In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Sparano et al found that a single circulating tumor cell (CTC) assessment was predictive of late recurrence in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The study involved patients from a phase III trial of doxorubicin and...
ASCO RECENTLY launched its new “I Live to Conquer Cancer” national outreach and awareness campaign to draw attention to the critical importance of federally funded cancer research. Through a series of compelling videos and written stories, “I Live to Conquer Cancer” puts a human face on cancer...
ASCO AND the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) are calling on leaders and health ministers of the 193 United Nations (UN) member countries to reduce the burden of all noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer. The two organizations issued a joint statement in advance of the third ...
FULLY UPDATED and now with 8th Edition American Joint Committee on Cancer staging information, this updated guide from ASCO is designed for people newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. It aims to help patients get organized and learn more about their diagnosis, treatment options, side effects,...
ASCO DELEGATES participated in the American Medical Association’s (AMA) June Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates (HOD). The AMA HOD is the principal policy-making body of AMA and meets twice a year to discuss pressing issues and establish association policies. This year, delegates approved...
The Conquer Cancer Merit Awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at an ASCO scientific meeting, including the ASCO Annual Meeting and thematic symposia. Conquer Cancer recognized 127 recipients with Merit Awards at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting,...
ON JULY 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2019 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule. Among other provisions, the proposal would extend 2018 reimbursement cuts to the 340B Drug Pricing Program to include currently excepted, off-site...
TAILORx changes the configuration of the ball field and the shape of the ball in deciding which women will be recommended chemotherapy after resection of node-negative, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. TAILORx was presented by Joseph Sparano, MD, at the 2018 ASCO Plenary Session and...
ON JULY 30, 2018, Roche announced approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its cobas HPV Test in first-line screening for cervical cancer in women 25 years and older using cervical specimens collected in SurePath preservative fluid. The FDA first approved the cobas HPV test...
IN A STUDY reported in JAMA Oncology, Erin L. Van Blarigan, ScD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues found that adherence to American Cancer Society (ACS) nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors was associated with improved survival among patients ...
In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ipilimumab (Yervoy), an anticytotoxic T-lymphocyte– associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4), the first checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of advanced melanoma.1 Since then, several more checkpoint inhibitors directed at both the programmed...
In February 2015, there was no indication that my life was about to radically change. I was a practicing attorney and happily raising two young children with my husband. At 40 years old, I was healthy—or so I thought—and had no physical symptoms to alert me to the devastating news that was about to ...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies focused on neurotoxicities of cancer treatment. These studies focus on the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function, changes in resting state brain networks after stem cell...
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. This past June, encorafenib (Braftovi) and binimetinib...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery by Margonis and colleagues, the presence of a BRAF V600E mutation was associated with a higher risk of recurrence and poorer overall survival among patients undergoing surgical resection of liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Matthew J. Weiss, MD, of the...
Findings in a phase I trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Pernas and colleagues indicate activity of the combination of the CXCR4 chemokine receptor antagonist balixafortide plus eribulin (Halaven) in previously treated HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. The CXCR4–stromal cell-derived...
Accurately assessing the quality of cancer care over the continuum of treatment requires a special set of metrics and data-gathering methods. Moreover, with a growing number of cancer survivors, the post-treatment care involves primary care providers who are adept at managing the comorbidities...
A study reported in JAMA Oncology by Anne Marie McCarthy, PhD, of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues identified the risk of interval breast cancer after negative screening mammography, including the risk of poor-prognosis breast cancer. The...
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, ASCO President, released the following statement today: “ASCO strongly opposes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) decision to allow Medicare Advantage plans to employ step therapy across physician-administered and self-administered...
BOOKMARK Title: Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the GenomeAuthor: Nessa CareyPublisher: Columbia University PressOriginal publication date: April 2015Price: $22.95, paperback, 360 pages When biologists first delved into the human wonder of genes in the 1970s, they eventually...
BOOKMARK Title: MortalityAuthor: Christopher HitchensPublisher: Twelve: Hachette Book GroupOriginal Publication Date: May 13, 2014Price: $19.95, paperback, 128 pages “There are no atheists in foxholes” is an aphorism used to contend that in times of extreme fear, such as during war or facing a...
BOOKMARK Title: Toms River: A Story of Science and SalvationAuthor: Dan FaginPublisher: Random HouseOriginal publication date: March 2013Price: $28.00, hardcover, 560 pages The Toms River emerges in the Pine Barrens of northern Ocean County, New Jersey, and zigzags through wetlands, emptying into...
The largest coordinated research effort to study biologic and nonbiologic factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer in African American men has begun. The $26.5 million study is called RESPOND, or Research on Prostate Cancer in Men of African Ancestry: Defining the Roles of Genetics, Tumor ...
