Twenty minutes of mindful breathing, which focuses a person’s attention on their breath, seems to rapidly reduce the intensity and unpleasantness of cancer pain and relieve the associated anxiety, suggest findings from a small comparative study published by Tan et al in BMJ Supportive &...
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may be used to better understand the risk of specific cardiac arrhythmias when various parts of the heart are exposed to different thresholds of radiation as part of a treatment plan for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent study published by...
Investigators have explored the multifaceted nature of multiple myeloma and the potential of targeted therapies to treat patients with the disease, as summarized in a review published by Lu et al in Molecular Biomedicine. Background Multiple myeloma is a complex hematologic malignancy with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Philip et al found that the phase III AVENGER 500 study showed no overall survival benefit with devimistat plus modified fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and leucovorin (mFFX) vs FFX in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. As...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Williams et al, long-term follow-up of the phase III Scottish Breast Conservation Trial indicated that postoperative radiotherapy was associated with a significantly reduced risk of ipsilateral recurrence vs no radiotherapy in patients undergoing...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the EGFR inhibitor lazertinib (Lazcluze) in combination with the EGFR/MET-targeting bispecific antibody amivantamab-vmjw (Rybrevant) for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer...
Combining Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibition with chemoimmunotherapy induction significantly extended progression-free survival for older patients with mantle cell lymphoma, and there was also a trend toward improvement on the overall survival benefit, according to data presented during the...
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has serious concerns about the impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings in Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v Department of Commerce on cancer care. These decisions overturned the “Chevron deference” or “Chevron doctrine,” a legal...
Growing awareness of the benefits of palliative care in patients with cancer has prompted ASCO to update its recommendations for clinicians, patients, caregivers, and health-care organizations on integrating palliative care in oncology.1 The updated guideline reinforces prior recommendations in the ...
Researchers have developed an alternative set of simple criteria using a prediction model to identify groups of patients who may benefit most from lung cancer screening but are disproportionately excluded by current eligibility criteria, according to a new study published by Kearney et al in the...
Researchers have shown that participating in an exercise program may improve pain, fatigue, and the quality of life in patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to a recent study published by Hiensch et al in Nature Medicine. Background “Although there’s substantial evidence for the...
At the 2024 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Conference, sponsored by Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute, cardiologist-by-training Anant Mandawat, MD, FACC, briefly reviewed how the emerging field of cardio-oncology is blazing a path toward “bigger and bolder cancer care” and offered...
A subgroup analysis of data from the LIBRETTO-431 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04194944) showed that the selective RET inhibitor selpercatinib safely improved progression-free survival compared to chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab in East Asian patients diagnosed with RET fusion–positive...
Although esophageal cancer in the United States is relatively rare, affecting about 22,400 people each year and making up about 1% of all cancer cases,1 the disease is common in East and Central Asia countries. Nearly 90% of patients with esophageal cancer in Asia are diagnosed with the squamous...
New modeling data have been released that describe the projected impact of the first and only multitarget stool DNA test (marketed as Cologuard) on patients, health-care professionals, and the U.S. health-care system since its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval 10 years ago. About the ...
It was a hot and humid Tuesday in July, and I distinctly remember being grateful for the air conditioning in the pastel-shaded waiting room of the oncology outpatient clinic. My father sat silently beside me. We knew this room well, as we did the doctor we had arrived to see. He had been my...
Endometrial cancer is most frequently diagnosed among women aged 55 to 65, with a median age at diagnosis of 64 years.1 In epidemiologic studies, women diagnosed with endometrial cancer at an older age are more likely to have high-grade disease, aggressive histology, deep myometrial invasion, lower ...
A prospective-retrospective translational study reported in JAMA Oncology by Ruth M. O’Regan, MD, and colleagues confirmed the prognostic value of the Breast Cancer Index (BCI) in a Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT) trial–derived population of premenopausal women with early-stage,...
The risk of developing mental health issues may be higher among patients who have rare cancers compared with those who have common cancers, according to a recent study published by Low et al in eClinicalMedicine. Background Rare cancers—those affecting fewer than 6 out of 100,000 individuals per...
In an analysis of the phase I/II LIBRETTO-001 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lori J. Wirth, MD, and colleagues provided the long-term outcomes of selpercatinib treatment among patients with RET-activated thyroid cancer. Study Details The analysis included patients with...
In a systemic analysis of global literature reported in The Lancet, Wei et al estimated the proportion of invasive cervical cancer cases caused by specific human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes. Study Details A literature search through February 2024 was performed to identify studies reporting HPV...
Is the optimal first-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) monotherapy with a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor or some combination regimen? This clinical question was explored by two speakers at the 2024 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference, sponsored by the University of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) Pediatric Oncology Program invites members of the pediatric cancer advocacy community to participate in the 2024 OCE Pediatric Advocacy Forum on October 15. The purpose of this event is to strengthen collaboration and...
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of primary liver cancer, accounting for about 80% of all primary liver cancers in the United States, and is currently the sixth most common cancer and the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Although immunotherapy is now a mainstay for ...
