In a post hoc analysis of the KEYNOTE-048 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Barbara Burtness, MD, and colleagues found that survival results with pembrolizumab and pembrolizumab/chemotherapy vs cetuximab/chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous...
Guideline-directed medical therapy for the prevention and treatment of cardiotoxicity is improving quality of life and oncologic outcomes associated with breast cancer treatment, according to Jean-Bernard Durand, MD, FACP, FCCP, FACC, FHFSA, Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas MD...
A consensus reached by a lung cancer clinical community within the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) presented by Lynch et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress (Abstract 196P) has highlighted international disparities in the management and outcomes of patients with lung cancer ...
In a population-based cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Chen et al found that the incidence of overall cutaneous melanoma and thinner tumors was stable in the United States from 2010 to 2018, with an increased incidence of the thickest (T4) melanomas being observed. Lower socioeconomic status ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, David R. Freyer, DO, MS, and colleagues found that clinicians consistently undergraded—and caregivers frequently overgraded—the severity of adverse events experienced by children with cancer. Study Details The study included 438...
The invited discussant of the CodeBreaK 100 data, E. Gabriela Chiorean, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Clinical Director of the Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology program at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, found the efficacy of ...
The invited discussant of the RATIONALE 208 trial, Chris Verslype, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, said tislelizumab is an “active and safe” investigational PD-1 antibody, “comparable to other PD-1 agents.” In particular, he noted, the results of RATIONALE...
For patients with stage III colon cancer, early discontinuation of adjuvant chemotherapy leads to worse outcomes—but early discontinuation of oxaliplatin did not. These findings, which came from an analysis of the large ACCENT and IDEA clinical trials databases, were presented at the 2022 ASCO...
Benoit Rousseau, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, called the findings of the phase II GERCOR NIPICOL trial “interesting and convincing.” Long-term follow-up showed the 3-year progression-free survival rate to be 70% after 1 total year of treatment with nivolumab plus...
The phase II GERCOR NIPICOL study evaluated 1 year of treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with chemotherapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors were microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR). With this shortened treatment duration,...
Invited discussant of the two studies, Elena Élez, MD, PhD, of the Colon Cancer Program, Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain, discussed the challenge of treating BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer and what the new data bring to that effort. Dr. Élez noted: “BRAF V600E–mutant...
The past year has seen unprecedented progress across the spectrum of gastrointestinal malignances, including the advancement of immunotherapy and targeted molecular agents and the refinement of adjuvant therapy using novel as well as existing therapies. Three themes emerging from these reports are: ...
Somatic genomic testing should be a routine part of clinical care for many patients with metastatic or advanced solid tumors, according to a new ASCO provisional clinical opinion.1 As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the expert panel found that genomic testing in oncology practice has...
The invited discussant of the CodeBreaK 100 data, E. Gabriela Chiorean, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Clinical Director of the Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology program at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, found the efficacy...
Formal discussant of the ARASENS trial, Elisabeth I. Heath, MD, FACP, Professor of Oncology and Associate Center Director, Translational Sciences, at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, commented on the changing paradigm in prostate cancer treatment. “The narrative is changing to triplet therapy, ...
Neoadjuvant treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin-ejfv achieved notable antitumor activity in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are ineligible for treatment with cisplatin, according to preliminary results for cohort H of the EV-103 trial reported at the 2022...
The PARP inhibitor olaparib in combination with abiraterone demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in radiographic progression-free survival vs current standard-of-care abiraterone as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by David Dearnaley, FRCR, and colleagues, the phase III PROMPTS study has shown that a strategy of routine screening with spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and preemptive treatment to prevent clinical spinal cord compression is likely not warranted in...
Researchers have published an analysis of strategies for treating retroperitoneal soft-tissue sarcoma, which has historically been understudied due to its rarity. The researchers say the trends they identified—particularly the convergence of certain treatments across centers—will help guide the way ...
In the prospective observational DELUGE study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers in the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation (BMHCC) found that programs for low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening and for management of incidentally detected lung nodules were...
In an Italian phase II study (MAYA) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Morano et al found that patients with microsatellite-stable (MSS) and O6-methylguanine–DNA methyltransferase (MGMT)-silenced metastatic colorectal cancer without disease progression on temozolomide derived benefit...
The OlympiA trial of adjuvant olaparib in patients with HER2-negative, high-risk early breast cancer and BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations has demonstrated a significant overall survival benefit, reducing the risk of death over placebo by 32%. Andrew Tutt, MBChB, PhD, Director of Breast Cancer Now at the...
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Oncology, Giuliano et al found that seroconversion after two doses of the SARS–CoV-2 mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine in patients with cancer was lower among patients with hematologic malignancies vs solid tumors and differed according to cancer treatment...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chihara et al found that rates of grade 5 toxicity have remained low and that rates of overall and complete response have increased over time in phase I trials for patients with hematologic malignancies sponsored by the National Cancer...
