The phase II SARC028 trial has shown activity of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in some subtypes of advanced sarcoma. These findings were reported by Tawbi et al in The Lancet Oncology. Study Details In the study, 84 patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma aged ≥ 18 years (n = 42) or bone sarcoma ...
A phase II study has shown that the addition of the oncolytic viral agent talimogene laherparepvec (Imlygic) to ipilimumab (Yervoy) significantly increased the response rate in patients with advanced unresectable melanoma. These findings were reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Chesney...
Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, took the oath of office late Tuesday, October 17, 2017, to become the 15th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He succeeds Harold E. Varmus, MD, who stepped down as Director in March 2015....
In a research letter to JAMA Oncology, Hwang et al detailed the outcomes of patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving an inhibitor of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or its ligand (PD-L1) with or without thoracic radiotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital. Study Details The...
New subgroup analysis from the phase III REVEL trial of ramucirumab (Cyramza) in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan. Specifically, these...
The findings of a recent study confirm the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)’s proposed criteria for uncertain resection margin status, R(un), in residual tumor (R) classification. John Edwards, PhD, MBChB, of the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom,...
A study that integrated robust smoking cessation programs into an organized low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening program found that the inclusion of both interventions has the potential to decrease mortality rates—while being relatively cost-effective. William Evans,...
A study in the UK population has shown that long-term use of the long-acting insulin glargine was associated with increased risk of breast cancer among women with type 2 diabetes. The findings were reported by Wu et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details The study involved a...
In an Asian phase III trial (ONO-4538-12, ATTRACTION-2) reported in The Lancet, Kang et al found that nivolumab (Opdivo) produced an improvement in overall survival vs placebo in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer who had disease refractory to or who were intolerant...
On October 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for cabozantinib (Cabometyx) for patients with previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) to be sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review. The FDA granted...
New research found race and specific socioeconomic factors to have a significant influence on disparities in the survival rates of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Yanyan Lou, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, presented these findings at the International Association for the Study of...
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan, Pfizer announced full results from the phase II clinical trial of the investigational, next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor lorlatinib. The agent exhibited clinically...
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced data evaluating nivolumab (Opdivo) and nivolumab plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) in previously treated small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients whose...
Data from the phase II ALTA clinical trial evaluating brigatinib (Alunbrig) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have disease progression on crizotinib were presented at the International...
Early specialist palliative care for patients that were recently diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma does not impact quality-of-life measures, according to research presented by Fraser Brims, MBcHB, MRCP, MD, FRACP, of Curtin University in Australia, at the International Association...
The final efficacy and safety data obtained from a phase I/II trial combining lurbinectedin (PM1183) with doxorubicin in relapsed small cell lung cancer were presented during a Research Perspectives oral session at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World...
An Italian single-center prospective cohort study suggests that adjuvant treatment with the beta-blocker propranolol significantly reduces the risk of melanoma recurrence in patients with stage IB to IIIA cutaneous disease. The findings were reported in JAMA Oncology by De Giorgi et al. Preclinical ...
In a French phase III trial, maintenance rituximab (Rituxan) improved event-free survival vs observation after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in younger patints with mantle cell lymphoma. These findings were reported by Le Gouill et al in The New England Journal of Medicine. Study...
On October 12, ASCO President Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, issued the following statement: The Trump administration's move to expand the rights of employers to opt out of the requirement for contraceptive coverage would have unexpected and deleterious consequences for patients of childbearing age...
On October 12, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the first 7-Tesla (7T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device, more than doubling the static magnetic field strength available for use in the United States. The Magnetom Terra is the first 7T MRI system cleared for clinical use in...
On October 12, Eli Lilly and Company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review designation to its New Drug Application (NDA) for abemaciclib (Verzenio), a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor. MONARCH 3 The NDA was based upon the positive interim...
On October 9, Clovis Oncology announced that the company submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for rucaparib (Rubraca) as maintenance treatment of patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer...
On October 10, Eli Lilly and Company announced that its phase III JUNIPER study evaluating abemaciclib (Verzenio), a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and CDK6 inhibitor, as monotherapy in KRAS-mutated, advanced non–small lung cancer (NSCLC) did not meet its primary endpoint of overall...
National Cancer Institute (NCI) researchers have found that for the most common high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV) to cause cervical cancer, an important viral gene may need to have a precise DNA sequence. The findings, published by Mirabello et al in Cell, contribute to a better...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Barroso-Sousa et al evaluated the incidence of endocrine dysfunction in patients receiving currently approved immune checkpoint inhibitors for various advanced solid tumors. Patients who received combination therapy were found to...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Balar et al, first-line pembrolizumab (Keytruda) produced durable responses in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced and unresectable or metastatic urothelial cancer in the phase II KEYNOTE-052 trial. The trial supported the accelerated approval...
