Patients with locally advanced or metastatic radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma demonstrated a statistically significant progression-free survival benefit when treated with anlotinib, a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor, vs placebo, as well as higher response rates, according to...
Sintilimab, an anti–PD-1 antibody, in combination with a bevacizumab biosimilar as first-line therapy significantly improved survival compared to sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, according to findings presented by Ren et al at the ESMO Asia Virtual Congress 2020...
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE announced they will submit a request today to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization of their mRNA vaccine candidate, BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2, which will potentially enable use of the vaccine in high-risk populations in the United...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Arnon P. Kater, MD, PhD, of Amsterdam University Medical Centers, and colleagues,1 the 4-year progression-free and overall survival rates were significantly higher with venetoclax plus rituximab vs bendamustine plus rituximab in the phase III...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Paolo Ghia, MD, PhD, of the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy, and colleagues, the phase III ASCEND trial showed significantly prolonged progression-free survival with acalabrutinib monotherapy vs investigator’s choice of either...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Shaji K. Kumar, MD, of the Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and colleagues,1 the phase III ENDURANCE trial has shown no improvement in progression-free survival with carfilzomib plus lenalidomide/dexamethasone (KRd) vs bortezomib plus...
Based on early results in clinical trials, interest in the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma has been high, especially for products targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). During the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, further support for CAR T-cell...
Clinicians who treat multiple myeloma can anticipate a host of new treatments: melflufen, cereblon E3 ligase modulators (CELMoDs), antibody-drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, FASCO, Director of the Jerome Lipper...
The past year has seen remarkable advances in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, which combined account for 9.9% of the estimated 1,806,590 new cases of cancer diagnosed in the United States and an estimated 56,840 cancer-related deaths.1 Novel therapies are providing...
Studies of second-generation bispecific antibodies were among the highlights of the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. The bispecific T-cell engager blinatumomab was the first such agent to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in...
As chemotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy regimens reach their maximal impact in follicular lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma, clinicians are turning to chemotherapy-free approaches to achieve better control, less toxicity, and (hopefully) a cure. During the ASCO20 Virtual Education Program, Sonali...
At the 2020 Debates and didactics in Hematology and Oncology Virtual Conference, sponsored by Emory University School of Medicine and Winship Cancer Institute, Pamela Allen, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory, described recent trials on therapeutic approaches that are informative on this ...
In a European Intergroup for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma/Children’s Oncology Group phase III trial, reported in TheNew England Journal of Medicine, -Véronique Minard-Colin, MD, PhD, of Gustave Roussy, Université Paris-Saclay, Villejuif, France, and colleagues found that the addition of rituximab ...
On October 16, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with azacitidine, decitabine, or low-dose cytarabine for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults aged 75 or older or who have comorbidities precluding...
On November 13, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with locally recurrent unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer whose tumors express PD-L1...
A strategy of front-line maintenance treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab combined with best supportive care improved both progression-free and overall survival vs best supportive care alone across prespecified subgroups of patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that had...
With the worst 5-year overall survival of all cancers and the second-leading cause of cancer death, pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains a dismal prognosis for the vast majority of patients. However, more accurate tumor staging and better understanding of distinct molecular subgroups have started to...
The National Academy of Medicine recently announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated...
As the number of older patients with cancer continues to rise, interventions that reduce the high rates of symptoms, toxicity, and distress in this population are urgently needed. Research presented during the 2020 ASCO Quality Care Symposium has added to the growing body of evidence supporting...
A new study points to a need for oncologists to ask their patients about sexual health after chemotherapy, radiation, and other cancer treatments. In a survey of nearly 400 cancer survivors, 87% said they experienced sexual side effects, but most also said their oncologist had not formally asked...
A new study finds that the racial composition of clinical trials involving radiation therapy does not match that of the U.S. population. Examining trials from the past 23 years, researchers found that roughly 12% of trial participants were Black, which is less than the 13% population composition of ...
“The summons came in the middle of the night. He was awake at the first harsh jangle of the telephone…. Always a light sleeper, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Francis Alexander attributed the trait to his father, an old-fashioned family practitioner whose response to every late-night distress call was...
In part 1 of this three-part article, which was published in the October 10, 2020, issue of The ASCO Post, we chronicled the progress made in geriatric oncology up to the decade of the 1990s, which saw an explosion of research activity in the study of aging and cancer. In part 2, we review the...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Syed Ali Abutalib and L. Jeffrey Medeiros explore the updated World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
Ipatasertib plus abiraterone plus prednisone achieved significantly superior radiographic progression–free survival and antitumor activity compared with placebo plus abiraterone plus prednisonein patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and PTEN loss, according to the results...
