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 November 30, 2015, elotuzumab (Empliciti) was approved for...
Among patients with HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer that had progressed despite treatment with two or more forms of HER2-targeted therapy (trastuzumab [Herceptin] and lapatinib [Tykerb]), median overall survival was increased for those treated with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (aka T-DM1...
A plasma-based cell-free DNA test identified mutations in the estrogen receptor 1 gene (ESR1) in 30% of patients from the BOLERO-2 trial of everolimus (Afinitor) plus exemestane, and these mutations were correlated with survival. The results, which support the use of plasma as a source of...
The ability to classify breast cancer according to biologic subtype has enabled researchers to dig deeper and determine which therapies benefit specific subgroups. Encouraging evidence from an analysis of a Danish trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium suggests that...
The use of T cells that are genetically engineered to express chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) has made headway as an approach to hematologic malignancies, with the best results achieved in leukemia. At the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, a preliminary...
Few malignancies have received as much attention, in the way of newly approved drugs, as multiple myeloma did in 2015. In November alone, 3 new agents were approved, bringing the total to 4 for the year as part of a record 7 approvals and to 16 regulatory approvals over the past 12 years. Speakers...
In a North American phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Shaw et al found that alectinib (Alecensa), which is active against acquired crizotinib (Xalkori) resistance mutations and exhibits high central nervous system (CNS) penetration, was associated with considerable activity in...
In a Swedish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Weibull et al found that pregnancy did not appear to increase the risk of subsequent relapse in women with Hodgkin lymphoma in remission. Study Details The study included data from Swedish health-care registers and medical records...
Researchers from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have published a study showing that African American pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma have inferior overall survival compared with their white and Hispanic peers. The study, published ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved eribulin mesylate (Halaven), an antimicrotubular antineoplastic agent, for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma. This treatment is approved for patients who received prior chemotherapy that contained an anthracycline drug....
Nearly 15% of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer were younger than 50, the age at which screening recommendations begin. The study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center also found that younger patients were more likely to have advanced disease. The authors ...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Evans et al identified a DNA damage and repair pathway gene signature that was significantly associated with outcomes after prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer independent of standard clinicopathologic factors. Study Details The study involved 1,090...
Poor black patients undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer are at higher risk for death than white patients and patients with higher socioeconomic status, according to a scientific presentation by Erhunmwunsee et al at the 52nd Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The abstract,...
Body mass index affects outcomes following lung resection for lung cancer. Patients with very high or very low body mass index measurements have the highest risks for complications, according to a scientific presentation at the 52nd Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The abstract...
In a UK retrospective population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Duffy et al found a significant inverse association between the detection of ductal carcinoma in situ in breast cancer screening and the incidence of invasive interval cancers diagnosed within 3 years after screening....
Novocure presented data from its ongoing phase II PANOVA clinical trial at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, showing that tumor-treating fields therapy plus first-line gemcitabine is tolerable and safe in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The data also suggest...
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc, announced that an updated overall survival analysis of the phase III NAPOLI-1 study of irinotecan liposome injection (Onivyde) in combination with fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin achieved a substantial improvement in 12-month overall survival compared to 5-FU and...
Researchers report the results of a new analysis from a phase III trial of patients with neuroendocrine tumors that begin in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract or have an unknown origin. Compared to placebo, everolimus (Afinitor) was associated with a 6- to 8-month longer time period before the cancer ...
Early results from the NETTER-1 phase III study of patients with previously treated, advanced midgut neuroendocrine tumors show that a novel therapy, lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lutathera), may substantially slow tumor growth. Patients treated with the experimental drug had a 79% lower risk ...
At NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, researchers have discovered an inherited genetic marker that might provide clinicians with a personalized tool to gauge an individual’s survival and determine which patients require closer monitoring in the years...
In a phase III trial (National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project [NSABP] B-35) reported in The Lancet, Margolese et al found that adjuvant anastrozole significantly improved the breast cancer–free interval vs tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive...
In a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Sequist et al reported clinical benefit with the recently approved third-generation EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib (Tagrisso) in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who had disease...
Retrospective analyses of the ATAC, TEAM, and BIG 1-98 adjuvant endocrine therapy trials in breast cancer have suggested that treatment-emergent endocrine symptoms may be associated with superior survival outcomes. However, in a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stearns et al...
Two quality improvement projects described by Bryant-Bova in the Journal of Oncology Practiceresulted in reduced errors in prescribing intravenous and oral chemotherapy. A project at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston outpatient infusion centers first identified 15 different types ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ofatumumab (Arzerra) for extended treatment of patients who are in complete or partial response after at least two lines of therapy for recurrent or progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Ofatumumab was previously approved for the...
Solid-organ transplant recipients have a higher rate of cancer mortality than what is expected in the general population, according to a Canadian study by Acuna et al published in JAMA Oncology. Cancer mortality among transplant recipients was significantly elevated compared with data for the...
