Although aromatase inhibitors are effective in reducing estrogen levels and the risk of cancer recurrence in women diagnosed with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, they can also cause myriad side effects, including genitourinary problems associated with menopause such as vaginal dryness,...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Mark A. Lewis, MD, Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Intermountain Healthcare, Murray, Utah, and Vice President of American Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Support. Dr. Lewis is also a social media...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mishra et al found that maintenance treatment with the first-in-class small-molecule p53 reactivator eprenetapopt plus azacitidine following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was associated with “encouraging”...
This is Part 3 of Updates in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer, a four-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Carey K. Anders, Erika Hamilton, and Sara A. Hurvitz discuss the management of HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer....
The effective treatment of patients with brain metastases is an unmet need because, until fairly recently, patients with brain metastases were excluded from clinical trials of systemic therapies. However, the emergence of molecular targeted therapies has allowed a new treatment approach in patients ...
In the Korean phase II Neo-PATH trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Ahn et al found that neoadjuvant treatment with atezolizumab, pertuzumab/trastuzumab, and docetaxel produced a pathologic complete response in 61% of patients with HER2-positive stage II/III breast cancer treated with the regimen....
A study that surveyed cancer screening data included in medical journals worldwide from January 2020 into December 2021 showed significant decreases in the number of screenings for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study,...
On July 13, President Joe Biden announced his intent to appoint Mitchel Berger, MD; Carol Brown, MD; and Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, to the President’s Cancer Panel. The three are distinguished members of the scientific, research, and public health communities appointed by the President to advise him...
“BCMA-targeting bispecific antibodies work, showing impressive single-agent activity in heavily pretreated multiple myeloma. This class of agents is likely to become an important component of future antimyeloma therapies, but we must learn how to optimally use them,” said Madhav V. Dhodapkar,...
In patients with multiple myeloma exposed or refractory to three standard therapies, treatment with the bispecific antibody teclistamab produced strong and durable responses in the phase I/II MajesTEC-1 study.1 The results of weekly subcutaneous dosing of teclistamab in 165 patients were presented...
Experts’ discussions and recommendations addressing the interface between cancer and heart disease were published by Supriya Mohile, MD, MS, and colleagues in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, summarizing sessions from a virtual bench-to-bedside conference hosted by the American...
A phase II clinical trial of poziotinib for patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 mutations found the drug had significant antitumor activity and the efficacy was highly dependent on the location of the exon 20 loop insertion, which may ...
Diagnosing melanoma clinically and under the microscope can be complicated by the presence of melanocytic nevi, otherwise known as birthmarks or moles that are noncancerous. The development of melanoma is a multistep process, where melanocytes mutate and proliferate. Properly identifying melanoma...
CLN-081, a novel agent targeted to non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations—ie, the addition of nucleotide base pairs in exon 20 of the EGFR gene, a known oncogenic driver event—holds promise, according to the results of...
After nearly 5 years as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), interrupted by 7 months as Acting Commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, left his position on April 29 to concentrate on his family and contemplate his next career choice....
Part 1 of this two-part report described the beginnings of radiation oncology in the United States, including many of the field’s early pioneers and the rise of associated professional societies. In part 2, we will consider the advances in technology and biology that are the foundation of modern...
A rapid update to the ASCO guideline on systemic therapy for melanoma adds a new recommendation for the treatment of patients with metastatic uveal melanoma.1 The update follows the January 2022 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of tebentafusp-tebn for patients with previously...
Rapid developments over the past decade in the treatment of patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer may lead to better outcomes and improved quality of life for patients with brain metastases, according to findings incorporated into a new ASCO guideline update.1 “The difference this...
Moffitt Cancer Center and the global research community have lost a great leader, scientist, and collaborator. Robert J. Gillies, PhD, died on June 7 after an extended illness. He was 69 years old. His recruitment in 2008 elevated Moffitt’s scientific stature, and his vision and work over the past...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently hired Chris Neumann as its new Vice President of Learning and Education, and Kirsta Suggs as its first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). ASTRO is the world’s largest radiation oncology society, with nearly 10,000 members ...
The use of postoperative circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in stage II colon cancer spared many patients the need for adjuvant chemotherapy without compromising recurrence-free survival, according to the phase II DYNAMIC study.1 “The strategy of using ctDNA results to inform treatment almost halved...
Jeffrey M. Rosen, PhD, will receive the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), to be held December 6–10, 2022. The award was established in 1992 to commemorate Dr. McGuire’s significant contributions to breast oncology. Dr. McGuire, along ...
High-dose ifosfamide extended event-free and overall survival in patients with recurrent or primary refractory Ewing sarcoma compared with other commonly used chemotherapy regimens, according to the results of a randomized trial reported at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting by lead author Martin...
Lori Wilson, MD, FACS, Chief of Surgical Oncology, Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Diversity, and former Program Director of the General Surgical Residency at Howard University Hospital, is the first woman to hold the position of Division Chief as well as the first tenured Professor of...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jens Huober, MD, and colleagues, the phase III IMpassion050 trial showed no significant improvement in pathologic complete response rate with the addition of atezolizumab to neoadjuvant pertuzumab/trastuzumab and chemotherapy in patients with...
