No significant differences were observed in breast volume loss between five-fraction whole-breast and partial-breast radiation therapy in patients with breast cancer who underwent prior partial mastectomy, according to the results of a study presented in a poster during the American Society for...
In an international, multicenter retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Xing et al found that incorporating the genetic status of BRAF and TERT genes into the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for papillary thyroid cancer resulted in a modification of...
A recent study has found that mutations in blood-forming cells may explain the increased risk for leukemia and other blood disorders among first responders exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) disaster site and its toxic dust. The study also points to a novel strategy for use against...
Treatment with obecabtagene autoleucel was the focus of the phase Ib/II multicenter FELIX study of more than 100 adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).1 The initial report in 2024 revealed a rate of complete remission or complete remission with incomplete...
The phase Ib DeLLphi-303 trial has reported overall survival data for a novel maintenance regimen in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer following first-line chemoimmunotherapy. Patients treated with the bispecific T-cell engager tarlatamab-dlle plus a PD-L1 inhibitor had a median overall...
Bijal Shah, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center, summarizes his presentation on the role of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), touching on its use in the front-line setting for newly diagnosed patients with high risk-features as well as in patients with...
A new phase III clinical trial has found that intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and proton-beam therapy resulted in similar quality-of-life outcomes and low rates of side effects for people with locally advanced oropharyngeal cancer. The TORPEdO trial, a randomized study conducted across ...
Stereotactic radiation therapy (SABR) was found to be noninferior to surgical resection in terms of overall survival for patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to 10-year results from the STARS trial presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is requesting over $11.5 billion in federal funding for fiscal year (FY) 2027, an increase of more than $4 billion from FY25. The agency shared the request on September 27 in its FY27 Professional Judgment Budget Proposal. The proposal—also known as a “bypass...
A new clinical trial found that people with a limited number of metastases from recurrent prostate cancer lived significantly longer without disease progression when they received a radiopharmaceutical drug before targeted radiation compared with radiation alone. The phase II LUNAR trial is the...
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and UC Davis will co-lead a newly funded, multi-institutional clinical trial to evaluate whether artificial intelligence (AI) can help support radiologists in interpreting mammograms more accurately, with the goal of improving breast cancer screening ...
On September 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) program for vandetanib, according to an announcement from the agency. Vandetanib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting VEGFR, EGFR, and RET from manufacturer Sanofi (formerly ...
Zidesamtinib, an investigational oral, highly selective ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor designed to overcome common resistance mechanisms and improve brain penetration, has demonstrated activity in both pretreated and tyrosine kinase inhibitor–naive patients with ROS1-positive non–small cell lung...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Syed Ali Abutalib, MD, and L. Jeffrey Medeiros, MD, focuses on clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (also referred to as CHIP) as well as...
This year, an estimated 85,500 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States, and about 9,380 AYAs will die from the disease. And while cancer survivorship is increasing for all age groups—there are now nearly 19 million cancer survivors in the United...
ASCO extends its thanks and appreciation to Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, for his decade of leadership and dedication as the inaugural Principal Investigator of the groundbreaking Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study. The ASCO-sponsored TAPUR study is a...
ASCO is deeply saddened by the loss of past president Harvey M. Golomb, MD, FASCO, a pioneer in the study of interferon as cancer treatment. Dr. Golomb passed away on August 20, 2025; he was 82. From the beginning of his medical career, Dr. Golomb was a committed member of ASCO. He joined the...
The 15th edition of the annual AACR Cancer Progress Report presents a mixed picture of the major advances in cancer care over the past year, including the approval of 20 new anticancer drugs, juxtaposed against the continuing rise in early-onset cancers and disparities in care as well as the...
The combination of the EGFR-targeting tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib with platinum-based chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival as a first-line treatment for patients with EGFR-mutated, advanced, non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with osimertinib monotherapy,...
City of Hope® has been awarded an up to $23.7 million contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The grant will help City of Hope to create a biomap of tumor changes that cause immunotherapy resistance in advanced ...
Investigators have found several oral bacteria and fungi associated with an increased risk for pancreatic cancer, according to findings published in JAMA Oncology. This cohort study seems to confirm a long-standing suspicion of the relationship between poor oral health and pancreatic cancer and...
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is one of the success stories among the hematologic malignancies. Now, with decades of data informing its management, it is time to change some of the practices to which clinicians have become accustomed, said leukemia expert Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD, FASCO, Professor...
On April 22, 2025, an ASCO Expert Panel voted to approve ASCO’s global guideline on geriatric assessment of patients with cancer older than age 65 who are being treated in resource-limited settings or countries.1 Guideline recommendations were informed by the ADAPTE methodology and formal consensus ...
Using the Geriatric Oncology Potentially Inappropriate Medications scale (GO-PIMs), researchers found that older adults are likely to be taking a number of potentially inappropriate or high-risk medications that are associated with increased frailty at the time of their cancer diagnosis, according...
In a meta-analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Lei et al found a small nonsignificant increase in off-target mortality from noncancer causes or cancers that were not the target of screening in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with screened and unscreened populations. As stated by the...
