Hematologist/oncologist Rami K. Daya, MD, will lead a team of cancer experts at New York University (NYU)/Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center’s new multidisciplinary, ambulatory location in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. As Director of Medical Oncology at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, he will oversee all...
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) recently announced that an international team of experts will take a new approach to fighting gastric cancer. The SU2C Gastric Cancer Interception Research Team: Early Detection and Interception of Diffuse and Intestinal Gastric Cancer was introduced at the SU2C Scientific ...
The ASH 2019 Annual Meeting & Exposition featured countless important sessions and lectures. It would be impossible to attend all the symposia, oral presentations, poster presentations, and special events. Below, we have selected some presentation highlights to supplement our coverage of the...
Two novel dual-target chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell strategies are yielding early and durable responses for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, as well as potentially less cytokine-release syndrome and neurotoxicity compared with first-generation CAR T-cell products,...
Two separate studies are investigating brentuximab vedotin plus nivolumab combination therapy for adults with Hodgkin lymphoma: one as first-line therapy and another as salvage therapy for relapsed/refractory classic disease, according to data presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting & Exposition...
Basem M. William, MD, MRCP (UK), FACP, Director of the T-Cell Lymphoma Program and Member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, said many of the new-generation bispecific antibodies are “highly promising.” He said they “are...
Are second-generation bispecific antibodies the next big thing in lymphoma? Studies of these drugs were among the highlights of the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. Years ago, the bispecific T-cell engager blinatumomab validated the concept of bispecific...
More than 25,000 specialists in hematology from over 115 countries attended the 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition held last December in Orlando. The conference featured a stunning array of 4,900 abstracts with impressive new data in the treatment of multiple...
In a retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fatobene et al found that nonmyeloablative haploidentical related donor cell transplantation was associated with better outcomes compared to unrelated cord blood hematopoietic transplantation in patients with Hodgkin and...
In a phase I/II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Liu et al found that anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cells produced rapid responses in patients with CD19-positive lymphoid tumors, without the toxicities associated with CAR T-cell therapy in this...
A novel, first-in-class, small molecule, hypoxia-inducible factor 2 alpha (HIF2A) inhibitor showed single-agent activity in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. These results from a phase I/II study will be presented by Toni Choueiri, MD, and colleagues at...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD, and colleagues, 20-year follow-up of the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification trial has shown a maintained reduction in non–breast cancer-related mortality after breast cancer diagnosis and the emergence of a ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bhishamjit S. Chera, MD, and colleagues found that surveillance for circulating tumor human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was accurate in identifying disease recurrence in patients with curatively treated HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell ...
A personalized approach to selecting antibody therapy for patients with newly diagnosed stage IV gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma resulted in a 1-year overall survival rate of 66% and a median overall survival of 16.4 months in the PANGEA study (see Table 1).1 The study used a novel clinical...
“They’re all charlatans,” my professor assured me when, in medical school in the mid-1970s, I expressed an interest in oncology. The treatment of cancer with drugs, despite popular but inaccurate descriptions of its history, began in 1944 when Goodman and Gilman at Yale conducted contract research...
A new study on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that extremely rare, harmful genetic mutations present in healthy donors’ stem cells—though not causing health problems in the donors—may be passed on to patients with cancer...
Michael Jain, MD, PhD, Assistant Member in the Department of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy at Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida, commented on Dr. Kilgore’s findings. Dr. Jain was coauthor of a study by the U.S. Lymphoma CAR T Consortium that presented real-world data...
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) recently announced an initiative to increase minority representation in cancer clinical trials. All future SU2C-supported research grant proposals will now be required to include and address crucial issues related to recruitment and retention of patients from ethnic groups ...
The phase II KEYNOTE-890 trial is a small but interesting study in patients with inoperable advanced triple-negative breast cancer. After one injection of intratumoral tavokinogene telseplasmid, a plasmid encoding the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12), followed by electroporation and...
This week, we’ll be featuring three researchers discussing findings presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium: Dr. Scott Kopetz, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses quality-of-life results from the BEACON CRC trial in BRAF V600E–mutated colorectal cancer;...
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation recently announced that 12 scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named the 2020 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. Six initial grants of $400,000 over 2 years were awarded to seven early-career scientists...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
In my 45 years of practicing hematology/oncology at a major urban academic medical center, I have observed a sea change in daily practice that contributes to physician burnout. Although the emotional stresses of caring for seriously ill people play a part in physician burnout, I find the daily...
A study published by Anthony Lucci, MD, and colleagues in Clinical Cancer Research showed that the presence of circulating tumor cells was independently associated with relapse of melanoma, suggesting circulating tumor cell assessment may be a useful tool for identifying patients at risk for...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel immunotherapies for patients with different types of non-Hodgkin...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel therapies for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), including the...