A randomized phase II study in symptomatic, untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) found an increased overall response rate with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) at a dose of 2,000 mg vs 1,000. In addition, the “data demonstrate that obinutuzumab produces a higher response rate in...
In a study using Pennsylvania Cancer Registry data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Epstein et al found that use of the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) assay was associated with lower use of chemotherapy and lower medical spending among patients younger than age 55 with early-stage...
In a European phase III study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Kröger et al found that inclusion of antihuman T-lymphocyte immune globulin (ATG) in the myeloablative conditioning regimen in patients with acute myeloid or lymphoid leukemia resulted in a significant reduction in...
ASCO has announced the creation of the Ellen L. Stovall Award and Lecture for Advancement of Cancer Survivorship Care, intended to recognize and promote the work of pioneers and leaders in the growing field of survivorship. The first award will be presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship...
Obesity has long been associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer, but the link has never been understood. Now, a research team led by investigators at Thomas Jefferson University has revealed the biologic connection, and in the process, has identified an approved drug that might prevent...
A new study of women cancer survivors indicated that 45% still have chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms years after completing cancer treatment. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy was associated with worse physical functioning, poorer mobility, and a nearly twofold higher...
In a Japanese phase III trial (SELECT BC) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Takashima et al found that first-line treatment with the oral fluoropyrimidine S-1 was associated with noninferior overall survival vs taxane regimens in women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer resistant to...
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact...
A regional anesthesia technique called thoracic paravertebral nerve block is highly effective in controlling pain after breast cancer surgery, but concern about potential complications may limit its use. A new study provides evidence that using ultrasound to guide the nerve blocking procedure...
Adolescent girls living in high-poverty communities and majority Hispanic communities were more likely to have received at least one dose of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine than those living in low-poverty communities and in communities of other racial and ethnic compositions. These findings...
Results of a phase III trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Piccart-Gebhart et al, showed a modest and statistically nonsignificant increase in disease-free survival with concurrent adjuvant lapatinib (Tykerb) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) vs trastuzumab alone in patients with...
In a study from the Utah Cancer Registry reported in JAMA Oncology, Samadder et al found an increased risk of carcinoma of unknown primary and other cancers in relatives of patients with this type of cancer. Study Details The study was a nested case-control study including 4,160 patients with a...
Physicians treating patients with metastatic melanoma may soon have a superior tool in their efforts to closely track the disease. A new study shows that a blood test that monitors blood levels of DNA fragments from dead cancer cells does a better job than the current standard test at tracking the...
In the LEAN (Lifestyle, Exercise, and Nutrition) study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Harrigan et al found that telephone and in-person weight loss counseling was effective in reducing weight and C-reactive protein level in overweight or obese women treated for breast cancer. In the ...
As reported in The Lancet by Herbst et al, the phase II/III KEYNOTE-010 trial showed that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly improved overall survival vs docetaxel in patients with previously treated programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, and Carol’s Crusade for a Cure Foundation have announced a new partnership and grant opportunity in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer research. The AACR–Triple Negative Breast Cancer...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA, Robbins et al found evidence that the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Expansion (ACA-DCE) has resulted in increased diagnosis of cervical cancer at an early stage and increased use of fertility-sparing treatments in women aged 21 to 25 years. ...
Recently reported findings that bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy decreased the risk of ovarian cancer compared to ovarian conservation and hysterectomy, without increasing cardiovascular, fracture, and other cancer risks, should “challenge” current thinking about bilateral...
A retrospective exploratory analysis of pooled efficacy data from more than 500 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib (Sutent) “support the hypothesis that hypertension may be a viable biomarker of antitumor efficacy in this patient population,” according to a report...
Estimated 15-year results from the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study (SPCG-4) show that men diagnosed with early prostate cancer and randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy continued to have significantly reduced rates of death from prostate cancer, death from any cause, and risk of...
Subcutaneous administration of bortezomib (Velcade) was comparably efficacious to intravenous administration in a phase III trial in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma, but the SC route “seemed to have an improved systemic safety profile compared with intravenous delivery,’’ investigators...
Julie R. Gralow, MD, Professor of Oncology at the University of Washington, Seattle, said the data reported by Rickles et al at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting support the Goodwin study presented at the 2008 ASCO Annual Meeeting.1 In that earlier Canadian cohort of 512 women, ...
Patients with breast cancer and deficient levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D are more likely to have aggressive tumor profiles and unfavorable prognostic markers than women with optimal levels of vitamin D, according to research presented at the 12th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast...
For women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), radiation therapy after excision is not a slam-dunk in terms of benefits, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons 12th Annual Meeting.1 In a study that focused on the pattern of breast cancer recurrence in women with...