A phase III trial (SELECT-1) has shown no improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of the MEK inhibitor selumetinib to docetaxel in the second-line treatment of patients with KRAS-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Trial results were reported by Jänne et al in...
A study by Mariotto et al investigating the prevalence of women living with metastatic breast cancer in the United States estimates that there are 154,794 women living with the disease. In addition, the median and 5-year relative survival for women initially diagnosed with metastatic breast...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or...
A population-based cohort study by Fedewa et al investigating whether the risk for interval colorectal cancer—defined as cancer that develops after a negative colonoscopy result but before the next recommended screening—varies by race or ethnicity has found that black patients face a...
Data presented at the 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) showed harmful links between the use of e-cigarettes and bladder cancer risk, and associated the smoking of traditional cigarettes to a higher risk of mortality among patients with bladder cancer. Even ...
New results presented at the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting from a large, community-based, multicenter clinical validation study conducted at Kaiser Permanente confirmed that the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score (GPS) test is a strong independent predictor of prostate...
Data presented at the 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) showed new findings related to the impact of certain genetic mutations on the risk and development of prostate cancer, in particular metastatic disease. Male BRCA Mutations An analysis by Mano et al...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Lee et al, a phase I study has shown activity of the combination of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab with either the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) or vascular endothelial growth...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Laurent et al, expert review of lymphoma diagnoses in French patients resulted in a change in diagnosis in 19.4% of cases of noncutaneous disease. Study Details In the study, 42,145 samples from patients with newly diagnosed or suspected...
As reported by Kim et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the phase II ALTA trial showed that the next-generation oral ALK inhibitor brigatinib produced a high response rate, including intracranial responses, in patients with advanced crizotinib-refractory non–small cell lung cancer...
An observational study of 826 patients with stage III colon cancer showed that those who consumed 2 ounces or more of nuts per week had a 42% lower chance of cancer recurrence and 57% lower chance of death than those who did not eat nuts. A secondary analysis revealed the benefit of nut consumption ...
In one of the first large studies to explore the possible impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on oral HPV infections, researchers found it may confer a high degree of protection. The study of young adults in the United States showed that the prevalence of high-risk HPV infection was...
The targeted therapy gefitinib (Iressa) appears more effective in preventing recurrence after lung cancer surgery than the standard of care, chemotherapy. In a phase III clinical trial, patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive, stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer ...
A study of 992 patients with stage III colon cancer found that those who reported a healthy lifestyle during and following adjuvant treatment had a 42% lower chance of death and a trend for lower chance of cancer recurrence than those who had less healthy lifestyles. The study will be presented by...
An analysis of nearly 273,000 patients showed that between 2013 and 2014 there was a 1% increase in the percentage of breast, lung, and colorectal cancers diagnosed at the earliest, most treatable stage. Considering the thousands of people diagnosed with these cancers annually, a 1% increase in...
A phase III randomized clinical trial in 447 patients with biliary tract cancers showed that treating the disease with capecitabine after surgery extends survival by a median of 15 months compared to surgery alone. The finding could provide the basis for a new standard of care in the disease. This ...
After phase I results of Seattle Children's Pediatric Leukemia Adoptive Therapy (PLAT-02) trial, published by Gardner et al in Blood, showed T-cell immunotherapy to be effective in sending 93% of patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) into complete initial...
Opioid overdoses are claiming the lives of thousands of Canadians. The impact of the opioid crisis continues to be devastating to individuals, families, and communities. Inappropriate prescribing of opioids has led to long-term dependence on this class of drugs. To help address problematic...
A UK retrospective study showed that colonoscopic surveillance was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer among patients with removal of intermediate-risk adenomas. The study was reported in The Lancet Oncology by Atkin et al. Study Details The study involved routine lower...
A final efficacy analysis of the Intergroup Exemestane Study, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Morden et al, shows continued benefit of switching to adjuvant exemestane after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen in patients with early breast cancer. Study Details In the trial, patients who...
A phase I study reported by Burris et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has shown that the first-in-class agonist anti-CD27 antibody varlilumab is well tolerated and active in patients with advanced solid tumors. CD27 is a co-stimulatory molecule on T cells that induces intracellular signaling ...
Radiotherapy alone is often used to treat early-stage glottic cancer. However, the optimal radiation treatment schedule remains unknown. Both hypofractionated radiotherapy and conventionally fractionated radiotherapy are recommended treatment options. In an attempt to compare differences in overall ...
The risk of colorectal cancer increased significantly when colonoscopy was delayed by more than 9 months following a positive fecal screening test, according to a large Kaiser Permanente study published by Rutter et al in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “With this study, we...
In a phase II trial, Khan et al found that hypofractionated postmastectomy radiotherapy, completed in 15 treatment days, was safe and effective in women with stage II to IIIa breast cancer. The study was reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details In the study, 67 women from 2...
