On April 23, 2024, tovorafenib (Ojemda) was granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients aged 6 months and older who have relapsed or refractory pediatric low-grade glioma harboring a BRAF fusion or rearrangement or BRAF V600 mutation.1 Tovorafenib is a...
Early palliative care can be integrated into the course of treatment for patients with advanced lung cancer via delivery by telehealth with outcomes similar to when palliative care is delivered via in-person visits, according to results of the REACH PC trial presented by Joseph Greer, PhD, of...
The Melanoma Research Alliance is on a mission to cure and prevent melanoma, a skin cancer that is diagnosed in more than 100,000 people each year and is expected to take the lives of more than 8,000 individuals in 2024.1 We invite stakeholders across all fields, including medicine, science, and...
Consolidation therapy with the PD-L1 antibody durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy extended survival in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) compared with standard-of-care chemoradiotherapy alone, according to the first planned interim analysis of the phase III ADRIATIC trial...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues, interim analysis of the phase III NATALEE trial has shown improved invasive disease–free survival with the addition of...
As reported at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 9500) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Georgina V. Long, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the final, 8-year follow-up analysis of the phase III COMBI-AD trial has shown continued improvements in relapse-free and distant metastasis–free...
The results from a phase Ib/II study of a five-drug regimen of venetoclax, ibrutinib, prednisone, obinutuzumab, and lenalidomide (ViPOR) in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) show the treatment produced durable remissions in patients with specific molecular...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) announced that following a nationwide search, Vivek S. Kavadi, MD, MBA, FASTRO, will become Chief Executive Officer of the Society, effective November 1, 2024. Dr. Kavadi will succeed Laura Thevenot, who had already announced her intent to retire...
Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who undergo frequent immunoglobulin G testing may be less likely to experience severe infections than those who don’t undergo frequent testing, according to a recent study published by Soumerai et al in Blood Advances....
Administering chemotherapy prior to and following surgery may extend survival in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma compared with postoperative administration alone, according to a recent study published by Cecchini et al in JAMA Oncology. The findings may be encouraging for the 15% to...
On June 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the KRAS G12C inhibitor adagrasib (Krazati) plus cetuximab for adults with KRAS G12C–mutated locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer, as determined by an FDA-approved test, who have received prior...
Although improvements in the early detection and treatment of cancer have reduced cancer-related mortality rates and increased the number of cancer survivors in the United States to over 18 million, not all patients with the disease are benefiting from these advances. A recent study investigated...
Air pollution may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, mortality, and health disparities in patients with cancer, according to a recent study published by Zhu et al in JACC: CardioOncology. Background Although modern therapies may help extend the lives of patients with cancer, cancer...
Suppression of the estrogen receptor has proven to be an effective treatment for hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, but standard endocrine therapies have liabilities that are not limited to their pharmacokinetics or toxicity profiles, which allow for ligand-independent estrogen receptor...
Researchers have found that administering the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib after surgery may improve disease-free survival in a subset of patients with PIK3CA-mutated stage III colorectal cancer, according to a study published by Nowak et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The findings...
Findings from a Spanish study on the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 infection among patients with cancer recommend administering additional doses of the vaccine to this at-risk population. These data were published by Neto et al in Nature Communications. Patients with cancer are at an...
Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, a head and neck surgical oncologist, has been named the Executive Director of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and UNC System Chief of Oncology Services, effective October 1, announced the Dean of the UNC School of Medicine...
A novel “armored” chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell appears to be feasible for retreatment of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who fail to respond to standard CAR T-cell therapy, according to preliminary results of a phase I trial presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 The unique...
In a single-center study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Hamilton et al found that second tumors had occurred in 25 of 724 patients during 15 months of follow-up after receipt of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, including one fatal case of T-cell lymphoma. The study...
As reported in The Lancet by Ken Kato, MD, and colleagues, the Japanese phase III JCOG1109 NExT trial showed that neoadjuvant triplet chemotherapy was associated with superior overall survival vs doublet chemotherapy among previously untreated patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell ...
In a European phase Ib/II study (OPTIMIZE-1) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jean-Luc Van Laethem, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of the CD40 agonist antibody mitazalimab with mFOLFIRINOX (modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan) showed activity in previously...
In a Japanese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Inui et al found that the addition of olanzapine to triple antiemetic therapy did not improve the prevention of carboplatin-induced vomiting in patients with thoracic cancers who had received no prior chemotherapy; however, ...
Lutetium (Lu)-177–PSMA-617 radioligand therapy may offer a statistically significant and clinically meaningful radiographic progression-free survival benefit in patients with taxane-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to findings presented by Herrmann et al at the 2024...
Fibroblast activation protein (FAP)-targeted radioligand therapy may be safe and effective in patients with progressive metastatic tumors, particularly advanced sarcomas, according to new findings presented by Lanzafame et al at the 2024 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI)...