Each year, nearly 90,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs; aged 15–39) are diagnosed with cancer, and approximately 9,300 die of the disease.1 And although the 5-year survival rate among these young patients is approaching 80%, it lags behind that of the pediatric population, whose 5-year...
A new study presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2025 World Conference on Lung Cancer (Abstract MA11.09) demonstrated that monitoring circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may aid in refining and personalizing the use of consolidation immunotherapy in patients with...
New research has identified interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) as a critical regulator of immunotherapy sensitivity in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), offering a promising new avenue for overcoming resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade. These findings were presented at the...
A reduced schedule for hypofractionated radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy led to numerically similar survival outcomes and a more favorable safety profile compared with a standard course of conventional fractionated radiotherapy for patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer...
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) led to a 21% reduction in the risk of death compared with open lobectomy for patients with early-stage lung cancer, in a meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing the two approaches. Results of the meta-analysis were presented at the International...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the gemcitabine intravesical system (Inlexzo) for adults with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ with or without papillary tumors. The gemcitabine intravesical system is...
As the global population ages, oncology faces an urgent challenge: ensuring that health-care professionals are adequately trained to address the unique complexities of cancer care for older adults. Despite the increasing prevalence of cancer in this demographic, geriatric oncology education remains ...
Research has shown that pain is among the most commonly experienced and feared aspects of a cancer diagnosis.1 It’s easy to understand why. In fact, cancer-related pain is so ubiquitous, between 20% and 50% of patients with early-stage cancer will experience pain,2 and up to 90% of patients with...
ASCO and the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) have released updated standards for its Oncology Medical Home (OMH) certification program, which were initially codified and published in 2021.1 The 2021 systematic literature review focused on the topics of OMH model of care, clinical pathways, and...
Patients diagnosed with recurrent or progressive extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) may benefit from treatment with ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd), a B7-H3–directed antibody-drug conjugate, according to data presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer...
ASCO has issued a new update to its living guideline regarding therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without driver alterations, based on results of three studies published recently.1 The update (the first since a previous version in February 2025) includes discussion of...
The results of the CARTITUDE-1 clinical trial demonstrate outstanding and unprecedented long-term efficacy with ciltacabtagene autoleucel, a B-cell maturation antigen–directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.1 (See the July 2025 issue of The ...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) selected 43 members to receive the ASTRO Fellow (FASTRO) designation this year. This prestigious honor recognizes ASTRO members’ outstanding achievements and contributions to the Society, cancer research, education, patient care, and the...
The outlook for adequate funding for federal health agencies has become more dire. In July, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced it is reducing the number of grant applications it will award for the remaining 2 months of fiscal year 2025 (FY2025), from 9% down to 4%.1 The result is that...
Use of the PARP inhibitor niraparib in combination with the androgen biosynthesis inhibitor abiraterone acetate and the corticosteroid prednisone reduced the risk of disease progression, both radiographic and symptomatic, in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer harboring...
A novel, urine-based, three-biomarker panel demonstrated significant accuracy and promising sensitivity and specificity for the detection of prostate cancers during development and validation testing, according to findings published in eBioMedicine. “This new biomarker panel offers a promising,...
Despite data from the latest edition of The Cancer Atlas showing that nearly half of cancer mortality worldwide is attributed to modifiable risk factors, cancer incidence and mortality rates continue to soar.1 Globally, approximately 19 million new cases of cancer, excluding nonmelanoma skin...
Use of a daily interferon-α nasal spray could significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection among adult patients with cancer, according to the results of a multicenter, randomized trial published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The results suggest that the nasal spray could be a potential...
In a study (INSPiRED 006) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cai et al found that an artificial intelligence–guided shear wave elastography (AI-SWE) model provided accuracy similar to expert reading of B-mode ultrasound in the diagnosis of breast cancer in women with Breast Imaging...
This past May, ASCO announced its collaboration with Google Cloud to launch the ASCO® Guidelines Assistant, a new interactive tool that allows clinicians to quickly access ASCO’s evidence-based clinical guidelines to facilitate critical clinical decision-making. Developed with Google Cloud’s Vertex ...
Each year in the United States, nearly 16,000 children and adolescents between the ages of birth and 19 are diagnosed with cancer.1 And although survival rates have greatly improved for many types of childhood cancers, with more than 8 in 10 children and adolescents surviving at least 5 years after ...
After 2 decades of practicing medicine across multiple disciplines and health systems, I’ve witnessed the dramatic transformation of patient-physician interactions, and none more dramatic than what I’m seeing in this era of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on cancer care. Early in my...
ASCO extends its thanks and appreciation to Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, for his decade of leadership and dedication as the inaugural Principal Investigator of the groundbreaking Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study. The ASCO-sponsored TAPUR study is a...
The addition of everolimus to standard carboplatin chemotherapy led to a 52% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with carboplatin alone in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer, according to the results of a randomized phase II trial published in Breast...
Researchers have found that unmet social needs was associated with less trust in cancer information received from doctors and the health-care system, according to study findings led by the American Cancer Society and published in Psycho-Oncology. “Public trust in health authorities is so essential ...