New research published by Larkin et al in the journal Blood Advances has found that Black adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were five times more likely than comparable White patients to die within 30 days of beginning treatment—and were twice as likely to...
The all-oral combination of dabrafenib plus trametinib—two targeted therapies—significantly improved the overall response rate vs standard-of-care chemotherapy with carboplatin plus vincristine in pediatric patients with BRAF V600 mutation–positive low-grade gliomas. The clinical benefit rate...
As reported in The Lancet by Manali Kamdar, MD, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III TRANSFORM trial has shown significantly improved event-free survival with second-line lisocabtagene maraleucel vs standard-of-care salvage immunochemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic...
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Klatte et al provided findings from a 20-year follow-up of a pancreatic cancer surveillance program including carriers of germline CDKN2A pathogenic variants. Study Details The study included 347 carriers in the Netherlands who...
Maintenance therapy with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor rucaparib led to a significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with placebo in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer who responded to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. The...
In a phase IIb study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ehdaie et al found that focal ablation with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound successfully treated a high proportion of patients with grade group 2 or 3 prostate cancer. As stated by the investigators, “Men with grade...
Invited discussant of the DETERMINATION trial, Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, Professor of Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, City of Hope Cancer Center, described the many implications of the important findings for DETERMINATION and offered some ...
In the phase III DETERMINATION trial, progression-free survival was significantly improved with triplet induction therapy and early transplantation in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma, but overall survival at 5 years was similar to the nontransplant approach.1 The findings were...
Our growing knowledge of the molecular and genomic drivers of cancer has translated into a robust pipeline of promising anticancer agents. However, bringing new drugs from the lab to the patient with cancer can be frustratingly slow. To that end, the accelerated approval system was created by the...
Women who are longer-term survivors of metastatic breast cancer may have a worse survival rate if they have diabetes and poorly controlled blood sugar levels, according to a new study presented at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society’s Annual Meeting. This is the first study to specifically examine the ...
Hearing the words “You have cancer” is a devastating blow, especially when the biggest health issues you’ve had to contend with over more than 6 decades are common colds and knee and hip replacements. But in 2017, the symptoms I thought were from a lingering summer cold drove me to seek medical...
Radiation therapy has long been one of the three pillars of cancer therapy—surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy—only recently joined by what is widely considered a fourth pillar, immunotherapy. In part 1 of this two-part report, we trace the beginnings of radiation oncology in the United...
In March 2022, Kristeleit et al reported the results of the ARIEL4 trial1 of rucaparib in relapsed BRCA-mutant ovarian cancer in The Lancet Oncology (summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post) and are to be congratulated on this accomplishment. This report, along with the almost simultaneous...
In Ukraine, with a population of about 44 million, there are more than 1.3 million patients with cancer. Approximately 160,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year.1 In almost every region, there are local cancer centers; specialized oncologic centers are located in large cities. In Kyiv,...
Recently, a new ASCO study,1 published in JCO Oncology Practice, found that among respondents participating in the survey, most oncology practices do not systematically collect data related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The study points to the need to increase understanding...
From 1999 to 2019, rates of cancer deaths declined steadily among Black people in the United States. Nevertheless, in 2019, Black people still had considerably higher rates of cancer death than people in other racial and ethnic groups, a large epidemiologic study has found. The study was led by...
Investigators at the American Cancer Society presented results of several studies during poster sessions at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting. Summaries of a few of these studies are provided here. COVID-19 and Cancer Mortality According to a new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society,...
For advanced breast cancer that is hormone receptor–positive and HER2-negative, sacituzumab govitecan-hziy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression by 34% over physician’s choice of treatment, based on the results of the phase III TROPiCS-02 trial.1 The heavily pretreated patients in...
The study’s invited discussant was Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of the Colon and Rectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. “Neoadjuvant dostarlimab-gxly for 6 months represents a promising new treatment for...
In a study of 18 patients with locally advanced mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, 6 months of neoadjuvant treatment with the anti–PD-1 agent dostarlimab-gxly alone led to clinical complete responses in 100% of the study’s first 14 patients.1 These results were presented at the 2022...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) doubled progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with “HER2-low” metastatic breast cancer—ie, patients with low levels of HER2 expression. The agent also extended overall survival for patients with low ...
New research published by Zeng et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network raises issues with clinical trial findings that show adjuvant hormone therapy–related hot flashes predict better treatment outcomes among patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. The...
A study of more than 90,000 postmenopausal women found that those who consumed at least one sugar-sweetened beverage daily faced a 78% higher risk of developing liver cancer compared with people who consumed less than three servings per month of such beverages. These findings were presented by Zhao ...
A new perspective piece authored by researchers from the American Cancer Society and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio shows the high burden of breast cancer mortality among Black women as compared to White women began in the United States in the 1980s. At that time,...
Representing a total investment of $100 million, the following teams are the first to be funded through the partnership between Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the United States. These teams join the Cancer Grand Challenges community, which now unites more than 700...