Anthony L. Back, MD, of the University of Washington, talks about how clinicians can protect themselves from burnout and develop resilience. The default approach––“pretending we are not affected by stress”––often backfires, he says, and makes caregivers more susceptible to workplace pressures.
The number of early-phase trials in oncology that adopted a seamless approach—as opposed to a traditional trial approach with defined phase I, II, and III plans—is rising, with data from the majority of them presented after 2014, according to a study presented by Barata et al at the...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) clinical trial has achieved the goal of screening nearly 6,000 patients in just under 2 years, according to data presented by Chen et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer...
A computational imaging-based signature of immune-cell infiltration in and around a tumor could predict patients’ responses to treatment with anti–programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) immunotherapies, according to data from a study presented by Sun et...
An investigational test that screens for colorectal cancer could detect genetic mutations that are indicative of the disease with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, according to results of a study presented by Powell et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular...
On October 18, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma...
Gary Gilliland, MD, PhD, President and Director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, recently delivered the following testimony and answered questions from members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. His remarks...
Children with relapsed or refractory malignant rhabdoid tumors, epithelioid sarcomas, or poorly differentiated chordomas with a particular genetic defect tolerated treatment with the investigational drug tazemetostat well, and some had objective and durable responses, according to data from a phase ...
Whole-exome sequencing revealed that colorectal cancers with high mutational load (microsatellite instability–high, or MSI-H) predominantly use “immunoediting” to escape immune surveillance, while colorectal cancers with low mutational load (microsatellite stable, or MSS) use...
More than a quarter of patients with recurrent high-grade glioma treated with the retroviral vector Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec) combined with Toca FC (an extended-release formulation of fluorocytosine, a prodrug of fluorouracil [5-FU]) were alive more than 3 years after...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Asdourian et al found that several factors considered to pose an increased risk of lymphedema were not significantly associated with the occurrence of lymphedema among women undergoing bilateral breast cancer surgery. Study Details In the...
On October 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved intravenous (IV) rolapitant (Varubi) in combination with other antiemetic agents in adults for the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of emetogenic cancer chemotherapy, including,...
Patients with chordoma—a rare bone cancer of the skull and spine—could be helped by existing treatments, suggest scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, University College London Cancer Institute, and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. In the largest...
A double-blind phase III trial has shown no benefit of anti–T-lymphocyte globulin (ATLG) vs placebo on chronic graft-vs-host disease (GVHD)-free survival in patients undergoing human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched unrelated myeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The study...
In a feasibility trial of people with advanced lung cancer receiving radiation therapy and their caregivers, yoga was beneficial to both parties. These findings will be presented by Milbury et al at the upcoming 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium in San Diego (Abstract 125). ...
A study of 100 people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving chemotherapy found that patient and physician perceptions of treatment risk and the likelihood of a cure varied widely. Overall, patients tended to overestimate both the risk of dying due to treatment and the likelihood of a cure....
An analysis from the phase III AZURE trial has shown that MAF-negative status was associated with a benefit and MAF-positive status, with a detriment of adjuvant zoledronic acid in early breast cancer. The analysis was reported by Coleman et al in The Lancet Oncology. Study Details The current...
“Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage lags behind coverage for the other vaccines recommended for preteens,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 A recent report about vaccination coverage in the United States among adolescents aged 13 to 17 found that...
Although the use of electronic health records in oncology care has led to improved care for patients, results from a new study show that oncologists need to be cautious about using computers during exam room visits, especially for patients with advanced cancer. The randomized study compared...
Oncology luminaries. Thought leaders. The soul of chemotherapy. These are just a few of the phrases used to describe Emil Frei, MD, FASCO, Emil J Freireich, MD, FASCO, James F. Holland, MD, FASCO, Georges Mathé, MD, and their historic contributions to the world of oncology. Inspired by these...
On October 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced (stage III) unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has not progressed ...
THE U.S. FOOD and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded numerous new clinical trial research grants, totaling more than $22 million over the next 4 years, to boost the development of products for patients with rare diseases. These new grants were awarded to principal investigators from academia and ...
WITH THE INCLUSION of proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory agents first into salvage and then as components of first-line, consolidation, and maintenance regimens, response rates, depth of response, and median progression-free and overall survival have all improved for patients suffering...
AT A PRESPECIFIED interim analysis, the phase III ENDEAVOR trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit for carfilzomib (Kyprolis) vs bortezomib (Velcade) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, as reported by Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD, of the National and Kapodistrian...
IN A LARGE single-institution study reported in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Tobin Strom, MD, and colleagues found that regional radiotherapy was associated with a reduced risk of regional recurrence in patients with node-positive cutaneous melanoma, including those...
AS REPORTED BY David P. Carbone, MD, PhD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine, the phase III CheckMate 026 trial has shown no progression-free survival benefit for first-line nivolumab (Opdivo) vs platinum-based...
Honoring National Cancer Institute researchers Douglas R. Lowy, MD, and John T. Schiller, PhD, with the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for advances in technology that enabled the development of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to prevent cervical cancer and other tumors caused by ...
IN A PHASE III trial reported by Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the addition of first-line ipilimumab (Yervoy) to paclitaxel/carboplatin did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced squamous...
