In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Aleix Prat, MD, PhD, Head of the Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Dr. Prat, a breast cancer researcher, is currently working to identify strategies to tailor treatment for...
Fox Chase Cancer Center recently announced the hiring of Teresa Y. Lee, MD, PhD, as Assistant Professor. Dr. Lee will focus on caring for patients with sarcoma and head and neck cancer. Dr. Lee began her tenure at Fox Chase following her completion of a hematology/oncology fellowship at Thomas...
Treatment with arginine, an amino acid, enhanced the effectiveness of radiation therapy in patients with cancer and brain metastases in a proof-of-concept, randomized clinical trial published by Marullo et al in Science Advances. The recently published paper reported the results of administering...
Risk-reducing medications for breast cancer may be effective for many women, and recently reported and ongoing trials have led to improvements in their tolerability and safety, Seema A. Khan, MD, reported at the 2021 Annual Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium (virtual).1 Dr. Khan is Professor of...
About 9% of patients with cancer experience complications while hospitalized that lead to a deterioration in their condition, a transfer to the intensive care unit, or death. A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is developing a machine learning–based early...
Results of the European Society for Medical Oncology’s (ESMO) Women for Oncology monitoring and authorship studies were recently published by Berghoff et al in ESMO Open. They revealed that women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions despite making up an increasing proportion of...
The invited discussant of the study on out-of-pocket costs of cancer care, Michaela A. Dinan, PhD, Co-Leader of Cancer Prevention and Control at Yale Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, Connecticut, underscored the study’s key...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Susana Banerjee, MBBS, PhD, and colleagues, 5-year follow-up of the pivotal phase III SOLO-1/GOG 3004 trial has shown a median progression-free survival of 56 months with maintenance olaparib following response to platinum-based chemotherapy in newly diagnosed...
“KRAS G12C inhibitors as monotherapy yield a relatively low overall response rate, but when you combine them with an EGFR [epidermal growth factor receptor] inhibitor, the response rate is nearly double,” said Federica Di Nicolantonio, MD, PhD, Professor of Oncology at the University of Turin in...
A 22-gene genomic classifier (the Decipher score) may be able to predict the course of disease in men with high-risk prostate cancer, according to a patient-level meta-analysis of three randomized clinical trials presented by Paul L. Nguyen, MD, at the 2021 American Society for Radiation Oncology...
The delivery of high-quality cancer care relies on a vast network of dedicated experts, some of whom work assiduously behind the scenes, building and modernizing the very architecture on which the cancer community operates. One such person was Clayton Dunklin Pruett, an engineer by training, who...
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Robert A. Winn, MD, Director of VCU Massey Cancer Center, Richmond, Virginia. In 2020, he became the first Black physician to lead a National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center. Among other...
In a study of National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Javier Valero-Elizondo, MD, MPH, of Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, and colleagues, found that U.S. adult patients aged 18 to < 65 years with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease...
The combination of dual checkpoint inhibition plus chemotherapy could be the new standard of care in first-line metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented during the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2021 World Conference on Lung Cancer.1 ...
Heather A. Wakelee, MD, FASCO, President of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), who moderated a press briefing where the results of the Atezo-Brain trial were presented, called the study “beautiful work designed specifically” for patients with non–small cell lung...
Deb Schrag, MD, FASCO, MPH, has been named the new Chair of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). Dr. Schrag has a deep familiarity with MSK, having previously spent 8 years at the institution as a physician and faculty member. She joins MSK from the...
Florian Lordick, MD, PhD, Professor of Oncology and Director of the University Cancer Center Leipzig, Germany, applauded the positive finding for nivolumab plus chemotherapy in CheckMate 6491 and questioned why nivolumab plus ipilimumab did not meet its endpoint. “I’m calling this a big step...
Barbara Pistilli, MD, of the Breast Cancer Group at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, Villejuif, France, said the results of the TULIP trial, showing the progression-free survival benefit for vic-trastuzumab duocarmazine (SYD985), help to establish antibody-drug conjugates as key components of the...
A large study from the United Kingdom has taken a deep dive into SARS–CoV-2 in the setting of cancer, yielding both concerning and encouraging findings about natural and vaccine-induced immunity. The study was presented at the Presidential Symposium during the European Society for Medical Oncology...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sabnis et al analyzed characteristics of genomically targeted single-patient use requests for investigational agents for the treatment of pediatric cancers. These requests were made from pediatric cancer programs over a 5-year period. As...
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, MD, honored the late Henrietta Lacks with a WHO Director-General’s award, recognizing her world-changing legacy. Ms. Lacks, a Black American woman, died of cervical cancer 70 years ago, on October 4, 1951. While she...
The AACR Cancer Progress Report 2021 celebrates the gains made in cancer research since the National Cancer Act was signed into law on December 23, 1971. The report also recognizes the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on cancer research and patient care, the disproportionate toll both...
EA1131 study discussant, Melinda L. Telli, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Stanford Cancer Institute, and Associate Director of the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center, commented: “At this point, capecitabine remains preferred as...
Invited discussant Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Milan, Italy, and Head of the Division of Early Drug Development at the European Institute of Oncology, said the “clear” findings of KEYNOTE-5221 are “practice-changing.” However, the ideal ...
