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Showing 1301 - 1350Venetoclax Produces High Response Rate in Relapsed or Refractory CLL With 17p Deletion
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Stilgenbauer et al found that the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax (Venclexta) produced a high response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with the 17p deletion (del [17p]). The study supported the recent...
Outcomes With Palbociclib at Altered Dose and Schedule in Liposarcoma
In a single-center phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Dickson et al found that changing the dose and schedule of palbociclib (Ibrance) from those in a previous phase II trial appeared to maintain activity while potentially reducing hematologic adverse effects in patients with advanced...
Pembrolizumab Active in PD-L1–Positive Advanced Gastric and Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancers
As reported by Muro et al in The Lancet Oncology and Nanda et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed activity in programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced gastric cancer and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer in the...
A History of Medical Care for the Dying
In 2006, palliative care became a board-certified subspecialty of internal medicine, with specialized fellowships for physicians interested in the field. Despite its formal integration into best practices medical care, about 70% of Americans describe themselves as “not at all knowledgeable” about ...
Radiation: Myths, Facts, Dangers and Benefits
For many, the word “radiation” conjures up images of mushroom clouds and the nightmarish nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. It also brings to mind those pesky dental x-rays and lifesaving cancer treatments. However, to most people, radiation is a mysterious invisible power to be feared and embraced...
Praise for the ACS/ASCO Breast Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline
The recent publication of the American Cancer Society (ACS)/ASCO breast cancer survivorship care guideline is a tremendous contribution to the literature and should provide a roadmap for providers who care for patients with a history of breast cancer for years to come.1,2 The guideline, reported by ...
Pembrolizumab Looks Promising in Multiple Myeloma
Monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein (PD-1) receptor look promising in multiple myeloma, according to early reports presented at the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Early signs of activity in heavily pretreated patients may indicate that, as in solid tumors,...
AACR 2016: LOXO-101 Shows Continued Promise in Patients Whose Tumors Had NTRK Gene Fusions
The investigational drug LOXO-101, which selectively targets a family of proteins called neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptors (NTRKs), produced significant tumor regression in patients whose tumors had NTRK gene fusions, according to data from a phase I clinical trial presented by Hong et al at...
AACR 2016: RAF-Targeted Therapeutic BGB-283 Shows Early Promise Against Tumors With BRAF and RAS Mutations
The new investigational anticancer therapeutic BGB-283, which targets the RAF family of proteins, was safe, tolerable, and showed signs of clinical activity in patients who had a range of types of cancer with mutations in BRAF, KRAS, and NRAS, according to results from a phase I clinical trial...
FDA Accepts Supplemental Biologics License Application for Pembrolizumab in Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer, Grants Priority Review
Merck today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab (Keytruda), a monoclonal antibody and anti–programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) therapy, for the treatment of...
FDA Approves Venetoclax for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia With 17p Deletion
On April 11, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved venetoclax (Venclexta) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with 17p deletion, as detected by an FDA-approved test, who have received at least one prior therapy. Venetoclax is the first...
Crizotinib in ROS1-Positive Metastatic Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
On March 11, 2016, crizotinib (Xalkori) was approved for treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ROS1 rearrangement–positive tumors.1,2 A U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved test for the detection of ROS1 rearrangements in NSCLC is not currently...
Understanding and Preparing for MACRA
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) was passed in April 2015, introducing comprehensive changes to how Medicare pays physicians for services. As the policies passed in MACRA are rolled out over the coming years, they will profoundly impact reimbursement and care...
Is This the Dawn of Cancer Biosimilars?
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, did more than make it possible for millions of Americans to afford health care; it also established an abbreviated approval pathway for biologic products that are “biosimilar” to, or shown to be “interchangeable” with, a U.S....
Scandinavian Sarcoma Group Trial Shows Continued Benefit With 3 Years vs 1 Year of Adjuvant Imatinib in High-Risk GIST
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Heikki Joensuu, MD, PhD, of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues, the second planned analysis in the Scandinavian Sarcoma Group XVIII/AIO trial showed a recurrence-free survival benefit and a continued overall survival ...
No Apparent Benefit of Long-Term Mifepristone in the Treatment of Unresectable Meningioma
In a phase III trial (SWOG S9005) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 YongLi Ji, MD, PhD, and Claire Verschraegen, MD, of the University of Vermont Cancer Center; and colleagues found no benefit of treatment with the antiprogestin agent mifepristone vs placebo in patients with...
2016 Pre–Annual Meeting Educational Programs Feature Important Topics for Modern Cancer Care Providers
For oncology professionals looking to maximize their learning and networking opportunities, ASCO will be offering two types of Pre–Annual Meeting Educational Programs ahead of its 2016 Annual Meeting in Chicago this summer. Offered since 2012, Pre–Annual Meeting Seminars are a series of in-depth...
