On May 31, 2016, ASCO published an updated framework for assessing the relative value of cancer therapies that have been compared in clinical trials. The framework, published by Schnipper et al,1 defines value as a combination of clinical benefit, side effects, and improvement in patient symptoms...
Dense breasts are not an automatic indication for additional imaging. Instead, breast density generally provides an opportunity for improved risk assessment, according to Kevin Hughes, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. “More than 20 states have mandated that women be informed of...
Oncologist Philip A. Salem MD, Director Emeritus of Cancer Research at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, was honored as a physician and author on April 28 by the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto and his government for Dr. Salem’s lifelong commitment to cancer care worldwide. Dr....
The American Urological Association (AUA) honored its 2016 AUA award recipients during its 111th Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calfornia. These physician researchers, educators, and organizations were honored for their contributions to the field of medicine, the specialty of urology, and the AUA....
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has named a prominent expert in bladder cancer, Cheryl Taylore Lee, MD, to lead its urology, uro/gynecology, and uro/oncologic programs, beginning July 1, pending approval by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees. Dr. Lee will be Chair of the...
My experience with cancer, or more accurately, cancers, is complicated. In 2002, after returning from a medical mission to Honduras, I noticed a bean-sized lymph node above my left clavicle. As an oncology-certified nurse, I knew not to ignore any unusual nodules that pop up on the body and asked...
“A book about the future must be written in advance. Later I won’t have the energy. So I will do it now.” So begins The Iceberg, a memoir set in Britain of a woman, Marion Coutts, whose husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which eventually killed him. Unfortunately, cancer memoirs flood the...
The University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center has been awarded the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) highest designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. The prestigious distinction recognizes the cancer center’s high caliber of scientific leadership and robust programs ...
An otherwise healthy, actively working, independent 60-year-old patient came to us with a several months’ history of abdominal pain. He had been seen by other physicians prior to coming to us for a second opinion. Our workup revealed a large cystic lesion emanating from the pancreas but involving ...
According to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), environmental toxic exposures are responsible for between 7% and 19% of human cancers. However, the 2008–2009 President’s Cancer Panel Annual Report estimated that the “true...
On May 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fluciclovine F-18 (Axumin), a radioactive diagnostic agent for injection. Fluciclovine F-18 is indicated for positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging in men with suspected prostate cancer recurrence based on elevated...
As reported in The Lancet by Nicholas D. James, BSc, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Warwick, and colleagues, survival results of the STAMPEDE trial, which used a multiarm, multistage seamless phase II/III design, provide little evidence of benefit of zoledronic acid and showed increased survival ...
Pilot Study Title: Pilot Study of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Therapy in Patients With Unresectable or Borderline Resectable Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma Study Type: Interventional/nonrandomized/parallel assignment Study Sponsor and Collaborators: Washington University School of Medicine Purpose: ...
Multiple myeloma cells uniformly overexpress CD38.1 Daratumumab (Darzalex), a CD38-targeting human IgG1 kappa monoclonal antibody, has been evaluated in a series of phase I/II trials involving patients with relapsed or relapsed and refractory myeloma who have received at least two or more prior...
In the phase II SIRIUS trial reported in The Lancet, Sagar Lonial, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, and colleagues found that the CD38-targeted monoclonal antibody daratumumab (Darzalex) produced durable responses in patients with multiple myeloma who had received at least three ...
ASCO announced that a total of 58 practices in 39 states and the District of Columbia have joined CancerLinQ™, ASCO’s big data initiative to rapidly improve the quality of care for people with cancer. CancerLinQ is already up and running in a number of practices and drawing on approximately...
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 May 13, 2016, lenvatinib (Lenvima) was approved for use in...
Diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer have been the source of heated debate for decades, most of which has centered on the clinical value of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. In 2012, the U.S Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) gave the PSA test a D grade, which discourages many...
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) has received generous support from Lung Cancer Alliance to fund a 2016 and 2017 Young Investigator Award (YIA) in lung cancer. Lung Cancer Alliance has a more than 20-year history of working to save lives and advance research by empowering those living...
Stephen K. Burley, MD, DPhil, has been named as Co–Program Leader of the Cancer Pharmacology Research Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. This basic science program unites investigators with broad scientific expertise who share a strong interest in cancer pharmacology and preclinical ...
Hormone receptor–positive breast cancer represents the largest therapeutic subgroup of the disease. The development of endocrine therapies has shaped the treatment paradigm for both advanced- and early-stage disease for decades.1 Still, despite their significant impact, advanced breast cancer...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, and colleagues, the final results of the phase III PALOMA-3 trial showed that the addition of the CDK4/CDK6 inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance) to fulvestrant...
Immunotherapy marches on! One of the latest frontiers for checkpoint inhibitors is the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but aggressive type of cancer. First-line therapy with pembrolizumab (Keytruda)—an anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) inhibitor—achieved an objective response...
It is more and more common for people to wait until their 30s or 40s to have children. Consequently, many young adults have not completed their desired childbearing when they are diagnosed with cancer. Cancer treatments can impair fertility directly (usually via gonadotoxicity from chemotherapy,...
