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In the June 10 issue of The ASCO Post, the article "Anti–PD-1 Inhibitor Gains Foothold in Merkel Cell Carcinoma," a photo labeled Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD, is incorrect. The photo that was printed is Paul Nguyen, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. A photo of Dr. Nghiem is shown here. Dr. Nghiem ...
Geriatric Oncology in Asia: The Dawn of a New Era in Cancer Care
Asia is currently experiencing an unprecedented rate of growth in its aging population. This “silver tsunami” has translated into a burgeoning number of older patients with cancer, as cancer is a disease of aging. However, unlike their Western counterparts, elderly patients with cancer in Asia are ...
Geriatric Patients With Cancer and the Problem of Polypharmacy
Older patients with cancer generally have multiple comorbidities, with each often requiring separate medications. Studies have shown that polypharmacy and inappropriate drug use are prevalent among older cancer patients, leading to an enormous amount of preventable adverse events, many requiring...
Pembrolizumab in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Emerging New Treatment Modality
Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil, Professor of Medicine, Chief of Breast Medical Oncology and Co-Director of Cancer Genetics Research Program at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, commented on KEYNOTE-012. He remarked that the overall response rate of 18.5% to the single agent is similar to...
Nivolumab or Ipilimumab Treatment May Increase Risk of Developing Autoimmune Joint and Tissue Disease
Case reports on 13 patients with cancer suggest that patients taking the immunotherapeutics ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) may be at higher-than-normal risk of developing autoimmune joint and tissue diseases, including inflammatory arthritis, according to a preliminary study by Johns...
Hypofractionated Radiation Found Equivalent to Conventionally Fractionated Regimen in Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Early-stage breast cancer patients receiving a shorter course of whole-breast irradiation with higher radiation doses per fraction reported equivalent cosmetic, functional, and pain outcomes over time as those receiving a longer, lower-dose per fraction course of treatment, according to researchers ...
Pembrolizumab Active in PD-L1–Positive Advanced Gastric Cancer and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
The KEYNOTE-012 phase Ib trial assessed single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with advanced programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive gastric cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, urothelial cancer, and head and neck cancer. The activity of pembrolizumab in study patients with...
Sequential Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Appears More Active Than Reverse Sequence in Advanced Melanoma
In the phase II CheckMate 064 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Weber et al found that sequential nivolumab (Opdivo)/ipilimumab (Yervoy) was more active than the reverse sequence (ipilimumab/nivolumab) in patients with advanced melanoma. Study Details In the open-label study, 138 patients...
Dabrafenib Plus Trametinib Shows Activity in BRAF V600E–Mutant Metastatic NSCLC
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Planchard et al found that combined MAPK pathway inhibition with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and the MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinist) resulted in a high response rate in patients with BRAF V600E–mutant non–small cell...
Cancer Treatment Centers of America Names Rajesh K. Garg, MD, JD, as President and CEO
Cancer Treatment Centers of America Global, Inc. (CTCA) has announced that Rajesh Garg, MD, JD, a highly regarded health-care industry leader with more than 25 years of experience across the health-care spectrum, will become its President and CEO. His appointment was effective June 20, 2016. He...
Global Oncology Appoints Donna Barry as First Executive Director
Nonprofit Global Oncology, Inc (GO) has announced that Donna Barry has been appointed to be its first Executive Director, effective immediately. U.S. and global investments in improving cancer outcomes are minimal—in 2011, only 1.2% of total development assistance for global health was focused on...
A Conquer Cancer Foundation Award Helps to Launch a Pioneering Study in Liposarcoma
Mark A. Dickson, MD, has been fascinated by science and medicine since he was in high school. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1999, Dr. Dickson pursued a medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York. Once he decided on a...
Cervical Cancer Prevention Badly Needed in India
With the advent of the Papanicolaou (Pap) test and population-based screening, along with the development of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, cervical cancer has become a largely preventable disease for many. However, in India, cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality. To...
Adherence to Cancer Prevention Guidelines on Diet and Physical Activity May Reduce Cancer Risk and Mortality
According to the American Cancer Society’s 2016 Cancer Facts & Figures, behaviors such as poor diet choices, physical inactivity, excess alcohol consumption, and unhealthy body weight account for about 20% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States and likely could be prevented with...
Ixazomib: A Relevant Addition to Myeloma Therapy
In 2015, four new drugs were approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: panobinostat (Farydak), daratumumab (Darzalex), elotuzumab (Empliciti), and ixazomib (Ninlaro). Of them, the first three are drugs with unique new targets, whereas ixazomib is the...
Addition of Ixazomib to Lenalidomide/Dexamethasone Improves Progression-Free Survival in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
In the phase III TOURMALINE-MM-1 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Philippe Moreau, MD, of the University Hospital Hôtel Dieu, Nantes, France, and colleagues found that adding the oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib (Ninlaro) to lenalidomide (Revlimid) and dexamethasone...
