Researchers have identified 116 genes as key molecular vulnerabilities for multiple myeloma, according to a novel study published by de Matos Simoes et al in Nature Cancer. The findings demonstrated the potential for these genes to act as leads and help researchers discover new therapeutic options...
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has called for greater action for World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 2023 in light of a new study published by Safiri et al in Cancer Medicine, which found that 2.5 million tobacco-related cancer deaths were reported in 2019. The UICC is a global...
Researchers have found that patients with cancer-related fatigue who practiced qigong may have demonstrated clinically significant improvements in their fatigue burden after 10 weeks, according to a new study published by Zimmerman et al in Integrative Cancer Therapies. The findings revealed that...
The respected members of the oncology community listed here are among some of those who passed away in 2022–2023. The ASCO Post remembers them, their lives, and their contributions to cancer research and treatment. Robert J. Gillies, PhD Moffitt Cancer Center and the global research community lost ...
Beginning in 2012, The ASCO Post introduced Narratives in Oncology, a special commemorative issue profiling several of the many leaders in the oncology community. Over the past years, many in the oncology community have been profiled in this commemorative issue. A complete list of individuals...
On May 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the optimized, high-affinity radiohybrid prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging agent flotufolastat fluorine-18 (Posluma). Flotufolastat F-18 is indicated for PET imaging of...
Delays in cancer screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic may have resulted in lower reported incidences of colorectal, lung, and breast cancers, reflecting potentially high rates of undiagnosed cancer and later-stage diagnoses, according to a new study published by Romatoski et al in the Journal of ...
Researchers have developed a new strategy to identify which patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer may be most likely to resist first-line treatment with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy, according to a new study published by Jong et al in Science Translational Medicine. The...
Patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who received luspatercept to treat anemia instead of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs)—the current standard of care—needed fewer blood transfusions and clinic visits. These findings from the phase III COMMANDS trial were presented by...
Adding the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab to chemotherapy, with or without bevacizumab, improved overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer, regardless of whether the cancer expressed PD-L1. These findings from the KEYNOTE-826...
Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, FASCO, has said that volunteering and working with ASCO over many years has been the highlight of her career. She served on the ASCO Board of Directors from 2009 to 2012 and on several ASCO committees, including terms as Chair of the Annual Meeting Scientific Program...
The irony is not missed on me. In August 2022, 2 months before I was to start my tenure as President of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), I was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma. My entire career over the past 30 years has been in the pursuit of improving global cancer control...
The FASCO distinction recognizes ASCO members for their extraordinary volunteer service, dedication, and commitment to ASCO. Recipients will be recognized during the Opening Session of the Annual Meeting on Saturday, June 3. The following members are being recognized in 2023: Kerin Adelson, MD,...
The Mount Sinai Health System’s esophagectomy program has received a three-star (excellent performance) overall composite score from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). According to STS, 13 institutions in the United States and Canada hold the three-star rating, which denotes the highest...
Knowing the health-care system is complex and often creates anxiety for patients newly diagnosed with cancer, the Northwell Health Cancer Institute has launched Cancer Care Direct, a comprehensive program to connect patients with clinical registered nurse navigators who can provide expert guidance...
As discussed in Part I of this special feature on cancer survivorship, there are now more than 18 million cancer survivors in the United States, and that number is expected to grow to 26 million by 2040.1 However, most of those survivors—at least two-thirds—either cured or in remission or living...
With this issue of The ASCO Post, we introduce a new feature, View From the Top: The Future of Cancer Care Delivery, which will explore how leaders in oncology are developing strategies to ensure continued innovative oncology care in an ever-changing health-care environment. In this inaugural...
Research!America, a nonprofit alliance that advocates for science, discovery, and innovation to achieve better health for all, has elected four new members to its board of directors. Each of these individuals has made significant contributions to advancing medical and health research through...
The improvement in cancer survival rates since President Richard M. Nixon signed the National Cancer Act of 1971 into law is staggering. The legislation further committed the United States to greater investments in cancer-focused research to drive down the rates of cancer diagnoses, boost patient...
New research from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) outlines significant ways that the COVID-19 pandemic destabilized usual patterns of cancer care, as reported in the National Cancer Database (NCDB). The NCDB is one of the largest cancer registries in the world and is used by thousands of...
The updated results of the POLLUX trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dimopoulos and colleagues and in this issue of The ASCO Post, showed significantly improved overall survival with daratumumab plus lenalidomide/dexamethasone (DRd) vs Rd in patients with previously treated...
Daniel C. Link, MD, has been named Deputy Director of Siteman Cancer Center (SCC), based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis. In addition, Dr. Link, who also is the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine, is Chief of the...
A new analysis of the U.S. radiation oncology workforce projects a relative balance between the supply of radiation oncologists and the demand for radiation therapy services through 2030.1 The report was produced by Health Management Associates (HMA), a consulting firm commissioned by the American...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Syed Ali Abutalib and L. Jeffrey Medeiros explore the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
For this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Sibylle Loibl, MD, PhD, Chair of the German Breast Group (GBG) and Chief Executive Officer of the GBG Forschungs GmbH. Professor Loibl, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology ...