As reported by Joanne F. Kelvin, MSN, RN, CNS, AOCN, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a cancer and fertility program established at MSK improved patient satisfaction with information received regarding fertility risks and...
The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) has announced that Richard J. O’Reilly, MD, has been named the inaugural recipient of The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Prize. Founded in 1946, The Society of MSK is a volunteer-led organization within MSK dedicated to promoting the ...
Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), has received the Ovarcome Excellence 2016 Award in recognition of her accomplishments in the field of cancer research, and her commitment to increasing public awareness about cancer...
Low-grade gliomas account for 15% of all primary brain tumors and represent a heterogeneous group of glial neoplasms. Although these tumors have been termed low-grade, this is a misnomer, especially for some grade II gliomas, which may exhibit a more aggressive behavior and variable natural...
Oophorectomy was the first proposed form of endocrine therapy for women with breast cancer. Over 100 years ago, Thomas Nunn reported a relationship between menopause and regression of breast cancer.1 This incited interest in the induction of menopause as an anticancer therapy, and in 1986, a...
Final results of the RTOG 9802 phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Jan C. Buckner, MD, of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and colleagues, showed that the addition of chemotherapy with procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine to radiotherapy significantly prolonged overall...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on ovarian suppression as part of the extant guideline on adjuvant endocrine therapy in hormone...
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 May 18, 2016, the PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1)...
On June 2, 2016, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, issued the following statement on the release of the final individual patient expanded access form. “Today, the FDA finalized its efforts to streamline the process used by physicians to request expanded...
Compared with a historic control rate, a phase II study of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq) has demonstrated clinically meaningful responses in patients with urothelial carcinoma who progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy.1 Hailed as a “major...
Seattle Children’s announced that 39 of 42 patients treated in a phase I clinical trial using genetically reprogrammed T cells to treat relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have achieved complete remission, showing no detectable leukemia cells. Phase II of this trial, known as...
Guest Editor Physiatry in Oncology explores the benefits of cancer rehabilitation in oncology practice to screen survivors for physical and cognitive impairments along the care continuum to minimize survivors’ disability and maximize their quality of life. The column is guest edited by Sean Smith, ...
A new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study suggests that African American men and men with a higher tumor stage may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy following radical prostatectomy.1 According to prespecified analysis of these two “high–risk” subgroups, patients with ≥ T3b disease had a ...
In 2012–2013, members of the President’s Cancer Panel (prescancerpanel.cancer.gov) focused their efforts on accelerating widespread acceptance of and use of approved human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to prevent cancer. The topic is important, because HPVs cause most cases of cervical cancer and...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) congratulates Saverio Candido, PhD, on receiving the fourth Margaret Foti Scholar-in-Training Award from the University of Catania in Italy. Dr. Candido is being recognized for his research on biomarkers of bladder cancer development and...
Breast surgeon Deanna Attai, MD, is a virtual mighty mouse as a spokesperson for her professional organization, the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS). She is as big on ideas as she is petite in stature and for actively tweeting on medical topics (@DrAttai). Assistant Clinical Professor...
A large prospective Swedish study reported by Larsson et al found a 2.2-fold increased risk of gallbladder cancer in people who consumed two or more servings of sweetened beverages a day compared with nonconsumers. The researchers also found a 1.8-fold increase in extrahepatic biliary tract cancer...
Vice President Joe Biden offered remarks on the White House’s National Cancer Moonshot Initiative on Monday, June 6, to attendees at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. Essential Elements “The Moonshot Initiative can be a vehicle for major new progress against cancer, and ASCO’s Annual...
Value framework tools made a splash in 2015, with five different groups unveiling methods to help physicians and patients compare therapies based on efficacy, toxicity, and/or cost. Now these potential users are beginning to examine and debate the tools, including how and whether they will work in...
An adjuvant chemotherapy regimen improved overall survival in early-stage pancreatic cancer patients, in the large phase III European ESPAC-4 study reported at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 The combination of gemcitabine and capecitabine almost doubled the 5-year survival rate, compared to...
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has announced the hiring of Steve Stadum as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Stadum, currently the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute, will join Fred Hutchinson as ...
The incidence of new cases of breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is rising, and it will take a concerted effort from the international cancer community to counteract this troubling upward trend. It has been estimated that of the 15 million cancer ...
According to a new survey of more than 1,500 consumers and nearly 600 physicians conducted for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), only 35% of Americans indicated that they were “likely” to enroll in a clinical trial. Clinical research is increasingly dependent upon larger numbers of...
“There is a tremendous interest in longer aromatase inhibitor therapy. The Oxford Overview data, presented at ASCO, show the substantial risk of recurrence in years 5 to 15, despite an initial 5 years of adjuvant endocrine treatment. “Women with lower-risk breast cancer will be less inclined to...
Five years of aromatase inhibitor as upfront therapy or after tamoxifen is the current standard of care for postmenopausal women with early hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. A new trial suggests that extending aromatase inhibitor therapy with letrozole for an additional 5 years may improve...
It can be easy to miss the forest for the trees in the interpretation of clinical trials. In particular, trials for the treatment of cancer are exceedingly complex, with long lists of inclusion and exclusion criteria, designs with hidden biases, drugs with unpronounceable names (if not cumbersome...