Continuing its efforts to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced plans to significantly enhance Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) auditing in Medicare Advantage. Beginning immediately, CMS will audit all eligible...
Systemic amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is characterized by the deposition of immunoglobulin light chains, produced by clonal CD38-positive plasma cells, as insoluble amyloid fibrils in vital organs. It is a disease that can progress rapidly and is fatal without treatment. The past decade...
The 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting included the presentation of data from more than 7,000 abstracts and clinical trials set to advance research, uncover findings, and in some cases change the standard of practice across multiple tumor types, moving science forward and improving care for the more than 2...
In patients with resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, perioperative treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab in combination with standard chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 29% in the phase III MATTERHORN trial. The...
In long-term results from the CARTITUDE-1 trial, investigators had found that the autologous cellular immunotherapy ciltacabtagene autoleucel was potentially curative for one-third of patients with heavily pretreated relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.1 These patients remained progression-free ...
Despite multiple federal updates to race data collection standards, researchers have found persistent discrepancies in how cancer incidence and mortality rates are recorded for racial minorities—particularly multiracial individuals. A recent study in Cancer highlights how evolving definitions of...
Researchers have discovered that most cancer survivors do not make significant improvements to their diet or eating habits after their cancer diagnosis, according to findings published in Public Health Nutrition. Despite their cancer diagnosis, there was no significant difference in diet-related...
In a UK phase III trial (IoN) reported in The Lancet, Mallick et al compared survival outcomes among patients with low-risk differentiated thyroid cancer who underwent thyroidectomy with no postoperative radioiodine ablation vs thyroidectomy plus ablation. Study Details In the multicenter...
Linear endobronchial guided sampling of accessible mediastinal lesions is well established as a first-choice modality for lung cancer mediastinal staging. Parenchymal lung lesions, however, are routinely accessed by either a percutaneous (CT-guided) or a bronchoscopic approach. There have been few...
The TRUST trial is the first phase III randomized study to show improved progression-free survival for primary cytoreductive surgery compared with interval surgery without compromising short-term or long-term quality of life, although the study failed to meet its primary endpoint of overall...
Over the past 20 years, increased understanding of the biological mechanism of disease has led to improved treatment options for all malignancies. Within each disease subtype, we have molecularly characterized tumors and developed specific treatment algorithms to optimize patient outcomes. Among...
In a Spanish-French phase II trial (SPOTLIGHT-203) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Márquez-Rodas et al investigated the combination of the intratumoral agent BO-112 and pembrolizumab for activity in patients with advanced anti–PD-1–resistant melanoma. BO-112 is a synthetic,...
Uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States, with about 69,120 new cases and nearly 14,000 deaths from the disease expected this year. Black women experience a twice as high mortality rate compared with women of other races and ethnicities, and that...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Steuer et al, findings in a cohort of a phase I trial indicated activity of the HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) in patients with advanced squamous or nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without a...
Besides relapse of the malignant disease, graft-vs-host disease is still one of the greatest concerns, in terms of adverse effects, following a hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in a patient with a hematologic malignancy. To mitigate these concerns, investigators are continually analyzing ...
Based on the findings of the VERITAC-2 trial, treatment with the selective PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimera) estrogen receptor degrader vepdegestrant yielded statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival in patients with ESR1-mutant, estrogen...
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is actively engaged in advocacy to protect Medicaid access for millions of Americans. Members can support ASCO’s Medicaid advocacy efforts through the ACT Network. In 2025, ASCO has partnered with other health-care organizations and engaged with...
Patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer who receive the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 (modified leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) vs the current standard of care (chemotherapy ± bevacizumab) may live...
In the phase III DESTINY-Breast09 trial, first-line treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) plus the monoclonal antibody pertuzumab significantly delayed disease progression by more than 1 year—nearly doubling the time of disease control—over standard...
In an interim analysis of the phase III LEAP-015 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shitara et al examined the survival benefit of adding lenvatinib-pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in patients with advanced/metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. Study Details In the open-label...
The relationship between genetic variants and the risk of late-onset cardiomyopathy remains poorly understood in survivors of childhood cancer despite being otherwise well established. Scientists from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have helped address this gap, assessing whether variant...
The first individualized risk prediction model for adults with early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) has been developed and validated. According to a report published in NEJM Evidence, the Early-Stage cHL International Prognostic Index (E-HIPI) model estimates 2-year progression-free...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announced that it will recognize 11 hematologists who have made notable contributions to the field with several honorific awards and prestigious lectures at the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, Florida, from December 6–9, 2025. The...
In the United States, approximately 55% of patients with resected gallbladder cancer undergo oncologic surgery without additional systemic treatment. However, as gallbladder cancer progresses to T3 (locally or regionally advanced) or T4 (distant metastasis) disease, the tumor frequently infiltrates ...
According to the initial findings of an ongoing first-in-human phase I trial, reported at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2025 Congress, promising results have been shown for a novel off-the-shelf tri-specific antibody in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma highly refractory...
Ropeginterferon alfa-2b demonstrated superior efficacy and safety compared with anagrelide as second-line therapy for patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) who were intolerant or resistant to hydroxyurea, according to data from the phase III SURPASS-ET trial presented at the European...
