In a preplanned secondary analysis of the BRE12-158 trial published in JAMA Oncology, Milan Radovich, PhD, and colleagues found that the presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the plasma of women who have received neoadjuvant treatment for stage I, II, or...
Medications commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure may also reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, according to new research published by Cheung et al in the journal Hypertension. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) are often prescribed...
Women with early-stage cervical cancer treated with minimally invasive radical hysterectomy had a 71% increased risk of recurrence and a 56% increased risk of death compared with those treated with open radical hysterectomy, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 studies involving ...
In a pooled analysis reported in Bone Marrow Transplantation,1 Luciano J. Costa, MD, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues found that autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation followed by reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic transplantation (auto-allo) was...
On May 29, 2020, atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab was approved for treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma who have not received prior systemic therapy.1-3 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the international, open-label,...
On May 1, 2020, the combination of daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj was approved for adult patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. This new product allows for subcutaneous (SC) dosing of daratumumab.1,2 Daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj is for SC use only. The...
Although the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with cancer is still being evaluated, data from several studies show that in comparison with people who do not have cancer, those who do generally experience a higher risk of severe events including admittance to the intensive care unit, ...
Adolescents and young adults (AYA) who have survived cancer may continue to suffer from insomnia long after treatment ends, interfering with a range of daily activities. In Pediatric Blood & Cancer, Eric S. Zhou, PhD, and Christopher J. Recklitis, PhD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ghosh et al found that a more intense reduced-intensity conditioning and nonmyeloablative conditioning (RIC-NMAC) regimen consisting of fludarabine plus melphalan at 140 mg/kg (Flu-Mel14) appears to be associated with poorer overall survival and higher...
On July 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an oral combination of decitabine and cedazuridine (Inqovi) for adult patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), including the following: Previously treated and untreated de novo and secondary MDS with the following...
Almost 50% of patients resistant to single-agent chemotherapy responded in the first trial of immunotherapy for gestational trophoblastic tumors, reported French investigators in an abstract presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program.1 Benoit You, MD, PhD, of Lyon University Hospital,...
Discussant for the CheckMate 227 and CheckMate 9LA trials, Scott N. Gettinger, MD, of Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut, said: “There is tremendous interest in lung cancer to combine nivolumab plus ipilimumab, driven by the melanoma experience. However, combinations of immunotherapy come ...
AN APPROACH using an RNA-based personalized cancer vaccine called RO7198457 in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab has shown a preliminary benefit, according to an early study in patients with advanced solid tumors. The novel combination was well tolerated, and 8% of patients showed a ...
AN APPROACH using an RNA-based personalized cancer vaccine called RO7198457 in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab has shown a preliminary benefit, according to an early study in patients with advanced solid tumors. The novel combination was well tolerated, and 8% of patients showed a ...
In 2018, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute launched a large, ambitious screening study called PROMISE (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03689595). The objectives of the study were to identify people with premalignant precursor conditions of multiple myeloma, understand the molecular...
The first symptoms I had of colorectal cancer—blood in my stool and abdominal pain—coincided with surgery I had to remove my appendix in the spring of 2017. My surgeon attributed the symptoms to the appendectomy and to the medications I received both before and after the surgery. In addition to...
On May 6, 2020, the oral mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) kinase inhibitor capmatinib was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adult patients who have metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tumors that have a mutation that leads to MET exon 14 skipping, as detected...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of tolerating cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays, historical...
On May 14, 2020, pomalidomide was granted accelerated approval to treat adult patients with AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma after failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy and for Kaposi sarcoma in adult patients who are HIV-negative.1,2 Pomalidomide is available only through the restricted...
The text and photograph here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Anesthesia Era: 1845–1875 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns...
Early data from a clinical study published in Science Immunology1 suggest that blocking the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) protein provided clinical benefit to a small group of patients with severe COVID-19 infection.1 Roschewski et al observed that the off-label use of the BTK inhibitor...
The Fox Chase–Temple University Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program recently announced it will introduce a Department of Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapies on July 1, 2020. Henry Chi Hang Fung, MD, FACP, FRCPE, Current Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program and Vice...
On May 22, 2020, brigatinib was approved for the treatment of adult patients with ALK-positive, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test.1,2 The FDA also approved the Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit as a companion...
Studies have shown a disconnect between where patients say they want to die and where they actually die. According to research from Stanford School of Medicine, although an overwhelming majority of Americans—about 80%—would prefer to die at home, just 20% do. In fact, 60% die in acute care...
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have developed a new test that may help identify individuals who may be likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma. A study of the new approach was led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The findings were published in the journal...
