The American Lung Association has released its 2025 “State of Lung Cancer” report, which reveals great strides in efforts to end lung cancer—the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. This year, nearly 227,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with lung cancer....
In an effort to reduce the size of government, the current administration has proposed an across the board 37% reduction1 in funding for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This will result in approval of only 4% of applications2 from scientists at universities and cancer centers, with 96% of all ...
The addition of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab to weekly paclitaxel, with or without the VEGFA-targeted bevacizumab, significantly improved progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer, in the randomized, double-blind, phase III...
Each year, nearly 85,000 Americans are diagnosed with bladder cancer, and about 17,500 individuals die from the disease. Urothelial carcinoma is the most frequent type of bladder cancer, constituting over 90% of cases in industrialized nations. Up to two-thirds of advanced urothelial carcinomas are ...
A major study of three of the most common cancers in women, conducted by the Cancer Survival Group at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, found variations in the stage of disease at diagnosis, the type of treatment, and the extent to which treatment was consistent with...
A gene expression profile–based test coupled with clinicopathologic factor assessment was able to consistently identify patients with melanoma who were at a low risk for their disease spreading to the sentinel lymph nodes, according to findings from the MERLIN_001 trial published in JAMA Surgery....
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, explore the key epidemiologic, pathologic, diagnostic, and prognostic aspects of chronic...
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) in oncology is advancing rapidly. AI was first used for reading radiology images and analyzing pathology slides. More recently, use of AI has expanded to analyzing large clinical data sets (big data). The next envisioned role for AI in oncology encompasses many ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Mohty et al, the final analysis of the phase III REACH2 trial indicates that ruxolitinib provided efficacy advantages over the best available therapy (BAT) in patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic...
Two pivotal studies of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) in early HER2-positive breast cancer suggest this antibody-drug conjugate (targeting the HER2 protein) may be moving into the curative setting after having shown benefit in metastatic disease in multiple previous trials. The new...
In early 2023, I began experiencing serious symptoms that were not easily explained away, including deep vein thrombosis in my left leg, extreme weight loss, bruising, wheezing, and shortness of breath so severe that it was difficult to walk my dog more than a few feet without gasping for air. For...
Growing up in Draksharamam, a small village in India, Neelima Denduluri, MD, FASCO, was attracted to the field of medicine after witnessing her grandfather, a general practitioner in the village, care for patients so poor he often provided medical services at no cost. Although Dr. Denduluri’s...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) was found to be a strong prognostic classifier for patients with stage III colon cancer following surgery, according to findings from the phase II/III DYNAMIC-III trial. Findings from the study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025 ...
A joint task force composed of experts from the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), ASCO, and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) has released new guidance for postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) for patients with breast cancer.1 This guideline—which is intended to replace the...
Despite numerous studies showing the benefits of integrating palliative care in both the early- and advanced-stage cancer settings,1 palliative care remains underutilized for most patients with cancer. A recent study by the American Cancer Society found that only 10% of Medicare beneficiaries with...
Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who tested positive for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after cystectomy may benefit from immunotherapy with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab compared to placebo, whereas ctDNA-negative patients may potentially be spared unnecessary treatment. These...
Belzutifan induced durable responses without surgery in patients with advanced pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma and demonstrated manageable safety in the phase II LITESPARK-015 trial, according to findings presented during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025 (Abstract...
Patients with cancer who received mRNA-based COVID vaccines within 100 days of starting immune checkpoint therapy were twice as likely to be alive 3 years after beginning treatment, according to a recent study. These findings, which include more than 1,000 patients treated between August 2019 and...
The first-in-class YAP-TEAD inhibitor VT3989 has demonstrated promising antitumor activity and tolerability in patients with refractory mesothelioma, according to findings from a phase I/II trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025 (Abstract 920O) and...
Researchers have created a roadmap to improve national lung cancer screening rates that doubled lung cancer screening rates through their multidisciplinary lung cancer screening program, according to a study published in NEJM Catalyst. “Our biggest success was not only screening a high percentage...
Although palliative care use has increased over time among young adults with advanced cancers in the United States, new research led by the American Cancer Society (ACS) found that utilization still remains very low. The report was presented at the 2025 ASCO Quality Care Symposium (Abstract 320)....