Combining the CD79b-directed antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq with rituximab, gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin (R-GemOx) significantly improved survival outcomes in patients with transplant-ineligible, relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), over standard rituximab ...
The order of colorectal cancer diagnosis seems to have a significant impact on outcomes in patients with multiple primary malignancies, according to the results of a study of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program data. Findings from the study were published in the Journal of...
A telehealth-based care program may improve daily functioning, mood, disease understanding, and quality of life among older adults with cancer, according to a recent study published by Bergerot et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Study Methods and Results...
Stopping the widespread use of unnecessary, potentially harmful cancer screenings may take up to 13 years and potentially longer following the implementation of new guidelines, according to a recent study published by LeLaurin et al in BMJ Quality & Safety. Background The U.S. Preventive...
“The [National Cancer Institute (NCI)] is a national treasure. If funding is diminished, it will be catastrophic to millions of patients and families who will experience the devastation of cancer in the coming years,” Richard J. Boxer, MD, wrote in an editorial Viewpoint published in JAMA Oncology ...
Recent national survey data from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have shown that further cuts to Medicare reimbursement for radiation therapy would increase patient wait times for cancer treatment and force clinic downsizing. Nearly all (96%) of the 675 physicians responding to...
Although the SWOG S2302 Pragmatica-Lung trial did not achieve its primary endpoint of improved overall survival with the combination of ramucirumab and pembrolizumab compared with standard-of-care treatments for patients with stage IV or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who previously...
Results from the international phase III AMPLITUDE clinical trial found that adding niraparib to abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AAP) may help to slow cancer growth for people with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene...
Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer may need support for scholastic performance, according to new findings presented by Fisher et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 11053). Previous studies have shown how a cancer diagnosis could disrupt the typical developmental...
At just 5 years old, Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO, already knew that she wanted to be a physician when she grew up, although she can’t explain where the idea came from. She just knows the desire to help others was ingrained in her from a very early age. Growing up in New Delhi, India, where...
With the currently available BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has transformed from an invariably fatal disorder (10-year overall survival < 10%) to an indolent one, associated with a near-normal life expectancy on optimal tyrosine kinase inhibitor...
Despite a 30-year history as an ASCO volunteer, for Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, this past year as President-Elect has opened new perspectives on the organization he will soon lead as ASCO’s 62nd President, effective during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 30–June 3, 2025, in Chicago. After serving...
In a German phase II trial (WSG-KEYRICHED-1) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kuemmel et al evaluated whether chemotherapy-free neoadjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab plus trastuzumab/pertuzumab showed activity in patients with HER2-enriched early breast cancer. As stated by the investigators:...
The disease we now call diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has gone by the names of reticulum cell sarcoma, diffuse histiocytic lymphoma, and diffuse large cell lymphoma, and included both lymphomas of B cells and T cells. We now know DLBCL is still heterogenous and some subtypes might benefit...
Forty nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations issued a statement this week to the House Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees in regard to budget cuts and policy changes affecting Medicaid and health-care marketplaces. “As organizations representing millions of patients with serious...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) released its first set of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) in 1996, covering eight tumor types. Today, guidelines are available for more than 60 tumor types, subtypes, and related topics. During the NCCN’s 30th Annual...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Pietrantonio et al, overall survival analysis in the phase III CodeBreaK 300 trial showed numeric improvement with sotorasib/panitumumab vs investigator's choice of treatment in patients with chemorefractory KRAS G12C-mutant metastatic colorectal...
The first sign that something was terribly wrong was in 2015, when I began to feel so fatigued that it was difficult to get out of bed even after 8 to 10 hours of sleep. I’ve been full of energy my whole life and couldn’t understand why I was so tired all the time. Then I began to experience...
The recent approval of the oral menin inhibitor revumenib brought much-needed treatment to patients with a challenging subset of disease: adults and children with relapsed or refractory acute leukemia harboring a lysine methyltransferase 2A gene (KMT2A) translocation or rearrangement. Approval was...
The phase III MARIPOSA trial was a head-to-head comparison of the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib and the combination of the bispecific EGF receptor–directed and MET receptor–directed monoclonal antibody amivantamab-vmjw and the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor lazertinib in the first-line ...
Investigators have uncovered mixed progress in major cancer risk factors, preventive behaviors, and screenings in the post–COVID-19 pandemic period among adults in the United States, according to a new study published by Bandi et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Background An ...
A novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy called AIC100, which targets the ICAM-1 protein, demonstrated encouraging responses and an acceptable safety profile in patients with two types of advanced thyroid cancer. Results from a small, first-in-human phase I trial were presented at the ...
A new gene-expression atlas developed using single-cell RNA sequencing data sheds light on how normal hematopoietic cells differentiate and was used to catalog the multiple ways aberrant differentiation can lead to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Andy G.X. Zeng, PhD, an MD/PhD candidate at the...
According to the results of a molecularly matched, tumor-agnostic phase II trial, the combination of the PARP inhibitor olaparib and the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab demonstrated antitumor activity with no new safety signals, particularly in patients with BRCA1/2 mutations. Data from this...