Seth Wander, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mass General Cancer Center, Boston, commented on the findings of the EMERALD trial. “We have seen a large amount of new data emerging related to elacestrant and other novel SERDs [selective estrogen receptor degraders]. Despite initial expectations based...
In a UK study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Lee et al found that systematic random biopsies were more likely than endoscopically targeted biopsies to first detect signet ring cell carcinoma during endoscopic surveillance of individuals meeting testing criteria for hereditary diffuse gastric...
World Cancer Day 2023 is now only 1 month away! Led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and organized annually on February 4, World Cancer Day is a global initiative to improve awareness and knowledge of cancer risks and better prevent, detect, and treat the disease. World Cancer...
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered a novel immunotherapy combination, targeting checkpoints in both T cells and myeloid suppressor cells, that successfully reprogrammed the tumor immune microenvironment and significantly improved antitumor responses in...
Research conducted by UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Cincinnati showed that direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are more effective—and more cost-effective—than low–molecular-weight heparin for treating cancer-associated thrombosis. A study published by Gulati et al in...
Nearly one-fourth of patients with breast cancer who start breast reconstruction after mastectomy don't complete the reconstructive process. The concept of reconstructive burnout was introduced and discussed in a study published by Halani et al in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive...
In a single-center phase II trial (HYPORT-STS) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Guadagnolo et al found that a hypofractionated 3-week course of preoperative radiotherapy was safe in patients with soft-tissue sarcomas and may serve as an alternative to conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in...
In a Canadian phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Behroozian et al found that the use of Mepitel film—a silicone-based polyurethane film dressing—significantly reduced the incidence of grade 2 or 3 acute radiation dermatitis vs usual care in at-risk women receiving...
On December 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mosunetuzumab-axgb (Lunsumio) for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. Mosunetuzumab-axgb is a CD20/CD3 T-cell–engaging bispecific antibody and...
ASCO recently released an updated position statement on drug repository programs. The update shifts ASCO’s position to allow donation of oral cancer drug treatments in an open distribution system—which are drugs that have left the supply chain and have been dispensed to patients. ASCO’s previous...
ASCO and the European Cancer Organisation (ECO) are pleased to announce a new collaboration, formalized with a recently signed memorandum of understanding, that will advance their shared aims on cancer control. The two organizations will continue to work together to support the ECO-ASCO Special...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and ASCO recently released a joint policy statement outlining the latest research on the use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and recommendations for regulating these products to protect public health. The...
The KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib demonstrated clinically meaningful anticancer activity with an acceptable safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with KRAS G12C–mutated metastatic pancreatic cancer, accordi�ng to a novel study published by Strickler et al in The New England Journal of...
New findings revealed that the highest mortality rates for prostate cancer among White male patients were found in the Western United States—including California—despite low incidence rates, according to a new study published by Schafer et al in European Urology. However, when compared with White...
For this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Laurie Glimcher, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). She is also Director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Principal...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In the concluding half of this two-part installment, which began in our November 25 issue, Drs. Syed Ali Abutalib and Mrinal M. Patnaik continue to explore the current...
Diarrhea in patients with cancer is a well-known phenomenon with clear guidelines for prevention and management. However, it remains a condition with poorly explored consequences and a lack of sufficient and fast-acting treatments. In a webinar presented by members of the Multinational Association...
After a 4-year in-person hiatus because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the World Cancer Congress, hosted by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), held its first hybrid in-person and virtual meeting in October in Geneva. The conference brought together more than 2,000 attendees from...
A microbiome-derived therapeutic vaccine (EO2401) has demonstrated immune responses and anticancer activity in combination with nivolumab and bevacizumab in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, one of the most difficult-to-treat cancers, according to data presented at the 2022 Society for...
As a result of breakthroughs in immune checkpoint inhibitors over the past decade, immunotherapy has joined surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy as one of the pillars of cancer treatment. However, nearly half of patients still do not benefit from immune checkpoint blockade. During the 2022...
Several studies presented during the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition uncovered significant disparities in medical care and health outcomes among patients of different racial backgrounds, nationalities, and socioeconomic status across a range of blood...
