On April 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) based on results of the phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial. The application seeks approval for pembrolizumab in combination with pemetrexed (Alimta) ...
Skin cancer survivors know firsthand that the disease is most treatable when detected early, so they’re more likely to be vigilant about skin exams—and new research shows that such vigilance pays off. After studying more than 900 cases of melanoma reported through the Health...
While effective antiretroviral therapy, which suppresses HIV replication and improves immune function, has resulted in increased longevity for people living with HIV and reduced the risk of certain cancers, including Kaposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, other cancers are expected to become more ...
On May 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) suspension for intravenous infusion for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma—including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), high-grade B-cell lymphoma, and...
A study by Landgren et al in JAMA Oncology has found that New York City firefighters exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) disaster site face an increased risk for developing monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a myeloma precursor disease. The study was conducted...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Maurer et al found that a shorter interval between diagnosis and treatment was associated with adverse prognostic features and that a longer interval was associated with greater event-free survival in the first-line treatment of diffuse large ...
AstraZeneca and MedImmune have announced high-level results from the phase III ARCTIC trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have received at least two prior treatments. This randomized, open-label, multicenter trial assessed the efficacy...
On April 23, Epizyme, Inc, announced that U.S.-based enrollment of new patients into tazemetostat clinical trials is temporarily on hold. Following a safety report of a pediatric patient who developed a secondary lymphoma, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a partial clinical hold...
Eli Lilly and Company recently announced additional results from its global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III RANGE trial evaluating ramucirumab (Cyramza) in combination with docetaxel in patients with locally advanced or unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose...
In a propensity-score matching analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Polanco et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a survival benefit vs observation among patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent resection after pathologic complete response following neoadjuvant ...
This week, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) announced the names of the 35 hematologists participating in the 2018 ASH Clinical Research Training Institute in Latin America (CRTI-LA) and Advanced CRTI-LA. This education and mentorship program was held April 23–26, prior to the...
Very small differences in the way a patient lies during radiotherapy treatment for lung or esophageal cancer can have an impact on survival, according to research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference (Abstract OC-0322). These differences of only a...
Radiotherapy given in high doses over a shorter period of time is safe and effective for patients with prostate cancer, according to research from a phase III trial presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference (Abstract OC-0599). The...
A simple test of handgrip strength may be a good indicator of short- and long-term survival in patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to new findings presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference (Abstract PV0041)....
An analysis of elderly patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated in a phase II trial of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy has shown that they were less likely to benefit than younger patients if the two treatments were given at the same time. These findings were presented ...
A rare but potentially serious complication following radiation treatment for cervical cancer is a narrowing of the tube that takes urine from the kidneys to the bladder (the ureter), which can lead to kidney damage and sometimes life-threatening infections. This is called ureteral stricture and,...
Although literature demonstrates a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease in individuals with various cancers—including squamous cell cancers (SCC) and basal cell cancers (BCC)—there is a paucity of literature to substantiate an association between malignant melanoma and...
Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) have a survival advantage if they receive treatment at a pediatric cancer center vs an adult center, according to a study published by Muffly et al in Blood Advances. The findings also suggest that treatment at a center...
On April 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for Priority Review a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) whose disease has progressed after two or more prior lines of therapy. ...
NORMAN WOLMARK, MD, and Bernard Fisher, MD, received the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Distinguished Service Award for their work leading the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP). Dr. Wolmark, who succeeded Dr. Fisher as Chair of the NSABP and is currently Group Chair...
ASCO AND THE ONCOLOGY COMMUNITY are deeply saddened by the loss of James F. Holland, MD, FASCO, who passed away on March 22, 2018. He was 92. Dr. Holland was a Distinguished Professor of Neoplastic Diseases in the Department of Medicine at the Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at...
THE NEUROENDOCRINE Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) has awarded six new research grants, totaling about $1.85 million, to leading academic institutions around the world. The grants fund clinical, translational, and basic research in the United States, Australia, Switzerland, and the United...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, reviews the current data on the use of massage to...
A new study published by Banegas et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has found that cancer care costs in the United States are higher for people under age 65—and that costs increase with disease stage. Despite the fact that nearly half of new cancer...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib and Landgren review the underlying data that shaped the updated International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) diagnostic criteria for...
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends several screening tests for colorectal cancer (CRC) in adults aged 50 to 75, including fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2017, there were an estimated 95,520 cases ...
The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) has released the 2018 Community Oncology Practice Impact Report, which tracks data on the changing landscape of cancer care in the United States. It details a decade-long trend of closure and consolidation in the U.S. cancer system that has resulted in a...
