In September 2023, ASCO announced the establishment of its fourth regional council, the Central and Eastern European Regional Council, which includes representatives from 17 countries, with the goal of expanding ASCO’s mission globally to “conquer cancer through research, education, and promotion...
Positive results were reported for belantamab mafodotin-blmf plus bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to data from the phase III DREAMM-7 study presented at the ASCO Plenary Series: February 2024 Session (Abstract 439572). DREAMM-7...
Investigators may have found a significant unmet need for improved analyses and reporting of patient-reported outcomes in genitourinary cancer clinical trials, according to a recent study published by Paravathaneni et al in eClinicalMedicine. Background Genitourinary cancers affect over 444,000...
Over the past 2 years, my family and I have experienced firsthand the challenges of cancer. In the spring of 2021, my mother was diagnosed with stage IIB pancreatic cancer. She died in mid-2023 after developing metastatic disease, including peritoneal carcinomatosis. The experience has caused me to ...
In a single-center phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nicholas J. Short, MD, and colleagues found that treatment with azacitidine, venetoclax, and gilteritinib produced a high response rate in newly diagnosed patients with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML);...
In a small phase I/II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schenk et al found that treatment with tacrolimus, prednisone, and nivolumab without or with ipilimumab produced few responses in kidney transplant recipients with advanced skin cancers, with treatment-related allograft loss...
Researchers have identified a next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) degrader that could help patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and related hematologic malignancies overcome treatment resistance, according to a recent study published by Montoya et al in Science. The findings...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Aggarwal et al, interim analysis of the phase III PRESTO trial showed that the addition of apalutamide as well as the addition of apalutamide plus abiraterone acetate/prednisone (AAP) to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) improved prostate-specific ...
In a single-institution phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nancy Y. Lee, MD, and colleagues found that tumor hypoxia is a promising marker for radiotherapy dose among patients receiving chemoradiotherapy for human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal carcinoma. As...
It has been almost 20 years since the approval of trastuzumab for the treatment of early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer. I remember returning from the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting excited to offer patients a treatment that led to significant improvement in clinical outcomes. However, within a short ...
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has released updated findings of the current global burden of cancer alongside World Cancer Day on February 4, 2023. The WHO indicated that a majority of countries do not adequately finance...
In a retrospective study (WARMTH Act) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sathekge et al found that actinium-225–prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) radioligand therapy showed activity in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Study Details The study consisted of 448...
In a U.S./Canadian phase IIb trial (PREVENT-HF) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Armenian et al found that the beta-blocker carvedilol did not significantly improve cardiac function—measured as standardized left ventricular wall thickness–dimension ratio Z score (LVWT/Dz)—vs placebo in survivors of ...
In January 2021, two of us wrote in these pages about our field’s pressing need to pivot away from identifying and deploying the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) when it comes to targeted oncology therapies.1 We argued that, instead, one should be looking for the “optimal dose”—the dose that best...
We have been taught that early cancer detection and treatment save lives. The way to cure cancer is to find it early and treat it aggressively. The public has subscribed to this approach in our struggle to “eradicate cancer.” In certain disease types, there is merit to this philosophy. The ability...
An increase in annual cardiorespiratory fitness may be linked to a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, according to a recent study published by Bolam et al in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Background There are relatively few known risk factors for prostate cancer. Although research...
In a U.S. single-center radiation dose-expansion study reported in JAMA Oncology, Wu et al found that chemoradiation with adaptively increased stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) boost doses was safe and effective in patients with locally advanced, unresectable non–small cell lung cancer...
Investigators discovered that overweight and obesity may be contributing to rising rates of colon cancer mortality in younger patients, according to a recent study published by Santucci et al in the Annals of Oncology. The findings represent the first time colon cancer mortality rates among younger ...
Despite being recommended in prostate cancer guidelines, homologous recombinant repair (HRR) mutation analysis is widely underused in patients with prostate cancer, according to real-world data presented at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (Abstract 210). A major implication of these...
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has provided a new set of recommendations to eliminate inequities in cancer care in light of World Cancer Day on February 4, according to the new World Cancer Day 2024 Equity Report. Background Since its establishment in 2000, World Cancer Day has...
Subsequent systemic therapy with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab may offer overall survival benefit in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma who underwent surgery to remove their tumors, according to recent findings presented by Geynisman et al at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary...
In patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy, a more intensified regimen of abiraterone acetate/prednisone plus apalutamide improved outcomes and did not lead to decrements in specific domains of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) vs treatment with...
The incidence and mortality of cervical cancer may be rising in patients residing in low-income areas of the United States, according to a recent study published by Amboree et al in the International Journal of Cancer. Study Methods and Results In the recent study, investigators used the...
The development of any type of secondary cancer following chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may be rare, according to a recent study published by Ghilardi et al in Nature Medicine. Background Secondary cancers, including T-cell lymphomas, are known risks of cancer treatments such as...
