An update of staging guidelines from the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) for human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive throat cancer—now more common in the United States than cervical cancer, according to the American Cancer Society—aims to make treatment of early-stage disease more consistent...
Women aged 65 years and older are still at a heightened risk of cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), suggest the findings of a large observational Chinese study published by Ye et al in Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinical Medicine. Most guidelines currently recommend discontinuing...
Corticosteroids, which are commonly prescribed to alleviate cancer-related symptoms in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immunotherapy, may be the reason certain immunotherapies fail in treating the disease, according to new research published by Polyakov et al in Cancer ...
Over the past 20 years, increased understanding of the biological mechanism of disease has led to improved treatment options for all malignancies. Within each disease subtype, we have molecularly characterized tumors and developed specific treatment algorithms to optimize patient outcomes. Among...
People who have survived cancer as children may be at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection—even decades after their cancer diagnosis, according to results published by Louro et al in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. Thanks to medical advances, more and more children are...
Children born by planned cesarean section (C-section) may have an increased risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) later in life, according to a recent study published by Kampitsi et al in the International Journal of Cancer. Alhough the researchers did find an association, they...
Mammograms can detect breast cancer early before symptoms appear, and regular screening decreases the risk of dying from breast cancer. But a recent survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania shows that some Americans appear to be confused about...
Investigators have bioengineered an organotypic immunocompetent chip—a laboratory device that combines the physical structure of human leukemia bone marrow and a functioning immune system—to empower real-time spatiotemporal monitoring of CAR-T cell functionality for leukemias. The preclinical...
Patients with ovarian clear cell carcinoma harboring PPP2R1A mutations showed significantly improved survival when treated with immunotherapy compared with those without PPP2R1A mutations, according to study findings published in Nature. Preclinical findings from the study also suggested that...
Investigators have found that two common types of hormone therapy may alter breast cancer risk in women before age 55. Women treated with unopposed estrogen hormone therapy (E-HT) were less likely to develop the disease than those who did not use this type of hormone therapy. Additionally, women...
Results of a multi-institutional study published by St-Laurent et al in Science Direct revealed that testing urine-based tumor DNA (utDNA) may help to predict which patients with bladder cancer are at higher risk for recurrence after not responding to first-line treatment. The study analyzed utDNA...
About one in six tested chemotherapies in sub-Saharan Africa were found to have serious quality defects, according to the results of a study published in The Lancet Global Health. Researchers assessed the appearance, packaging, and labeling of each cancer medication and measured the quantity of...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) focuses on the use of radiation therapy for adults with World Health Organization (WHO) grade 4 diffuse gliomas, a category that includes some of the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumors. The...
A combination of menin inhibition and KAT6A/7 inhibition significantly improved survival for NUP98-rearranged pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in AML model systems, even in menin inhibitor–resistant cells, according to findings published in Cancer Discovery. The MYST gene family histone...
New reporting in The Cancer Atlas, Fourth Edition, showed that an estimated 50% of all cancer deaths worldwide are attributed to modifiable risk factors, including tobacco and alcohol use, infections, excess body weight, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, ultraviolet radiation, environmental...
A novel immuno–positron-emission tomography (immunoPET) imaging agent targeting GPC3 demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in detecting GPC3-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors, including those under 1 cm, according to the results of a pilot clinical study presented at the...
In patients with polycythemia vera requiring frequent phlebotomies, the investigational hepcidin mimetic rusfertide, given as a weekly subcutaneous injection, more than doubled the clinical response rate and significantly improved quality of life in the global phase III VERIFY study.1 These...
In 2022, I had a computed tomography (CT) coronary calcium scan to see whether there were any signs of narrowing or blockage in my heart arteries. Heart disease runs in my family. My father died of a heart attack the year before, and I worried that I was at risk for the same fate. It was a complete ...
W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, FASCO, has been selected for the prestigious 2025 Hologic, Inc Endowed Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. Launched in 2016, the Women Who Conquer Cancer award program honors extraordinary women leaders in oncology and role models who have excelled as mentors...
William C. “Bill” Wood, MD, FASCO, a leader and mentor in the field of breast cancer, died on August 18, 2024. He was 84. Dr. Wood was the J.B. Whitehead Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine from 1991 to 2009. He chaired the 1990 U.S. National...
The ASCO Post would like to pay tribute to Samuel M. Silver, MD,PhD, FRCP, FASCO, MACP, who died on August 14, 2024, at the age of 74. Dr. Silver was renowned in the hematology and oncology community and a respected member of the editorial advisory board of The ASCO Post. Additionally, he served...
The Minnesota Society of Clinical Oncology (MSCO) is the recipient of the 2024 Jeffery C. Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award. The Association for Clinical Oncology presented the award during the State Affiliates’ Reception at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting. Presented annually, the Jeffery C. Ward...
The number of people living with a history of cancer in the United States is estimated at 18.6 million as of January 1, 2025, and projected to exceed 22 million by 2035, according to a new report, Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Statistics, 2025, led by the American Cancer Society (ACS). The...
Guest Editor’s Note: Although guidelines recommend adjuvant combination chemotherapy for patients with stage II and III colon cancer who are at high risk of disease recurrence, fewer than 50% complete treatment because of fear of adverse effects or symptom burden. The herbal formula Jianpi Bushen ...