The risk of suicidal behavior may be increased among the spouses of patients with cancer, according to a retrospective Danish population-based cohort study reported by Liu et al in JAMA Oncology. Clinical and societal awareness was thus deemed essential, particularly during the first year after...
Investigators have found that adults with learning disabilities may be more likely to die from cancer compared with those in the general population, according to a recent study published by Ward et al in BMJ Open. Background Many cancers are considered either preventable or treatable. However,...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) with platinum-containing chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment followed by single-agent durvalumab as adjuvant treatment after surgery for adults with resectable (tumors ≥ 4 cm and/or node positive)...
Researchers have examined whether a mouthwash-based test could detect biomarkers to help physicians predict disease recurrence in patients with head and neck cancer, according to a recent study published by Franzmann et al in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. Background Head and neck...
Researchers have discovered that uterine serous carcinoma tumors in Black patients tend to express more aggressive and immunosuppressive features than tumors in White patients, according to a recent study published by Foley et al in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Uterine serous...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Nicoletta Colombo, MD, and colleagues, the phase III AtTEnd trial showed improved progression-free survival with the addition of atezolizumab to chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer, particularly among those with mismatch...
Researchers have found that diet-derived molecules known as metabolites may be the main drivers of early-onset colorectal cancer risk, especially those associated with red and processed meat, according to a recent study published by Jayakrishnan et al in npj Precision Oncology. Background Despite...
Researchers have uncovered that T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may be frequently driven by genetic changes in noncoding portions of the DNA, according to a recent study published by Pölönen et al in Nature. The investigators believe these findings may lead to a paradigm shift in...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Verheijden et al found that higher peak corticosteroid doses for patients with immune-related adverse events were associated with poorer outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for solid tumors. Study Details...
On August 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved axatilimab-csfr (Niktimvo), a colony-stimulating factor–1 receptor–blocking antibody, for the treatment of chronic graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy in adult and pediatric...
In an analysis involving the phase III SENOMAC trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, de Boniface et al found that the use of completion axillary lymph node dissection (cALND) to identify pN2-3 status (at least four nodal metastases) in patients with breast cancer, and thus qualification for...
“Symptom-triggered testing”—prompted by symptoms such as pain, abdominal bloating/swelling, and feeling full soon after starting to eat—detected early-stage aggressive ovarian cancer in one of four individuals affected, according to an analysis from the ROCkeTS trial published by Kwong et al in the ...
Researchers may have uncovered how combination immunotherapies targeting the immune checkpoints PD-1 and LAG-3 may work together to activate immune responses in patients with melanoma, according to two recent studies published by Cillo et al and Andrews et al in Cell. The findings may shed light on ...
Researchers have reported novel genetic alterations and molecular classifiers of tumor variants in patients with colorectal cancer, according to a recent study published by Nunes et al in Nature. Background “Since 2018, Uppsala University and BGI [Genomics] have carried out in-depth cooperation on...
More than 2 years ago, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goals of reducing the cancer death rate in the United States by at least half (preventing more than 4 million cancer deaths) by 2047 and improving the experience of people who are touched by...
With the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has become a chronic disease for most patients. Furthermore, we now know that some patients can successfully stop treatment and remain in remission. “Stopping tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy is something we get a...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Kanwal Raghav, MD, and colleagues, the phase II DESTINY-CRC02 trial has identified the preferred dosage of single-agent fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) in patients with HER2-positive advanced colorectal cancer. Study Details In the international study, ...
In an analysis from the phase III CheckMate 238 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that progression-free and overall survival were improved with subsequent systemic therapy following late vs early recurrence with adjuvant nivolumab in...
Women whose fallopian tubes are removed during sterilization via laparoscopy may have only marginally more surgical complications compared with those whose tubes are cut during tubal occlusion, according to a recent study published by Strandell et al in The Lancet Regional Health–Europe. The...
Investigators have uncovered disparities in the projected rates of future cancer incidence and mortality among men based on age and country’s socioeconomic status, according to a recent study published by Bizuayehu et al in Cancer. Background Prior research has shown that men may face higher rates...
In a long-term follow-up of a French phase III trial (BFR14) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jean-Yves Blay, MD, and colleagues found that discontinuation of imatinib in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) with at least stable disease was associated with markedly poorer...
The antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy may be effective in treating patients with breast cancer who have brain metastases or recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, according to a recent study published by Balinda et al in Nature Communications. Background About 50% of all female...
An activity pattern in certain genes responsible for building proteins known as spleen tyrosine kinases may predict the occurrence of severe side effects from immunotherapy in patients with melanoma, according to a recent study published by Monson et al in Clinical Cancer Research. Background...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Sikavi et al found that regular aspirin use was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer overall and among individuals with less healthy vs more healthy lifestyles. Study Details The prospective cohort study focused on data from 107,655 participants...
In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Gallagher et al found that individuals with cannabis-related disorder were at an increased risk of head and neck cancer vs those without cannabis-related disorder. Cannabis-related disorders are defined by the excessive use of...
Women who develop gestational diabetes may not have a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with breast cancer, according to recent findings that will be presented by Christensen et al at the upcoming European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting 2024 (Abstract 180). Background...