Update on CancerLinQ: A Rapid Health-Care Learning System
On March 26, 2013, ASCO announced that it had completed a prototype of CancerLinQ™, the Society’s groundbreaking health information–technology initiative to achieve higher quality, higher value cancer care with better outcomes for patients. At this year’s 2016 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, Robert S. ...
Selected Abstracts From 2015 ASH Annual Meeting: Part 3
Here are several more abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, focusing on the topic of anticoagulation and the cancer patient. For other selected abstracts from this conference, see the December 25, 2015, and the...
Adding Targeted Therapy to Chemoimmunotherapy in Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Questions as to Optimal Strategy Remain
The HELIOS study is an international phase III trial of bendamustine (Treanda) plus rituximab (Rituxan) in combination with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) vs placebo in patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. As reported by Chanan-Khan in The Lancet Oncology1 and reviewed in this...
Adding Ibrutinib to Bendamustine/Rituximab Improves Outcome in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma
In the phase III HELIOS trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Asher Chanan-Khan, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Jacksonville, Florida, and colleagues found that addition of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) to bendamustine (Treanda)/rituximab (Rituxan)...
An Increase for the National Institutes of Health Budget
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) received a nearly $2 billion funding increase—the first large increase for the agency in more than 12 years—in the federal omnibus spending bill Congress passed on December 18, 2015. And President Barack Obama signed the bill into law a day later. The 6.6%...
Comprehensive Genomic Analysis Reveals New Genetic Insights Into Malignant Mesothelioma
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare but deadly form of cancer; the 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with the disease is between 5% and 10%. Although aggressive surgery can help some patients with early-stage mesothelioma, current treatments for patients with more advanced mesothelioma are...
Final Analysis of BCIRG-006 Supports Use of Non–Anthracycline-Containing Regimen in Treatment of Women With Early Breast Cancer
The final analysis of the BCIRG-006 trial confirmed the long-term efficacy of trastuzumab (Herceptin) in early breast cancer and also validated the concept that anthracyclines increase toxicity and they are not always necessary for a good outcome.1 The 10-year follow-up of the landmark trial was...
Nuns Work Where None Work
It was December 9, 1975—a cold morning in the tribal village in Mahuadanr in Bihar, India. The valley was filled with an eerie mist coming down from the hills surrounding the village. Champa, a 5-year-old malnourished girl with sunken eyes, an emaciated face, and a huge ascites, was carried by her...
ASCO Provides Support and Guidance for the White House Cancer Moonshot Initiative
Although President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act in 1971, essentially declaring a war on cancer, the genesis of the idea had actually been born 2 years earlier, after the first landing on the moon set off a new era of scientific exploration and sparked a belief that any scientific...
Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, Named Deputy Director of Winship Cancer Institute
Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, an internationally recognized lung cancer physician-investigator, has been named Deputy Director of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He will also serve as Assistant Dean for Cancer Research in the Emory School of Medicine. In his role as Winship’s Deputy...
Ofatumumab for Extended Treatment of Patients With Recurrent or Progressive Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
On January 19, 2016, ofatumumab (Arzerra) was approved for extended treatment of patients in complete or partial response after at least two lines of therapy for recurrent or progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).1,2 Ofatumumab was previously approved for treatment of untreated patients...
Active Holistic Surveillance May Prevent Unnecessary Biopsies in Low- and Low/Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer
The use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening has led to a dramatic rise in the number of men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer. Active surveillance is recommended to manage patients with favorable-risk, low-grade prostate cancer, with the goal of avoiding overtreatment of these...
Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Joins City of Hope
Medical oncologist and researcher Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, has joined City of Hope as Professor and Chair in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research. He will play a key leadership role in the expansion of clinical programs at City of Hope’s Duarte campus and in its clinics...
PI3K Inhibitor Buparlisib Extends Progression-Free Survival in Advanced Breast Cancer
Addition of the oral investigational pan-PI3K inhibitor buparlisib to the endocrine agent fulvestrant (Faslodex) improved progression-free survival among postmenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. “We are happy to announce that the phase III...
Cabozantinib Shows Encouraging Activity in Metastatic Castrate‑resistant Prostate Cancer
Cabozantinib, a dual inhibitor of MET kinase and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, exhibits high, early single-agent activity in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer, according to Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, who presented these findings at the 2011 ASCO Annual...
Oncology Community Briefs Members of Congress and Calls for Action
ASCO and seven other oncology organizations held a Capitol Hill briefing in July and explained to nearly 200 members of Congress and their staffs how widespread cancer drug shortages are creating “a crisis in care.” According to the University of Utah Drug Information Service, the number of drug...