Deep learning–based computer-aided diagnosis on breast ultrasound may significantly improve radiologists’ diagnostic performance and reduce the frequency of benign breast biopsies, according to a new study published by He et al in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Compared with previous...
Researchers have discovered that interleukin-21 may be a potential therapeutic target to help reduce the endocrine autoimmune adverse effects and prevent the thyroid autoimmunity experienced by patients with cancer undergoing treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to a novel study...
Elizabeth A. Morris, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of California Davis, Sacramento, told The ASCO Post that the study by Berger et al addresses an important question. “This is a topic I am kind of passionate about—it addresses the ordering of mammograms...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) awarded E. John Wherry, PhD, with the 2023 AACR–Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology during the AACR Annual Meeting in April in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Wherry is Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and...
Carol Aghajanian, MD, Chief of the Gynecologic Medical Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented on the final analysis of NOVA for The ASCO Post. She highlighted the difficulty in truly measuring overall survival in recurrent ovarian cancer. Dr. Aghajanian also ...
After resolving missing survival data in the phase III ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial, no statistically significant difference in overall survival was found for patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer who received maintenance therapy with the PARP inhibitor niraparib, investigators...
Two studies presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2023 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer underscore the importance of enrolling patients with gynecologic cancer on clinical trials and of assuring trial access to racial minorities. One study found a statistically significant...
Joshua G. Cohen, MD, Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Surgery and Medical Director of the Orange County Gynecologic Cancer Program at City of Hope, Orange County, California, shared his thoughts on the ADAGIO trial with The ASCO Post. He noted that uterine serous carcinoma—the...
The oral, small-molecule Wee1 kinase inhibitor adavosertib was clinically active but not well tolerated by more than half the patients with recurrent or persistent uterine serous carcinoma in the phase IIb ADAGIO trial. The findings were reported at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2023...
Amanda Nickles Fader, MD, Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Professor of Oncology, and Vice Chair of Gynecologic Surgical Operations at Johns Hopkins Health System, Baltimore, provided her thoughts on GOG 3026 for The ASCO Post. Dr. Fader applauded the investigators and the Gynecologic...
In patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer, treatment with ribociclib plus letrozole was not only active, but led to outcomes that are comparable to those achieved with current agents—with a particularly striking 19-month duration of response—according to Brian M. Slomovitz, MD,...
Kathleen Moore, MD, MS, the Virginia Kerley Cade Endowed Chair in Cancer Developmental Therapeutics and Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, spoke with The ASCO Post about GOG-258. According to Dr. Moore, the final results of this long-running...
On May 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the tyrosine kinase inhibitor avapritinib (Ayvakit) for the treatment of adults with indolent systemic mastocytosis. Avapritinib is the first and only approved therapy for indolent systemic mastocytosis. Systemic mastocytosis is a rare ...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Dov Zippel, MD, a surgical oncologist at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel, where he is Head of the Meirav Breast Center. Dr. Zippel is the current President of ...
Researchers have found that patients treated with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine may have a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, according to a novel study published by Weinberg et al in JAMA Network Open. Background The BCG vaccine has been known to offer multiple ...
The health and well-being of our clinicians, our communities, and our care systems need vigilance now more than ever to ensure we keep pace with the effects of change that is also advancing our medicine. When clinicians or patients talk about health care, they might mention frustrations with forms ...
Investigators have found that current smoking and vaping may be associated with a higher burden of symptoms among adult cancer survivors but that these symptoms may not have had an impact on the desire to quit smoking. The new study was published by Price et al in Cancer. Background Continued...
On May 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the bispecific CD20-directed CD3 T-cell engager epcoritamab-bysp (Epkinly) for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)–not otherwise specified, including DLBCL arising from...
Researchers have found that individuals in early and middle adulthood who have a body mass index (BMI) indicating that they have overweight or obesity may be at an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal cancer, according to a new study published by Loomans-Kropp and Umar in JAMA Network...
Investigators have found that in the majority of countries studied, the recent mortality rates for all major cancer types have decreased except for lung cancer among female patients and hepatic cancer among male patients—where increasing rates were observed in most countries, according to a novel...
Patients with early-stage cervical cancer may have an increased risk of developing catheter-associated urinary tract infections following radical hysterectomies if they had a history of smoking or used catheters for more than 7 days postsurgery, according to a new study by Mercadel et al in the...
Researchers have found that mailing human papillomavirus (HPV) self-collection kits in addition to offering scheduling assistance to underscreened, underserved patients may increase the rate of cervical cancer screenings compared with scheduling assistance alone, according to a new study published...
Intratumoral delivery of the engineered oncolytic virus DNX-2401 in combination with subsequent immunotherapy with pembrolizumab may be safe and effective at improving survival outcomes in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, according to a study published by Nassiri et al in Nature Medicine....
Although hypomethylating agents previously appeared to be a promising treatment option for patients with bladder cancer refractory to immunotherapy, researchers were forced to halt a recent phase II clinical trial after patients experienced either no response to treatment or rapid tumor...
New research involving people living with HIV treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors has provided valuable insights into the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy in this historically excluded population, according to data published by El Zarif et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The...