In October 2016, the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) hosted its Second Scientific and Career Development Retreat at ASCO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Attendees included Career Development Award (CDA) and Young Investigator Award (YIA) recipients awarded between 2010 and 2016; ASCO ...
The free video-based program, “PReparatory Education About Clinical Trials (PRE-ACT),” helps patients and their caregivers learn about clinical trials and address barriers to participation. Direct your patients to cancer.net/preact to learn more about this online resource. Also, visit...
Cancer takes away millions of lives every year, and in low- and middle-income countries, the high cancer mortality rate can often be attributed to scarce means and a shortage of trained professionals. Hoping to contribute my best in the fight against this disease, I chose to become an oncologist in ...
On January 11, representatives from ASCO participated in the final event in the Cancer MoonshotSM “Making Health Care Better” series, which focused on community oncology, at the White House. ASCO community members attending the event, titled “Addressing the Cancer Challenge: Progress in Research,...
The 2016–2017 ASCO Leadership Development Program recently welcomed 16 new participants to its ranks. The Leadership Development Program is a yearlong program designed to shape future leaders by teaching them valuable leadership skills and providing them with networking and mentorship opportunities ...
Steven D. Gore, MD, Director of Hematologic Malignancies at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, applauded Dr. Stein for “accruing a terrible patient population, mutation-wise” and called the preliminary findings for the benefit of enasidenib in patients with ASXL1 mutations...
At the 2016 American Society for Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, researchers reported early success with two new experimental agents for high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes—enasidenib (also known as AG-221), a potent oral inhibitor of the isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) enzyme,...
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics in several different types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs), including mantle cell lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma. For...
Stephen Ansell, MD, PhD, Chair of the Mayo Clinic Lymphoma Group, said the “exciting results” of these studies indicated that “we have come a long way in Hodgkin lymphoma.” “It’s been very gratifying to see that the excellent initial trial results with the anti–programmed cell death protein 1...
Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the malignancies most susceptible to treatment with monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein (PD-1). Nivolumab (Opdivo) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in patients with relapsed/refractory...
Amber Orman, MD, of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Breast Section, at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, who was not involved in this study, said: “This study provides guidance when deciding how best to integrate postmastectomy reconstruction and radiation therapy. This is an area...
Postmastectomy radiation is becoming more commonly used to treat breast cancer, and at the same time, there is an increasing trend among women to have breast reconstruction. Until now, oncologists have had little evidence on what the best reconstruction options are in women who require radiation...
Moderator of the press conference on this study, Virginia Kaklamani, MD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, agreed that an improvement in response is important. “If you are a patient with symptoms, such as a cough from lung metastases, and I give you a combination...
A randomized phase II study in women with metastatic breast cancer who have mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 evaluated the addition of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor veliparib to combination chemotherapy. The trial did not meet its primary endpoint.1 Hyo Sook Han, MD, of Moffitt...
A scalp-cooling device was found safe and effective in preventing chemotherapy-induced hair loss in women undergoing adjuvant treatment for breast cancer in an interim analysis of the first prospective, randomized trial of a modern scalp-cooling system. The study was presented at the 2016 San...
Melinda L. Telli, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, commented on this topic for The ASCO Post. She said the results of the two studies reinforce what has been emerging about the prognostic impact of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. “We have known...
Three clinical trials of the immunotherapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) have shown that it is active against a rare subtype of skin cancer, mucosal melanoma. The findings were presented by Butler et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (ECCO) (Abstract 1142). Until now, mucosal melanoma has often...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Gray et al found that many medical oncologists did not use genomic testing endorsed by guidelines in place in 2012 and 2013 in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and colorectal cancer. The study involved a survey of U.S....
On February 2, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have...
Studies presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium added to growing evidence that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are important prognostic factors in breast cancer. One investigation evaluated their impact in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, finding a linear relationship between...
Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said the results of the ONO-4538 trial were impressive in light of this challenging patient population. “You see a significant benefit in a highly refractory gastric cancer population,” he said. Dr. Lenz cautioned:...
Gastric cancer can apparently be added to the growing list of malignancies for which drugs targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD‑1) receptor are effective, according to the results of the phase III ONO-4538 investigation conducted in Asia and presented at the 2017 Gastrointestinal...
It was a call from a referring physician who wanted the patient to be transferred to our major academic center. The patient had a history of a lethal malignancy in a very advanced stage. The patient was already outside the bell curve, for she had survived far longer than expected for a malignancy...
On January 19, 2017, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, issued the following statement: Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is establishing the Oncology Center of Excellence and appointing Richard Pazdur, MD, as its Director. This will make oncology...
Frank A. Sinicrope, MD, Professor of Medicine and Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, told The ASCO Post that the regimen of irinotecan/cetuximab (Erbitux)/vemurafenib (Zelboraf) could be an important approach to treating this challenging tumor subtype. “BRAF-mutated tumors have a...