Providing a brief, 90-day course of preoperative endocrine therapy to older women with early-stage, estrogen receptor–positive, invasive breast cancer may significantly alter both patient preferences and physician recommendations regarding adjuvant radiation therapy, according to data presented...
Besides relapse of the malignant disease, graft-vs-host disease is still one of the greatest concerns, in terms of adverse effects, following a hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in a patient with a hematologic malignancy. To mitigate these concerns, investigators are continually analyzing ...
Based on the findings of the VERITAC-2 trial, treatment with the selective PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimera) estrogen receptor degrader vepdegestrant yielded statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival in patients with ESR1-mutant, estrogen...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has announced a new, interactive digital delivery format for the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®). The NCCN Guidelines® are the recognized standard for clinical decision-making and policy in cancer care and are the...
ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in early-stage breast cancer.1 The update includes recommendations based on findings from trials released after the published guideline in 2017, including data from nine randomized trials...
In the phase III DESTINY-Gastric04 trial, use of the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) was compared head to head with the monoclonal antibody ramucirumab and paclitaxel in patients with previously treated, HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction...
Patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer who receive the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 (modified leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) vs the current standard of care (chemotherapy ± bevacizumab) may live...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a label expansion of a kit for the preparation of gallium Ga-68 gozetotide for injection (Illuccix) to include patient selection for radioligand therapy in the pre-taxane setting. The update applies to the imaging agent’s third indication,...
On January 20, 2025, newly sworn-in President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,”1 effectively eliminating all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, preferences, and activities across the federal...
For the adjuvant treatment of stage III colon cancer with DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) tumors, the addition of the checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab to standard chemotherapy significantly improved disease-free survival in the phase III ATOMIC trial. The results position this approach as a...
In the phase III DESTINY-Breast09 trial, first-line treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) plus the monoclonal antibody pertuzumab significantly delayed disease progression by more than 1 year—nearly doubling the time of disease control—over standard...
The relationship between genetic variants and the risk of late-onset cardiomyopathy remains poorly understood in survivors of childhood cancer despite being otherwise well established. Scientists from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have helped address this gap, assessing whether variant...
The first individualized risk prediction model for adults with early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) has been developed and validated. According to a report published in NEJM Evidence, the Early-Stage cHL International Prognostic Index (E-HIPI) model estimates 2-year progression-free...
A healthy gut microbiome prior to chemotherapy could help protect against cardiotoxicity as a result of breast cancer therapy, according to new findings presented by Antoniades et al at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Cardio-Oncology 2025 annual conference. Background Cardiotoxicity is a...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announced that it will recognize 11 hematologists who have made notable contributions to the field with several honorific awards and prestigious lectures at the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, Florida, from December 6–9, 2025. The...
A common germline variant in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) (rs562556, V474I) gene rather than a mutation in a breast cancer tumor may be the driving force in significantly increasing the risk of breast cancer metastasis and reducing survival in women with the disease....
Internationally renowned for her decades-long pioneering research in pancreatic cancer, in 2024, Diane M. Simeone, MD, left her positions as the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Surgery and Pathology; Director, Pancreatic Cancer Center; and Associate Director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center...
I’ve been a physician for several decades, seeing patients and functioning as a medical teacher; clinical, translational, and bench researcher; and administrator. Adapting to medical practice in three nations and several U.S. states has been quite challenging at different times, but I really think...
In the United States, approximately 55% of patients with resected gallbladder cancer undergo oncologic surgery without additional systemic treatment. However, as gallbladder cancer progresses to T3 (locally or regionally advanced) or T4 (distant metastasis) disease, the tumor frequently infiltrates ...
According to the initial findings of an ongoing first-in-human phase I trial, reported at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2025 Congress, promising results have been shown for a novel off-the-shelf tri-specific antibody in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma highly refractory...
Prevention of graft-vs-host disease was far superior with a cyclophosphamide/cyclosporin-based regimen than with standard prophylaxis in patients receiving a matched-sibling donor stem cell transplant in a large Australian randomized trial, investigators reported at the European Hematology...
Combining the CD79b-directed antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq with rituximab, gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin (R-GemOx) significantly improved survival outcomes in patients with transplant-ineligible, relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), over standard rituximab ...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Stephen R. Grobmyer, MD, FACS, about his clinical and research career in oncology, the challenges and rewards of moving to Abu Dhabi and building a state-of-the-art cancer center, and...
The risk of developing breast implant–associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) could be higher among women with breast cancer and BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations who received textured breast implants as part of their postmastectomy reconstructive surgery compared with patients lacking the genetic...
Findings from a comprehensive genome-wide study of sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas demonstrated that human papillomavirus (HPV) can drive tumorigenesis in some cases, and these tumors exhibit similar mutational patterns to those seen in HPV-associated cervical and head and neck squamous cell...
Computed tomography (CT) colonography demonstrated greater clinical efficacy and cost savings than stool DNA testing for colorectal cancer screening, according to results of a study published in Radiology. "Among the safe, minimally invasive colorectal cancer screening options, CT colonography is ...