Over the past 20 years, the investment in research and development of cancer therapies has been unprecedented, and the pace of new drug development has been accelerating. To illustrate this trajectory, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 71 treatments for solid cancers in adults...
Cancer and its treatments often contribute to burdensome symptoms that negatively impact patients’ quality of life and treatment outcomes, including fatigue, anxiety, and depression.1 Many patients experience multiple symptoms concurrently2 that can disrupt their treatments and lead to unplanned...
Catharine Young, PhD, has spent the past decade of her career focused on cancer policy and advocacy. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Young served as Senior Director of Science Policy at the Biden Cancer Initiative, which began in 2017 by then former Vice President Joe Biden. There she...
A common type of diabetes drug known as sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors could help patients with cancer achieve greater long-term recovery, according to a novel study published by Bhalraam et al in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Background Many patients with cancer ...
Skin cancers and lymphoma may be more prevalent among individuals with tattoos compared with those without tattoos, according to a recent study published by Clemmensen et al in BMC Public Health. Prior research has shown that tattoo ink does not just remain at the site of injection—instead, when...
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, announced in a statement his retirement as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), effective February 28, 2025. Dr. Collins is the longest-serving presidentially appointed NIH Director, having served three U.S. presidents over more than 12 years—Barack...
Researchers may have uncovered insights into the role of bacteria in the development of gastric cancer, according to a novel study published by Giddings et al in Helicobacter. The findings could pave the way for a more effective precancer treatment option. Background Gastric cancer is the fourth...
Digital technology may help to safely reduce the amount of time some patients with cancer spend receiving care—also referred to as “time toxicity”—according to a recent study published by Bange et al in NEJM Catalyst. Background Patients with cancer often spend a large amount of time on activities...
I’ve learned a lot about medicine over the years, but one thing I wasn’t taught was how to guide someone through the existential weight of dying. My education centered on diagnosing, curing, or at least managing disease—not on the delicate art of helping people and their loved ones cope with what...
The interference of gut bacteria could explain the ineffectiveness of immune checkpoint therapy in some patients with ovarian cancer, according to a recent study published by McGinty et al in Cancer Immunology Research. Background There are over 10,000 ovarian cancer–related deaths in the United...
Although there’s no history of breast cancer in my family, when I was 10, my pediatrician introduced me to breast self-exams, so I would become familiar with my breasts and learn to spot any unusual changes as I got older. I remember her telling me this was an especially important exercise to do...
Although national guidelines, including ASCO’s palliative care guideline,1 call for the early integration of palliative and oncology care for patients with advanced cancer, only 36% of those with a very poor prognosis and 18% of those with a poor prognosis receive palliative care services.2 The...
Each year in the United States, approximately 90,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs), defined as those between the ages of 15 and 39, are diagnosed with cancer, and about 9,300 die of the disease.1 Worldwide, the number of new cases of cancer in this age population tops 1,300,200—an increase of ...
An immunotherapy combination for advanced, highly mutated colorectal cancer has significantly delayed disease progression vs single-agent therapy, according to data presented at the 2025 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 The phase III CheckMate 8HW trial compared the PD-1 inhibitor...
A record-breaking number of abstracts were submitted for the 2024 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, and nearly 8,000 were accepted. The ASCO Post strives to provide in-depth coverage of those with the greatest impact. Here, we offer snapshots of others of...
The recently approved menin inhibitor revumenib is poised to improve the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), specifically for disease with a KMT2A rearrangement. Promising results for other novel menin inhibitors now in development—with their unique safety and activity profiles—suggest the...
A novel bicistronic CD19/CD22-directed CAR T-cell therapy (B019) has demonstrated high remission rates, durable responses, and a favorable safety profile among children with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including those with isolated or combined extramedullary...
The oral MDM2 inhibitor navtemadlin is the first single agent to demonstrate significant efficacy in JAK (Janus kinase) inhibitor–refractory myelofibrosis, achieving improvements in spleen volume, symptoms, and biomarkers, according to data presented at the 2024 American Society of Hematology (ASH) ...
According to one of the first biomarker-driven randomized study in people with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer, taking 160 mg of aspirin daily after treatment ends may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence in patients with cancers that harbor a PI3K mutation. These mutations are common to many types ...
For more than a year before my diagnosis of stage IA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in 2020, I had been self-treating a relentless chronic cough and a slight feeling of tightness in my chest. The symptoms were similar to asthma, so I began using albuterol inhalers. When they stopped working, I ...
Patients with smoldering multiple myeloma derived a significant progression-free survival benefit, along with other positive outcomes, from 3 years of subcutaneous use of the monoclonal antibody daratumumab as compared with active monitoring in the phase III AQUILA study.1 These findings were...
The investigational next-generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) imlunestrant improved progression-free survival both as monotherapy in patients with ESR1 mutations and in combination with the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib regardless of ESR1 mutational status in patients with...
Telephone-delivered acceptance and commitment therapy may be effective in reducing the interference of fatigue with functioning and improving the quality of life among survivors of metastatic breast cancer, according to a recent study published by Mosher et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology....
Investigators may have uncovered an association between manufactured per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels in drinking water and the incidence of certain digestive, endocrine, lung, oral, and pharyngeal cancers, according to a novel study published by Li et al in the Journal of Exposure ...