This Clinical Trials Resource Guide lists actively recruiting clinical trials that focus on cervical cancer. They are examining the efficacy of adding nelfinavir to treatment regimens, using atezolizumab as an immunotherapy primer, combining metformin and doxycycline, adjuvant chemotherapy in...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robert L. Coleman, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III trial Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG)-0213 trial has shown no overall survival benefit with secondary surgical cytoreduction followed by chemotherapy with or...
Although TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene across all cancers and encodes the tumor suppressor p53 protein, TP53-targeted therapies have not demonstrated efficacy beyond in vitro models and immunotherapies targeting mutant TP53 are not currently available. A study by Malekzadeh et al...
Brian M. Wolpin, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses a noninvasive blood test evaluating methylation of circulating free DNA. In his study, the blood test detected multiple gastrointestinal cancers at a sensitivity of approximately 81% and a prespecified specificity of > 99%. It also...
Basem M. William, MD, MRCP(UK), FACP, Director of the T-Cell Lymphoma Program and Member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, Columbus, Ohio, commented on the...
In the phase II TOPARP-B trial—reported by Joaquin Mateo, MD, in The Lancet Oncology—investigators found that olaparib showed good activity in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and DNA damage response (DDR) gene aberrations who had received one or two prior taxane regimens....
On December 18, 2019, the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (PadcevTM) was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or programmed cell...
On December 20, 2019, the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki was granted accelerated approval in the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received two or more prior anti–HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting.1,2...
Numerous wellness strategies are accessible to busy physicians and oncologists, which can be incorporated into their daily routine. Here we discuss such aspects as stress reduction, mindfulness, eating well, sleeping well, and spirituality for the wellness of oncologists. Those who regularly adhere ...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized representative Tom Cole (R–OK); the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Hematology and Training Program Director Terry Bishop, PhD; and National Cancer Institute (NCI) Program Director William Merritt, PhD,...
Despite millennia of anatomic and biomedical search and discovery, there are parts and functions of the human body that remain a mystery. For years, medical students were taught that there are 78 organs in the human body. In February 2017, that number was revised, with the announcement of a new...
African Americans appear to be at higher risk for cancer-associated venous thromboembolism than patients with cancer of other races, according to a recent study by Vipul Chitalia, MD, PhD, of Boston University Medical Center, published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 Several studies...
Cancer was a disease I feared until 3 years ago, when I was diagnosed with gastric cancer. After receiving the diagnosis, I knew I didn’t have any time to indulge in fear; I had to take action if I was going to survive. In hindsight, symptoms of the cancer, including some fatigue and indigestion,...
Two grants for research that could transform cancer therapies have been funded through an innovative partnership between the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and MPM Capital through its management of the UBS Oncology Impact Fund. This unique grant program allows investigators to...
Stephanie Lee, MD, MPH, an expert in graft-vs-host disease as well as blood and bone marrow diseases, will serve as President of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) for a 1-long term through December 2020. Dr. Lee is a member and Associate Director of the Clinical Research Division at Fred...
A blood-based screening test using cell-free DNA to identify methylation signals of hard-to-detect gastrointestinal (GI) cancers could potentially help detect disease at earlier stages. This research will be presented by Brian M. Wolpin, MD, MPH, and colleagues at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers...
The combination of brentuximab vedotin and nivolumab is making headway as first-line therapy for older adults with Hodgkin lymphoma and as salvage therapy for adults with relapsed or refractory classic Hodgkin lymphoma, according to separate studies presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting &...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hourigan et al found that reduced-intensity conditioning for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation was associated with poorer outcomes vs myeloablative conditioning in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who had genomic...
With the pediatric cancer survival rate exceeding 80%, “we can reasonably suspect that most of these children will survive more than 5 years from their diagnosis and then go on to puberty,” when they may have to deal with the consequences of cancer treatment, according to Rebecca Flyckt, MD,...
In a Japanese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Seto et al found that the addition of maintenance pemetrexed to bevacizumab did not significantly improve overall survival in patients with previously untreated, advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...
In the phase III MEDALIST trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Fenaux et al found that luspatercept significantly reduced the severity of anemia vs placebo in red blood cell transfusion–dependent patients with very low- to intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes with ring...
Karen Ballen, MD, an international expert in stem cell transplantation, particularly for patients who have a difficult time finding a donor, was born and reared in the Bronx in a family that encouraged academic and professional pursuits. “My grandfather was an old-fashioned pediatrician who made...
At the press conference where these data were presented, moderator Gary Schiller, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, explained that although chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a major advance in cellular immunotherapy, enabling killing of cancer cells in blood and bone ...
New research published by Nina N. Sanford, MD, and colleagues in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has found most cancer survivors reported that they are current alcohol drinkers, with a subset of those survivors self-reporting excessive drinking behaviors. “We recommend...