For this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Laurie Glimcher, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). She is also Director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Principal...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In the concluding half of this two-part installment, which began in our November 25 issue, Drs. Syed Ali Abutalib and Mrinal M. Patnaik continue to explore the current...
An expert on the panel discussion of lung cancer screening from the Quantitative Imaging Workshop XIX, Joelle Fathi, DNP, RN, ARNP, CTTS, FAAN, Chief Healthcare Delivery Officer for the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, called the lung cancer screening study a powerful reminder of the reality on the...
Despite the benefits of lung cancer screening, including the high cure rate when found by screening compared to being discovered based on symptoms, the uptake of this technique among those who are eligible and where the screening is fully covered by insurance remains dismally low, on the order of...
Diarrhea in patients with cancer is a well-known phenomenon with clear guidelines for prevention and management. However, it remains a condition with poorly explored consequences and a lack of sufficient and fast-acting treatments. In a webinar presented by members of the Multinational Association...
After a 4-year in-person hiatus because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the World Cancer Congress, hosted by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), held its first hybrid in-person and virtual meeting in October in Geneva. The conference brought together more than 2,000 attendees from...
The cancer prevention and survival research organization World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) International recently launched the Global Cancer Update Programme, a new and updated version of the organization’s flagship research program, which was previously known as the Continuous Update Project. This ...
As the population of women at increased risk for breast cancer grows, with an estimated 140,000 high-risk lesions diagnosed each year, “the landscape for surgical excision of high-risk lesions continues to evolve,” Melissa Pilewskie, MD, reported at the 2022 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium in...
“Risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy allows a woman with a high-penetrance breast cancer-causing mutation to avoid an encounter with the experience of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment,” Seema A. Khan, MD, MPH, stated at the 2022 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium.1 For these women, by avoiding...
Rimas V. Lukas, MD, a neuro-oncologist at Northwestern Medicine Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, praised the investigators’ willingness to explore relatively new areas of cancer research. “This is an interesting study by a strong group delving further into the nervous...
As a result of breakthroughs in immune checkpoint inhibitors over the past decade, immunotherapy has joined surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy as one of the pillars of cancer treatment. However, nearly half of patients still do not benefit from immune checkpoint blockade. During the 2022...
Commenting on the DESTINY-Breast03 presentation at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Neelima Vidula, MD, a medical oncologist at Mass General Cancer Center, said: “The results highlight the important survival differences of T-DXd [fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki] compared to T-DM1...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) proved to be superior to the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), significantly improving progression-free survival and overall survival, in women with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer as ...
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the world, and nowhere more so than in the health-care arena. Significant changes happened almost overnight in the delivery of medical care to focus on the safety and convenience of patients, staff, and providers. Although pilot efforts to integrate telemedicine...
Just days before the publication of the 2022 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer on October 27, 2022,1 which showed a continued downward trend in cancer deaths, Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS), joined the First Lady Dr. Jill...
Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, Director of Breast Cancer Research and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and attending physician at Mass General Cancer Center, Boston, commented on the RIGHT Choice trial. Based on this study, he noted, few patients should be excluded from treatment with...
According to findings from the phase II RIGHT Choice trial, many premenopausal patients with metastatic hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer experiencing visceral crisis are best treated with first-line ribociclib plus endocrine therapy rather than with chemotherapy.1 Ribociclib,...
In the phase II ARC-7 study, when domvanalimab, a novel antibody that blocks T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT), was added to immunotherapy for patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the combination resulted in improved response rates and progression-free survival...
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor maintenance therapy may do more than just delay disease progression for patients with platinum-sensitive, relapsed ovarian cancer; it might also improve overall survival, according to data presented by Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, during the December Virtual ...
A team of advanced practice providers in the Department of Hematology/Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center have received the 2021 Article of the Year Award from the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology (JADPRO). This award is given to one article each year that demonstrates an...
On September 20, 2022, sodium thiosulfate was approved to reduce the risk of ototoxicity associated with cisplatin in pediatric patients (aged ≥ 1 month) with localized, nonmetastatic solid tumors.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the multicenter open-label SIOPEL 6...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced a formal agreement to establish a new international collaboration concentrated on reducing the global burden of women’s cancers. The agreement builds on years of collaboration between the...
On May 25, 2022, ivosidenib was approved for use in combination with azacitidine for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia with a susceptible IDH1 mutation, as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved test, in patients aged 75 or older or in those who have comorbidities precluding...
“I was in bed in the surgical wing of Duke University Hospital when the doctor popped his head in and smiled apologetically before flicking on the fluorescent lights. It was 4:00 AM, the end of my second night in the hospital, but nobody sleeps in the conventional sense,” writes Kate Bowler in the...
Fox Chase Cancer Center was recently awarded a grant for $6 million over the course of 5 years to develop a new Cancer Prevention-Interception Targeted Agent Discovery Program (CAP-IT). The new National Cancer Institute (NCI) program was created to establish a pipeline for the discovery of new...
