The members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently elected three new officers to ASTRO’s Board of Directors: Sameer Keole, MD, FASTRO, as President-Elect; Wendy Woodward, MD, PhD, FASTRO, as Science Council Vice Chair; and Vivek S. Kavadi, MD, MBA, FASTRO, as Health Policy...
I knew the moment my fingers found a lump in my left breast, in 2018, that it was cancer, and I wondered if I was going to die. My maternal grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 39, the same age I was when I discovered the mass in my breast. She died 5 years later. Divorced ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. With this installment, we launch a new series of articles on commercially available chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Syed Ali Abutalib, MD, and Jennifer N. ...
Nigel Russell, MD, of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, discusses the latest results from the AML19 trial, which showed the chemotherapy regimen FLAG-Ida (fludarabine, high-dose cytarabine, idarubicin, and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor), when combined with gemtuzumab ozogamicin,...
A report published by Kwan et al in the journal Cancer provides new information that may help oncologists answer one of the most common questions they hear from breast cancer survivors: Is it safe to drink alcohol? The findings suggest drinking alcohol is not associated with an increased risk of...
Approximately 65% of adults in the United States consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily. Researchers led a study examining the associations among intake of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages and the incidence of liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality in a large cohort of ...
A machine-learning model found that background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) on breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be an indicator of breast cancer risk in patients with extremely dense breasts, according to a study published by Wang et al in Radiology. Patients with extremely dense...
A new World Economic Forum report released June 26, 2023, highlights the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care and the importance of public-private collaboration in driving its global adoption.1 The report—“Scaling Smart Solutions With AI in Health: Unlocking...
On July 7, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor, and the Treasury Department issued a proposed rule regulating the availability of short-term limited duration insurance plans. The rule would restrict the availability of these plans to no more than 4 months....
ASCO has been awarded $11 million in research funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study dosing strategies of oral CDK4/6 inhibitors in older adults living with metastatic breast cancer. The study aims to address a critical evidence gap in the treatment of this...
Two studies presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting challenge the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors as part of upfront treatment of advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The first, the SONIA trial, found that first-line treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors led to greater toxicity...
Preparing and running a medical conference is usually a complex but rewarding mission. It is a demanding job that is typically done voluntarily by physicians and educators who are dedicated to professional and community service; advancement of research and education; as well as the dissemination of ...
As we detailed in our Special Report “Surviving, but Not Always Thriving, After Cancer,” in the May 25, 2023, issue of The ASCO Post, the combination of advances in more effective therapies to treat cancer, gains in early detection, and sharp declines in tobacco use have led to a staggering 33%...
The probability of obtaining a HER2-low test result increases with the number of biopsies performed, according to a study of more than 500 biopsy samples in patients with triple-negative breast cancer. For patients originally labeled as having no HER2 expression (HER2 0), each successive biopsy...
Chronic exposure to fine particulate air pollutants (PM2.5, particulate matter 2.5 µm in diameter) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may increase non-lung cancer risk in older adults, according to a study published by Yaguang et al in Environmental Epidemiology. In a cohort study of millions of Medicare...
New research published by Ou et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network evaluated how an important analysis on adjuvant chemotherapy for advanced colon cancer impacted prescribing patterns. The IDEA collaboration included more than 12,000 patients with stage III colon...
In a new study published by Hyuna Sung, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open, non-Hispanic Black individuals diagnosed with a second primary cancer experienced 21% higher cancer-related death rates and 41% higher cardiovascular-related death rates compared with non-Hispanic White individuals;...
Cancer research centers conducting clinical trials could potentially enroll more patients from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups by placing a greater emphasis on relieving investigators of the costs of translating consent documents into languages other than English, according to a study...
Experts have suspected that depression and anxiety may increase cancer risk by affecting a person’s health-related behaviors or by having biological effects on the body that support cancer development. Some research has supported an association among depression, anxiety, and cancer incidence,...
A study covering the northeast region of Colombia found nearly 12% of patients with a high body mass index (BMI) being treated for breast cancer at a regional center experienced cardiotoxicity during chemotherapy. The study will be presented at the upcoming American College of Cardiology Latin...
In patients with N2 and N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant treatment with concurrent gemcitabine and cisplatin significantly improved progression-free survival, with acceptable toxicity, over fluorouracil plus cisplatin, according to a phase III trial reported from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer...
Presented here are summaries of three abstracts from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting that are pertinent for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The first two focus on men with homologous recombinant repair (HRR) gene alterations, including BRCA1/2. In the first study,...
Investigators have found that exposure to wildfires within 1 year of surgery may significantly lower the chance of survival in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent study published by Zhang et al in JAMA Oncology. Background Lung cancer is the second most common...
Researchers have compared the efficacy of surgical and nonsurgical interventions for patients with malignant bowel obstructions, according to a recent study published by Krouse et al in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. The new findings may help to inform clinical decision-making in the ...
Investigators have found that monthly U.S. adult cancer diagnoses decreased by 50% early in April 2020 and that the largest decreases were observed for stage I tumors, resulting in a higher proportion of late-stage cancer diagnoses, according to a recent study published by Han et al in The Lancet...
