EACH YEAR, The ASCO Post asks Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute and Co-Director of the Cleveland Clinic Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program, to give his picks for the most important research presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer...
INTERVIEWED BY The ASCO Post, Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD, Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program at the University of Chicago Medical Center, commented on the “controversial findings” of EMN02/HO95. “This European study has opened the gate toward showing the benefit of a second transplant,...
FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED patients with multiple myeloma considered to be at high risk of disease progression, double autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) significantly prolongs progression-free and overall survival, vs single transplant, according to the phase III EMN02/HO95 study. The findings...
Six years ago, I was 38 years old and, like many young people, took life for granted. I had two young daughters, ages 7 years and 4 months, and a wife I adored. And, except for a nagging pain on the left side of my abdomen, I was blessed with good health. Then, suddenly, the pain became so...
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, the Children’s Cancer Association, Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, and Legacy Research Institute, of Portland, Oregon, co-led a study to assess the impact of using live music as medicine on postoperative pediatric patients to reduce pain and...
New compounds targeting epigenetics have shown early activity in patients with lymphoma, according to data presented at the TAT (Targeted Anticancer Therapies) International Congress 2018 in Paris. The meeting, which focused on phase I research, featured early clinical studies with BET inhibitors...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, reviews the current data on the use of acupuncture...
On January 26, 2018, the radiolabeled somatostatin analog lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lutathera) was approved for the treatment of somatostatin receptor–positive gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, including foregut, midgut, and hindgut neuroendocrine tumors, in adults.1,2 Supporting...
The level of genomic alterations in genes associated with the oncogenesis of specific solid tumor types is being investigated in patients that have demonstrated an exceptional response to currently approved targeted therapies, researchers announced at the International Congress on Targeted...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zardavas et al found that the prognostic effect of PIK3CA mutation in early breast cancer was reduced after adjustment for other prognostic factors. Study Details The study involved analysis of individual patient data from a pooled...
In a phase III trial (BrighTNess) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Loibl et al found that the addition of the PARP inhibitor veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel in neoadjuvant therapy did not increase pathologic complete response rate in women with triple-negative breast cancer. Study Details ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Huet et al have developed a 23-gene expression profile that predicts risk of follicular lymphoma progression. Study Details In a training cohort consisting of a subgroup of patients from the PRIMA trial (in which rituximab [Rituxan] maintenance was evaluated...
“POUT IS an impressive study, given that the authors were able to complete a trial in this relatively rare cancer. We still need overall survival data to determine the role of adjuvant chemotherapy for upper tract urothelial cancer. We need to know if it makes people live longer or have a better...
ADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY achieved robust improvements in disease-free survival and metastasis-free survival compared with surveillance in the phase III POUT study of patients with upper tract urothelial cancer.1 Further, there was an early trend toward improved overall survival with adjuvant...
FOR MANY adolescents and young adults (AYAs), the most distressing and troubling phase of the cancer continuum that began with diagnosis is survivorship, and among the toughest challenges are those involving sexual health and reproduction, Jessica Gorman, PhD, MPH, stated at the 11th Annual...
RUTGERS CANCER INSTITUTE of New Jersey at the University Hospital in Newark has named several new oncology leaders, further enhancing the facility’s expertise and ability to deliver National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center services to the greater Essex County region....
IN A SIGNIFICANT recruitment that involved a nationwide search, Northwell Health has appointed Richard R. Barakat, MD, to lead all of its cancer services and research. An internationally recognized surgeon and clinical investigator who specializes in robotic and laparoscopic treatments of uterine...
THE STUDY’S invited discussant, Jordi Bruix, MD, PhD, of the University of Barcelona, Spain, said one of the benefits of the TACTICS study was to evaluate the use of the new unTACEable-based endpoint, which he favors. “The endpoint used in the trial is a good attempt to do something new that may...
SORAFENIB (Nexavar) added to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) doubled the median progression-free survival over TACE alone in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, Japanese investigators reported at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 The results of the randomized,...
THE SOLOMON CENTER for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School, in collaboration with Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, hosted a major interdisciplinary conference addressing topics at the cutting edge of cancer policy. The 2-day program took place on February 8–9,...
WAFIK S. EL-DEIRY, MD, PhD, FACP, Deputy Cancer Center Director for Translational Research, and Co-Leader of the Molecular Therapeutics Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, shared his thoughts on these findings with The ASCO Post. In essence, Dr. El-Deiry suggested the comparison does ...
THE OPTIMAL treatment sequence for two approved agents in metastatic colorectal cancer may be regorafenib (Stivarga) before cetuximab (Erbitux), according to results from the small randomized Japanese REVERCE trial presented at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 Giving regorafenib...
AN INVESTIGATIONAL TOOL called ColotypeR classifies colon cancers by molecular subtype and creates a subtype-specific risk of recurrence, according to research. Developers of the tool say it will be able to guide treatment decisions. Colon cancer is highly heterogeneous in prognosis and response to ...
IN PATIENTS WITH metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, 1-year survival reached 43% following treatment with a novel immunotherapy—PEGylated human IL-10 (AM0010, pegilodecakin)—plus chemotherapy, in a small study reported at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 “We saw a very high disease...
RESULTS OF a new study suggest that expression of endogenous retroviruses may be associated with activation of immune checkpoint pathways in renal cell cancer.1 According to data presented at the 2018 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, abnormal expression of endogenous retroviruses may...