The PARP inhibitor olaparib reduced the risk of death by 31% compared with a second hormonal treatment (enzalutamide or abiraterone) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer characterized by BRCA1, BRCA2, or ATM mutations, in the final analysis of the phase III PROfound trial...
In a large, randomized clinical trial, researchers evaluated the immunotherapy drug avelumab for patients with advanced urothelial cancer. The findings of the trial, called the JAVELIN Bladder 100 study, are “very exciting,” even “practice-changing,” said the trial’s co-leader, Petros Grivas, MD,...
An inspiring case series of fit patients aged 98 and older who recovered from hospitalization for COVID-19, published by Huang et al, reminds us that older age may not be a barrier to recovery.1 On behalf of the Cancer and Aging Research Group, we do not support “ageism” in the care of older...
Skin cancers are the most common malignancy in the United States and worldwide. Between 1994 and 2014, the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers in the United States increased by 77%.1 The cost of treating melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers to the health-care system...
Treatment of diffuse gliomas with radiotherapy resulted in an increased number of genomic small deletions that make up a unique signature, according to findings presented at the Molecular Analysis for Precision Oncology (MAP) Congress 2020 (Abstract 2MO). Furthermore, an increased burden of...
The tumors of patients with stage I and II non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) demonstrated a generally higher tumor mutational burden and more often displayed the mutational signature associated with tobacco smoking than those of patients with more advanced disease, according to findings presented...
The benefit of anti–PD-1 antibodies in the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III or stage IV melanoma continues to be observed at around 4 years for both pembrolizumab and nivolumab, according to updates of pivotal trials presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual ...
On October 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with azacitidine, decitabine, or low-dose cytarabine for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults age 75 or older or who have comorbidities precluding intensive ...
On October 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended the approval of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the following indications: Adult patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma Pediatric patients with refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma or classical Hodgkin...
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has received a $5 million gift from the Benderson Family of Sarasota, Florida, that will accelerate research in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and strengthen Dana-Farber’s capabilities for treating this disease. The gift establishes the Benderson Family Program...
Pain is one of the most common byproducts of cancer and its treatment. Tumors, surgery, intravenous chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, supportive care therapies (such as bisphosphonates), and diagnostic procedures can all cause pain in patients and may contribute to symptoms of...
As first-line treatment for advanced gastric cancer, nivolumab plus chemotherapy leads to significantly improved progression-free and overall survival over chemotherapy alone, investigators reported during a Presidential Symposium of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress ...
The combination of nivolumab plus cabozantinib was found to be superior to the former standard, sunitinib, in the first-line treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to the results of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology...
The Eighth Annual Giants of Cancer Care class of inductees was recently announced by OncLive, a multimedia resource focused on providing oncology professionals with relevant information on patient care. The virtual awards ceremony will be held on November 5 at 7.30 PM EST and will be available...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cristina Saura, MD, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, and colleagues, the phase III NALA trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with the irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib plus...
For patients with progressing HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), no single regimen is an established standard of care. More than 50% of these patients will develop brain metastasis, and thus far, treatments...
The past 2 years have seen a dramatic change in the standard of care for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer whose disease has progressed on trastuzumab. Promising new agents and combinations for later lines of therapy may also challenge current treatment strategies, according to...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Yen Nien Hou, PharmD, DipIOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on the...
In the post-trastuzumab era, a number of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved targeted agents for metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer are available, but there is no preferred option for third-line treatment and beyond. At the 2019 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium, Shanu Modi, MD,...
In an analysis of the pivotal phase III HER2CLIMB trial reported at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Nancy U. Lin, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues found that tucatinib, a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is highly selective for HER2, plus...
In a retrospective analysis reported in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, Joseph Abi Jaoude, MD, of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, and colleagues found that a radiation boost did not reduce the risk of local recurrence among women with...
New agents for the treatment of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer should be coming soon to your clinic, according to Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, Director of the Breast Cancer Clinical Research Program and Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of...
The second interim analysis of the phase III SOPHIA trial demonstrated a significant, though modest, improvement in progression-free survival, response rate, and clinical benefit with the addition of margetuximab to chemotherapy vs trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in patients with HER2-positive...
In the phase II monarcHER trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sara M. Tolaney, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues, found that the combination of abemaciclib, fulvestrant, and trastuzumab prolonged progression-free survival vs trastuzumab plus standard-of-care...
On October 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) as first-line treatment for adult patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. CheckMate 743 Efficacy was investigated in CheckMate 743, a randomized,...