Hanna et al have reported that the 2013 update to the 2007 ASCO/College of American Pathologists (CAP) recommendations for HER2 testing in breast cancer did not result in changes in the overall HER2-positivity rate but was associated with a higher rate of equivocal results. Their findings were...
In the phase III RICMAC trial, use of a dose-reduced vs a standard myeloablative conditioning regimen prior to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) did not appear to reduce 2-year relapse-free or overall survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. These findings were reported by...
ASCO and the oncology community are deeply saddened by the loss of Robert L. Comis, MD, FASCO, who passed away on May 10, 2017, at the age of 71. Dr. Comis was a powerful voice in support of clinical trials, cooperative group research, and patient advocacy throughout his career. “Bob helped...
In a study of 2012 data, Tai et al, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that average costs per hospital stay for cancer-related neutropenia or fever were approximately $25,000, with a total cost of more than $2.7 billion. Their study was published in the Journal of Oncology ...
The phase III PHEREXA trial has shown no significant improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to trastuzumab (Herceptin)/capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer with disease progression during or after trastuzumab-based...
On May 8, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the copackaging of ribociclib (Kisqali) and letrozole (Femara) tablets for the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal ...
On May 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy, in combination with pemetrexed (Alimta) and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer...
Many patients with cancer who receive vinca alkaloids such as vincristine have a treatment regimen including other chemotherapy drugs that are administered intrathecally. If vincristine is mistakenly administered into the spinal fluid, it is uniformly fatal, causing ascending paralysis, neurologic...
ASCO has released findings from a collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that explored centralizing the development of coverage analyses for multisite cancer clinical trials. In an ASCO special article published by Szczepanek et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice,...
Radiotherapy at a high enough dose may increase survival in early-stage pancreatic cancer, according to research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 36 Conference (Abstract OC-0426). Previous research has suggested that radiotherapy may be of little help to...
Treating prostate cancer with a single, high dose of radiation delivered precisely to the site of the tumor results in good quality of life and fewer trips to the hospital, with adverse side effects that are no worse than if the radiation treatment had been given in several lower doses. These...
Although radiation therapy is an essential part of modern cancer treatment, and is indicated for about half of all new cancer patients, facilities for its provision are sadly lacking in many countries worldwide. Indeed, 29 out of 52 African nations have no radiotherapy facilities whatsoever. At the ...
Around half of women who have been treated for locally advanced cervical cancer suffer from symptoms of insomnia, fatigue, or hot flashes at some point, according to new research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 36 Conference (Abstract OC-0051). Cervical...
An update to the 2012 International Pediatric Fever and Neutropenia Guideline Panel recommendations for management of fever and neutropenia in children with cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients was reported by Lehrnbecher et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology....
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has recommended against thyroid cancer screening in asymptomatic individuals. The current USPSTF statement is an update of a 1996 USPSTF recommendation statement. The recommendation was based on task force review of evidence on...
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death across the globe. Significant efforts, such as the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Moon Shots Program, will drive advances in cancer prevention, screening, and treatment. However, right now,...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to avelumab (Bavencio) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease progressed during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Brigitte Dréno, MD, of Nantes University, Nantes, France, and colleagues found that two long-term intermittent vismodegib (Erivedge) dosing regimens provided a similar reduction in the number of clinically significant basal cell carcinomas among...
In the FIRES prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Emma C. Rossi, MD, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues found that sentinel lymph node mapping was highly accurate in detecting metastases compared with complete lymphadenectomy in women with...
In a retrospective study in three U.S. institutions reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Pelosof et al found that never smokers accounted for an increasing proportion of cases of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) during the period from 1990 to 2013. Joan Schiller, MD, of the...
In an individual patient data meta-analysis reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Lee et al found no difference in overall survival for first-line treatment with the first-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors gefitinib (Iressa) or...
Getting a callback after a routine screening mammogram in 2013 did not set off any alarm bells. Having dense breasts has almost guaranteed receiving the dreaded callback ever since I started getting annual screenings. But when I got a second callback after additional images of a suspicious lesion...
Luis A. Diaz, MD, has been named Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). Dr. Diaz most recently served as Associate Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Diaz formally...
The field of psycho-oncology began to take hold in the mid-1970s, when the “C” word was beginning to lose its long-held stigmatization, and patients with cancer could finally begin to openly reveal their diagnosis and express their feelings about their life-threatening disease. Despite that social ...
Detection of EGFR mutations in circulating tumor (ct) DNA from plasma samples can be accomplished using the cobas platform, according to findings presented by Kumar et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) (Abstract 95PD). Assays of ctDNA offer a noninvasive method of finding EGFR...
On February 22, lenalidomide (Revlimid) was approved as maintenance therapy for patients with multiple myeloma following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.1,2 The drug was previously approved to treat multiple myeloma (in combination with dexamethasone), anemia caused by...