New diagnostic tests for prostate cancer, as well as new information about the impact of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on prostate cancer screening, were presented at the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA). PSA Screening of African American...
Use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer is increasing and brings added value to screening and surveillance, according to new studies presented this year during the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA). Four studies highlighting the...
Researchers presented new findings on a Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA)-approved robotic system, safety of testosterone therapy after prostate cancer, and active surveillance protocol for low-risk prostate cancer patients at the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association ...
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, Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, and Alison Jefferies, BA, MEd, summarize research...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Conforti et al found a significant difference in overall survival benefit favoring male vs female patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for advanced cancers. Study Details The study involved database...
A targeted therapy that has been effective in fighting ovarian cancer in women, including those with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, may also help patients with aggressive pancreatic cancer who harbor these mutations and have few or no other treatment options. An international team of researchers was...
Nationally recognized oncologist Nancy L. Bartlett, MD, had an early love for mathematics and a swooning aversion to the sight of blood. “I was born and reared in Kansas City, Missouri and am a Midwesterner at heart. No one in the family was involved in medicine. My mom was an elementary school...
Simultaneously presented at the 2018 European Association of Urology meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the PRECISION trial will go down as a landmark study for solidifying the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in prostate cancer diagnosis.1 This trial provides...
In the international PRECISION trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Veeru Kasivisvanathan, MRCS, of University College London, and colleagues found that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-targeted biopsy resulted in a significantly higher rate of diagnosis of clinically significant ...
Susan G. Komen recently announced new advisory roles for 12 leaders in breast cancer. These women and men will join an esteemed group of breast cancer researchers, clinicians, and advocates who help guide the organization’s education and advocacy work, public health efforts, and research programs. ...
In 1996, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) published its first set of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) covering 8 tumor types. Guidelines are now published for more than 60 tumor types and topics. Some of the key updates were presented at NCCN’s 23rd...
In a letter to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, Smith et al describe successful use of oxybutynin to treat hot flashes in a patient receiving androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer. As noted by the authors, nonhormonal treatments for menopausal hot flashes in women ...
As reported in JAMA, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued updated recommendations on prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer. To inform the recommendations, the USPSTF reviewed evidence on benefits and harms of PSA-based screening and treatment of...
Susannah E. Koontz, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, is a consultant for clinical pharmacy services, research, and education in the areas of pediatric hematology/oncology, stem cell transplantation, and cellular therapy. She has held positions at the Children’s Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas MD...
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for Cancer Research (AACR) presented Special Recognition Awards to the following four individuals whose work has made extraordinary contributions to the AACR’s mission to accelerate the prevention and cure of all cancers through research, education, communication, and...
In rapid succession, the SPARTAN study results were presented at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, the data were published in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 and the drug apalutamide -(Erleada) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for men with previously...
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...
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 Swedish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jansson et al identified an increased risk of non–low-risk prostate cancer among men with prostate cancer who had with brothers diagnosed with non–low-risk disease. Study Details The study involved 4,262 pairs of...
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)....
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 ...
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 ...
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs)—specifically the short-acting form of CCBs, which are prescribed to treat high blood pressure—were associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a study presented at the American Assocation for Cancer...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Michael J. Morris, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on optimizing anticancer therapy in men with metastatic noncastrate prostate cancer. To...
THE 2018 GENITOURINARY Cancers Symposium hosted an international audience of oncologists and other stakeholders to hear about the latest advances in the field. We have included coverage of many of the top news stories from the meeting in previous issues of The ASCO Post. Here are summaries of a few ...
In the international PRECISION trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Kasivisvanathan et al found that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-targeted biopsy resulted in a significantly higher rate of diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancer and a lower rate of diagnosis of...
According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of death among men and women, killing about 84,000 men and 71,000 women each year. Although lung cancer–related death rates in the United States have declined steadily since 1990 in men, they did not start to decline...
In the E3805 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Morgans et al found that chemohormonal therapy with docetaxel and androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) was associated with poorer quality of life (QOL) at 3 months but better QOL at 12 months vs ADT alone in metastatic hormone-sensitive ...