The American College of Physicians (ACP) suggested screening asymptomatic, average-risk adults for colorectal cancer at age 50 years, according to updated clinical guidelines published by Qaseem et al in the Annals of Internal Medicine. New ACP Clinical Guidelines Colorectal cancer has the fourth...
On August 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trifluridine and tipiracil (Lonsurf) with bevacizumab for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer previously treated with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, an anti-VEGF biological therapy, and, if ...
About 80% of geriatric female colorectal cancer survivors may experience a range of gastrointestinal symptoms years after receiving a diagnosis and treatment for their tumors, according to a recent study published by Han et al in PLOS ONE. Background While depression, anxiety, and fatigue are...
Researchers may have uncovered the immune adverse events and the specific type of CD8 T cells that characterize inflammatory arthritis induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Science Immunology. Immune checkpoint inhibitors used to treat...
With an estimated 4.8 million new cases and 3.4 million deaths worldwide recorded in 2018, cancers of the gastrointestinal tract account for over one-quarter (26%) of global cancer incidence and over one-third (35%) of all cancer-related deaths. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...
Studies show that both the incidence of cancer and mortality rates in Vietnam have tripled over the past 3 decades; in 2020, over 182,560 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the country, and nearly 123,000 people died from the disease. In addition, most cases—up to 80%—are diagnosed at an...
Joshua Zeidner, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Chief of Leukemia Research, and Associate Chief of Hematology Research at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, emphasized the high risk of relapse, even after allogeneic stem cell transplantation, for patients ...
Human papillomavirus (HPV)–positive head and neck squamous cell carcinomas can be divided into two distinct subtypes that may help determine how well patients will respond to therapy, according to a novel study published by Schrank et al in PNAS. The findings also identified a new mechanism of HPV...
Researchers in Japan have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic tool for colposcopy examinations that may accurately identify cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and subsequently suggest appropriate biopsy sites. The research will be presented by Ueda et al at the 2023...
A combination of resistance and aerobic exercise may improve sexual function in patients with prostate cancer, according to a new study conducted in Australia. The research was presented by Galvao et al at the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting (Abstract 71) in Yokohama, Japan. “Sexual dysfunction is a ...
As presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, the phase III IMerge trial of imetelstat1 and the phase III COMMANDS trial of luspatercept2 met their primary endpoints of transfusion independence. The findings suggest that lower-risk patients with transfusion-dependent, non-del(5q) myelodysplastic...
In the primary analysis of the phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled IMerge trial, in those achieving the primary endpoint of 8-week transfusion independence, treatment with imetelstat significantly reduced transfusion dependence—for a median duration of 1 year—and improved a...
On July 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli) with carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by single-agent dostarlimab for patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer that is mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR), as determined by an...
Investigators have found that just 4.5 minutes of vigorous activity per day could reduce the risk of some cancer types by up to 32%. The results of the recent study were published by Stamatakis et al in JAMA Oncology. Background Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity describes very...
Patients who reside in lower-income communities may be less likely to undergo colorectal cancer screenings with computed tomography (CT) colonography than those who reside in higher-income communities, according to a new study published by Christensen et al in the American Journal of ...
Matthew J. Frank, MD, PhD, of Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses new findings showing that CD22 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is an effective and safe salvage therapy for patients with CAR19-refractory large B-cell lymphoma. A multicenter phase II clinical trial is...
Discussing this study in her Highlights of the Day at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting was Barbara Burtness, MD, the Anthony N. Brady Professor of Medicine and Chief Translational Research Officer at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut. She noted that the premise of the FRAIL-IMMUNE trial...
As a first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab plus weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel provided clinically significant efficacy in the phase II FRAIL-IMMUNE (GORTEC 2018-03) trial.1 This regimen may prove to be an effective...
In a phase I study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), New York, the combination of cabozantinib and cetuximab showed antitumor efficacy in heavily pretreated patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer.1 Antoine Desilets, MD, an advanced oncology fellow ...
Increased skin cancer screenings may not reduce disparities in the survival rates of patients with melanoma who have darker skin tones, according to a recent study published by Smith et al in JAMA Dermatology. Background Although melanoma—the leading cause of skin cancer mortality—is most common...
Investigators have proposed that cancer centers may be uniquely positioned to protect communities and patients with cancer from climate-driven disasters by bolstering climate change–associated emergency preparedness, according to a recent study published by Espinel et al in the Journal of the...
A novel artificial intelligence (AI) model may be able to accurately predict the risk of death from lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other causes by using data from low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans of the lungs, according to a recent study published by Xu et al in Radiology....
Long-term follow-up of selinexor maintenance therapy in patients with p53 wild-type endometrial cancer has demonstrated anticancer activity, according to data presented by Brian M. Slomovitz, MD, and colleagues during the ASCO Plenary Series: July 2023 Session (Abstract 427956). Results of the...
Syrian migrants, including refugees, may be more likely to be diagnosed with a more advanced stage of breast cancer at a younger age when compared with individuals from Jordan, according to a recent study published by Hazra et al in JAMA Network Open. The new findings suggest the trauma associated...
The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines may be an effective strategy for reducing COVID-19–related hospitalizations and mortality in patients with cancer, according to a recent study published by Starkey et al in Scientific Reports. Study Methods and Results In this study, investigators analyzed the...