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Showing 13151 - 13200ASCO Clinical Expert Statement on Cancer Survivorship Care Planning
Efforts at implementing survivorship care plans have met with limited success in oncology practice, in part due to the time required to complete them, the lack of role clarity, and the lack of reimbursement for time to complete the documents. In response, ASCO convened a Survivorship Care Planning...
Lung Cancer: Next Frontier for Immunotherapy
Immune checkpoint inhibitors, particularly PD-1 (programmed cell death-1) and PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) inhibitors, are being studied extensively in lung cancer. These agents, alone and in combination, appear to have the potential to change the management of non–small cell lung cancer...
Choice for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: FOLFIRINOX or Gemcitabine/Nab-Paclitaxel?
The choice between FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) vs the combination of gemcitabine and nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) for first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer is not much of a contest, judging by a discussion of...
New Serologic Assay May Help Predict Recurrences in Merkel Cell Carcinoma
A new and inexpensive serologic assay may help to predict recurrences of Merkel cell carcinoma, according to Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD, the Michael Piepkorn Endowed Chair in Dermatology Research at the University of Washington, Seattle, who helped develop the test.1 Dr. Nghiem and other experts in...
Hedgehog Inhibitors Can Be Life-Altering in Patients With Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma
What advanced basal cell carcinomas lack in frequency, they make up for in morbidity, and for these challenging patients, the hedgehog inhibitors have changed lives, according to experts at the 3rd Annual World Cutaneous Malignancies Congress, held recently in San Francisco. “The majority of basal...
3D Mammography Improves Cancer Detection in Dense Breasts
A study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA 2014) has found that digital breast tomosynthesis, also known as three-dimensional (3D) mammography, has the potential to significantly increase the cancer detection rate in mammography screening of women...
Private Payer and Academic Center Data Capture Inappropriate Use of End-of-Life Care
Data sharing between a comprehensive cancer center and a private insurer appears to be a novel way to capture practice patterns that can point to potential quality improvements. A study that combined data from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts showed that some ...
Revisiting Successes in Advanced NSCLC to Test Value in Earlier-Stage Disease
Some pretty good evidence suggests that chemotherapy that works in advanced disease probably works even better in early-stage disease,” said Fadlo R. Khuri, MD, Chair, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta, in summarizing results from trials of...
Lung Cancer Expert Offers Recommendations for Treating Toxicities Associated With Targeted Therapies
Clearly life as a thoracic oncologist has changed. Our paradigm for giving one-size-fits-all chemotherapy seems a bit dated, as we now are learning that there are multiple targets that we can treat effectively with the right drugs,” Jyoti D. Patel, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at...
CMS Issues Preliminary Decision to Cover Annual Lung Cancer Screening
In a long-awaited decision, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a preliminary proposal to cover annual lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography for appropriate beneficiaries following counseling and a shared–decision-making visit with a qualified...
Transplants for AML in First Remission: A Great Leap Forward, Sideways, or Backward?
“All great truths begin as blasphemies.” —George Bernard Shaw (Annajanksa, 1918) Until about 15 years ago, persons with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) were considered candidates to receive a blood cell or bone marrow allotransplant in first remission only if they had had an HLA-identical...
PD-1 Blockade Moves Into Hematology
The promise of the programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) inhibitors seen in solid tumors, especially melanoma, may hold true for at least one hematologic malignancy, according to studies presented at the 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. At a press briefing, data ...
Ten Best-Practice Measures Improve Quality of Care During Perioperative Period for Patients With Glioma
Ten best-practice measures identified by a multidisciplinary team at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, were used to improve the care provided to patients with glioma during the perioperative period. “Using a plan-do-study-act ...
Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Who Progress After Front-line Treatment May Be Candidates for Novel Noncytotoxic Therapies
Although patients who relapse within 3 years of front-line fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (Rituxan; FCR) therapy have poor survival when treated with conventional salvage regimens, these patients may be candidates for novel noncytotoxic therapies, according to an analysis of extended...
AJCC Cancer Staging System Is Most Accurate Measuring Response to Chemoradiation in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
When classifying response to chemoradiation among patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Cancer Staging Manual (7th edition) system “is most accurate and should be adopted as the standard,” Attaphorn Trakarnsanga, MD, and colleagues at Memorial...
Physicians Need to Maintain Flexibility to Deviate From Treatment Guidelines Without Financial Penalties
With the provocative headline, “How Medical Care Is Being Corrupted,” an op-ed piece in The New York Times argued that “financial forces largely hidden from the public are beginning to corrupt care and undermine the bond of trust between doctors and patients.”1 The article warned that insurers,...