Researchers have discovered of a new type of stem cell in the brain that could lead to the development of more effective treatments in adult patients with glioblastoma, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Nature. The finding could help explain how adult brain cells take advantage ...
Treatment with psilocybin may improve mental health issues among patients with cancer when accompanied by psychotherapy and could result in lasting, positive personality changes in patients with alcohol use disorder, according to two recent studies published by Petridis et al in Nature Mental...
Tumor cells circulating in the blood are the germ cells of breast cancer metastases. They are rare and could not be propagated in the culture dish until now. A team from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Heidelberg Stem Cell Institute HI-STEM, and the NCT Heidelberg has now succeeded...
Researchers have found a possible source of the variability in patterns of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common kidney cancer diagnosed in adults. Katherine Alexander, PhD, Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Shelley Berger, PhD, Professor at the University...
Allison Betof Warner, MD, PhD, reviews important clinical research in the treatment of advanced melanoma, including tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, the role of this innovative treatment in advanced melanoma, and relevant data, peer-reviewed literature, and FDA approvals in 2024. She...
Researchers have received a $3.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to examine the impact of social networks on the decision-making process among older patients with cancer. Background Many individuals have social networks, which includes those who offer a connection and have similar...
Patients with early-stage, node-negative, hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who have a high risk of recurrence based on the OncotypeDX genomic test had better outcomes when treated with adjuvant anthracycline plus taxane-based chemotherapy regimens compared with those...
Managing cancer pain in patients with substance use disorder presents a unique challenge for oncologists, requiring a balance between effective symptom management and mitigation of the risks of substance misuse. During the 2024 JADPRO Live, Antonia Corrigan, MSN, ANP-C, ACHPN, emphasized the...
A combination of the oral drugs acalabrutinib and venetoclax may be more effective at improving progression-free survival and minimizing serious adverse events in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) compared with one of two standard multidrug treatment regimens,...
The antibody loncastuximab tesirine may offer a benefit in patients with high-risk follicular lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma, according to the findings of two clinical trials presented by Alderuccio et al and Lossos et al at the 2024 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting &...
Over the past decade, ASCO has focused its resources on advancing health equity for sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals with cancer. In 2017, the Society published a position statement “Strategies for Reducing Cancer Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations,” which...
The soaring number of cancer survivors since the National Cancer Act of 1971 was enacted into law provides a snapshot of the profound progress made against cancer over the past half-century: 3 million survivors in the 1970s,1 compared to more than 18 million today, and that number is expected to...
A recent nationwide survey has confirmed that prior authorization may cause treatment delays, abandoned treatments, hospitalizations, and deaths among patients with cancer, according to an executive summary published by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The findings may reinforce ...
Based on the phase III E3F05 trial, conducted by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), the combination of radiation therapy and temozolomide appeared to be more effective than radiotherapy alone in the treatment of low-grade gliomas. The trial followed 172 patients for more than 10...
“Artificial intelligence [AI] will be used in all aspects of [lung cancer] screening…, and it continues to get better,” commented topic overview speaker David F. Yankelevitz, MD, Professor of Radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, at the Quantitative Imaging Workshop...
Worldwide, more than a billion people have obesity—including 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children1—a rate that has nearly doubled since 1980.2 In the United States alone, about two out of three adults are overweight or have obesity, and one out of three have...
Investigators report they have uncovered patterns in the risk of cancer associated with lifetime exposure to air pollution and how this risk may have changed over time, in a recent study published by Hurbain et al in Environmental Science & Technology. The findings could build on the scientific ...
It’s not news that some viruses, including human papillomavirus, human immunodeficiency virus, Epstein-Barr, and hepatitis B, can cause or accelerate the development of cancer. But a recent story in The Washington Post about rare cancers being diagnosed in individuals who had previously been...
A second-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may offer a new option for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive blood cancer with few treatment options. Results from the phase Ib/II FELIX trial, published by Roddie et al in ...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with medical oncologist Yüksel Ürün, MD, about his clinical and research career in oncology. Dr. Ürün is Professor of Medicine at the Ankara University School of Medicine in Turkey. After...
The final overall survival analysis of the phase III PRIMA trial found no survival benefit for maintenance niraparib over placebo in advanced ovarian cancer. However, the PARP inhibitor continued to exert a sustained progression-free survival benefit, investigators reported at the European Society...
Both radiation and temozolomide may have meaningful single-modality antitumor activity against slow-growing, low-grade gliomas, according to recent findings presented by Schiff et al at the 2024 Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting (Abstract LTBK-07) and simultaneously published in...
This is Part 1 of First-Line Immunotherapy for Metastatic NSCLC: Special Populations and Unmet Needs, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this roundtable. In this video, Drs. Roy Herbst, Charu Aggarwal, and Karen Reckamp discuss the first-line...
Neoadjuvant therapy for patients with resectable stage III melanoma has recently emerged as a better approach than resection plus adjuvant therapy. At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024, updates of pivotal neoadjuvant studies demonstrated the long-standing benefit of...
An updated overall survival analysis of the phase III HIMALAYA study, now at 5 years, confirms the benefit for the STRIDE regimen of the monoclonal antibodies durvalumab plus tremelimumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.1 [The STRIDE regimen consists of a single priming dose of...
For women with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, KEYNOTE-522 changed the treatment paradigm several years ago. Support for neoadjuvant use of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab, was bolstered by the positive overall survival analysis...