Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is a rare and incurable low-grade B-cell lymphoproliferative disease defined by specific genotypic subtypes that have implications for treatment response and long-term outcomes. Treatment—and there is no established standard—is mainly focused on controlling symptoms...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many medical specialties became familiar with supply chain interruptions resulting in drug, equipment, and personnel scarcity. Intensive care unit beds, staff, and essential medicines were at times in short supply. The federal government, individual states, and...
Cancer—and the quest to accelerate more effective treatments and potential cures for all life-threatening diseases—has perhaps shaped the life of financier Michael Milken more than his legendary career on Wall Street. In the early 1970s, Mr. Milken’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with metastatic...
In a phase II trial (KEYNOTE-B61) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Laurence Albiges, MD, PhD, of Gustave Roussy, Paris–Saclay University, Villejuif, France, and colleagues found that first-line pembrolizumab plus lenvatinib produced durable responses in patients with advanced non–clear cell renal...
As reported in The Lancet by Zev A. Wainberg, MD, and colleagues, the phase III NAPOLI-3 trial has shown a modest but significant improvement in overall survival with first-line NALIRIFOX (liposomal irinotecan, oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and fluorouracil) vs nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in patients ...
Breast milk from women with breast cancer who were diagnosed during pregnancy or postpartum may contain circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), according to researchers at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona. The investigators noted that ctDNA can be detected through liquid biopsy in ...
In an interim analysis of a small phase I study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Chiesa et al found that base-edited CAR7 T cells were active in pediatric patients with relapsed T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As stated by the investigators: “Cytidine deamination that is...
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy may be the preferred treatment option for patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to findings presented by Chun et al at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer ...
The remarkable progress in medical research—primarily supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI)—over the past 3 decades, coupled with advances in cancer prevention and early detection, has led to a 33% reduction in cancer...
The stigma that patients face when diagnosed with lung cancer may be associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes, including distress and isolation, delayed help-seeking, and concerns about the quality of care, according to findings presented by Harrison et al at the International Association for...
On September 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved updated labeling for temozolomide (Temodar) for the treatment of CNS cancers under Project Renewal, an Oncology Center of Excellence initiative aimed at updating labeling information for older oncology drugs to ensure information ...
De-escalation of chemoradiotherapy after induction chemotherapy yields excellent oncologic outcomes in patients with high-risk oropharyngeal cancer associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Results of the nonrandomized phase II Quarterback trial suggest that this subset of patients may be...
As a first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab plus weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel provided clinically significant efficacy in the phase II FRAIL-IMMUNE (GORTEC 2018-03) trial.1 This regimen may prove to be an effective...
In patients with N2 and N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant treatment with concurrent gemcitabine and cisplatin significantly improved progression-free survival, with acceptable toxicity, over fluorouracil plus cisplatin, according to a phase III trial reported from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer...
Head and neck cancers comprise approximately 4% of all new cancer diagnoses globally and represent approximately 110,000 new cancer diagnoses and 17,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States. Head and neck cancers are a heterogenous group of malignancies where prognosis and treatment varies...
The addition of perioperative durvalumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be associated with a tolerable surgical safety profile and may not adversely impact surgery in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to new findings presented by Mitsudomi et al at the...
Aki Morikawa, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan, and her team explored the use of patient-derived organoids from breast cancer brain metastases to evaluate drug sensitivities in a clinically meaningful time frame. Along with molecular profiling, she says, this method may further personalize...
On September 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved motixafortide (Aphexda) in combination with filgrastim to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells to the peripheral blood for collection and subsequent autologous transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma. Motixafortide is...
Extended pleurectomy decortication combined with chemotherapy was associated with worse survival outcomes, a higher incidence of serious adverse events, and a diminished quality of life in patients with resectable mesothelioma compared with platinum and pemetrexed chemotherapy alone, according to...
ASCO has updated a guideline on the practical assessment and management of age-associated vulnerabilities in older patients receiving systemic cancer therapy.1 Among the updates, the guideline adds more detail to domains that should be evaluated in geriatric assessments (GAs) and expands patient...
Long ago, as an ethical alternative to military service, I joined the National Cancer Institute’s Yellow Beret Program, and was assigned to its Division of Cancer Treatment (Dr. Vince DeVita) Cancer Therapy Development Branch (Dr. Steve Carter). This program reviewed and rejected or approved all...
On July 20, 2023, quizartinib was approved for use with standard cytarabine and anthracycline induction and cytarabine consolidation and as maintenance monotherapy following consolidation chemotherapy in adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia that is FLT3 internal tandem duplication...
Novel treatments beyond the current chemoimmunotherapies are offering more treatment options in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), though real breakthroughs remain elusive, according to Ticiana Leal, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School...
Two new bispecific antibodies—teclistamab and talquetamab—have been shown to be active in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma when used in combination, including in patients with extramedullary disease, without compounding toxicity. Results of two clinical trials with these two agents were...
A new artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic tool for colposcopy examinations may improve the accuracy of diagnosing cancerous and precancerous cervical lesions, including cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), according to a retrospective validation study presented at the 2023 ASCO...