Creating Hybrid Academic-Community Cancer Centers to Improve Patient Care
Five years ago, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware, and The Wistar Institute, a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated biomedical research center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, joined forces to collaborate on...
Treatment Update in Gastric, Pancreatic, and Colorectal Cancers
Although new gastrointestinal cancers are on the rise, advancements in their treatment, as well as the upcoming results of perioperative trials, could prove to be “clinical practice game-changers,” declared Thomas J. George, Jr, MD, FACP, at the 2016 Community Oncology Conference in Orlando,...
Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Diagnoses Rising
Colorectal cancer is being increasingly diagnosed in persons younger than age 50, the age at which colorectal cancer screening is usually initiated. According to Elie Sutton, MD, of Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York, a review of cases in the National Cancer Data Base revealed that between...
Impressive Early Data for Rovalpituzumab Tesirine in Small Cell Lung Cancer
Initial encouraging news from a first-in-human trial suggests that the antibody-drug conjugate rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T) may turn out to be a new option for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) whose tumors overexpress delta-like protein 3 (DLL3). Study results were presented at the...
Expert Point of View: Peter C. Enzinger, MD
Not so FAST? The study discussant Peter C. Enzinger, MD, Director of the Center for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, Boston, viewed the findings of the FAST trial as promising but voiced several considerations, as did Gulam A. Manji, MD, PhD,...
First-in-Class Antibody Reduces Gastric Cancer Recurrence
A novel immunotherapy agent, the first in its class, reduced disease progression by more than 50% when added to standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer, according to results from an international phase II trial presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 The drug, IMAB362,...
Expert Point of View: Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko, MD
Formal discussant Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, said it has been controversial whether to use once-daily or twice-daily radiation therapy in this patient population. “CONVERT is one of two studies trying to step into this gap, and it failed...
Once-Daily Radiation (66 Gy) Appears No Better Than Twice-Daily Radiation (45 Gy) for Small Cell Lung Cancer
A schedule of once-daily radiation therapy (66 Gy) was no better than a twice-daily schedule (45 Gy) for optimization of chemoradiotherapy in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to the eagerly anticipated results of the phase III CONVERT trial, presented at the...
Expert Point of View: Sumanta K. Pal, MD, and Richard L. Schilsky, MD
“This study harnesses a specific biologic marker in cancer patients and treats them accordingly using a ‘tumor-agnostic’ approach, so a patient with pancreatic cancer may get a breast cancer drug,” said Sumanta K. Pal, MD, ASCO spokesperson. Dr. Pal moderated the press conference where these data ...
Matching Treatment to Tumor Abnormalities Seems to Pay Off
A strategy of matching molecular abnormalities in patients’ tumors to therapies targeted to those abnormalities is gaining ground, according to preliminary results of the phase IIb MyPathway study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 These are still early days for this “matching” strategy,...
Vast Differences Globally in Cancer Drug Retail Prices
A pilot study revealed large differences in median retail prices for 23 cancer drugs in 7 different countries, with the highest retail prices identified in the United States and the lowest, in India and South Africa. Notably, after the monthly drug price is expressed as a percentage of domestic...
CAR T-Cell Therapy Using Double Target Aimed at Solid Tumors in Preclinical Models
Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), engineered from a patient's own immune cells, have been successful for treating blood cancers, but using CARs for solid tumors has been limited by side effects to normal tissues containing the protein targeted by the engineered cells. Now, in a report published...
Influence of Age and Comorbidities on Rates of Colorectal Cancer Screening in the Elderly
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and costly disease, largely of the elderly, with nearly 25% of cases diagnosed among patients aged 75–84 years. However, but the guidelines for CRC screening of Americans aged 75 or older vary according to the source. In a study published by Klabunde et al...
ASCO Announces New Award Honoring Visionary Leader Allen S. Lichter, MD, FASCO
During the 2016 Annual Meeting, ASCO announced the creation of the Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award to recognize ASCO members who have transformed the oncology field or significantly advanced the mission of ASCO, the Conquer Cancer Foundation, or CancerLinQ, LLC, through their leadership,...
Expert Point of View: Patricia Ganz, MD
Moderating a press conference where Dr. Chen presented his study findings, Patricia Ganz, MD, Director of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, called this study “interesting and important.” She continued:...
Aggressive Treatment at the End of Life Continues to Be Common
Oncologists in the United States may need to improve their efforts to reduce unnecessary care for younger patients with terminal cancer over the last 30 days of life, based on the findings of a study reported at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 Contrary to recommendations, aggressive care is still...
USPSTF Issues New Recommendations for Colorectal Cancer Screening
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued new recommendations for colorectal cancer screening. In brief, the USPSTF recommends colorectal cancer screening starting at age 50 years and continuing until age 75 years (grade A recommendation = “The USPSTF...
Pembrolizumab Active for Untreated/Progressive Brain Metastases in Melanoma or NSCLC
Goldberg et al found that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was active in untreated or progressive brain metastases in melanoma and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a single-center phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology. Study Details The study included 36 patients at Yale...
