About 5 years ago, I began experiencing some digestive issues that I initially blamed on the stress from coping with my mother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. But after 2 weeks of unrelenting symptoms, including abdominal pain, a change in my bowel habits, and rectal bleeding, I saw my primary...
Patients with cancer are not only at an increased risk for developing severe COVID-19, but also face cancer treatment delays and interruptions due to the pandemic, potentially worsening cancer outcomes, according to the AACR Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Research and Patient Care. In...
A network sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, the Leukemia Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology promotes collaboration between approximately 10,000 cancer specialists across the United States and Canada. The Committee recently announced the results of an international...
Christopher Willett, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, shared his thoughts on the findings of the study by Lumish et al1 with The ASCO Post. He first noted the shift in recent years toward total neoadjuvant therapy in the...
In a small study of patients with locally advanced mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, treatment with the anti–PD-1 agent dostarlimab-gxly alone led to a clinical complete response rate of 100%. The findings of this study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) were reported...
Guest Editor’s Note: Pain is a debilitating symptom experienced by many patients with cancer that negatively impacts their quality of life. Massage therapy, historically used for relaxation and pain relief, plays an important supportive role in oncology settings. In this installment of The ASCO...
In patients with resectable microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H)/mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, dual checkpoint inhibition with ipilimumab and nivolumab given as neoadjuvant therapy led to a pathologic complete response rate of 58.6%,...
Medical oncologist Philip A. Philip, MD, PhD, has joined Henry Ford Cancer Institute (HFCI) as Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology and Neuroendocrine Oncology, Medical Director of Research and Clinical Care Integration, and co-leader of the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center (HFPCC). Dr. Philip...
Monica Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, was recently elected to the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Board of Directors.Dr. Bertagnolli is the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery in the Field of Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Disease...
Patients treated for Merkel cell carcinoma face a 5-year recurrence rate of 40%—markedly higher than the recurrence rates for melanoma and other skin cancers, according to research published by McEvoy et al in JAMA Dermatology. Additionally, in the study cohort of more than 600 patients, 95% of...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ho et al, the phase III ASTRA trial showed no improvement in complete remission rate with the addition of selumetinib to adjuvant radioactive iodine (RAI) in patients with high-risk differentiated thyroid cancer. As stated by the investigators,...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Harrison et al found that the BCL-XL/BCL-2 inhibitor navitoclax showed activity in patients with myelofibrosis with disease progression or suboptimal response during ongoing ruxolitinib treatment. As stated by the investigators,...
Fred Saad, MD, of the University of Montreal Health Centre, discusses phase III findings demonstrating for the first time the clinical benefits of olaparib plus abiraterone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, irrespective of their homologous recombination repair...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Frederick L. Locke, MD, and colleagues, the phase III ZUMA-7 trial of patients with large B-cell lymphoma has shown improved event-free survival with second-line axicabtagene ciloleucel vs chemoimmunotherapy with high-dose chemotherapy and...
Switching from an aromatase inhibitor to fulvestrant upon early identification of the ESR1 mutation in plasma—before disease progression—doubled progression-free survival in the phase III PADA-1 trial, presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 “PADA-1 is the first trial to...
The addition of metformin, a drug commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, to standard adjuvant treatment failed to improve invasive disease–free survival or overall survival for hormone receptor–positive or –negative breast cancer, according to the results of a large landmark trial led by the...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) has led to practice changes in previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Most notably, in the DESTINY-Breast03 trial, treatment with T-DXd produced a doubling in 12-month progression-free survival vs...
As reported in Nature by Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, and colleagues, the first interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-811 trial has shown a significantly higher objective response rate with the addition of pembrolizumab to trastuzumab and chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated advanced ...
In a phase III trial (VIABLE) reported in JAMA Oncology, Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of an autologous dendritic cell–based immunotherapy directed against prostate cancer (DCVAC/PCa) to chemotherapy did not improve overall survival in metastatic...
As presented at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium and reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Smith et al, the phase III ARASENS trial has shown significantly improved overall survival with the addition of darolutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy and docetaxel in men with ...
Jeffrey Peppercorn, MD, MPH, has been appointed as the next Editor-in-Chief of the ASCO journal JCO Oncology Practice (JCO OP). The journal publishes impactful information and insights to keep oncology practice current on changes and challenges inherent in delivering equitable, high-quality...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, and colleagues, a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial has shown improved event-free survival with the addition of pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab, in ...
In a phase II/III trial reported in The Lancet, David M. Gershenson, MD, and colleagues found that trametinib improved progression-free survival vs standard of care treatment in women with low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. As stated by the investigators, “Low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary...
In the primary analysis of the phase III ZUMA-7 trial, examining second-line therapy for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma, the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel led to a fourfold increase in event-free survival over the standard of care. These findings were presented at the...
Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, formally assumed the role of Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) on January 1, 2022, ushering in a new era of leadership for the educational and professional society for surgeons. Dr. Turner succeeds David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, MAMSE, who led ...
Poor outcomes are observed in patients with myeloma who are refractory to multiple classes of therapies, with the average patient experiencing disease progression in up to 6 months and living no longer than 6 to 15 months. Patients often rapidly cycle through regimens that use less effective or...
