On June 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pegfilgrastim-jmdb (Fulphila) as the first biosimilar to pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) to decrease the chance of infection as suggested by febrile neutropenia in patients with nonmyeloid cancer who are receiving myelosuppressive...
Data presented by Clarke et al at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 5003) showed clinical improvement in median radiologic progression-free survival with olaparib (Lynparza) in combination with abiraterone (Yonsa, Zytiga) compared to abiraterone monotherapy, a current standard of care, in...
Results from KEYNOTE-407, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III study evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel or carboplatin/nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) as first-line treatment for metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer...
Underrecognized and inadequately managed, insomnia is a significant burden for many cancer survivors. Often persistent over several years following diagnosis and treatment, sleep problems negatively affect quality of life and elevate the risk of depression and anxiety. In this installment of The...
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance has opened its third annual international survey of young-onset colorectal cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers, with the intent of learning about and tracking the medical and psychosocial experiences of this often overlooked group, which comprises 11% of...
ASCO has endorsed a statement by the 70 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers calling for increased human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening to eliminate HPV-related cancers. The full uptake of the vaccine and screening could prevent 12,000 cervical cancers and...
There is a projected decline in the physician-scientist workforce, according to a new study published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The report, the National MD-PhD Program Outcomes Study, tracks the careers of MD-PhD program graduates over 50 years (1964–2014) and...
The collaboration between Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer, launched in 2013, continues to help develop new immunotherapy approaches to high-risk childhood cancers, with the most recent donation of $8 million from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. In addition,...
BOOKMARK Title: The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine LifeAuthors: Donald L. Rosenstein, MD, and Justin M. Yopp, PhDPublisher: Oxford University PressPublication Date: January 2018Price: $28.95; hardcover, 192 pages Looking back, the cancer advocacy movement took shape in two waves: the first ...
On May 4, 2018, dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) in combination was granted approval for treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic anaplastic thyroid cancer with BRAF V600E mutation and no satisfactory locoregional treatment options.1-3 Dabrafenib is not indicated for ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) are launching a new international alliance to stimulate discoveries in cancer research. The two organizations share the vision that significant progress against cancer could be facilitated by...
The Biospecimen Core Resource within The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has received a new $4.5 million federal contract to accept, process, ensure quality, and distribute tumor derivatives for a number of national cancer research projects. The Biospecimen...
The Henry Ford Health System announced the receipt of a $20 million gift (from an individual donor who wishes to remain anonymous) to launch the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center, which will focus on global collaborations to develop new methods for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. David ...
The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation announced that Adolfo Ferrando, MD, PhD, Professor at the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University, has joined its scientific advisory board. Dr. Ferrando is also Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology & Cell Biology; Associate Director...
Many patients with follicular lymphoma relapse within 2 years of initial therapy, and for a number of these individuals, hematopoietic cell transplantation is a good treatment option. Transplant, however, both autologous and allogeneic, is vastly underutilized in these patients, according to Mehdi ...
For over a decade, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been the standard first-line agents in the management of patients with advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.1-3 Historically, phase III trials of first-line VEGF therapies included...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robert J. Motzer, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 214 trial has shown an overall survival advantage with nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) vs sunitinib (Sutent) in patients with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, and colleagues, a high proportion of patients with metastatic melanoma achieving a complete response on pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-001 trial maintained...
As reported in The Lancet by Pagès et al, an international collaboration has validated the consensus Immunoscore for colon cancer as a predictive tool for recurrence of disease. Study Details An international consortium of 14 centers in 13 countries, led by the Society for Immunotherapy of ...
For patients with multiple myeloma who have been treated with lenalidome (Revlimid) but have relapsed and not responded to other therapy, a three-drug combination can significantly extend the time in which the disease is held in check. The findings of the phase III OPTIMISMM trial were presented by ...
Interim results from cohort A of KEYNOTE-427, a phase II trial evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as first-line treatment for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), were presented by McDermott et al at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 4500). Interim data showed an overall response...
Overall survival (OS) data from the ARCHER 1050 trial evaluating dacomitinib as a first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR-activating mutations compared to gefitinib showed a median OS of 34.1 months for patients...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, O’Connor et al found that anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) agents rapidly reached eligible patients after U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The study also showed that real-world patients were...
In an Australian investigator-initiated single-center phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hofman et al found that treatment with a radiolabeled small molecule that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), lutetium-177 (177Lu)–PSMA-617, produced a high response rate ...
Updated efficacy and safety data from the international, multicenter JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial of avelumab (Bavencio) in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma were presented by Nghiem et al at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 9507). 2-Year Follow-up At the 2-year follow-up update of ...
