In a single-site experience reported in The Lancet Oncology by Shaverdian et al, patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the phase I KEYNOTE-001 trial of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) were found to have better outcomes if they had received prior radiotherapy. Study Details...
Eric Jonasch, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the largest prospective VHL disease-specific therapeutic trial performed to date, and the data that show pazopanib resulted in significant and sustained disease control for the majority of patients enrolled on the...
Tanya B. Dorff, MD, of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of the City of Hope, discuss two key presentations on prostate cancer: findings on adding abiraterone for men with high-risk prostate cancer starting long-term androgen-deprivation therapy, and an...
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina, and Mark E. Robson, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discuss phase III study findings on olaparib monotherapy vs chemotherapy for patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer and a germline BRCA mutation. (Abstract LBA4)
Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a potential new treatment for patients newly diagnosed with advanced, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared to the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa), one of the standard targeted...
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare cancer, but its incidence has been rising. This cancer is usually associated with asbestos exposure, and patients have a median life expectancy of only 13 to 15 months. All patients relapse despite initial chemotherapy, more than 50% of them within 6 months...
Elizabeth J. Shpall, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and recipient of the 2017 Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award, discusses promoting women in oncology with Nina Shah, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, the protégé who nominated Dr. Shpall for this ...
Taofeek K. Owonikoko, MD, PhD, of Emory University, discusses study findings on cisplatin and etoposide in combination with veliparib or placebo for extensive stage small cell lung cancer. (Abstract 8505)
In an early clinical trial, 33 out of 35 (94%) patients had clinical remission of multiple myeloma upon receiving immunotherapy with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting B-cell maturation protein, or BCMA. Most patients had only mild side effects. The study was presented by Fan et al...
Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a more effective initial treatment for patients with ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared to the current standard of care, crizotinib (Xalkori), the newer ALK inhibitor alectinib (Alecensa) halted cancer growth for a...
As reported in the Plenary Session at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robson et al, the phase III OlympiAD trial showed that the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) prolonged progression-free survival vs standard therapy in...
A phase III clinical trial of 4,805 women with HER2-positive breast cancer suggests the addition of a second HER2-targeted medicine, pertuzumab (Perjeta), to standard-of-care trastuzumab (Herceptin) after surgery may improve outcomes, although the benefit is modest. The study was presented by von...
As reported in the Plenary Session at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Fizazi et al, the phase III LATITUDE trial has shown that the addition of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) and prednisone to androgen-deprivation therapy resulted in marked improvements in...
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Bruce E. Johnson, MD, of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss Dr. Johnson’s upcoming tenure as ASCO President and his goals for the year ahead.
Xuesong Han, PhD, of the American Cancer Society, discusses the Affordable Care Act and her study findings showing how implementation of the law is associated with a shift to early-stage diagnosis for all screenable cancers except prostate cancer (likely due to Task Force recommendations against...
Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, MD, of the Institute of Clinical Cancer Research Krankenhaus Nordwest, discusses phase III study findings on perioperative chemotherapy with docetaxel, oxaliplatin, and fluorouracil/leucovorin vs epirubicin, cisplatin, and fluorouracil or capecitabine for resectable gastric...
Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Rochester, discusses study findings on shortening the duration of adjuvant oxaliplatin-based therapy, linked to neurotoxicity, for patients with stage III colon cancer. (Abstract LBA1)
Daniel A. Goldstein, MD, of Emory University and Rabin Medical Center, discusses his study findings that show nearly $1 billion in savings when patients receive personal weight-based doses instead of a predetermined fixed dose for treatment of PD-L1-positive non–small cell lung cancer. (Abstract...
Ethan M. Basch, MD, of the University of North Carolina, discusses results from a study that assessed patient-reported outcomes for symptom monitoring during routine cancer treatment of metastatic solid tumors. (Abstract LBA2)
Taofeek K. Owonikoko, MD, PhD, of Emory University, discusses study findings on cisplatin and etoposide in combination with veliparib or placebo for extensive stage small cell lung cancer. (Abstract 8505)
After surgery for lymph node–positive colon cancer (stage III), some patients may need only half of the long-standing standard course of chemotherapy. In an analysis of 6 clinical trials with over 12,800 patients, 3 months of chemotherapy was nearly as effective as 6 months in patients with...
A randomized clinical trial of 766 patients shows that a simple intervention—a Web-based tool that enables patients to report their symptoms in real time, triggering alerts to clinicians—can have major benefits, including longer survival. Patients with metastatic cancer who used the...
Findings from a phase III clinical trial of about 300 women may introduce poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors as a new type of treatment for breast cancer. Compared to standard chemotherapy, the oral targeted medicine olaparib (Lynparza) reduced the chance of progression of advanced,...
Erin Van Blarigan, ScD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses the value of lifestyle recommendations from the American Cancer Society for people who have been diagnosed with colon cancer, including longer disease-free and overall survival. (Abstract 10006)
Nicholas D. James, MBBS, PhD, of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, discusses study findings on adding abiraterone for men with high-risk prostate cancer starting long-term androgen-deprivation therapy (Abstract LBA5003).