ASCO EXPERT Peter Paul Yu, MD, FACP, FASCO, commented on these GALAXY trial findings. He noted the results of this current study and others planned will establish the role of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring for risk of recurrence and guidance for adjuvant therapy. Dr. Yu is...
ASCO is saddened by the passing of Irwin H. Krakoff, MD, on August 9, 2023, at the age of 100. He is remembered as one of the founding fathers of modern chemotherapy. Dr. Krakoff was born on July 20, 1923, in Columbus, Ohio. He attended The Ohio State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in...
“Dr. Hope Kestrel was the only person who knew the patient in Room 132 wasn’t responding to the algorithm-selected treatment. She shuffled forward in the hospital security line, wanting to ger her day started already yet dreading how she’d tell her patient the unexpected and devastating news.” So...
Guest Editor’s Note: Insomnia is common in patients with cancer and cancer survivors, and it has significant negative consequences. Cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective approach for managing insomnia but is not easily available to many patients. In this installment of The ...
On August 2, 2023, the fixed combination of trifluridine, a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor, and tipiracil, a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor, was approved for use with bevacizumab for metastatic colorectal cancer previously treated with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, and irinotecan-based...
On July 31, 2023, the immune checkpoint inhibitor dostarlimab-gxly was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use with carboplatin and paclitaxel, followed by single-agent dostarlimab, for patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer that is mismatch...
Long-term follow-up of selinexor maintenance therapy has demonstrated promising efficacy in patients with TP53 wild-type endometrial cancer, according to data presented during the ASCO Plenary Series: July 2023 Session.1 Selinexor is a selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE) approved for use...
In a study reported in a research letter in JACC: CardioOncology, Hibler et al found that survivors of young adult cancers who were exposed to anthracyclines were at an increased risk of subsequent diagnosis of heart failure. Study Details The study involved electronic health record data from the...
Pediatric patients with Down syndrome may undergo almost 10 times as many medical imaging examinations as other pediatric patients, potentially exposing them to more ionizing radiation, according to a recent study published by Marlow et al in PLOS ONE. Background Ionizing radiation is present in...
New 10-year follow-up data were published by Restrepo et al in Pediatrics on girls and boys who received a three-dose regimen of the 9-valent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine between the ages of 9 and 15. The long-term follow-up study was conducted from 2009 through 2021 across 13 countries and 5 ...
Improving hospital care pathways may help reduce inpatient opioid use by 50% and cut the median opioid prescription volumes at discharge to zero in patients undergoing pancreatic cancer surgery, according to a recent study published by Boyev et al in JAMA Surgery. The new findings could help reduce ...
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) has provided standardized guidance on the selection and management of patients receiving lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) radionuclide therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a new consensus...
A commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm may perform comparably to human readers at assessing screening mammograms, according to a recent study published by Chen et al in Radiology. False-positive interpretations on screening mammograms can result in women without cancer...
23andMe has announced that the company has received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance to expand its existing BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants) Genetic Health Risk Report. The clearance allows 23andMe to report an additional 41 variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes known to be ...
Cholesterol-lowering statins may reduce colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in patients with ulcerative colitis, according to a recent study published by Sun et al in eClinicalMedicine. The findings also suggested that statin use may be associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in...
Researchers have identified potential strategies to promote healthy dietary habits in female cancer survivors with fertility challenges, according to a recent study published by Klobodu et al in Integrative Cancer Therapies. Background Cancer may increase the risk of infertility in young female...
Investigators in Canada may have uncovered the factors contributing to the higher risk of melanoma among individuals living in Atlantic regions, according to a recent study published by Lagacé et al in Cancers. These findings may provide insights into effective strategies for skin cancer...
Presented here are some brief summaries of novel therapies under study from the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting in Yokohama, Japan. The subjects range from new observations about a HER2-directed bispecific antibody and systemic treatment of gastric cancer to an option for treating hand-foot syndrome ...
Researchers have launched a new clinical trial examining the effectiveness of behavioral and psychological interventions at reducing cardiovascular damage caused by anticancer therapies in patients with breast cancer. Background Breast cancer—the most common cancer type in the European...
Research shows that the United States’ health-care delivery and financing system is so complex that streamlining administrative costs alone could reduce total health-care spending by 15%. In addition, health insurance payment and medical billing processes are time-consuming and expensive for both...
This is Part 3 of Novel Therapies for Advanced Breast Cancer, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Aditya Bardia, Sara Tolaney, and Antonio C. Wolff discuss the treatment of relapsed/refractory triple-negative breast ...
In a single-center retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Eskreis-Winkler et al found that contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a high-temporal/high-spatial resolution (HTHS) protocol improved breast cancer detection and reduced unnecessary biopsies vs ...
Short-term use of immunosuppressants in patients with ocular inflammatory disease may not be associated with an increased risk of developing cancer, according to a recent study published by Buchanich et al in BMJ Oncology. Background The Systemic Immunosuppressive Therapy for Eye Diseases (SITE)...
In a study from the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program reported in JAMA Network Open, Shi et al found that alcohol consumption and risky drinking behaviors were common among patients with a cancer diagnosis, including patients currently receiving treatment for their cancer....
Researchers have developed a personalized calculator that may be capable of predicting the reduced risk of early recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, according to a recent study published by Chen et al in eGastroenterology. Background Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common...