A phase II study has found venetoclax (Venclexta) to be clinically active in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) or those unfit for intensive chemotherapy, with an overall response rate of 19% and a tolerable safety profile. The study results, which were...
OCTOBER 16th Biennial Meeting of the International Gynecologic Cancer SocietyOctober 29-31 • Lisbon, PortugalFor more information:http://igcs2016.com NOVEMBER 2016 Oncofertility Conference: Expanding Access to Emerging and Existing Oncofertility ServicesNovember 1-3 • Chicago, Illinois For more...
Diethelm Wallwiener, MD, President of the German Society for Gynaecology and Obstetrics, announced “The Big Four of the Millennium” at the 61st Congress of the Society, held recently in Stuttgart, Germany. The award recognizes individuals’ whose work in the 20th century created the standards of...
Yanis Boumber, MD, PhD, has joined the Department of Thoracic Medical Oncology and the Molecular Therapeutics Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Boumber first joined Fox Chase’s Department of Medical Oncology in 2013 and now returns to Fox Chase from the University of New Mexico Comprehensive ...
On October 4, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) released the 2016 Community Oncology Practice Impact Report, which tracks the changing landscape of cancer care in the United States. It documents a 121% increase in community cancer clinic closings and a 172% increase in consolidation into...
The combination of the selective CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib plus letrozole significantly improved progression-free survival in hormone receptor–positive advanced breast cancer. When ribociclib was added to letrozole, progression-free survival improved by 44% compared with letrozole alone,...
In the phase I/II CheckMate 032 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sharma et al found that nivolumab (Opdivo) was active in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma progressing after platinum-based therapy. In the study, 78 patients with urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis,...
In a secondary analysis from the NRG Oncology RTOG 0617 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chun et al found that use of intensity-modulated vs three-dimensional (3D) conformal external-beam radiation therapy was associated with a reduced risk for severe pneumonitis and reduced the...
The addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib to letrozole therapy significantly improved progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive advanced breast cancer, reported Hortobagyi et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology...
A partnership that added health navigation services to 2-1-1 call centers helped a significant number of underserved Texans receive cancer control measures such as Papanicolaou (Pap) tests and smoking cessation help, according to a study (PR12, C49) presented at the 9th Association for Cancer...
Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, began his term as ASCO President-Elect in June 2016 and will serve as 2017–2018 President. A thoracic cancer specialist, Dr. Johnson is Chief Clinical Research Officer and institute physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical...
Susan M. O’Brien, MD, one of the nation’s foremost leukemia experts, told The ASCO Post that she wanted to become a doctor since her earliest memories. “The idea of being able to help sick people always appealed to me,” said Dr. O’Brien, who was born in Manhattan but spent her formative years in...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Distinguished Lecture on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, funded by Susan G. Komen, honors an investigator whose novel and significant work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or...
OCTOBER American College of Surgeons Clinical CongressOctober 16-20 • Washington, DCFor more information:www.facs.org/clincon2016 ACCC 33rd National Oncology ConferenceOctober 19-21 • St. Louis, Missouri For more information: www.accc-cancer.org/meetings/slideshow-NOC2015/NOC2015.asp 48th Annual...
The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) released the 2016 Community Oncology Practice Impact Report today, which tracks the changing landscape of cancer care in the United States. It documents a 121% increase in community cancer clinic closings and a 172% increase in consolidation into hospitals...
Medical students and practicing pediatricians in Uganda and other East African countries lack access to specialty pediatric training and education in oncology and hematology in their region, despite the need for doctors to provide care for patients with cancer and blood disorders. A new program of...
For patients with stage II and III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) unable to receive standard treatments of surgery or chemoradiation, hypofractionated radiation therapy results in similar overall survival and progression-free survival rates, limited severe side effects, and shorter...
Patients with cervical and endometrial cancer have fewer gastrointestinal and genitourinary side effects and experience better quality of life when treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) than with conventional radiation therapy, according to research presented by Klopp et al at...
A multibasket phase Ib study evaluating the clinical activity, tolerability, and antitumor activity of the cytokine-based immunotherapy AM0010 alone or in combination with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has found that in monotherapy, objective responses to AM0010 were ...
Daniel A. Hamstra, MD, PhD, of Texas Oncology, discusses phase III findings on the use of an absorbable hydrogel spacer designed to decrease rectal toxicity and improve bowel quality of life for patients with prostate cancer. (Abstract LBA-6)
In a propensity score–matched analysis of National Cancer Database data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mokdad et al found that neoadjuvant therapy followed by resection was associated with a survival benefit vs upfront resection. Study Details The analysis included adults...
OCTOBER International Cancer Imaging Society Meeting and 16th Annual Teaching CourseOctober 3-5 • Glasgow, ScotlandFor more information:http://www.icimagingsociety.org.uk/index.cfm?task=meetings 9th International Workshop on Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia & Symposia on Multiple MyelomaOctober...
Emily L. Sedgwick, MD, Associate Professor of Breast Imaging in the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, part of the National Cancer Institute–designated Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Ben and Margaret Love Foundation Bobby Alford Award for...
The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation has announced the winners of the 2016 Lasker Awards for medical science: William G. Kaelin, MD; Peter J. Ratcliffe, MD, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS; and Gregg L. Semenza, MD, PhD for basic medical research; Ralf F.W. Bartenschlager, PhD; Charles M. Rice, PhD;...