DISCUSSANT FOR THIS abstract, Deborah J.L. Wong, MD, PhD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, highlighted the preclinical rationale, as well as in vitro and in vivo data, supporting the potential benefit of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in...
IN A PHASE I trial of patients with advanced solid tumors, the combination of pamiparib (BGB-290), a selective poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, and tislelizumab (BGB-A317), an agent targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) receptor, was well tolerated while demonstrating...
LISOCABTAGENE MARALEUCEL (Liso-cel; JCAR017), a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy with defined composition, has shown “potent and durable” responses in poor-prognosis patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in a phase I trial.1 According ...
PHILIP KANTOFF, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, was the formal discussant of both trials. “At first glance, these are two positive trials,” Dr. Kantoff said. Although he praised the results, he said that overall survival is the best demonstration of clinical benefit, and ...
IN TWO SEPARATE TRIALS presented at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, apalutamide and enzalutamide (Xtandi), respectively, reduced the risk of metastasis and prolonged metastasis-free survival in men with high-risk nonmetastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. In the SPARTAN trial,1,2...
ON OCTOBER 17, 2017, Norman E. Sharpless, MD, became the 15th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), succeeding Harold E. Varmus, MD, who stepped down as Director of the agency in March 2015, and replacing Douglas R. Lowy, MD, who had served as Acting Director for 2 years. The...
ASCO EXPERT Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of City of Hope, Duarte, California, commented, “IMmotion 151 is a positive trial and represents an important breakthrough. We have debated combination treatment strategies for advanced kidney cancer. This study looks at the combination of a programmed cell death...
THE TYROSINE KINASE inhibitor sunitinib (Sutent) has been the mainstay of treatment for first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma for about a decade. The IMmotion151 study reported at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium found that the combination of the immune checkpoint inhibitor...
FOR DECADES, the status of metastatic prostate cancer trials was not particularly exciting. With an absence of high-impact novel agents, the focus of cancer trial groups was on the improvement of standard care. Well-crafted, large trials of hormonal therapy demonstrated the utility of combined...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in Leukemia & Lymphoma, Shah et al identified the risk of cardiotoxicity among patients, most with multiple myeloma, receiving carfilzomib (Kyprolis) in clinical trials. Study Details The study included data from 4,164 patients who received...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Gannavarapu et al found that substantial unintentional weight loss prior to treatment is common among patients with cancer across stages of disease and is associated with poorer outcome. Study Details The retrospective cohort study included ...
In the international phase III BRIM8 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Maio et al found inconclusive evidence of benefit of adjuvant vemurafenib treatment in patients with BRAF V600–mutant melanoma. Study Details In the double-blind trial, 498 patients with fully resected...
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have discovered that a combination of high doses of radiotherapy and hormonal therapy provides the best chance of decreasing the mortality rate in men with aggressive prostate cancer. The findings, published by Kishan et al in JAMA, also...
On March 6, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) updating the nivolumab (Opdivo) dosing schedule to include 480 mg infused every 4 weeks for a majority of approved indications. This approval will ...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Lee et al found that measurement of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can help distinguish between pseudoprogression (radiologic progression prior to response) and true progression in patients with metastatic melanoma receiving anti–programmed cell death ...
An Italian phase III trial (FATA-GIM3) has shown no difference in disease-free survival with 5 years of upfront adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy vs 2 years of tamoxifen followed by 3 years of aromatase inhibitor therapy in women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer. The...
In a phase I trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Burris et al determined the phase II dose of the next-generation PI3Kδ inhibitor umbralisib and found evidence of the agent’s activity in relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies. Umbralisib exhibits improved PI3K isoform...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Personal Genome Service Genetic Health Risk (GHR) Report for BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants). It is the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) test to report on three specific BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer gene mutations that are most common in...
An multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor used to treat leukemia has shown promise against a rare and aggressive type of ovarian cancer—small cell carcinoma of the ovary hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT)—that strikes young women and girls, according to a study led by the Translational...
E. John Wherry, PhD, a cancer and immunology researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the most highly cited investigators in his field, has been awarded a “Convergence 2.0” research grant by Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) to investigate immune system...
Biosimilars have rapidly proliferated in the cancer care landscape, leaving many providers unclear about the full impact these products will have on the care they deliver to patients. “American Society of Clinical Oncology Statement: Biosimilars in Oncology,” published in the Journal of Clinical...
The Texas Society of Clinical Oncology (TxSCO) is one of the newest supporters of the Conquer Cancer Foundation’s Young Investigator Award (YIA) program. A state affiliate of ASCO, TxSCO currently has more than 600 members who represent a diverse array of oncology health providers in Texas. “We are ...
Clinica AMO has become the second practice in Brazil to receive Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) certification through QOPI Certification Program, LLC, and the sixth practice internationally to receive this accreditation. The practice, located in Salvador, Bahia, on Brazil’s east coast, ...
In a Japanese phase III noninferiority trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ito et al found that dexamethasone could be spared on days 2 and 3 in an antiemetic regimen including the neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor antagonist aprepitant and palonosetron in patients receiving highly...
In a Danish study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Zachariae et al found that an Internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention improved insomnia among breast cancer survivors. Study Details In the study, 255 patients from a national sample of Danish breast...