Prevention in Oncology is guest edited by Jennifer Ligibel, MD, Chair of ASCO’s Energy Balance Working Group and a member of ASCO’s Cancer Survivorship and Cancer Prevention Committees. Dr. Ligibel is Director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer...
James L. Mohler, MD, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, discusses personalized medicine, molecular risk stratification, and better androgen-deprivation therapy for men with prostate cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Unger et al linked data from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) with Medicare claims and found that finasteride treatment was associated with a maintained reduction in prostate cancer risk after discontinuation of the...
A large international study has shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reduce the number of invasive prostate biopsies by up to 28%. The PRECISION trial showed that using MRI to target prostate biopsies leads to more harmful and fewer harmless prostate cancers being diagnosed. The results...
A major international survey has found that around a quarter of patients with penile cancer are not receiving the recommended treatment, and that these patients had half the survival rate of those who were treated according to guidelines. The study, presented at the European Association of Urology...
A major UK survey has shown that patients with urologic cancer—such as prostate, bladder, or kidney cancer—are five times more likely to commit suicide than people without cancer. The analysis also shows that patients with cancer generally are around three times more likely to commit...
In the UK-based CAP trial reported in JAMA, Martin et al found that a single prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening was not associated with better 10-year prostate cancer-specific survival vs the standard practice of no screening. Screening was associated with greater detection of prostate...
On March 19, a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for enzalutamide (Xtandi) was accepted for filing and granted Priority Review designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If approved, the sNDA would expand the indication of enzalutamide to include men with nonmetastatic...
A new study found many men receiving prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing do so without a comprehensive shared decision-making process, contrary to current guidelines. The American Cancer Society study, published by Fedewa et al in Annals of Family Medicine, found that in both 2010 and 2015,...
Along with full coverage of key presentations from the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, The ASCO Post brings our readers this additional news roundup. Side Matters in Colon Cancer One of the studies included in the global IDEA trial, which compared 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy in ...
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men. The majority of patients are cured of their disease, but a newly published study shows many remain at risk for later complications from chemotherapy or other treatments. The study, published by Zaid et al in JNCCN –Journal of the...
Although immunotherapy has improved outcomes across a growing number of cancers, its success in unselected cases of prostate cancer has been limited. According to data presented at the 2018 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, however, investigators have identified a group of patients with ...
In a study of data from the National Cancer Database reported in JAMA Oncology, Joshi et al found that two-thirds of patients with node-positive nonmetastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the penis received lymph node dissection and approximately half received chemotherapy in recent years. ...
The combination of the poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) and the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) produced positive preliminary results in men with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer previously treated with...
Patients with lower income have a significantly reduced chance of surviving anal cancer, according to a new study led by investigators at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center published by Lin et al in the journal Cancer. The study shows that both overall and...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mehralivand et al found that inclusion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in a predictive model may reduce unnecessary biopsies in men with suspected prostate cancer. Study Details In the study, a predictive model adding MRI-derived prostate volume...
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ennis et al found no significant survival differences between patients receiving brachytherapy-based radiotherapy vs radical prostatectomy in men with high-risk localized prostate cancer. Study Details The...
The text and photograph on this page are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photo below is from the volume titled “The Anesthesia Era: 1845–1875.” The photograph...
BOOKMARK Title: Autobiography of a FaceAuthor: Lucy GrealyPublisher: Houghton Mifflin HarcourtOriginal Publication Date: June 1994Price: $14.95, paperback; 256 pages We live in a celebrity-obsessed society that is consumed by images of what we perceive as ideal beauty. Numerous studies show that ...
Dr. Katz is a certified sexuality counselor at CancerCare Manitoba, Canada. SEXUALITY AND SEXUAL functioning are important to cancer survivors, and considering the significant number of survivors, this is an issue that should not be ignored. In a survey of cancer survivors who had completed...
AS REPORTED in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jeanne Carter, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline adaptation of the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) guideline on interventions to address sexual problems in people with cancer.1 ...
PHILIP KANTOFF, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, was the formal discussant of both trials. “At first glance, these are two positive trials,” Dr. Kantoff said. Although he praised the results, he said that overall survival is the best demonstration of clinical benefit, and ...