AS REPORTED BY Paul J. Hesketh, MD, of Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, Massachusetts, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has updated its clinical practice guideline on the use of antiemetics in patients with cancer.1 The update was based on an expert panel...
IN A RETROSPECTIVE pooled analysis of the CheckMate 069 and 067 studies reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dirk Schadendorf, MD, of the University Hospital Essen and the German Cancer Consortium, and colleagues found little difference in the efficacy of combined nivolumab (Opdivo) and...
In the randomized phase IIB DETERMINE trial, the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitor tremelimumab did not improve overall survival vs placebo as second- or third-line treatment of relapsed malignant mesothelioma. These findings were reported in The Lancet Oncology by...
In a retrospective analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Georgina V. Long, MBBS, PhD, of the Melanoma Institute Australia, North Sydney, and colleagues found that a substantial proportion of patients with advanced melanoma derived benefit from continued nivolumab (Opdivo) treatment after Response...
THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA), in partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, recently took action against more than 500 websites that illegally sell potentially dangerous, unapproved versions of prescription medicines, including opioids, antibiotics, and...
PRESS CONFERENCE MODERATOR Markus Joerger, MD, PhD, of St. Gallen Cancer Center, Switzerland, indicated that prior to the current study, it was unclear whether chemotherapy followed by surgery would be superior to chemoradiotherapy. “I think we all agree that it has been confirmed as the standard...
I’ve always had dense breasts and avoided doing breast self-exams because I couldn’t tell if the lumpiness I was feeling was something serious or merely normal fibrous tissue. Instead I relied on my yearly mammogram to spot any early signs of cancer. Four years ago, I was once again relieved to...
THE FIRST FORMAL comparison of two acceptable approaches to locally advanced cervical cancer has concluded that standard chemoradiotherapy is preferable to neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus surgery. The findings confirm what most specialists have believed to be the optimal treatment. The results came ...
No matter what a person does in life, for good and bad, his or her inherited genetic makeup follows along the way. Such was the case with British journalist Sarah Gabriel, who inherited the BRCA1 mutation from her mother, who died of ovarian cancer when Ms. Gabriel was in college. Much of her...
BASED ON THE RESULTS of COMBI-AD1 and CheckMate 238,2 invited discussant Alexander Eggermont, MD, PhD, Professor of Oncology at Gustave Roussy in Paris, commented: “It’s a good day for melanoma!” In COMBI-AD, treatment with the combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist)...
IN THE TREATMENT of malignant melanoma, immune checkpoint inhibitors are no longer just for metastatic disease, and the best type may be agents targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), according to results of CheckMate 238, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)...
FOR PATIENTS with locally advanced, resectable melanoma harboring BRAF mutations, adjuvant treatment with BRAF/ MEK inhibition significantly improves overall survival, results of the COMBI-AD trial have shown. The study was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017...
RESULTS OF TWO separate phase III trials confirm the activity of alectinib (Alecensa) in the central nervous system (CNS) in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results lend support for alectinib as the better first-line treatment option over...
DURING A DISCUSSION of Dr. Vale’s poster, Stéphane Oudard, MD, Professor of Oncology and Chief of the Oncology Clinical and Translational Research Unit at Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, France, said that although newer treatments have improved survival, there are still many challenges in...
ABIRATERONE ACETATE (Zytiga) plus prednisone and docetaxel have moved up from the castrate-resistant metastatic setting to earlier in the course of disease as treatment of high-risk hormone-sensitive prostate cancer in men who are initiating androgen-deprivation therapy, based on level 1 evidence...
FORMAL DISCUSSANT of the RANGE trial at the ESMO 2017 Congress, Yohann Loriot, MD, PhD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy and University of Paris-Saclay, Villejuif, Paris, said that although the study met its primary endpoint, he was not sure the absolute improvement in progression-free survival is...
RAMUCIRUMAB (CYRAMZA) added to docetaxel improved progression-free survival and almost doubled the overall response rate compared with docetaxel alone in patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer that has progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy. These results of the phase III RANGE...
THE NOVEL COMBINATION of immunotherapy with ipilimumab (Yervoy) plus radiation achieved a clinical benefit in up to 57% of patients with solid tumors and metastases to the lungs or liver, according to evidence from a phase II trial presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society for...
ADDING CONSOLIDATIVE RADIATION therapy to maintenance chemotherapy had a robust effect on preventing disease progression compared with maintenance chemotherapy alone in patients with limited metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a late-breaking study presented at the 2017...
TWO STUDIES published this year examining the incidence of colorectal cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) show an undeniable and sobering trend: Colorectal cancer rates are increasing in this age group, and younger people are dying of the cancer at slightly higher rates than in previous...
IT IS A SAD TRUTH that academic medicine, like many other professions, has a glass ceiling that hampers its ambitions. In medicine, this glass ceiling blocks women and minority faculty from reaching the highest ranks of leadership. Even if the root cause is not yet known, we want to eliminate...
THE 2017 EUROPEAN SOCIETY for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress spokesperson Maria De Santis, MD, of the University of Warwick, Coventry, and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Cancer Center, in Birmingham, UK, said the survival advantage in KEYNOTE-045 updated results was noteworthy. “These results...