Congressional Hearing Highlights Oncology Drug Shortages
Some oncology drugs are in such short supply that the situation is now critical, with almost 200 drugs affected—triple that of 2003. This was the background described by speakers at a July 2011 congressional briefing sponsored by the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), ASCO, and other...
World Conference on Lung Cancer: Personalized Approaches to Treatment
The 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer hosted more than 7,000 attendees in Amsterdam recently, with the theme “Better Care through Personalized Medical Approaches.” The following are brief summaries of key data presented at the conference, with perspective provided by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, of...
Oncology Drug Shortage: An Unintended Consequence of the Medicare Modernization Act and Free-market Forces?
Oncology has a drug shortage problem, and the FDA says that it is getting worse. Drug shortages are not a new phenomenon, but over the past few years we have seen a rapidly growing number of shortfalls that are limiting providers’ ability to care for their patients. In 2004, the FDA reported 58...
Crizotinib: New Drug for ALK-positive Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Indication Crizotinib (Xalkori) is an oral inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinases including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR, c-Met), and recepteur d’origine nantais (RON). In August 2011, the FDA granted the drug accelerated approval for the treatment of...
Tamoxifen vs Surgery Study Shows Older Patients with Breast Cancer Can Achieve a ‘Personal Cure’
A truly final review—when all the patients in the trial have died and the cause of death is known for each—of a randomized trial comparing tamoxifen to surgery in patients over the age of 70 with operable breast cancer found no differences in the survival rates or deaths attributable to breast...
Prostate Cancer Screening Reconsidered
Prostate cancer is the most prevalent nonskin cancer in men. An estimated 16% of men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, yet only 3% of men die from it.1 Unlike other cancers, prostate cancer is associated with a prolonged lead-time, meaning it can take anywhere from 5 to 12 years to become...
New Indication for Cetuximab in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Cetuximab (Erbitux) was recently approved by the FDA for use in...
Ruxolitinib for Myelofibrosis Therapy: A Good Start but a Long Road Ahead
Following a priority review process for orphan diseases, ruxolitinb (Jakafi) recently became the first drug to receive FDA approval for the treatment of intermediate- and high-risk myelofibrosis. Discovery in 2004 of the JAK2V617F mutation in a significant proportion of patients with...
Therapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma in the Elderly Remains Undefined
At the 2011 Pan-Pacific Lymphoma Conference held recently in Kauai, Hawaii, Andrew M. Evens, DO, MSc, Director of the Lymphoma Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, discussed Hodgkin lymphoma in elderly patients. Event-free survival and overall survival rates in...
Resection of Metastatic Lesions Extends Survival in Multiple Tumor Types
Surgical oncologists urged other cancer providers to appreciate the potentially curative role that surgery can play in the management of many stage IV solid tumors, in a session during the American College of Surgeons 97th Annual Clinical Congress in San Francisco. Pulmonary Metastases Stephen G....
High EGFR Expression Can Predict Survival Benefit from Cetuximab plus First-line Chemotherapy in NSCLC
High expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) can predict survival benefit from cetuximab (Erbitux) added to first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The identification of high EGFR expression as a tumor biomarker follows findings from the...
A Second Chance for Gemtuzumab in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) may have a second chance for regulatory acceptance, as studies presented at ASH 2011 demonstrated that gemtuzumab can be safely and effectively given by adjusting the dosing and treatment schedule. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin was approved for the treatment of acute...
Adding Thalidomide to Chemoradiation Increases Toxicities but Not Survival for Stage III Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Adding thalidomide (Thalomid) to the third-generation chemotherapy doublet of paclitaxel and carboplatin and radiation for patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) increased toxicities but did not improve survival. These results from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG)...
Career Development Award Recipient Susan K. Parsons, MD, Supports Next Generation of Researchers
Like all pediatric oncologists, Susan K. Parsons, MD, MRP, knows that when a child is diagnosed with cancer, it happens to the whole family. Siblings must cope with everything from disruption of routine to reduced parental attention, to the often-new possibility of mortality. Parents must navigate...
Research Funding Key to Continued Progress in Cancer Care
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) President and ASCO member Judy Garber, MD, MPH, recently spoke with The ASCO Post about the findings of AACR’s landmark Cancer Progress Report,1 In addition, she offered her perspective on the current and future state of cancer research. Project...
Sorafenib plus Capecitabine for HER2-negative Advanced Breast Cancer
The addition of sorafenib (Nexavar) to capecitabine (Xeloda) improved progression-free survival among women with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIB trial. “There was no significant improvement for overall survival,” ...
SELECT Trial Update: Vitamin E Fails to Prevent Prostate Cancer in Healthy Men, Appears to Increase Risk
Supplements touted as preventing prostate cancer may turn out to be dangerous, as is evident from updated results of the largest long-term prevention trial, called the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). Final analysis of SELECT showed that, compared to placebo, vitamin E alone ...
