The 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting featured a wealth of presentations on important topics. In addition to our regular news coverage of the meeting, we present below some highlights of other studies that add to our knowledge base for treatment of various cancers. Olaratumab in Soft-Tissue Sarcoma...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Greenup et al found that cancer treatment costs influenced women’s decisions on breast cancer surgery. Researchers reported many women, even at the highest income levels, said that costs were higher than expected, and that most women...
Immunotherapy as a treatment for advanced solid cancers has rapidly evolved over the past decade—often yielding remarkable results. However, its use has also given way to new adverse effects, including drug-induced gastrointestinal and liver toxicities. “Checkpoint inhibitors are a...
Diversity, inclusion, and gender equality were prevalent themes for 2019 that ran throughout the ASCO Annual Meeting. From the first year that featured free onsite child care for attendees, to a session on “Establishing a Mutually Respectful Environment in the Workplace,” as well as a Plenary...
GUEST EDITOR Addressing the evolving needs of cancer survivors at various stages of their illness and care, Palliative Care in Oncology is guest edited by Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, FASCO. Dr. Von Roenn is ASCO’s Vice President of Education, Science, and Professional Development. During the 2019...
The three-drug combination of encorafenib (a BRAF inhibitor), binimetinib (a MEK inhibitor), and cetuximab (an EGFR inhibitor) significantly improved overall survival in patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer, according to the results of the phase III BEACON CRC clinical trial....
Artificial intelligence (AI) may improve the efficiency and accuracy of an advanced imaging technology used to screen for breast cancer, according to a study published by Conant et al in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence. Digital breast tomosynthesis is an advanced method for cancer...
Microsatellite instability (MSI) is an important predictive biomarker of response to immune checkpoint blockade in solid cancers. However, despite recommendations by clinical practice guidelines, MSI is often not assessed, usually due to tissue insufficiency, unavailability, or infeasibility....
In an interim analysis of the phase III E1912 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Shanafelt et al found that ibrutinib/rituximab improved progression-free and overall survival vs standard chemoimmunotherapy in patients 70 years old or younger with previously untreated chronic...
In a study published by Urakawa et al in Annals of Surgery, researchers found that the response of lymph nodes to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is more effective in predicting disease recurrence and patient survival in individuals with esophageal cancer than the response of primary tumors....
In a study published by Louvanto et al in Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers investigated the ability of a DNA methylation panel to determine between disease progression and regression among women of childbearing age with untreated cervical intraepithelial dysplasia. In the majority of...
In a phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hont et al found that treatment of relapsed or refractory solid tumors with ex vivo expanded autologous multiantigen-associated specific cytotoxic T cells—or, tumor-associated antigen cytotoxic T cells—was safe and showed...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clarke et al found that hysterectomy-corrected rates of uterine corpus cancer—particularly nonendometrioid subtypes—have been increasing in the United States, with racial disparities in incidence and survival being observed. In...
On August 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to pexidartinib (Turalio) capsules for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) associated with severe morbidity or functional limitations and not responsive to improvement with...
Immunotherapy as a treatment for advanced solid cancers has rapidly evolved over the past decade—often yielding remarkable results. However, its use has also given way to new adverse effects, including drug-induced gastrointestinal and liver toxicities. “Checkpoint inhibitors are a game changer...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to bempegaldesleukin in combination with nivolumab for advanced melanoma and cleared an investigational new drug application for a phase I trial of SB 11285 in advanced solid tumors. Breakthrough...
Many patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma contract Staphylococcus aureus infections in the skin. In a new study, researchers have shown that aggressive treatment with antibiotics for patients with these infections not only inhibits the staphylococcal bacteria—but also the cancer...
Results from a large cohort study showed that psychological stress is associated with increased cancer-specific mortality among women with cervical cancer, independent of tumor characteristics and treatment modality. The findings support the integration of psychological screening and intervention...
In a post hoc 5-year follow-up of the KEYNOTE-006 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Robert et al found that pembrolizumab maintained overall and progression-free survival benefits over ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma. In the primary analysis from the trial, both pembrolizumab...
This week, we discuss an interim analysis of the MONALEESA-7 trial of the addition of ribociclib to endocrine therapy in pre- or perimenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. We also talk about a study that examined the relationship between the duration...
In patients with prostate cancer with surgical positive margins or extracapsular extension of their disease, the risk of disease recurrence postprostatectomy is higher than in cases where the cancer cells are confined within the prostate. The Finnish FinnProstataX study investigated...
A recent analysis looked at the global burden of pediatric cancer through the lens of years of affected and lost life. This work shows a much greater burden of childhood cancer, placed largely in low- and middle-income countries, than previous estimates. The findings were published in The Lancet...
Nearly-three quarters of Americans are not familiar with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common type of cancer in the United States, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Skin Cancer Foundation. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is more common...
In the first stage of a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, O’Reilly et al found poor activity of durvalumab with or without tremelimumab in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Owing to the lack of efficacy, study expansion was not pursued. The lead-in open-label safety ...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Adkins et al found that the combination of the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor palbociclib and the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab showed activity in patients with either platinum- or cetuximab-resistant human papillomavirus...