Expert Point of View: Don Dizon, MD
Don Dizon, MD, Chair of ASCO’s Cancer Communications Committee, congratulated the authors of the OV21/PETROC study. “This is another example of international collaboration. The authors looked at the role of IP therapy in women who got primary chemotherapy before surgery, and at least in this...
In the Neoadjuvant Era, Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Is of Benefit in Advanced Ovarian Cancer
The role of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer has been debated for a long time. According to a new study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, a combination of IP and intravenous (IV) chemotherapy appears more effective than IV chemotherapy alone in...
‘Liquid Biopsy’ Stacks Up Well to Tissue Biopsy in Detecting Tumor-Specific Mutations
So-called liquid biopsy identified cancer mutations in 85% of all advanced tumors, in the largest-ever evaluation of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the blood.1 In 49% of the cases, these biomarkers were associated with an approved targeted drug, Philip C. Mack, PhD, reported at the 2016 ASCO...
Trastuzumab Biosimilar Shows Efficacy and Safety Comparable to Reference Product in Phase III HERITAGE Trial
A new biosimilar version of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) is getting close to the finish line in the race to develop biosimilars in oncology. The new antibody, MYL-1401O, demonstrated comparable efficacy and safety compared with trastuzumab as front-line treatment of women with...
Joint Analysis Confirms Benefit of Anthracyclines for High-Risk Early-Stage Breast Cancer
For the treatment of high-risk, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, anthracyclines were confirmed as beneficial in a joint analysis of the Anthracyclines in Early Breast Cancer (ABC) trials. Presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, the joint analysis of the ABC trials validated taxane plus...
ASCO Releases the Updated Version of Its Value Framework
Last June, ASCO published its initial concept for a value framework in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).1 The framework, developed by ASCO’s Value in Cancer Care Task Force, is designed to provide a standardized approach to assist physicians and patients in assessing the “value” of a new...
Expert Point of View: Dominique Valteau-Couanet, MD, PhD
Study discussant Dominique Valteau-Couanet, MD, PhD, of the Gustave Roussy in France, said the study was “an important step” in research, by showing “Cy-THIO/mCEM [tandem autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) with cyclophosphamide/thiotepa followed by a modified regimen of...
For High-Risk Neuroblastoma, Two Transplants May Be Better Than One
In children with high-risk neuroblastoma, tandem autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) improved event-free survival rates in the ANBL0532 trial from the Children’s Oncology Group. The study was presented at the plenary session of the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting by Julie R. Park, MD, of Seattle...
Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Offers Safe, Effective Option for Patients With HIV-Associated Lymphoma
A phase II, multicenter trial published by Alvarnas et al in Blood challenges the generally held belief that individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and aggressive lymphoma are not candidates for standard treatment. According to the researchers, people with HIV-associated lymphoma who...
Is Anti–PD-L1 Antibody Durvalumab Active in Advanced Urothelial Bladder Cancer?
In a phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Massard et al found that the anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody durvalumab was active in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial bladder cancer. Objective response appeared to be confined to...
Low-Dose CT Screening May Detect New Solid Nodules and Lung Cancer Probability
As reported by Walter et al in The Lancet Oncology, incidence screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) in high-risk individuals detected new solid nodules in approximately 5% to 7% at second and third screenings in the ongoing Dutch-Belgian NELSON trial. Larger nodule size was associated...
Final Results of METEOR Trial Show Cabozantinib Improves Overall Survival vs Everolimus in Advanced RCC
As reported by Choueiri et al in The Lancet Oncology, the final results of the phase III METEOR trial indicate significantly improved overall survival with cabozantinib (Cabometyx) vs everolimus (Afinitor) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that had progressed after previous...
Genomic Classification and Outcome in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Papaemmanuil et al have identified 11 genomic subgroups in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) associated with distinct diagnostic features and clinical outcomes. AML Subgroups The study included analysis of driver mutations in 111 cancer genes and...
Improved Quality of Life Reported With Nivolumab vs Everolimus in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
Patients with previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma receiving nivolumab (Opdivo) in the phase III CheckMate 025 trial had improved health-related quality of life compared with those receiving everolimus (Afinitor), as reported by Cella et al in The Lancet Oncology. Study Details In the ...
SNMMI 2016: VASH Collimator Allows Three-Dimensional Imaging of the Breast With Less Radiation
Preliminary tests have demonstrated that a new device may enable existing breast cancer imagers to provide up to six times better contrast of tumors in the breast, while maintaining the same or better image quality and halving the radiation dose to patients. The advance is made possible by a new...
Protein Could Help Identify Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease
A new study published by Kariminia et al in the journal Blood has identified a protein that could diagnose chronic graft-vs-host disease in patients undergoing blood and bone marrow transplantation. The work was led by researchers in the Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program at BC...