On July 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved iobenguane I 131 injection (Azedra) for intravenous use in the treatment of adults and adolescents aged 12 and older with unresectable pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma that have spread beyond the original tumor site and require ...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided oncology services to people with cancer who had previously been denied coverage. And for that reason alone, many oncologists supported its passage. However, even though the U.S. health-care system remains in the crosshairs of partisan politics, parties on both ...
ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) have submitted recommended language to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for five guidance documents on ways to broaden eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials. The recommendations are part of an ASCO...
Almost 1 year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and...
Researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Northwell Health’s Department of Radiation Medicine have identified methods to increase use of the radiation therapy hypofractionation in patients with breast cancer. These findings, published by Gilbo et al...
Data from a lung cancer screening program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) provides evidence that national lung cancer screening guidelines, which were developed based on the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in 2011 and recommend screening based on age and smoking history, may be...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Oxnard et al found early resistance and a number of competing resistance mechanisms in acquired osimertinib (Tagrisso) resistance associated with loss of the T790M mutation conferring resistance to prior EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment in...
In an analysis of pooled safety data from the PALOMA trials of palbociclib (Ibrance) plus endocrine therapy in hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Diéras et al found no evidence of specific cumulative...
The Torrance Memorial Medical Center, a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center affiliate, recently announced the opening of a new cancer center. The new Hunt Cancer Center will provide patients with access to subspecialists who treat more than 60 types of common, rare, and complex cancers. As part of the...
On July 18, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for ribociclib (Kisqali), in combination with an aromatase inhibitor for pre/perimenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as initial endocrine-based...
The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research has estimated that in developed countries, about 35% of breast cancers and 45% of colorectal cancers could be prevented with better adherence to nutritional recommendations. A large prospective study evaluating adherence to...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on the use of reishi...
Early in 2018, durvalumab (Imfinzi) was approved for the treatment of unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has not progressed following concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on a planned interim...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has released a new resource to help patients with liver, gallbladder, and bile duct cancers better understand their diagnosis and treatment options. This new edition of the NCCN Guidelines for Patients® takes the evidence-based, expert consensus...
The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted its 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award to a select group of 16 accredited cancer programs throughout the United States. Award criteria were based on qualitative and quantitative surveys of cancer programs conducted...
The Fox Chase Cancer Center recently announced the addition of Andrea M. Abbott, MD, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Imaging. She joined the team that uses imaging technology to aid in cancer diagnosis, staging, and guidance of treatment. Dr. Abbott comes to Fox Chase after...
To better understand the causes of resistance to treatment in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, the Department of Defense has awarded researchers at Baylor College of Medicine multiple grants to study gene anomalies in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer that are associated with...
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation has announced its 2018 summer grant recipients, including seven from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. 2018 Recipients Nmazou Ozuah, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, received an international scholar grant for...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mogamulizumab-kpkc (Poteligeo) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome after at least one prior systemic therapy. This approval provides a new...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the antibiotic azithromycin should not be given on a long-term basis to prevent the inflammatory lung condition bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in patients with cancers of the blood or lymph nodes who undergo a donor stem cell...
In the scramble to bring successful apps for the diagnosis of skin cancer to market, there is a concern that a lack of testing is risking public safety, according to research led by the University of Birmingham. The research, outlined at the British Association of Dermatologists Annual...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Yang et al found that most patients who had undergone surgery for cancer reported that hospital reputation would have been important to them in choosing a hospital for surgery and that they would have used a listing of best hospitals for...
Studies show that triple-negative breast cancer is associated with advanced-stage disease and higher-grade tumors at the time of diagnosis, and carries an increased risk of recurrence and poorer 5-year survival rates relative to other breast cancers. This type of breast cancer accounts for...
In a large-scale retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al found that male sex is a predictor of poorer disease-specific survival in BRAF V600E papillary thyroid cancer. The study involved 2,638 patients (male = 623, female = 2,015) from 11 centers in 6...
A NEW “frailty index” may predict overall survival for patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to a study published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics.1 Frailty is a critical factor in treatment decision-making for many patients with multiple myeloma, as many of these patients are ...
THE ASSESSMENT of cognitive dysfunction in patients who have undergone chemotherapy is complex, and although a number of strategies are available, each has its limitations, according to Karin Olson, RN, PhD, Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. At...
COMMENTING ON the results of this trial of GC4419, Rajesh V. Lalla, DDS, PhD, President of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, said, “This study demonstrated this agent’s strong potential for the management of oral mucositis in patients receiving head and neck radiation...