A new type of cancer vaccine has yielded promising results in an initial clinical trial conducted at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The personalized vaccine is made from a patient’s own immune ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized two guidances to drive the efficient development of next-generation sequencing, which scans a person’s DNA to diagnose genetic diseases, and guide medical treatments. The guidances provide recommendations for designing,...
Pfizer recently announced that the independent data monitoring committee for the phase III ATLAS trial, which is evaluating axitinib (Inlyta) as adjuvant therapy for patients at high risk of recurrent renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after nephrectomy, recommended stopping the trial at a planned interim...
On April 9, the phase III KEYNOTE-042 trial evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as monotherapy for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, including nonsquamous or squamous histologies) met its primary endpoint of overall survival (OS). An ...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wu et al found that crizotinib (Xalkori) was highly active in East Asian patients with ROS1-positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details In the study, 127 patients from 37 sites in China, Japan,...
People with stage III colon cancer who regularly eat tree nuts are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who don’t, according to findings published by Fadelu et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 Study Findings The study followed 826 participants in the...
Recently, Curant House announced the publication of Healing Hope: Through and Beyond Cancer by Wendy S. Harpham, MD, FACP, a physician-survivor of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and award-winning thought leader in survivorship. In this book (her eighth), Dr. Harpham presents 50 illness-related aphorisms in...
As reported at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting & Exposition and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Sattva S. Neelapu, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, a phase II trial has shown high activity of autologous anti-CD19 chimeric...
Some T cells have excellent memories. These subtypes—known as memory T cells—may explain why some immunotherapies are more effective than others and could potentially lead to researchers designing more effective studies using combination checkpoint blockade treatments, according to...
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 14% of all lung cancers and is often rapidly resistant to chemotherapy, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Treatment has changed little for decades, but a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center offers a potential explanation for...
I’ll admit it. When I was first asked if I would chair the Cancer Control for Primary Care (CCPC) Course in Bhutan, I immediately exclaimed yes... and then sheepishly went to look up where exactly Bhutan was on a map. For the uninitiated, Bhutan is a country nestled between India and Tibet in the...
The second year of the Quality Payment Program (QPP), established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), began on January 1, 2018. This year, oncology practices face more robust quality reporting requirements to successfully participate in QPP and avoid a financial penalty in...
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 28, 2018. Help ASCO educate patients about how to dispose of unused or expired medications by equipping them with the ASCO Answers fact sheet on Safe Storage and Disposal of Pain Medications. Download a free copy at www.cancer.net/ascoanswers or...
ASCO and ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation are proud to recognize the winners of ASCO’s Special Awards and Conquer Cancer’s Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards. The recipients of these awards include researchers, patient advocates, and global oncology leaders who have worked to transform...
THE NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE Cancer Network® (NCCN®) announced the recipients of the 2018 awards for service to patients and contributions to the alliance, during the NCCN 23rd Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The awards were presented by NCCN Chief Executive Officer Robert W. Carlson, MD, and...
THE NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE Cancer Network (NCCN) has updated its Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Central Nervous System Cancers (NCCN Guidelines®) to recommend alternating electric field therapy (also known as tumor-treating fields, Optune) in combination with temozolomide as a...
Glioblastoma, a grade 4 astrocytoma, is the most common and most aggressive form of primary brain tumors in adults. The most recent guidance on molecular profiling, diagnostic and prognostic factors, and treatments for newly diagnosed and recurrent diseases was described in the Journal of Oncology ...
For this installment in the Living a Full Life series of articles, Edith Peterson Mitchell, MD, was interviewed by Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP. Dr. Mitchell is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Medical Oncology in the Division of Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University as well as ...
XIANG ZHANG, PhD, Associate Professor and McNair Scholar at the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, part of the National Cancer Institute–designated Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine, has been named the 2018 recipient of the Sue Eccles Young Investigator Award...
It is a difficult task to include every notable presentation from the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. In addition to our more comprehensive coverage of the news from that meeting over the past several issues, below are summaries of additional key...
At a press conference where the findings by Chlebowski et al were presented, Marisa Weiss, MD, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Breastcancer.org and Director of Radiation Oncology at Lankenau Medical Center in Philadelphia, commended this study. “We could set a goal of losing 5 pounds for our...
Evidence of the numerous health benefits of weight loss continues to mount, and the hope is that doctors and patients are listening. A large observational study presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium showed that weight loss of more than 5% is associated with a significantly lower ...
C. Kent Osborne, MD, Director of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and moderator of a press conference where the EMBRACA findings were presented, shared his thoughts on the study. While a few months’ improvement in the risk of disease progression may seem...