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Children and Young Adults With Cancer
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies of children and young adult cancer survivors. The studies include phase I, I/II, III, observational, and interventional trials investigating genomic profiling to personalize treatment;...
The Long and Winding Road to Modern Integrative Oncology
It has been a long road from the blind acceptance of unproven “alternative” remedies for the treatment of cancer to the development of rigorous guidelines for integrative care, which address symptom control. The recently released Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) guidelines applicable to...
The Best of SIO
The following five abstracts, which include four clinical studies and one basic research study, were named the top abstracts at the 2014 International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology. Therapeutic Effects of Lyophilized Leech Saliva Extract Hassona MDH, Ammar AE, Gao TY, et al: In ...
Olaparib for BRCA-Mutated Previously Treated Advanced Ovarian Cancer
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. On December 19, 2014, olaparib (Lynparza) was granted accelerated...
MD Anderson, UnitedHealthcare Launch New Cancer Care Payment Model
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UnitedHealthcare have launched a pilot to explore a new cancer care payment model for head and neck cancers that focuses on quality patient care and outcomes. The collaboration is among the first using bundled payments in a large, comprehensive...
Incorporating Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Into Palliative Care
Although cancer rehabilitation has been a part of oncology clinical practice for several decades, it has largely gone unrecognized as an integral part of palliative medicine and survivorship care. Now, the role of physical medicine and rehabilitation in oncology care may increase as patients with...
Gardasil 9 Adds Protection Against Cancer Caused by Additional Human Papillomavirus Types
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. On December 10, 2014, Gardasil 9 (human papillomavirus 9-valent...
2015 Oncology Meetings
JANUARY 2015 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons 51st Annual MeetingJanuary 24-28 • San Diego, California For more information: www.sts.org/education-meetings/educational-meetings-activities/future-meetings 7th Annual T-cell Lymphoma ForumJanuary 29-31 • San Francisco, California For more...
Panelists Lambast, Explore the High Cost of Cancer Drugs
At the 2014 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, a symposium on the high cost of cancer drugs proved provocative and a bit testy as panelists presented their various points of view. ‘Medical Darwinian System’ Already known for his outspoken views on the topic is Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD,...
Will Checkpoint Inhibitors Be Winners in Hematologic Cancers, Too?
A “Featured Topic” session during the 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition drew a standing-room-only crowd to hear two experts weigh in on checkpoint blockade in hematologic malignancies. While new to hematology, these drugs—the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated...
Cleveland Clinic Piloting ‘Adaptive Therapy’ Approach in Multiple Myeloma
For newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients, Cleveland Clinic specialists believe two drugs may suffice for most patients, bucking the trend toward using triplets for all patients and reserving them for patients with insufficient response to two. They described a pilot study of their “carepath”...
Two Oncology Leaders Elected Members of ASCO Nominating Committee
ASCO recently announced election of Lisa A. Carey, MD, and Primo N. Lara, Jr, MD, to serve a 3-year term on the ASCO Nominating Committee beginning in 2016 (see pages 101-102 for news on other ASCO elections). Lisa A. Carey, MD, is Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Physician-in-Chief ...
Victory for Pediatric Regimens in Adolescents and Young Adults With ALL
Long in the works, early results of the U.S. Intergroup C10403 trial clearly showed that treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adolescents and young adults using a pediatric-inspired regimen improves event-free survival and overall survival and should be the backbone for future studies in...
Blinatumomab Achieves Complete Molecular Responses in Majority of B-Cell Leukemia Patients
Results from the international phase II BLAST study show that one cycle of blinatumomab (Blincyto) immunotherapy achieved complete minimal residual disease response in 78% of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.1 Complete minimal residual disease response was achieved in 80% of patients...
Venetoclax Gaining Ground in Two Types of Leukemia
Venetoclax, formerly known as ABT-199, is moving forward into phase III development in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), based on encouraging data from separate phase Ib and II trials presented at the 56th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society...
Appointments and Awards Announced at The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
The Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore recently announced new appointments and awards given to faculty. New Director of Thoracic Oncology Julie Brahmer, MD, a medical oncologist with expertise in the use of immunotherapies to treat lung cancer, has been named...
Complexities of Targeting HER2 in Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancers
The interactions between the estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2 pathways in breast cancers are clearly complex and remain incompletely understood. Historically, cancers that express both ER and HER2 were thought to be intrinsically resistant to endocrine therapy, likely due to HER2 being the dominant...
