioblastoma. Launched with an initial $5 million gift from William Rhodes, the new state-of-the-art program conducts groundbreaking research and provides cutting-edge treatments for glioblastoma and other...
Richard Pazdur, MD, Director of the Oncology Center of Excellence and Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP) Acting Director, has announced the appointment of Gideon M. Blumenthal, MD, as Acting Deputy Office Director of the OHOP at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr....
As reported by Stolley et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a community-based interventionist-guided weight loss program for African American breast cancer survivors (Moving Forward) proved successful in achieving weight loss goals compared with a self-guided weight loss program. African...
For patients with colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver, having a primary tumor on the left side as opposed to the right side of the colon is known to be a significant advantage in terms of treatment response. But a new study, presented by van Hazel et al at the European Society for...
On July 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the expanded use of a cooling cap, DigniCap Cooling System, to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy. This is the first cooling cap cleared by the agency for use in cancer patients with solid tumors. “We are pleased to expand the...
The benefits of a Mediterranean diet are well known when it comes to colorectal protection, but it’s hard to know specifically what elements of the diet are the healthiest. Now a new study, presented by Fliss Isakov et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, suggests...
Clinical data on an investigational immuno-oncology drug pegilodecakin (PEGylated human interleukin-10, also known as AM0010) was presented by Hecht et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona, Spain (Abstract O-004). Pegilodecakin is being evaluated in an ongoing...
Preliminary results from patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma enrolled in a phase I study of the investigational anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody BGB-A317 in advanced solid tumors were presented by Yen et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unveiled a strategic plan to eliminate the agency’s existing Orphan Drug designation request backlog and ensure continued timely response to all new requests for designation with firm deadlines. The agency’s Orphan Drug Modernization...
To maximize cancer cell detection during cancer surgery, Jermyn et al designed a validation study to determine the accuracy of using an in situ intraoperative, label-free, optical system. They found the system was able to detect cancer cells in patients with brain tumors with a high degree of...
On June 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took two new, important steps to increase competition in the market for prescription drugs and facilitate entry of lower-cost alternatives. The agency published a list of off-patent, off-exclusivity branded drugs without approved generics, and ...
A simple blood test could improve treatment for more than one in six patients with stage II colon cancer, suggests new research from the Mayo Clinic. Researchers also discovered that many patients who could benefit from the test likely aren’t receiving it. These findings were published by...