Recent clinical trials have been encouraging for the neoadjuvant or adjuvant use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer, but is this approach ready for the clinic? This question was addressed at the 38th Miami Breast Cancer Conference, held virtually this year, by Adam M....
Formal discussant of the OlympiA trial, Nadine M. Tung, MD, Director of Breast Medical Oncology and the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, was enthusiastic about the ability of olaparib to improve invasive disease–free survival ...
Adjuvant therapy with the PARP inhibitor olaparib for 1 year extended disease-free survival in patients with high-risk early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer with BRCA1/2 germline (inherited) mutations, according to a prespecified interim analysis of the phase III OlympiA trial presented at the...
Because of their well-established efficacy, inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) are the standard of care in the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. The question now is this: After disease progresses on a CDK4/6 inhibitor and endocrine...
The past decade has seen an explosion of novel agents for breast cancer across subtypes. Although each new advance improves therapeutic options for patients, it also brings forth a challenging question: Who needs what treatment? Not all cancers are created equally, and similarly not all patients...
2021 marks the 20th year of collaboration between ASCO; Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation; and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF). BCRF’s pivotal support during the past 2 decades has been critical to both organizations’ shared achievements in funding breakthroughs in breast cancer...
Adjuvant pembrolizumab reduced the risk of recurrence in adults and children older than age 12 with high-risk stage II (AJCC 8th edition, stage IIB/IIC) melanoma vs placebo, according to a late-breaking interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-716 trial, presented during the European Society for...
The resurging COVID-19 pandemic has reawakened challenges for patients and physicians—ones we all hoped were over—and presented stressful situations for patients and providers. Hospitals in some states, particularly those with lower vaccination rates, have faced levels of urgent illness that have...
Shanu Modi, MD, of the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, called the DESTINY-Breast03 results,1 which showed a highly significant benefit for fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) over trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), “unprecedented.” She suggested they...
Over the past month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued several regulatory decisions for novel treatments for patients with cancer. Priority Review for Relatlimab and Nivolumab Fixed-Dose Combination in Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma The FDA accepted for Priority Review the...
On October 5, Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, announced his decision to end his tenure as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by the end of the year. Dr. Collins is the longest-serving presidentially appointed NIH Director, having served three U.S. presidents over more than 12 years....
Today’s life-saving chemotherapeutics originated from the vision and indefatigable work of pioneers in the field whose unwavering vision challenged the status quo. One such pioneer was Franco M. Muggia, MD, who, in a career lasting more than 50 years, had a hand in the development of some of the...
Given that death is a certain outcome in life, we seek the best way out as possible. What is a good death? According to Jeff Spiess, MD, author of the book Dying With Ease: A Compassionate Guide to Making Wiser End-of-Life Decisions, a good death is one in which pain and suffering are minimized and ...
Ensuring equitable cancer care for every patient, everywhere has been embedded into ASCO’s mission statement since the Society’s inception nearly 60 years ago. Nevertheless, events of the past year, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionally impacted minority communities, ...
President Biden announced the appointment of seven distinguished clinicians and researchers to the National Cancer Advisory Board, which plays an important role in guiding the Director of the National Cancer Institute in setting the course for the national cancer research program. President Biden...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in a research letter in Blood Advances, Jennifer L. Crombie, MD, and colleagues found that axicabtagene ciloleucel produced high overall and complete response rates in patients with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. They also observed some evidence to...
For more than 2 decades, the chemotherapy agent gemcitabine has been a mainstay treatment for several types of cancer. Now, scientists have uncovered genetic evidence of which patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer are likely to benefit from the drug. In a study published by Panagiotis...
Researchers have discovered that grouping EGFR mutations by structure and function provides an accurate framework to match patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to the right drugs. The findings, published by Robichaux et al in Nature, identify four subgroups of mutations and introduce a...
Breast cancer survivors who participated in Active Living After Cancer, an evidence-based 12-week group program, markedly increased their physical activity and ability to accomplish the basic pursuits of daily life, reported Tami-Maury et al in the journal Cancer. The results show the program could ...
The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases, has appointed Amelia Escolano, PhD, and Nan Zhang, PhD, as Assistant Professors. Dr. Escolano’s research focuses on the development of novel vaccine approaches against highly mutating ...
Expanding its multidisciplinary teams of experts focused on the management of head and neck cancers as well as cancers of the lungs, pleura, and mediastinum, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health have welcomed Missak Haigentz, Jr, MD, as Chief of Thoracic and Head and Neck...
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. These highly resistant bacteria cause more than 750,000 deaths worldwide every year, a number that is predicted to rise dramatically....
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Gregorio Jaimovich, MD, Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Favaloro University Hospital in Buenos Aires. Distinguished expert on radiation therapy and bone...
Katherine Van Loon, MD, MPH, was raised in Miami, until the age of 12, and then her family relocated to Atlanta, where she spent her junior and high school years. “If you ask my parents about my decision to become a doctor, they will say I first declared it at age 5. Nobody knew how that idea came...
To underscore its commitment to scale and grow cancer research funding and to align more closely with ASCO, Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, has updated its mission and vision. Mission: Accelerate breakthroughs in lifesaving research and empower people everywhere to conquer cancer. Vision: A...
A recently updated ASCO guideline offers both new and revised guidance on the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.1 “ASCO regularly updates its guidelines to make sure everything is current and valuable for oncologists and patients. About a year ago,...