Formal discussant of the ARASENS trial, Elisabeth I. Heath, MD, FACP, Professor of Oncology and Associate Center Director, Translational Sciences, at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, commented on the changing paradigm in prostate cancer treatment. “The narrative is changing to triplet therapy, ...
The addition of abiraterone acetate plus prednisone on top of androgen-deprivation therapy plus docetaxel improved survival in patients with de novo metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer vs androgen-deprivation therapy plus docetaxel alone. These results were from the phase III PEACE-1...
Invited discussant of the VISION trial, Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, commented on the study, noting that she was a co-investigator of the trial. “Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer have a number of treatment options. There are 10...
Lutetium-177–PSMA-617 (LuPSMA)—an investigational radiolabeled small molecule—significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival when added to the standard of care compared with the standard of care alone for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer...
Neoadjuvant treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin-ejfv achieved notable antitumor activity in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are ineligible for treatment with cisplatin, according to preliminary results for cohort H of the EV-103 trial reported at the 2022...
The PARP inhibitor olaparib in combination with abiraterone demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in radiographic progression-free survival vs current standard-of-care abiraterone as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant...
In an English retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Strongman et al found that cardiovascular mortality in older cancer survivors ultimately exceeded mortality from common primary cancers in the time since their primary cancer diagnosis. However, the eventual predominance of...
For patients with stage III colon cancer, early discontinuation of adjuvant chemotherapy leads to worse outcomes—but early discontinuation of oxaliplatin did not. These findings, which came from an analysis of the large ACCENT and IDEA clinical trials databases, were presented at the 2022 ASCO...
In the French phase III ESTIMABL2 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Leboulleux et al found that no use of radioiodine was noninferior to radioiodine ablation in the occurrence of functional, structural, or biologic events among patients undergoing thyroidectomy for low-risk...
Research published in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network examined data from the Ontario Cancer Registry from September 25, 2016, through September 26, 2020, to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of new cancer cases detected. The researchers found...
We are all following the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine with surprise and horror. I’m sure few readers of The ASCO Post imagined the invasion of a European country by its European neighbor was possible again, naively thinking wars like this ended with the Allied victory in World War II. But...
A novel prostate cancer treatment—actinium Ac-225–PSMA-617 radioligand therapy—has been shown to increase the progression-free and overall survival of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to research published by Sathekge et al in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. ...
They’re old enough to qualify for Medicare, and their incomes are low enough to qualify them for Medicaid. However, recent research has found that when these “dual eligible” patients have surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, they suffer more complications, stay in the hospital longer, and have a...
In a meta-analysis of population-based studies reported in JAMA Network Open, Elmahdi et al found that although the reported incidence of cancers in individuals with pediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is low, the condition is associated with a significantly increased risk of cancers...
ASCO submitted comments in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2023 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters proposed rule. The rule includes proposed changes to standards for issuers and marketplaces and reinstates many...
Advances over the past 3 decades in improvements in cancer prevention and screening strategies and more effective diagnostics and therapies in cancer care have led to unprecedented declines in death rates from all cancers, including prostate, gynecologic, and colorectal/anal cancers. The fastest...
Breast cancer specialist Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, FACP, grew up in the East Bay area of Northern California, the youngest of five children. “My mother was a traditional stay-at-home mom, and my father was a probation officer. I come from a long line of artists; my great-grandfather on my mother’s side...
I had the privilege of sitting in a meeting on the treatment of endometrial cancer as a junior investigator in January 2015 where a representative from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was present. The topic of the meeting was on how to design the next endometrial cancer trials. I remember...
Priyanka Sharma, MD, of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Westwood, the invited discussant of the poster, noted that the DAISY study asked whether HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugates—in this case, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd)—have activity beyond the conventional...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) has led to practice changes in previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Most notably, in the DESTINY-Breast03 trial, treatment with T-DXd produced a doubling in 12-month progression-free survival vs...
The current standard of care for the neoadjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer consists of trastuzumab plus pertuzumab and polychemotherapy. But some patients, particularly those with locally advanced or inflammatory disease, still relapse and die. Furthermore, multiagent...
New recommendations for treating advanced breast cancer, coming from a panel of experts at the Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) Sixth International Consensus Conference (ABC6), were recently published.1 The report highlights advances that have resulted in robust improvements in overall survival for...
Pembrolizumab monotherapy is an established treatment strategy for relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. In combination with chemotherapy, the checkpoint inhibitor is also showing value in the front-line setting and further boosting outcomes in the relapsed setting, according to...
Breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer mortality among Black women as of 2019. This news is one of the key findings in Cancer Statistics for African American/Black People 2022, published recently in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and its consumer-friendly...
About 5 years ago, I began experiencing some digestive issues that I initially blamed on the stress from coping with my mother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. But after 2 weeks of unrelenting symptoms, including abdominal pain, a change in my bowel habits, and rectal bleeding, I saw my primary...
Stefano Cascinu, MD, of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Università Vita-Salute, IRCCS-Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy, was the invited discussant of KEYNOTE-5901 and CheckMate 649.2 “These landmark studies could change the treatment paradigm of advanced esophageal and gastric cancers. They...