The combination of ponatinib and blinatumomab has led to rapid and durable remissions in patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to data presented at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and...
In a population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Coltin et al found that survivors of childhood medulloblastoma in Ontario were at an increased risk of numerous adverse health outcomes compared with matched noncancer controls. Study Details In the study, all 5-year...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Cheng et al found that higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers measured after surgery—but before receipt of chemotherapy—were associated with poorer outcomes in patients with stage III colon cancer enrolled in the CALGB/SWOG 80702 trial of adjuvant...
Compared to other common supplemental screening methods, breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was superior at detecting breast cancer in patients with dense breasts, according to a new study published by Hussein et al in Radiology. Background Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Josephine M.N. Lopes Cardozo, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that a higher score on a polygenic risk score consisting of 313 common genetic variants (the PRS313) was generally associated with more favorable tumor characteristics in patients...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Corey W. Speers, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the sensitivity to endocrine therapy (SET2,3) index and the 21-gene breast recurrence score (RS) were not correlated in defining prognosis among postmenopausal patients with estrogen...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wang et al identified mutations linked to high tumor mutation burden in microsatellite-stable (MSS) gastrointestinal cancers that may be associated with efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Study Details Molecular alterations in 48,606...
Results of a planned interim overall survival analysis of the phase III monarchE trial offered further support for the addition of abemaciclib to adjuvant endocrine therapy for patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-positive, high-risk disease, according to Stephen R.D....
Intensive salvage therapy with the goal of achieving complete remission prior to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) may not be necessary in some patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to the results of the phase III ASAP trial presented at...
Options are growing in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma after complete response. At the 2022 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference,1 the use of these newer strategies in older patients was discussed by Brad S. Kahl, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Lymphoma Service at Washington...
Oxidative stress is a key factor in the development of many diseases including cancer. Antioxidants prevent cellular damage by neutralizing free radicals and are being investigated as potential therapeutic strategies against cancer. In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology...
As an oncologist, I had cared for patients facing grave illness and death. I imagined the loss of loved ones and expected grief to be an unbearable sadness, most poignant in the earliest days and lessening with time. I somehow expected that counseling people who grieved would make me more prepared. ...
Urvi A. Shah, MD, Assistant Attending at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, moderated the session where the MagnetisMM trial updates1,2 were reported and was interviewed by The ASCO Post. Elranatamab vs Teclistamab Dr. Shah noted...
The promise of bispecific monoclonal antibodies in multiple myeloma continues to heighten as yet another one appears to be active. In a study reported at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition,1 almost two-thirds of patients with triple-refractory disease who...
On December 16, 2022, nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg, an adenoviral vector–based gene therapy, was approved for patients with high-risk bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ with or without papillary tumors.1 Supporting Efficacy Data...
A new ASCO guideline on opioids in managing pain from cancer or cancer treatment in adults provides recommendations on administering them in the midst of interventions to address the public health crisis from their misuse and related deaths across the country.1 “ASCO took wonderful leadership in...
In a phase II study of stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), domvanalimab, a novel antibody that blocks T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT), when added to anti–PD-1 zimberelimab immunotherapy resulted in improved response rates and progression-free survival compared with...
Zanubrutinib—a next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor—achieved high response rates and durable disease control with a low incidence of cardiac effects in patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma, according to updated findings from the final analysis of the phase ...
The first-line combination of obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, and venetoclax appears to be effective in treating high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to data presented at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition.1 Results of the CLL2-GIVe trial, which...
Two separate studies presented at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition provide preliminary evidence that triplet combinations may have a role in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Both triplets were based on the addition of a third drug to standard ...
Neil J. Shah, MBBS, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, called the cohort study “one of a kind” because of the ability to match baseline cohorts of people living with and without HIV and metastatic non–small cell lung cancer. “These findings should be very...
Insights on findings from the phase II MonumenTAL-1 trial1 were offered by Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, and Medical Director of the Winship Data and Technology Applications Shared Resource, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School ...
The 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition was full of interesting abstracts in multiple myeloma. In addition to full coverage of several important presentations, The ASCO Post offers readers quick takes on some studies that could be practice-changing and others...
The combination of palbociclib and fulvestrant did not prolong progression-free survival compared to fulvestrant alone in patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who had disease progression on prior treatment with a CDK4/6 inhibitor and endocrine therapy,...
Preserving fertility is a driving concern for many young women with breast cancer. Many of these women have hormone receptor–positive breast cancer and are treated with adjuvant endocrine therapy for 5 to 10 years, which is known to compromise fertility. Younger women who may want to take a break...
The oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) camizestrant improved progression-free survival, as compared with fulvestrant, in previously treated postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer in the phase II SERENA-2 trial. These results were reported at the 2022 San Antonio Breast...