Jane N. Winter, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, discusses the use of novel targeted therapies for newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma.
Sharyn L. Kurtz, PA-C, MPAS, MA, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the long-term side effects associated with curative treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and how to develop an individualized follow-up schedule for survivors.
On October 9, AstraZeneca announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for osimertinib (Tagrisso) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation–positive non–small cell lung ...
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) therapy for breast cancers that express the HER2 protein does not increase the risk of complications at the surgical site in women who undergo immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy, according to findings published by Shammas et al in the Journal of the American...
In a propensity score–matched analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Mokdad et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy had a survival benefit vs observation after preoperative chemoradiotherapy and resection in patients with locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer. Study Details The study...
In a study in the Danish population reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Salz et al found that preexisting cardiovascular conditions were associated with an increased risk of heart failure in survivors of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The standard use of anthracycline chemotherapy ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Goetz et al, an interim analysis in the phase III MONARCH 3 trial has shown a significant progression-free survival benefit with the addition of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to a nonsteroidal aromatase...
Although lymphodepletion chemotherapy followed by an infusion of CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells has produced high response rates in phase I studies of patients with refractory CD19-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia...
A self-controlled clinical trial by Hanai et al investigating the efficacy of cryotherapy for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with breast cancer treated with paclitaxel has found that cryotherapy resulted in a clinically and statistically significant...
A Swedish population-based observational study has shown that comorbidity is a significant factor in other-cause but not prostate cancer–specific mortality after adjustment for patient, tumor, and treatment factors among men with prostate cancer. The findings were reported in the Journal of...
In a Japanese analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Haratani et al found that development of immune-related adverse events was associated with improved survival among patients receiving nivolumab (Opdivo) for advanced or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details The study...
Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of 13 types of cancer—and these cancers account for about 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2014—according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Overall, the...
On October 2, Seattle Genetics, Inc, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in combination with chemotherapy for the front-line treatment of patients with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The positive ...
Breast cancer during pregnancy is relatively uncommon; however, it poses a significant clinical challenge to the patient and her multidisciplinary care team. To shed light on this difficult issue, The ASCO Post spoke with Carey K. Anders, MD, a medical oncologist and researcher at the University...
DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE has announced the opening of the new Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living. Increasing data have indicated that integrative therapies can help alleviate the side effects of cancer therapy. The Zakim Center, as it is commonly referred to,...
THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA) recognizes influential female physician leaders as part of Women in Medicine Month each September. To showcase the accomplishments of these leaders, the AMA Women Physicians Section and the AMA Foundation recently announced the winners of the 2017 Joan F....
Breast cancer specialist Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, was born in Manhasset, Long Island, and grew up several miles east in Muttontown, New York. Since tiny Muttontown didn’t have its own school system, Dr. Partridge went to high school in nearby Locust Valley, a town on Long Island’s North Shore,...
ON JULY 31, 2017, nivolumab (Opdivo) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of patients 12 years and older with DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) and microsatellite instability– high (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer progressing following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine,...
PATIENTS WITH DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer display a high level of microsatellite instability (MSI-H)1 and demonstrate poor chemosensitivity and shorter overall survival than patients with mismatch repair–proficient (pMMR) metastatic metastatic colorectal...
THE PHASE II CHECKMATE 142 TRIAL has shown that nivolumab (Opdivo) produces durable responses in previously treated recurrent or metastatic DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR)/ microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer. These study findings were reported in The Lancet Oncology...
ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have been previously treated with sorafenib (Nexavar). CheckMate 040 APPROVAL WAS BASED on a 154-patient subgroup of ...
Studies show that only about one-third of patients with acute myeloid leukemia who have detectable amounts of cancer cells in their blood at the time of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation will be alive 3 years later, compared with nearly three-quarters of those patients without minimal...
THE PHASE III MSLT- II TRIAL showed that completion dissection was not associated with improved melanoma-specific overall survival vs observation in patients with sentinel-node metastasis, although a benefit was observed in regional disease control. The findings were reported in The New England...
IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE the largest blood-based biomarker study of a checkpoint inhibitor, an RNA transcript–based gene classifier was able to predict for melanoma patients’ response to tremelimumab. The study was recently published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.1 “Our study, in many...