Viviane Hess, MD, of the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, discusses a Web-based stress management tool, called STREAM, designed to reduce stress and improve quality of life for newly diagnosed cancer patients, who often lack psychological support. (Abstract LBA10002)
Scientists may have developed the first targeted, oral, tumor-type agnostic therapy—an agent that works comparably well across many kinds of cancer, regardless of patient age. In clinical trials of adults and children with 17 different types of advanced cancer, larotrectinib treatment...
Genomic testing of tumor samples can enable personalized treatment selection, where targeted treatments are matched to genetic changes in the tumor. Although a growing number of patients with advanced cancers receive some genomic testing, comprehensive genomic testing is not yet routine care. A...
In a study of 124 patients with advanced breast, lung, and prostate cancers, a new high-intensity genomic sequencing approach detected circulating tumor DNA at a high rate. In 89% of patients, at least one genetic change detected in the tumor was also detected in the blood. Overall, 627 (73%)...
Findings from a retrospective study of 1,200 women provide reassurance to breast cancer survivors who are contemplating pregnancy. In the study, women who became pregnant after an early breast cancer diagnosis, including those with estrogen receptor–positive tumors, did not have a higher...
Adding abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone to standard hormonal therapy for men newly diagnosed with high-risk, metastatic prostate cancer lowers the chance of death by 38%. In a phase III clinical trial of 1,200 men, abiraterone also more than doubled the median time until the cancer...
The STAMPEDE clinical trial of nearly 2,000 men shows that adding abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) to a standard initial treatment regimen for high-risk, advanced prostate cancer lowers the relative risk of death by 37%. The 3-year survival rate was 76% with standard therapy alone vs 83% with standard...
Most patients experience significant distress after they are diagnosed with cancer. This distress not only erodes quality of life, but can also negatively affect the course of the disease and the patient’s ability to tolerate treatment. Yet few patients with cancer receive psychological...
Spinal cord compression is a common complication in people with metastatic cancer and is a major detriment to quality of life. Radiation treatment is widely used to relieve pain and other symptoms, but there is no standard recommended schedule, and approaches currently vary. Findings from a phase...
In a large study, 38% of 491 testicular cancer survivors had low testosterone levels. Compared with survivors with normal testosterone levels, survivors with low testosterone levels were more likely to have a range of chronic health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, erectile...
About 50% of all cancer survivors and 70% of young breast cancer survivors report a moderate to high fear of recurrence. The fear can be so distressing that it negatively affects medical follow-up behavior, mood, relationships, work, goal setting, and quality of life. Yet interventions to alleviate ...
Treatments for childhood cancer are often intense and carry the risk of lifelong health problems for survivors. An analysis of 23,600 childhood cancer survivors in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that the rate of severe health problems...
Advanced cancer triggers enormous distress and brings challenges that can seem overwhelming. Yet most cancer centers lack systematic approaches to help patients and families manage the practical and emotional toll of advanced cancer. Findings from a randomized clinical trial of 305 patients with...
CancerLinQ®, ASCO’s big data initiative to rapidly improve the quality of cancer care, is partnering with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study the real-world use of newly approved cancer treatments and speed and strengthen the...
As reported by Pemmaraju et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice, use of Twitter at the ASCO Annual Meeting has increased dramatically between 2011 and 2016. The investigators conducted a retrospective review of publicly available tweets collected by Nephrology On-Demand Analytics for the ASCO...
Sunday, June 4, 2017, marks the 30th anniversary of National Cancer Survivors Day. Here’s a look at the progress that has been made over the past 2 to 3 decades in reducing cancer incidence and cancer deaths and the challenges that remain. Increasing Rates of Cancer Survivorship In 1971, the...
A lung cancer diagnosis appears to put patients at the greatest risk of suicide when compared to the most common types of non-skin cancers, according to new research presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference (Abstract 8321). Researchers analyzed 3,640,229 patients in ...
A pooled analysis of three PETHEMA/GEM studies has shown that minimum residual disease (MRD)-negative status after induction therapy is more prognostic of favorable outcome than complete response alone in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The findings were reported by Lahuerta et al in the Journal...
The Japanese phase III J-ALEX trial has shown improved progression-free survival with alectinib (Alecensa) vs crizotinib (Xalkori) in ALK inhibitor–naive patients with ALK-positive non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results were reported by Hida et al in The Lancet. Study Details In...
In a clinical feasibility trial conducted at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, image-guided biopsies identified select breast cancer patients who achieved pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant systemic therapy consisting of chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy. Should the...
In a study of three radiation therapies for early-stage breast cancer, one treatment option stands out as offering the most value based on factors including health outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and quality of life. The treatment—hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation—also requires...
The Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) distinction recognizes ASCO members for their extraordinary volunteer service, dedication, and commitment to ASCO. Their efforts benefit ASCO, the specialty of oncology, and, most importantly, the individuals at risk for, or with...
As reported by Visscher et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, changes in the histologic category between initial and subsequent biopsies had a significant effect on the risk for breast cancer among women with serial benign biopsy findings. Study Details The study involved 1,414...
As reported by Zhao et al in JAMA Oncology, luminal B prostate cancers carry a worse overall prognosis than luminal A and basal-like cancers, but luminal B tumors respond better to postoperative androgen-deprivation therapy. Study Details In the study, the PAM50 classifier was used to subtype...
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed activity in previously treated patients with advanced programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive endometrial cancer in a cohort of the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 study. These findings were reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ott et al. Study Details ...