“These results [from the TRIO-US B-12 TALENT trial] are exciting and impressive in HER2-low, hormone receptor–positive patients. The authors were testing the waters and got a positive signal,” said Jason Aboudi Mouabbi, MD, a medical oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. “The beauty of ...
A pilot study provides a signal that the novel HER2 antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd), is active in the neoadjuvant setting in patients with HER2-low breast cancer. Overall response rates were 75% with T-DXd alone and 63% when T-DXd was combined with endocrine therapy...
In the phase I/II MonumenTAL-1 trial, the novel bispecific antibody talquetamab produced responses in more than 70% of heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma.1 Of note, the safety profile confirmed results of the phase I portion of the study (recently published in TheNew England Journal...
Investigators revealed that approximately one out of every two patients on Medicare who have non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may not receive the appropriate imaging prior to receiving radiation therapy, according to a new study published by Sterbis et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine....
Many women with two or three cancerous lesions in the breast can safely undergo lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy, according to the results of a prospective phase II trial reported at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 In this study, local recurrence rates after breast-conserving ...
Researchers have developed and tested an artificial intelligence (AI) tool known as Sybil, which may accurately predict the risk of lung cancer for individuals with or without a significant smoking history using data from low-dose chest computed tomography (CT) scans, according to a new study...
In a phase II trial, treatment with the JAK2 inhibitor ruxolitinib resulted in clinical activity in two-thirds of patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) with splenomegaly or an otherwise high disease symptom burden. The magnitude of symptomatic benefit was similar to that observed in...
In recognition of continuing issues with the process of melanocytic pathology assessments, an expert panel of three dermatopathologists—with assistance from an expert team of researchers—has developed and now revised the Melanocytic Pathology Assessment Tool and Hierarchy for Diagnosis schema...
Investigators discovered that PD-1 inhibition prior to surgery may be effective for patients with localized mismatch repair–deficient or microsatellite instability–high (dMMR/MSI-H) colorectal cancer, according to a study published by Xiao et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer ...
Researchers have discovered that severe inflammation may weaken the body’s ability to kill cancerous blood cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a new study published by Lasry et al in Nature Cancer. With bone marrow samples from 20 adults and 22 children with AML, the...
In the population-based SURVCAN-3 study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Soerjomataram et al identified cancer survival rates in 32 countries in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. They found that disparities for many cancer types reflect the standing of countries according to the Human...
Fewer cases of melanoma were observed among individuals who regularly took vitamin D supplements than among those who did not take the supplements, according to a new study published by Kanasuo et al in Melanoma Research. Researchers also found that individuals taking vitamin D supplements...
For patients with early-stage prostate cancer being managed by active surveillance, adding the hormonal agent apalutamide may lower the rate of positive biopsies during follow-up, suggest findings from a preliminary clinical trial published by Schweizer et al in The Journal of Urology. "In our...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sjöström et al identified a 16-gene signature—Profile for the Omission of Local Adjuvant Radiation, or POLAR—that predicted low likelihood of benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy in preventing locoregional recurrence in patients with...
Investigators recently examined prostate cancer screening among primary care providers and found that screening tests were frequently used—even when they provide little value to patients, according to a new study published by Gillette et al in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine....
Researchers have performed the first postmarkert analysis of a novel delivery system of mitomycin—a gel formation, also known as UGN-101—to treat upper tract urothelial cancers, according to a novel study published by Woldu et al in Urologic Oncology. Their findings showcase how the treatment is...
Elacestrant—an investigational oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD)—achieved longer progression-free survival vs standard-of-care endocrine monotherapy as second- or third-line therapy in patients with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in the ...
Positive results were announced from the phase III IMerge trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02598661) evaluating the first-in-class telomerase inhibitor imetelstat in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who are relapsed, refractory, or ineligible for...
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Friedman et al found low rates of late mortality and subsequent malignant neoplasms in survivors of neuroblastoma treated in infancy. The risk of severe chronic health conditions decreased during...
World Cancer Day 2023 is now only 1 month away! Led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and organized annually on February 4, World Cancer Day is a global initiative to improve awareness and knowledge of cancer risks and better prevent, detect, and treat the disease. World Cancer...
Research conducted by UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Cincinnati showed that direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are more effective—and more cost-effective—than low–molecular-weight heparin for treating cancer-associated thrombosis. A study published by Gulati et al in...
Despite widespread awareness of the importance of screening for asymptomatic, early detection of cancer, screening tests exist for only five cancer types. With few recommended cancer screening tests and generally low adherence to cancer screening recommendations, it is difficult to detect cancer...
ASCO recently released an updated position statement on drug repository programs. The update shifts ASCO’s position to allow donation of oral cancer drug treatments in an open distribution system—which are drugs that have left the supply chain and have been dispensed to patients. ASCO’s previous...
New findings revealed that the highest mortality rates for prostate cancer among White male patients were found in the Western United States—including California—despite low incidence rates, according to a new study published by Schafer et al in European Urology. However, when compared with White...