In a UK trial (NCRI AML19) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Russell et al found that intensified induction therapy with FLAG-Ida (fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony–stimulating factor, and idarubicin) plus gemtuzumab ozogamicin did not improve overall survival in younger...
Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with extrapelvic nodal or visceral metastasis who were treated with the combination of cabozantinib plus atezolizumab had significantly improved time to disease progression compared with those who were treated with hormonal therapy. This ...
Decisions regarding the rationing of chemotherapy are commonplace in many countries around the world—including those where patients must pay for chemotherapy out of pocket—and increasingly so in cancer settings that treat both well-off and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. However, these...
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) had an immensely impactful year of advocacy work, which is possible only with guidance and passion from our members. In partnership with the ASCO’s Government Relations Committee, five advocacy priorities were identified for the year: Protecting...
The final survival analysis of the Dutch-Belgian phase III OVHIPEC-1 trial showed that the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to interval cytoreductive surgery was associated with maintained progression-free and overall survival benefits at 10 years in women with advanced ...
Pembrolizumab added to neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab plus endocrine therapy improved pathologic complete responses in patients with early-stage, high-risk, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to updated results of the phase III...
Heather Han, MD, Research Director, Department of Breast Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, commented on the latest update from the NATALEE trial: “Despite the established standard adjuvant therapy, many patients with hormone receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer (including stages...
Invasive disease–free survival continued to be significantly improved for patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, early-stage breast cancer who received the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib plus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor compared with a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor alone....
In a press briefing at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, Cynthia E. Dunbar, MD, ASH Secretary and Chief of the Translational Stem Cell Biology Branch, Intramural Research Program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, offered her thoughts on...
The combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax has led to an improved progression-free survival rate in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to findings presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 Interim analysis...
A time-limited approach based on measurable residual disease (MRD) response could signal a potential paradigm shift for front-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to data presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition1 and...
Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, and Dan Vogl, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, shared their thoughts on the PERSEUS trial for The ASCO Post. Dr. Nooka noted that ...
At the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, researchers from Emory University presented a real-world comparison of the largest cohort of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma consecutively treated with either bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone ...
Subgroup analyses of the randomized double-blind phase III MATTERHORN trial continue to show the benefit of adding perioperative durvalumab to standard chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced, resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. Detailed findings on pathologic complete...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Fujisaki et al found no significant differences among direct oral anticoagulant agents (DOACs) in the prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) associated with active cancer, whereas significant differences in...
On January 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued safety labeling change notification letters to all manufacturers of licensed B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed and CD19-directed genetically modified autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapies requiring ...
Over 50% of all melanoma diagnoses among White patients in the United States may in fact be overdiagnoses, according to a recent study published by Adamson et al in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine. Background “Cases of cutaneous melanoma have risen significantly in the [United States] over the last 40...
The road to my breast cancer diagnosis in 2018 was long and tortuous. For 3 years leading up to the diagnosis, I had imaging scans and tissue biopsies every 3 months because of suspicious masses in my breasts. The uncertainty was so destabilizing that I was in a constant state of emotional unrest....
On November 16, 2023, the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide was approved for use in patients with nonmetastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer with biochemical recurrence at high risk for metastasis.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the EMBARK trial (ClinicalTrials.gov...
Late in 2023, Richardson et al shared the results of a phase I/II clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03374085). They concluded that the “all-oral combination of mezigdomide plus dexamethasone showed promising efficacy in patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma.”1 Mezigdomide ...
Long-term follow-up of the phase III KEYNOTE-590 trial has confirmed the benefit of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in advanced esophageal cancer. As compared with chemotherapy alone, after a median follow-up of almost 59 months, patients treated with the chemoimmunotherapy combination were three...
In the phase III CheckMate 8HW trial, previously untreated patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer derived significant benefit from an immunotherapy doublet of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in the first-line setting, which...
Rory M. Shallis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology) at Yale School of Medicine, shared his thoughts on the use of revumenib in histone-lysine N-methyltransferase 2A-rearranged (KMT2A-rearranged) leukemia, as reported in the phase II AUGMENT-101 trial. In an interview with The ASCO...
In heavily pretreated patients with a challenging type of acute leukemia, the menin inhibitor revumenib demonstrated clinically meaningful activity, including high rates of response and measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity, according to the efficacy and safety results of the phase II...
In this installment of The ASCO Post ’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Naoto T. Ueno, MD, PhD, FACP, Director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. Along with his duties leading the cancer center, Dr. Ueno leads translational breast cancer research...
In an Indian single-center phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bajpai et al found that low-dose olanzapine was noninferior to standard-dose olanzapine plus triple antiemetic therapy in terms of antiemetic efficacy and reduced daytime somnolence in patients with solid tumors receiving...