Jeff P. Sharman, MD, of the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and US Oncology Research, discusses phase III findings from the ELEVATE TN study, which showed that acalabrutinib plus obinutuzumab and acalabrutinib monotherapy improved progression-free survival in patients with treatment-naive...
C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses phase II study findings that showed an 83% negative rate of minimal residual disease in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma treated weekly with 8 cycles of the quadruplet regimen of...
Patrick A. Brown, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, discusses phase III findings from a Children’s Oncology Group Study showing that blinatumomab was superior to chemotherapy in terms of efficacy and tolerability for young patients as a post-reinduction therapy in the setting of high- and...
Ilaria Iacobucci, PhD, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses her work to more accurately define mutation subtypes in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, as well as the implications for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment (Abstract LBA-4 ).
Jerald P. Radich, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses a gene-expression model that distinguishes patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who achieved a deep molecular response from those with a poor response to treatment. This work could yield new therapeutic targets that...
Andrew H. Wei, MBBS, PhD, of The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, discusses phase III findings on oral azacitidine (CC-486), the first treatment used in the maintenance setting shown to improve both overall and disease-free survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia that is in remission following...
Jennifer Crombie, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses early study results which showed that duvelisib plus venetoclax showed activity in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, with no dose-limiting toxicities observed (Abstract 1763).
Mark Bustoros, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase II study results showing that the combination of ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone is effective in patients with high-risk smoldering disease, with a high response rate, convenient schedule, and manageable toxicity. Longer...
Catherine M. Diefenbach, MD, of the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone, discusses a primary analysis of a phase Ib/II trial showing that the novel triplet combination of polatuzumab vedotin plus obinutuzumab/lenalidomide is safe and effective, with high complete response rates seen in a...
The postoperative combination of S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine-based drug, with endocrine therapy improved invasive disease–free survival and 5-year invasive disease–free survival estimates in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to results from the...
The addition of tucatinib to capecitabine and trastuzumab significantly improved progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, with or without brain metastasis. These findings—from the HER2CLIMB study—were presented by Murthy et al at the 2019 ...
A phase II clinical study investigating [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) in patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) showed patients had an overall response rate of 60.9% with the treatment. The study by Krop et al was presented ...
Blinatumomab improved survival in children with relapsed B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) compared with standard chemotherapy, accordings to findings from a study presented by Brown et al at the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition (Abstract LBA-1)....
Researchers have completed the first comprehensive analysis combining full genomic sequencing and gene-expression profiles of more than 1,300 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The research was presented by Iacobucci et al during the 2019 American Society...
Treatment with an investigational oral form of azacitidine, CC-486, improved overall survival in older patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were in remission following standard induction chemotherapy with or without consolidation therapy, according to a phase III study...
On November 24, hematologist/oncologist Augustine L. Perrotta, DO, died, days before his 81st birthday. Ironically, Dr. Perrotta died of renal cell carcinoma, presenting with metastasis to the spine, a topic about which he had written and lectured extensively. Clinical Professor of Medicine at...
Scott A. Gerber, PhD, has been named the Kenneth E. and Carol L. Weg Distinguished Professor at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Dr. Gerber is the first to hold this newly established professorship. Dr. Gerber is Professor of Molecular and Systems Biology and of Biochemistry and...
In the pilot phase of an ongoing randomized trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Partha Basu, MD, and colleagues found that thermal ablation and cryotherapy produced similar treatment success rates in Zambian women positive for cervical precancer on visual inspection with acetic acid. The...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Joyce F. Liu, MD, MPH, and colleagues found evidence of the activity of combined nivolumab and bevacizumab in relapsed ovarian cancer, with activity appearing to be greater in platinum-sensitive disease. Study Details In the trial, 38 women with...
As reported in The British Medical Journal (BMJ) by Lise M. Helsingen, MD, PhD, and colleagues, a clinical practice guideline on colorectal cancer screening published as a BMJ Rapid Recommendations guideline indicates that previously unscreened individuals aged 50 to 79 years old with 15-year...
In a cohort biomarker study reported in JAMA Oncology, Jeanne Tie, MD, and colleagues showed that the circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)-positive status after surgery and chemotherapy was associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence in patients with stage III colon cancer. Study Details The...
In the spring of 2005, I was launching a new career as a sales consultant for a startup graphics company and wanted to cross off a few essential things on my to-do list, including getting my annual mammogram and physical, before I started my new job. Although I was surprised when I got a call from ...
Patients with cancer who report on their own quality of life can provide information important in predicting the outcome of their disease, according to researchers from the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). Until recently, reports from clinicians on issues such as...
On November 14, 2019, the oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor zanubrutinib was granted accelerated approval in the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least one prior therapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data The approval was based on findings from...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sven Borchmann, MD, of the German Hodgkin Study Group, University Hospital of Cologne, and colleagues found that pretreatment vitamin D deficiency was associated with significantly poorer progression-free and overall survival in patients...