In 2022, Congress requested a scientific review from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to study the associated risks of cancer and other health conditions and the use of alcohol. The concern was that the health risks associated with low-to-moderate consumption of ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wang et al, a phase I/II trial (KOMET-001) has shown activity of the oral menin inhibitor ziftomenib in patients with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Study Details In the phase II portion of the trial, 92 patients...
In the 1940s, the first drugs proven to cause objective responses in human cancers were developed. Mechlorethamine was discovered as a possible treatment of lymphoid cancers after autopsies on military personnel exposed to mustard gas found destruction of lymphatic tissue and bone marrow....
The results of the multicenter Female Asian Nonsmoker Screening Study (FANSS) suggest that low-dose CT screening is feasible and has value for early lung cancer detection in the historically underserved demographic of Asian women with no history of smoking. These data from the largest United...
Chemoradiation with a pulsed low-dose–rate technique led to lower-than-usual rates of severe esophagitis without compromising efficacy in patients with esophageal and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to findings from a single-arm phase I study presented as a poster during the American...
Studies show that if left untreated, between 20% and 40% of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesions may evolve into invasive breast cancer over time. And, according to the American Cancer Society, women diagnosed with lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) have between a 7 and 12 times higher risk of...
In patients rendered immunocompromised by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), a single dose of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine within the first year afterward resulted in low seroconversion rates, as reported by Redjoul et al in JAMA Network Open. However, a...
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...
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 ...
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...
There has been a rapid increase in the global number of cancer cases and deaths between 1990 and 2023, despite advances in cancer treatment and efforts to tackle cancer risk factors over that same period. Without urgent action and targeted funding, 30.5 million people are forecast to receive a new...
In a Scandinavian trial (ALASCCA) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Martling et al found that low-dose aspirin reduced the risk of disease recurrence vs placebo in patients with PI3K-altered localized colorectal cancer. Study Details In the double-blind trial, patients with stage I...
Studies have shown that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection—especially with high-risk variants such as HPV16 and HPV18—is the primary cause of cervical cancer, accounting for about 95% of all cases. Although cervical cancer screening through Pap smear tests can detect the presence of precancerous...
Perioperative use of nivolumab with or without ipilimumab may prove to be of benefit for patients with resectable diffuse pleural mesothelioma, according to the findings of a phase II study published in Nature Medicine. Findings from the study were also presented during the International...
Researchers have developed a novel method to test for prostate cancer using biomarkers present in urine. This approach may significantly reduce the need for invasive, often painful biopsies, the researchers said in a statement. The study, which was funded in part by the National Institutes of...
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,...
In a phase II trial (Alliance A021202) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bergsland et al found that pazopanib prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with advanced extrapancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (epNETs). However, as stated by the investigators, pazopanib will...
Three leading national cancer organizations have issued an updated guideline on postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) for physicians treating patients with breast cancer. The recommendations outline when PMRT is appropriate based on new evidence and evolving clinical practice, and they highlight...
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 ...
The aging population, now the largest group of patients with cancer and cancer survivors, requires a rigorous and focused approach to clinical trial reporting, a need highlighted by the recent author guidelines from the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO; Table 1).1 The guidelines are an important...
Many patients from Europe and the United States have experienced the benefits of anthracyclines in the treatment of an array of cancers, including solid tumors such as breast and ovarian cancers as well as lymphoma. However, a number of these cancer survivors will experience severe chronic cardiac...
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...
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...
A first-in-human phase I study of SHR-4849 (IDE849), a Delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3)-directed antibody-drug conjugate, demonstrated manageable safety and early signs of antitumor activity in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The results were presented at the International...
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...
Taking low-dose colchicine daily may slow the progression of a common acquired gene mutation found in the blood of older adults that can lead to certain blood cancers and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a subanalysis of the LoDoCo2 trial published by Mohammadnia et al in JACC ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bidard et al developed a model that may identify a subgroup of patients with clinical high-risk estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/HER2-negative early breast cancer who might derive no additional distant recurrence benefit from escalation of adjuvant...