In an article published in JCO Oncology Practice, David Waterhouse, MD, MPH, of Oncology Hematology Care, Cincinnati, Ohio, and colleagues presented the results of a recent ASCO survey of clinical programs on the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of oncology clinical...
On May 29, 2020, ramucirumab was approved for use in combination with erlotinib for first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 19 deletion or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutation.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings from the...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On May 15, 2020, the receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Hayashi et al, the Children’s Oncology Group AALL0434 study has shown “excellent” outcomes with Capizzi-based methotrexate/pegaspargase (C-MTX) treatment in patients with newly diagnosed pediatric T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL). The addition...
Lipophilic statins—a type of medication commonly prescribed to lower blood cholesterol—were associated with reduced mortality in patients with ovarian cancer, according to a study presented by Kala Visvanathan, MD, MHS, and colleagues at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual...
Discussant for the CheckMate 227 and CheckMate 9LA trials, Scott N. Gettinger, MD, of Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut, said: “There is tremendous interest in lung cancer to combine nivolumab plus ipilimumab, driven by the melanoma experience. However, combinations of immunotherapy come ...
A study by Bencomo-Alvarez et al investigating the incidence and survival for Hispanic patients with hematologic malignancies living along the United States/Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, has found that those patients with acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or chronic myeloid...
Over the past month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to agents designed to treat colorectal and pancreatic cancers, in addition to lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma/Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia; accepted a new drug application for a treatment for relapsed or...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Qin et al identified combinations of pathogenic germline mutations in DNA repair genes and cancer treatment exposures that increased risk of subsequent neoplasms in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. Study Details The study involved...
Advances in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and some of their associated symptoms were presented during EHA25 Virtual, an ongoing online conference from the European Hematology Association (EHA). Advances in the Treatment of High-Risk CLL: CLL2-GIVe Results In the CLL2-GIVe trial, the...
In the Japanese phase III JIPANG trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kenmotsu et al found that adjuvant therapy with pemetrexed/cisplatin did not result in superior recurrence-free survival but was better tolerated than vinorelbine/cisplatin in patients with completely resected...
In a phase Ib study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Powell et al found that the addition of pembrolizumab to curative chemoradiotherapy was safe and associated with response in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Study Details The U.S. multicenter...
On June 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a biosimilar to pegfilgrastim (Neulasta), pegfilgrastim-apgf (Nyvepria), to decrease the incidence of febrile neutropenia in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anticancer drugs associated with a...
ASCO Chief Executive Officer Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, hosts the ASCO in Action Podcast, which focuses on policy and practice issues affecting providers and patients. An excerpt of a recent episode is shared below; it has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full podcast on...
On April 29, 2020, niraparib was approved for maintenance treatment of adult patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on...
Study discussant David G. Huntsman, MD, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Contextual Genomics, noted the positive predictive value of DETECT-A was 19%, which increased to 41% with the addition of positron-emission tomography/computed tomography. He pointed out that most cancers detected by the...
A large, “first-of-its-kind” trial showed that a blood test could identify cancers in women with no history of cancer and who were asymptomatic. Of about 10,000 women enrolled in the study, 134 had positive results on blood screening; 26 of these women were found to have cancers. Conventional...
Discussant of the CCGA study, David Huntsman, MD, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Contextual Genomics, said: “Screening is the peak [for the number of people who could benefit from early detection], but screening is the most challenging. It requires high sensitivity and specificity that is...
A blood test based on cell-free DNA was able to detect cancer as well as the site of origin in patients with a clinical suspicion of cancer, according to results of the Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study presented at the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy known as TruUCAR GC027 may prove to be useful in the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and potentially other hematologic malignancies. Preliminary results in a small number of patients...
ASCO recently released a new evidence-based guideline regarding the clinical management of cancer cachexia in adults with advanced cancer.1 The guideline is the result of a literature review that included 20 systematic reviews and 13 randomized clinical trials. An expert panel was convened to...
In the fall of 2015, I was looking forward to a trip to Florida for a visit with my daughter and her family, along with a little relaxation. The evening before the trip, I experienced some abdominal pain that my wife, Angela, and I thought might be appendicitis. Concerned the problem could...
On may 8, 2020, selpercatinib was granted accelerated approval for the following indications: Adult patients with metastatic RET fusion-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) Adult and pediatric patients ≥ 12 years of age with advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer who...
On April 21, 2020, ibrutinib was granted an expanded indication for use in combination with rituximab for the initial treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).1,2 The recommended dosage of ibrutinib in CLL/SLL is 420 mg, once daily,...
GUEST EDITORS Dr. Abutalib is Associate Director of the Hematology and Cellular Therapy Program and Director of the Clinical Apheresis Program at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Zion, Illinois; Associate Professor at the Roseland Franklin University of Medicine and Science; and Founder and...