In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have mutations in BRAF V600, the addition of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) to cetuximab (Erbitux) and irinotecan significantly improved progression-free survival, results of the phase II Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) 1406 trial have...
On February 1, 2017, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) issued the following statement: “According to its own public reports, in 2016 Phillip Morris manufactured 800 billion cigarettes. Thus, [IASLC] views with some skepticism Philip Morris’ recent...
By 2050, the death rates from malignant melanoma will have decreased from their current levels, but the numbers of people dying from the disease will have increased due to the aging of populations. However, if new treatments for the deadly skin cancer prove to be effective, the numbers of deaths...
A test that measures the levels of five chemicals in the breath has shown promising results for the detection of cancers of the esophagus and stomach in a large patient trial presented by Markar et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 6LBA). Together, stomach and esophageal...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ornstein et al found that an intermittent schedule of sunitinib (Sutent) may be feasible in patients with previously untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Study Details In the study, 37 patients with clear cell metastatic...
In a phase III trial (ASCEND-4) reported in The Lancet, Soria et al found that ceritinib (Zykadia) improved progression-free survival vs platinum-based chemotherapy in first-line treatment of advanced ALK-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Ceritinib is a next-generation selective...
Today, the American Society of Hematology, the American Association for Cancer Research, the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and the LUNGevity Foundation issued a statement on the...
Few studies have explored the association between metabolic phenotype and colorectal cancer incidence in normal-weight individuals. Now, a study comparing the risk of colorectal cancer in normal-weight postmenopausal women with a metabolically unhealthy phenotype vs those with a metabolically...
A growing number of patients with cancer are benefiting from research advances in immunotherapy, leading ASCO to name immunotherapy as the Society's Advance of the Year for a second year in a row. Released today, Clinical Cancer Advances 2017: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer...
In the UK PROMIS study reported in The Lancet, Ahmed et al found that use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MP-MRI) might reduce the need for transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsy and may improve detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. Study Details In the ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Antonio Finelli, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on management of small renal masses. The guideline was derived from an expert panel literature search for and...
An Italian single-center trial compared treatment with sublingual fentanyl tablets and subcutaneous morphine in managing severe pain episodes in cancer patients receiving opioid treatment. In the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zecca et al reported that the trial did not show noninferiority of...
In the European phase III ESPAC-4 trial reported in The Lancet, Neoptolemos et al found that adding adjuvant capecitabine to gemcitabine significantly improved overall survival in patients with resected pancreatic cancer. Study Details In the open-label trial, 730 patients from 92 hospitals in...
Electra D. Paskett, PhD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses an intervention that increased knowledge of lymphedema in breast cancer, and the personal story that drove her research (Abstract 104).
Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, summarizes a session she co-chaired on the unique issues affecting adolescent and young adult patients, including their psychosocial needs and concerns that clinicians may overlook.
Mohammad Abu Zaid, MD, of Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, discusses findings from a multicenter study of North American testicular cancer survivors, their prevalence of hypertension, risk factors for metabolic syndrome, and the need for screening and treatment (Abstract 102).
Emily S. Tonorezos, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses childhood cancer survivors and the protection from late-occurring anthracycline-related cardiotoxicity conferred by a RARG coding variant.
Shawna V. Hudson, PhD, of Rutgers University, discusses a survivorship program designed to improve the quality of life for Hispanic and Latino breast cancer survivors (Abstract 183).
Breast-conserving therapy (breast-conserving surgery combined with radiation therapy) may be superior to mastectomy in certain patients with breast cancer, according to results from the largest study on this topic to date, presented at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 4LBA). Although...
Women over 50 who have been treated for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are more likely to be alive 10 years later than women in the general population, according to new research presented by Elshof et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (ECCO) (Abstract 173). DCIS differs from breast cancer...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Shen et al found that more than three-quarters of patients receiving targeted oral therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) reached the catastrophic phase of the Medicare Part D benefit within the calendar year of starting such treatment....
In a study reported in JAMA, Mokdad et al found that cancer mortality rates have dropped from 240.2 to 192.0/100,000 population between 1980 and 2014. Mortality rates varied widely among U.S. counties for various cancers. The report covers 29 cancers in 3,144 counties. Summarized here are findings...
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) arise is the wall of the digestive tract and most often occur in the stomach or small intestine. Though more common in later in life, GISTs can occur in adolescents and young adults (AYA) under 40 years old as well. In an article published by Fero et al in...
An international panel of experts has released updated evidence-based and expert opinion–based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults. The recommendations were issued by the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) and published by Döhner et al in...
In a longitudinal study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Husson et al found that health-related quality of life improved between diagnosis and 2 years after diagnosis in adolescent/young adult (AYA) patients with cancer, but it remained impaired compared with population norms. Study...