Although mandates by ASCO and the American Cancer Society to meet the needs of underserved populations have drawn much-needed awareness to the issue, patients with cancer who experience bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other debilitating mental illnesses continue to experience significantly...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the targeted imaging agent pafolacianine (Cytalux) for use in lung cancer surgery. This injectable diagnostic binds to cancerous tissue and glows when stimulated by near-infrared light, making it easier for surgeons to remove tumors...
In 2017, I noticed a roadside billboard touting the benefits of low-dose computed tomography (CT) imaging for lung cancer screening. The message probably saved my life. The public service campaign, called Saved by the Scan from the American Lung Association, included an Internet address where I...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, DiplOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on ...
Gladys Magaly Rodriguez, MD, was born in Piedras Negras, Mexico, a city situated along the banks of the Rio Grande. At age 6, her family immigrated to Eagle Pass, Texas, a border town of some 30,000 people that is predominantly Latinx and Spanish speaking. “Even though I lived and attended school...
On November 10, 2022, tremelimu-mab in combination with durvalumab and platinum-based chemotherapy was approved for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no sensitizing EGFR mutation or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was supported by...
Lymphoma expert Alex Herrera, MD, was born in Miami; his parents were just 19 years old when he was born. Dr. Herrera’s father was born in Puerto Rico to Cuban and Ecuadorian parents. His mother was born in Cuba and came to the United States via Operation Peter Pan, the clandestine program that...
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signed into law on August 16, 2022, contains several important provisions regarding health care and drug pricing.1 In this article, I provide an overview of the legislation’s implications for oncology care, focusing on its provisions concerning drug price...
In an analysis from the HOPE trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mina S. Sedrak, MD, MS, and colleagues found that approximately one-fifth of older women with early-stage breast cancer received a relative dose intensity (RDI) of neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy that was below...
On November 10, 2022, brentuximab vedotin was approved for use in combination with doxorubicin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone, and cyclophosphamide for pediatric patients aged ≥ 2 years with previously untreated high-risk classical Hodgkin lymphoma.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was...
On December 14, U.S. Representative Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act (CCSA)—legislation that will address...
The novel drug modakafusp alfa has shown early promise in combating relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to new findings presented by Vogl et al at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition (Abstract 565). Background Modakafusp alfa is a fusion protein...
The novel MinimuMM-seq technique may make it possible to detect tumor cells in individuals at higher risk for multiple myeloma, assess the risk of disease progression in patients with myeloma, and track genetic changes in tumor cells over time from a single blood sample, according to a new study...
On December 14, Monica M. FACS, Bertagnolli, MD, FASCO, Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), released the following statement: I was very recently diagnosed with early breast cancer. The prognosis is very favorable. The cancer is hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer...
Richter syndrome is an aggressive lymphoma that develops in up to 1% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and it serves as an example of histologic transformation. While recent advances have transformed the treatment landscape of CLL, Richter syndrome remains associated with poor...
Zanubrutinib showed superior efficacy to ibrutinib—with fewer side effects—in the first head-to-head comparison between the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), according to data presented by Jennifer...
A new phase II trial demonstrated that the chemotherapy-free regimen of ponatinib and blinatumomab may have achieved high response rates and reduced the need for an allogeneic stem cell transplant for patients with recently diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic...
Researchers observed encouraging response rates in older or high-risk patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when treated with the triplet combination therapy of azacitidine, venetoclax, and magrolimab in a phase I/II trial, according to new findings presented by Daver et al at...
The bispecific T-cell engager molecule blinatumomab was found to improve overall survival for patients with no measurable residual disease (MRD) after initial treatment for B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to the phase III ECOG-ACRIN E1910 trial presented by Litzow et al at...
A new clinical tool may pinpoint which patients with clonal hematopoiesis are at highest risk for cancer progression, according to new findings presented by Weeks et al at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition (Abstract 926). Background Clonal hematopoiesis—a...
Long-term recurrence and survival data are now available from the groundbreaking TAILORx trial. With 12 years of follow-up, the updated analysis—reported by Sparano et al at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2022 (Abstract GS1-05)—confirms the original findings that chemotherapy may...
The use of stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia increased by about 55% worldwide from 2009 to 2016, according to new findings presented by Niederweiser et al at the 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition (Abstract 3638). Although the largest...
A previous analysis by Khurana et al on the impact of inclusion/exclusion criteria in clinical trial design for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) found that up to 24% of patients treated with standard immunochemotherapy were excluded based on five lab-based criteria alone. A new...
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center presented preliminary results of an ongoing phase I clinical trial demonstrating successful retreatment with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for patients whose cancers relapsed after previous CAR T-cell therapy. ...
The latest analysis of the TROPiCS-02 breast cancer trial shows that sacituzumab govitecan-hziy is effective in patients with a wide range of Trop-2 expression levels. The findings were reported at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, Professor of Medicine and...