Over the past couple of decades, chemoradiation for several cancers, such as lung and breast, has advanced in efficacy and side-effect tolerance, prolonging survival and quality of life for patients. One of the pioneers in chemoradiation, Robert B. Livingston, MD, died on September 8, 2016. Dr....
This summer, ASCO members continued their efforts to advocate for key issues that are critical to cancer care. ASCO members are uniquely qualified to communicate with Congress about effective policies for the treatment of patients with cancer and the research that drives scientific breakthroughs....
Stacey Ann Carter, MD, has joined the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, part of the National Cancer Institute–designated Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine and the Department of Surgery as Assistant Professor. Dr. Carter joins the Breast Center team as a...
A new study1 showing that just 1 in 20 terminally ill patients with cancer has sufficient understanding about the prognosis or purpose of treatment is highlighting the need for improvements in both the way oncologists communicate prognosis with their patients and in the development of educational...
What do up to 60% of cancer survivors have in common? Answer: some type of long-term sexual dysfunction. How many cancer survivors seek professional help for sexual problems? Answer: less than 20%. Even when they do seek help, they may not be successful in finding professionals with expertise in...
The study findings by Dr. Buchakjian and colleagues suggest it may be time to revisit the significance of frozen margin status, according to one of the session co-moderators, Allen Cheng, MD, DDS, of the Providence Cancer Center and Head & Neck Surgical Associates, both in Portland, Oregon....
The anabolic hormone testosterone may lessen the early adverse cardiovascular effects of chemotherapy and chemoradiation for advanced or recurrent cancer, according to a randomized controlled trial reported at the 9th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer.1 Among the patients studied,...
For several years now, the American health-care system has been undergoing a transformation. Innovative ideas are being explored, new systems continue to be created, and millions of lives have been impacted. As health-care providers and research engines, academic institutions have an opportunity...
As reported by Yao et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the final overall survival analysis from the phase III RADIANT-3 trial showed a median survival of 44.0 months among patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors initially randomized to receive everolimus (Afinitor, Zortress)...
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with shorter survival vs primary cytoreductive surgery in patients with stage IIIC ovarian cancer, according to a multi-institute observational study reported by Meyer et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study involved 1,538 women with stage IIIC...
There are limited data on the illness understanding and perception of curability among patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care around the world. In a study led by Sriram Yennu, MD, MS, Associate Professor in the Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine at The...
Sriram Yennu, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses findings from a study of an international cohort of patients with advanced cancer who received palliative care. Nearly half the patients incorrectly believed their cancer was curable (Abstract 5).
Eduardo Bruera, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the need for outpatient palliative care programs to monitor and support these complex patients and their family members.
Three leading national cancer organizations have issued a consensus guideline for physicians treating women who have ductal carcinoma in situ treated with breast-conserving surgery with whole-breast irradiation. The new guideline has the potential to save many women from unnecessary surgeries,...
SEPTEMBER 19th Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Clinical OncologySeptember 21-25 • Xiamen, ChinaFor more information:www.csco.ac.cn IASLC Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic OncologySeptember 22-24 • Chicago, IllinoisFor more...
On July 14, ASCO announced the 14 practices participating in the 2016 Quality Training Program. The program is designed to train oncology health-care providers to investigate and implement data-driven quality improvement and manage clinical and administrative processes and outcomes. “One of the...
Margaret Spitz, MPH, Professor in the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine, has been appointed by President Barack Obama as a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB). A renowned expert in molecular...
Immune response measured in tumor biopsies during the course of early treatment predicts which melanoma patients will benefit from specific immune checkpoint blockade drugs, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found in a report published by Chen et al in Cancer...
Approximately 20% of patients with follicular lymphoma will relapse within 2 years of diagnosis. Although the optimal management of these patients has not been established, clinicians may be guided by data from recent clinical trials, according to Nathan H. Fowler, MD, Associate Professor and...
A novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method that detects low levels of zinc ion can help distinguish healthy prostate tissue from cancer, The University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center radiologists have determined. The findings were published by Clavijo Jordan et al in the Proceedings ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Clovis Oncology’s New Drug Application (NDA) for accelerated approval of rucaparib and granted Priority Review status to the application with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of February 23, 2017. Rucaparib is an...
On July 14, ASCO announced the 14 practices that are participating in the 2016 Quality Training Program. The program is designed to train oncology health-care providers to investigate and implement data-driven quality improvement and manage clinical and administrative processes and outcomes. “One...
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) presented more than $6.1 million in grants and awards to nearly 250 promising oncology researchers at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. The Conquer Cancer Foundation and ASCO congratulate the recipients on their contributions to the field of oncology and...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues found that treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate inotuzumab ozogamicin resulted in a greater complete remission rate and improved ...
Double-hit lymphomas are a challenging subset of high-grade B-cell lymphomas, previously characterized histologically as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or B-cell lymphoma unclassifiable with intermediate features between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma. Expert guidance in their...
Launched in 2014, ASCO’s Quality Training Program was developed to prepare oncology providers to design, implement, and lead successful quality-improvement activities in their practices. It is a 6-month program that includes a structured and facilitated improvement project selected by each...