Findings from a cohort of a phase II study reported by Stacchiotti et al in The Lancet Oncology indicated activity of the antiangiogenic agent pazopanib in advanced extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma. As noted by the investigators, this rare sarcoma has low sensitivity to cytotoxic chemotherapy,...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Muss et al, long-term findings from the phase III CALGB 49907 trial support the finding from the primary analysis—that standard adjuvant chemotherapy improved recurrence-free survival vs capecitabine in women aged 65 years or older with early ...
On July 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus whose tumors express programmed ...
On July 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved darolutamide (Nubeqa) for the treatment of nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Approval was based on the ARAMIS study, a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 1,509 patients with...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Im et al, an interim analysis of the phase III MONALEESA-7 trial has shown an overall survival benefit with the addition of the cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor ribociclib to endocrine therapy in pre- or perimenopausal women...
Many governments are making progress in the fight against tobacco, with 5 billion people today living in countries that have introduced smoking bans, warnings on packaging, and other effective tobacco control measures—four times more people than a decade ago. However, a new World Health...
For patients with colorectal cancer, new research shows a clearer connection than previously known between fat deposits in certain areas of the body and higher rates of death from all causes within 7 years of cancer diagnosis. These findings were published by Brown et al in the Journal of the...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by de Boer et al, a post hoc updated survival analysis of the phase III PORTEC-3 trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs radiotherapy alone in women with high-risk endometrial cancer. A benefit in failure-free...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Bachy et al, 9-year follow-up of the phase III PRIMA trial indicated a maintained progression-free survival benefit of maintenance rituximab vs observation following first-line induction therapy for follicular lymphoma. As in the prior reports from ...
As reported by Topalian et al in JAMA Oncology, long-term follow up of patients from a phase I expansion cohort study indicated 5-year overall survival rates of 34.2%, 27.7%, and 15.6% among patients who received nivolumab monotherapy for advanced melanoma, renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and...
A new laboratory test developed to identify chemical changes to a group of cancer-related genes may be able to accurately detect which breast tumors are cancerous or benign. Such a test could result in a more timely diagnosis of breast cancer for women in developing countries with less access to...
A research letter published by Wang et al in JAMA Oncology has found that inherited mutations in the BRCA2 gene are linked to an increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents. “The BRCA family of genes are known to be linked to risk for breast and...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Loriot et al, the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1-4 tyrosine kinase inhibitor erdafitinib showed activity in FGFR-altered advanced urothelial carcinoma. Study Details The study enrolled patients from sites in 14 countries between May...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Armstrong et al, findings from the phase III ARCHES trial have shown significant improvement in radiographic progression-free survival with enzalutamide plus androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) vs placebo plus ADT in men with metastatic...
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Kerlikowske et al found that the combined use of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) breast density and Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC)-defined risk for breast cancer may be an effective way of identifying women with dense...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the inclusion of overall survival from the PACIFIC trial in the U.S. prescribing information for durvalumab and accepted applications for a new drug in the treatment of epithelioid sarcoma and two orphan drugs in the treatment of acute...
A research team led by investigators from Georgetown University Medical Center and Fudan University in China has devised a noninvasive and individualized technique for detecting and treating bladder cancer. Their findings were published by Jiang et al in Protein & Cell. The method uses a...
Scientists have demonstrated that an artificial intelligence (AI) tool can perform as well as human reviewers—and much more rapidly—in extracting clinical information regarding changes in tumors from unstructured radiology reports for patients with lung cancer. These findings were...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Lyons et al found that transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) or on-ward death occurred in 9% of admissions to cancer wards at an urban tertiary cancer hospital. Investigators identified factors associated with clinical deterioration...
In a Dutch phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Theelen et al found that although use of stereotactic body radiotherapy prior to pembrolizumab increased the objective response rate vs pembrolizumab alone in metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the difference did not meet study...
This week, we discuss a study that found a disconnect between rates of colonoscopy and recent increases in colorectal cancer incidence in younger adults. In addition, Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, offers her insights on the rising rates of colorectal cancer in young adults....
ASCO’S CENTER FOR Research and Analytics (CENTRA) is now accepting research applications from ASCO members who wish to conduct surveys of the Society’s membership for research purposes. The Research Survey Pool (RSP) is a service made available to ASCO members who engage in survey research. It...
FINDING TRUSTED resources to support some conversations with your patients can be challenging—ASCO is here to help. Use the ASCO Answers booklet bundle to guide discussions with patients and caregivers and provide them with the ideal take-home resource. This topic-specific booklet bundle includes...
THE DIRECTOR OF the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), Richard Pazdur, MD, joins ASCO Chief Executive Officer Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, in the latest ASCO in Action Podcast to discuss the FDA’s new program to make it easier for physicians to...
Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, presented more than $7 million in grants and awards to exceptional oncology researchers at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting. ASCO and Conquer Cancer congratulate the recipients and offer their profound thanks to those who generously supported these awards. Visit...