Researchers have found that fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) may offer more accurate staging in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer than fluorine (F)-18–labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT, according to new findings ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Mariana Chavez-MacGregor, MD, MSc, FASCO, and colleagues, the phase III SWOG S1207 trial showed no significant benefit in invasive disease–free survival with adjuvant endocrine therapy plus 1 year of everolimus vs 1 year of placebo in patients with ...
On June 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by single-agent pembrolizumab for adult patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma; on June 14, the agency approved durvalumab...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Akihito Kawazoe, MD, and colleagues, the final analysis of the phase III LEAP-017 trial showed no significant overall survival benefit with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab vs the standard of care in previously treated patients with mismatch...
As reported at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA105) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Meletios Dimopoulos, MD, and colleagues, an interim analysis from the phase III DREAMM-8 trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with belantamab mafodotin-blmf,...
As reported in The Lancet by Simron Singh, MD, MPH, FRCPC, and colleagues, primary results of the international, multicenter, randomized phase III NETTER-2 study have shown significantly improved progression-free survival with the addition of the radioligand lutetium-177 dotatate (Lu-177 dotatate)...
Over the past 20 years, Medicare reimbursements for 10 breast cancer surgical procedures rose by 22%, but inflation rose three times as much—by 69%. Compared with the financial picture had rates kept pace with inflation, the result is an estimated aggregate loss of more than $100 million for breast ...
On June 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to repotrectinib (Augtyro) for adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusion, are locally advanced or metastatic or...
Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a rare and aggressive hematologic malignancy affecting young children predominately under the age of 4. The disease is caused by mutations that increase RAS signaling output. While about 50% of patients with JMML are cured after undergoing hematopoietic...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Luis G. Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III EVOKE-01 trial has shown a numeric but not statistically significant improvement in overall survival with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy vs docetaxel in patients with metastatic non–small cell...
Craig Jordan, CMG, OBE, PhD, DSc, FMedSci, a pioneering scientist whose innovative work in breast cancer research has saved countless lives and will continue to impact the field for generations to come, died on June 9, according to a news release from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer...
A novel positive psychology approach may help improve stress, fatigue, physical function, and quality of life in patients with hematologic malignancies who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, according to a new study published by Amonoo et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National...
On June 12, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted traditional approval to selpercatinib (Retevmo) for adult and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older with advanced or metastatic RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer who require systemic therapy and whose disease is radioactive...
Investigators have found that U.S. veterans who underwent lung cancer screening prior to diagnosis were potentially more likely to be diagnosed with earlier-stage disease and have a higher cure rate compared with those who did not undergo screening, according to a recent study published by Edwards...
As reported at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 7500) and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Thierry Facon, MD, and colleagues, interim analysis of the phase III IMROZ trial showed significantly improved progression-free survival with the addition of isatuximab to bortezomib,...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bostany et al found that the cumulative incidence of cardiac dysfunction reached 15.3% at 15 years from the start of cardiotoxic treatments in breast cancer survivors. Study Details The study involved patients at the Next Steps Breast Cancer...
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Bandi et al found that only 18% of eligible individuals in the United States were considered up to date—defined as undergoing screening within the past year—for recommended annual lung cancer screening in 2022. As stated by the investigators, “The U.S. ...
The novel therapy INB-200 in combination with concomitant temozolomide may improve survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, according to preliminary findings from a phase I clinical trial presented by Lobbous et al at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 2042). “For far too long, there...
An integrated palliative care rotation for hematology-oncology fellows may improve their palliative care knowledge and skill confidence, according to findings presented by Bauman et al at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 9007). “Despite national guidelines advocating that patients with...
An ASCO guideline update offers new recommendations on systemic treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), based on promising findings from several recent randomized controlled trials as well as the approval of new first- and second-line immunotherapy combinations.1 “This guideline...
OCE Insights is an occasional department developed for The ASCO Post by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this installment, the OCE’s Steven Cunningham, MD, MLA, FACS, Clinical Reviewer on the Gastrointestinal Cancers Team,...
Despite urgings from my primary care physician to get a colonoscopy screening after I turned 50, I resisted. As a health-care provider, and someone who is tuned into changes in my body, I thought I would instinctively know if I had a serious illness. I was wrong. Even after finally relenting to at...
When Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, FASCO, graduated from high school in 1970 and enrolled at the University of Illinois in Champaign, she was determined to seek a career in special education, because she wanted to “help people through difficult situations.” Although Dr. Von Roenn ultimately decided to...
Facing mortality can be a paralyzing experience for some people, but for others, it may ignite a passion to accelerate life. One such person is Kathy Giusti, cofounder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), where she served as Chief Executive Officer and President for nearly 20 years....
The highly anticipated ENGOT-en9/LEAP-001 trial in endometrial cancer has missed both its primary endpoints. At the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2024 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, the study investigators reported no significant benefit in progression-free survival or overall survival...
Results of the phase III NADINA trial support a new standard of care for the treatment of resectable macroscopic stage III melanoma. Treatment with preoperative ipilimumab plus nivolumab followed by total lymph node dissection, with adjuvant therapy guided by depth of response, led to a highly...