In December 2021, Nobel laureates, cancer center directors, physicians, scientists, politicians, public health officials, and patient advocates gathered at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the National...
The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) has appointed renowned cancer researcher M. Eileen Dolan, PhD, as its Deputy Director. Dr. Dolan, Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, has spent the past 8 years working as UCCCC’s Associate Director for Cancer...
On January 25, 2022, tebentafusp-tebn, a bispecific gp100 peptide-HLA–directed CD3 T-cell engager, was approved for treatment of adults with HLA-A*02:01–positive, unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label, multicenter...
The GAIA trial raises some important points, according to Susan M. O’Brien, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Research at the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in Irvine, California. Dr. O’Brien co-moderated the session where Dr. Eichhorst presented study results. “The CLL14 trial...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Damodaran et al found that the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor copanlisib exhibited activity in patients who have tumors with PIK3CA mutations. The study is a subprotocol (Z1F) of the NCI-MATCH ECOG-ACRIN trial (EAY131), a ...
The autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel failed to improve event-free survival vs standard-of-care treatment strategies in patients with aggressive, relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to the results of the phase III BELINDA trial,...
Long-term survival data from the first prospective, randomized biomarker validation trial in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer being treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy before surgery are being reported at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium by Thomas W. Flaig, MD, and...
The GAIA trial raises some important points, according to Susan M. O’Brien, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Research at the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in Irvine, California. Dr. O’Brien co-moderated the session where Dr. Eichhorst presented study results. “The CLL14 trial...
In an NRG Oncology/GOG study (GOG-0259) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Donovan et al found that both nurse-led (Nurse-WRITE) and self-directed (SD-WRITE) Web-based symptom self-management interventions (WRITE Symptoms) improved symptom control vs enhanced usual care alone in women...
Sotorasib, an irreversible inhibitor of KRAS G12C, showed activity in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and a KRAS G21C mutation enrolled in the phase I/II CodeBreaK100 study. These findings were presented during the February 2022 ASCO Plenary Series session by John H. Strickler, MD,...
On February 15, the Senate voted 50 to 46 to confirm Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Califf was previously the Commissioner of the FDA from February 2016 to January 2017. He also served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Krishnansu S. Tewari, MD, and colleagues, the phase III EMPOWER-Cervical1/GOG-3016/ENGOT-cx9 trial has shown improved overall survival with cemiplimab-rwlc vs investigator’s choice of single-agent chemotherapy in patients with cervical cancer...
In a commentary published in The Lancet Oncology, Harpreet Singh, MD, and Richard Pazdur, MD, both of the Oncology Center of Excellence at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), warned against the increasing number of oncology drug development programs based wholly or predominantly on data...
The addition of metformin, a drug commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, to standard adjuvant treatment failed to improve invasive disease–free survival or overall survival for hormone receptor–positive or –negative breast cancer, according to the results of a large landmark trial led by the...
Although bone marrow transplantation is routinely employed in the United States and other wealthy nations, this costly life-saving procedure has struggled to gain a foothold in many low- to moderate-income countries, where resources are triaged to make the best use of precious health-care funding. ...
Guest Editor’s Note: Mindfulness has gained immense popularity in recent years. Growing evidence suggests the benefits of mindfulness-based practices, which include concentration meditation and guided imagery, for managing symptoms associated with cancer and its treatments. In this article,...
In an updated analysis of the pivotal phase III CANDOR trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Saad Z. Usmani, MD, of Levine Cancer Institute/Atrium Health, and colleagues found that the addition of daratumumab to carfilzomib and dexamethasone (KdD) continued to show a large progression-free...
On February 9, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released the AACR Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Research and Patient Care. According to findings contained within the report, patients with cancer are not only at an increased risk for developing severe COVID-19, but...
The combination of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib with cetuximab and nivolumab produced responses in 50% of patients and disease control in 96% of patients with microsatellite-stable BRAF V600E–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer in a phase I/II trial reported at the 2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Doki et al, the phase III CheckMate 648 trial has shown improved overall survival with nivolumab combined with chemotherapy or ipilimumab vs chemotherapy alone in patients with previously untreated advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, in ...
Hyaluronic acid is a known presence in pancreatic tumors, but a new study published by Kim et al in eLife has shown that hyaluronic acid can also act as a nutrient to fuel pancreatic cancer metabolism. These findings provide insight into how pancreatic cancer cells grow and indicate new...
As Vice President, in 2016, Joe Biden launched the Cancer Moonshot with the mission to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer. The cancer and patient community and medical researchers responded with energy and ingenuity. On February 2, President Biden announced the reigniting of the Cancer ...
In 2014, The ASCO Post spoke with Mark J. Clemons, MB BS, BMedSci, MSc, MD, FRCP, FRCPC, of Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, about the retirement challenges faced by many oncologists. With market demand expected to exceed supply of oncologists soon, it is clear retirement is...
Researchers have found that disparities in the incidence of head and neck cancer are driven by behavioral and environmental risk factors rather than race. They demonstrated this in the first-ever study to compare head and neck cancer incidence in Black patients in the United States, the Caribbean,...