In an international phase II trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, treatment with the oral FGFR inhibitor erdafitinib was well tolerated and achieved a robust response for patients with metastatic urothelial cancers harboring mutations in the FGFR3...
The phase III ENLIVEN study showed a statistically significant 39% overall response rate at week 25 based on central review of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), version 1.1 (the primary endpoint) for patients treated with oral...
Updated results of the global phase III ALEX trial comparing alectinib (Alecensa) with crizotinib (Xalkori) as first-line treatment against ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) show a median progression-free survival of 34.8 months in 152 patients treated with alectinib vs 10.9...
Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Meredith M. Regan, ScD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss study findings on absolute improvements in freedom from distant recurrence with adjuvant endocrine therapies for premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, ...
Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discuss the efficacy of sacituzumab govitecan for treatment-refractory hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (Abstract 1004).
Martee L. Hensley, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses phase III study findings on adjuvant gemcitabine plus docetaxel followed by doxorubicin vs observation for uterus-limited, high-grade leiomyosarcoma (Abstract 5505).
In a small phase II study of early-stage breast cancer patients with BRCA1/2 mutations, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that more than half of the women who took the PARP inhibitor talazoparib once daily prior to surgery had no evidence of disease at the time...
Premenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and a high risk of recurrence who are treated with an aromatase inhibitor plus ovarian function suppression may gain a 10% to 15% improvement in freedom from distant recurrence at 8 years, according to a ...
Results from a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III iNNOVATE (PCYC-1127) study evaluating the investigational use of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) in relapsed/refractory and treatment-naive patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia were...
On June 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pegfilgrastim-jmdb (Fulphila) as the first biosimilar to pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) to decrease the chance of infection as suggested by febrile neutropenia in patients with nonmyeloid cancer who are receiving myelosuppressive...
Bruce E. Johnson, MD, of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology and ASCO’s outgoing President, talks with Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the incoming President, about what has been achieved in the past year and what lies ahead.
Bernard J. Escudier, MD, of Gustave Roussy, discusses patient-reported outcomes for atezolizumab plus bevacizumab vs sunitinib in treatment-naive metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Abstract 4511).
Michael J. Overman, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and François Quenet, MD, of the Institut Régional du Cancer de Montpellier, discuss phase III study findings on hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis (Abstract LBA3503).
Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Daniel J. Margul, MD, PhD, of Northwestern University, discuss the outcomes and costs of open, robotic, and laparoscopic radical hysterectomy for stage IB1 cervical cancer (Abstract 5502).
Laurie Helen Sehn, MD, MPH, of the British Columbia Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer, discusses phase II study findings on polatuzumab vedotin with bendamustine and rituximab in relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (Abstract 7507).
Rebecca A. Dent, MD, of the National Cancer Centre Singapore, discusses phase II study findings on first-line ipatasertib plus paclitaxel for locally advanced/metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (Abstract 1008).
Pirkko-Liisa Irmeli Kellokumpu-Lehtinen, MD, PhD, of Tampere University Hospital, discusses phase III findings on adjuvant docetaxel and surveillance after radical radiotherapy for intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer (Abstract 5000).
Geertjan Van Tienhoven, MD, PhD, of the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group, discusses phase III study findings on preoperative chemoradiotherapy vs immediate surgery for resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (Abstract LBA4002).
Tony Mok, MD, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, discusses study findings on dacomitinib vs gefitinib for first-line treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer, a final overall survival analysis.
An updated analysis of a randomized phase III trial showed that taking a high dose of the acid-reducing medicine esomeprazole with low-dose aspirin for at least 7 years can moderately reduce the risk of developing high-grade dysplasia or esophageal cancer and delay death from any cause in people...
A randomized, phase III trial found that patients who received chemoradiotherapy before pancreatic cancer surgery had better disease-free survival than those who started their treatment with surgery, which is the current standard of care. In addition, the 2-year survival rate was higher for those...
In a randomized phase III trial, patients with surgically removed pancreatic cancer who received mFOLFIRINOX (a modified regimen containing oxaliplatin, leucovorin, irinotecan, and fluorouracil) lived a median of 20 months longer and were cancer-free 9 months longer than those who received the...
A randomized phase III clinical trial showed that people with advanced colorectal cancer may not need a frequently considered component of treatment—heated chemotherapy delivered to the abdomen during surgery. There was no difference in survival between patients with metastases in the abdomen ...
Sherry Shen, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center, discusses findings on the use of omega-3 fatty acid for obese breast cancer patients with aromatase inhibitor–related arthralgia (Abstract 10000).
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of City of Hope, and A. Oliver Sartor, MD, of Tulane University School of Medicine, discuss the implications of findings on black and white patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer treated with abiraterone acetate and prednisone (Abstract LBA5009).