No Benefit of Adding Lapatinib to Fulvestrant in Hormone Receptor–Positive Advanced Breast Cancer
In a phase III trial (Cancer and Leukemia Group B [CALGB] 40302/Alliance) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues found that the addition of the dual EGFR-HER2 inhibitor lapatinib (Tykerb) to endocrine...
Crizotinib in ROS1-Positive NSCLC: A Next Step Forward
Advances in the molecular characterization of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have led to the identification of molecularly defined distinct subsets of patients who derive benefit from targeted therapies. Currently, two such groups of agents have moved widely into clinical practice: epidermal...
Lanreotide in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors
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. On December 16, 2014, lanreotide (Somatuline depot injection) was ...
Survival Benefits of Front-Line Treatment With Nivolumab for Advanced Melanoma Confirmed, Yet Questions Remain
As reported in this issue of The ASCO Post, Robert and colleagues recently published a phase III study comparing the anti–programmed death 1 (PD-1) antibody nivolumab with the standard melanoma chemotherapy dacarbazine in the front-line treatment of patients with advanced BRAF wild-type melanoma.1...
Nivolumab Improves Outcomes vs Dacarbazine in Previously Untreated Advanced Melanoma Without a BRAF Mutation
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Robert and colleagues found that the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) immune-checkpoint–inhibitor antibody nivolumab (Opdivo) significantly increased overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rate...
Ultrasonography Detects Mammographically Occult Invasive Cancers
Mammograms often miss occult breast cancers concealed in dense breasts. Women with dense breasts represent about 40% to 50% of women who undergo mammography screening. In some states and centers in the United States, women with dense breasts are routinely offered ultrasonography following a...
Nab-Paclitaxel Boosts Pathologic Complete Response in High-Risk Breast Cancer
Nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) achieved superior results compared with conventional solvent-based paclitaxel in patients with early-stage high-risk breast cancer in the large phase III GeparSepto trial from the German Breast Group (GBG).1 The study, presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer...
No Benefit for Adjuvant Capecitabine Monotherapy in Elderly Patients With Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Adjuvant therapy with capecitabine plus ibandronate failed to improve outcomes vs ibandronate alone in elderly patients with moderate-to-high-risk early-stage breast cancer in the ICE study—the largest study to date conducted in elderly women with breast cancer.1 “Capecitabine is frequently used in ...
Low-Fat Diet Reduces Mortality in Breast Cancer Subset
The final survival analysis of the landmark Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) confirmed that a low-fat diet can reduce the risk of dying for a subset of breast cancer patients.1 At the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD, of the Los Angeles Biomedical...
Palliative Care in the Middle East
While some seek peace in the Middle East through political means, others are looking to help patients with cancer find peace through palliative care. This endeavor is bringing oncology professionals together across the region’s national borders and cultural boundaries to implement solutions and...
Top 10 Myths About FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology Products
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its policies and procedures. In this installment, FDA oncologists Gideon Blumenthal, MD, and Tatiana Prowell, MD, discuss 10 common myths about FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology ...
Anti–PD-1 Antibody Nivolumab in Previously Treated Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma
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. On December 22, 2014, the anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death...
FDA Drug Approvals 2014
Nivolumab (Opdivo), a monoclonal antibody, was approved for treatment of metastatic melanoma. Approved December 22, 2014. Olaparib (Lynparza), a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, was approved for treatment of BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer. Approved December 19, 2014....
Treatment Paradigm in Advanced Melanoma Poised for Change… Again
In the treatment of advanced/metastatic melanoma, recent debate has focused on the choice of initial therapy: ipilimumab (Yervoy) or, for patients with BRAF-mutant cancer, a BRAF/MEK inhibitor. This issue is now taking a back seat to the emerging conversation about the positioning of antibodies...
Colorectal Cancer 2015
Despite advances in detection and treatment, colorectal cancer remains the third deadliest cancer among men and women in the United States. To get a better understanding of the current state of this disease and what lies ahead, The ASCO Post recently spoke with colorectal cancer expert John L....
Overdiagnosis May Be Overblown in Lung Cancer Screening
“Overdiagnosis has been overblown” in concerns voiced about lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography, Andrea B. McKee, MD, told participants at the opening session of the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. Dr. McKee is Chair of the Department of Radiation ...
Top 10 Lessons Learned So Far About Treating Lung Cancer With Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy agents “really work” in treating lung cancer, but they have unique toxicities, are challenging to combine with other therapies, and questions remain about dose and duration, Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, stated at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. “There are ...