Only one in five people (22%) disagrees with the statement “generally, patients with lung cancer have caused their illness through their lifestyle choices and behaviors,” according to a global, omnibus survey conducted by Ipsos MORI and sponsored by the Lung Ambition Alliance. The results were...
Due to the rarity of advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, staying current with the latest information on diagnosing, treating, and supporting patients with this diagnosis can be challenging for clinicians who do not often encounter it in practice. To support the multidisciplinary cancer team ...
Alan Hutson, PhD, MA, now holds a 5-year term as a biostatistics expert for the data safety monitoring board at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Hutson is Chair and Professor of Oncology in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. At ...
Partners HealthCare President and Chief Executive Officer, Anne Klibanski, MD, unveiled a 5-year strategic plan and announced plans for rebranding its health-care system. Partners HealthCare, which serves more than 1.5 million patients and receives nearly $2 billion in research funding annually,...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently announced publication of the newest genetic risk assessment recommendations for breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment:...
Recent studies show that at least one-quarter of our nation’s health-care expenditures are being consumed by waste, fraud, and abuse. Moreover, since 2004, annual reports from the Commonwealth Fund have consistently rated the performance of our health-care system last among high-income countries,...
In a new effort to improve early breast cancer detection and reduce false-positive exams in women with dense breasts, the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), and GE Healthcare are partnering to support the Contrast-Enhanced Mammography Imaging...
Earlier this month, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) published new state-of-the-art guidelines on the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia. The guidelines were published in the journal Blood Advances.1 The 2019 ASH Clinical Practice Guidelines on Immune Thrombocytopenia, developed in...
Although pancreatic cancer survival rates have slowly improved over the past few decades for all stages of pancreatic cancer combined, the 1-year rate is 20%, and the 5-year rate is about 9%. There is no single diagnostic test to detect pancreatic cancer, and less than 20% of tumors are confined to ...
Despite the unprecedented improvement in clinical outcomes with the advent of immune checkpoint blockade for cancer,1,2 robust biomarkers for therapeutic success as well as novel strategies to increase their efficacy are urgently needed. In addition to exploring novel immune checkpoints and other...
In a study presented in a brief report in JAMA Oncology,1 David J. Pinato, MD, PhD, of the Imperial College London, and colleagues found that past—but not concurrent—use of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy was associated with poorer treatment outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint...
Carolyn C. Meltzer, MD, neuroradiologist, nuclear physician, and leader in organized radiology, joined the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors earlier this month at the Society’s annual meeting in Chicago. She will serve as the board liaison for science. “I am delighted ...
Multiple myeloma expert Nina Shah, MD, was born and reared in the Northeast. During grade school, she developed a passion for science that would lead to an early decision to pursue a career in medicine. “My ninth-grade biology class really got me interested in human biology, and that’s when I...
On December 4, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with chemotherapy (nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin) for the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no EGFR or ALK genomic...
On April 19, 2019, pembrolizumab was approved for use in combination with the small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label phase III...
Mary Jo Turk, PhD, has been named the O. Ross McIntyre, MD, Professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Co-Director of the Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy Program at Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dr. Turk joined the...
A number of patients involved in clinical trials for drugs being developed to treat cancer may be malnourished and sedentary, a factor that may result in inaccurate results for the trials, according to a new study from researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center published in The Oncologist.1 “We found...
There is an urgent need to develop new drugs for the treatment of urothelial cancer. Chemotherapy was the only approved treatment in advanced disease for 40 years, which was associated with response rates of between 30% and 50% in the front-line setting.1-3 However, durable remissions were...
David P. Steensma, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses early study findings on H3B-8800, which decreased the need for red blood cell or platelet transfusion in 14% of patients. This splicing modulator, used in the trial to treat patients with hematologic malignancies, also showed safety, ...
In the phase II EV-201 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues found high activity of the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma who had...
The New York Genome Center announced recently that Mary-Claire King, PhD, has joined its faculty on a consulting basis as Senior Associate Core Member. Dr. King will provide scientific leadership in the genetics of neuropsychiatric disease. Dr. King is the American Cancer Society Professor in the...
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) has named Chandra P. Belani, MD, as its new Chief Science Officer. In this position, Dr. Belani will direct, guide, and support the IASLC scientific strategy, including, but not limited to, scientific research projects,...
Help fund breakthrough cancer research on behalf of someone you love this holiday season. Make a gift in honor or in memory of a loved one, and then send an e-card or mailed notification of your tribute. For many families, this time of year is marked by worry or grief rather than joy. With your...
The Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program continues to expand its reach, certifying the first system within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—the Salisbury VA Health Care System—on October 9. The system, which includes a main facility—the W. G. (Bill) Hefner...
A new season of Your Stories, the popular podcast series from Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, will premiere in 2020. New episodes will be released bimonthly and will feature candid conversations among doctors, patients, caregivers, and research pioneers on their experiences conquering ...