Commenting on the DESTINY-Breast03 presentation at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Neelima Vidula, MD, a medical oncologist at Mass General Cancer Center, said: “The results highlight the important survival differences of T-DXd [fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki] compared to T-DM1...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) proved to be superior to the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), significantly improving progression-free survival and overall survival, in women with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer as ...
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the world, and nowhere more so than in the health-care arena. Significant changes happened almost overnight in the delivery of medical care to focus on the safety and convenience of patients, staff, and providers. Although pilot efforts to integrate telemedicine...
Just days before the publication of the 2022 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer on October 27, 2022,1 which showed a continued downward trend in cancer deaths, Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS), joined the First Lady Dr. Jill...
Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, Director of Breast Cancer Research and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and attending physician at Mass General Cancer Center, Boston, commented on the RIGHT Choice trial. Based on this study, he noted, few patients should be excluded from treatment with...
According to findings from the phase II RIGHT Choice trial, many premenopausal patients with metastatic hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer experiencing visceral crisis are best treated with first-line ribociclib plus endocrine therapy rather than with chemotherapy.1 Ribociclib,...
In a study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Kondapalli et al found that cardiovascular events common in the general population were observed both prior to and after initiation of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for cancer; myocarditis was more common posttreatment, but infrequent. Agreement...
The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), an SABCS cosponsor, honored two researchers for their significant contributions to breast cancer research at the 2022 SABCS. 2022 AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research Charles ...
Lali Medina-Kauwe, PhD, former Co-Leader of the Cancer Biology Program in Cedars-Sinai Cancer, assumed a new role as Associate Director for Basic Research. The Cancer Biology Program will now be led by Dolores Di Vizio, MD, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in ...
“I was in bed in the surgical wing of Duke University Hospital when the doctor popped his head in and smiled apologetically before flicking on the fluorescent lights. It was 4:00 AM, the end of my second night in the hospital, but nobody sleeps in the conventional sense,” writes Kate Bowler in the...
Fox Chase Cancer Center was recently awarded a grant for $6 million over the course of 5 years to develop a new Cancer Prevention-Interception Targeted Agent Discovery Program (CAP-IT). The new National Cancer Institute (NCI) program was created to establish a pipeline for the discovery of new...
Although mandates by ASCO and the American Cancer Society to meet the needs of underserved populations have drawn much-needed awareness to the issue, patients with cancer who experience bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other debilitating mental illnesses continue to experience significantly...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Stephen R.D. Johnston, MD, PhD, and colleagues, an interim analysis of overall survival in the phase III monarchE trial has shown no significant benefit with the addition of adjuvant abemaciclib to endocrine therapy in patients with hormone receptor–positive,...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nyberg et al developed the risk model CanRisk-Prostate for predicting the development of prostate cancer based on age, detailed cancer family history, moderate- to high-risk pathogenic variants, and a polygenic score for common low-risk...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the targeted imaging agent pafolacianine (Cytalux) for use in lung cancer surgery. This injectable diagnostic binds to cancerous tissue and glows when stimulated by near-infrared light, making it easier for surgeons to remove tumors...
In 2017, I noticed a roadside billboard touting the benefits of low-dose computed tomography (CT) imaging for lung cancer screening. The message probably saved my life. The public service campaign, called Saved by the Scan from the American Lung Association, included an Internet address where I...
Even as they’ve revolutionized cancer treatment, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been shown to produce a range of adverse immune-related side effects. Researchers have now identified inherited genetic variations that may place patients at high risk for complications when undergoing treatment with ...
Gladys Magaly Rodriguez, MD, was born in Piedras Negras, Mexico, a city situated along the banks of the Rio Grande. At age 6, her family immigrated to Eagle Pass, Texas, a border town of some 30,000 people that is predominantly Latinx and Spanish speaking. “Even though I lived and attended school...
Lymphoma expert Alex Herrera, MD, was born in Miami; his parents were just 19 years old when he was born. Dr. Herrera’s father was born in Puerto Rico to Cuban and Ecuadorian parents. His mother was born in Cuba and came to the United States via Operation Peter Pan, the clandestine program that...
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signed into law on August 16, 2022, contains several important provisions regarding health care and drug pricing.1 In this article, I provide an overview of the legislation’s implications for oncology care, focusing on its provisions concerning drug price...
Sean Khozin, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discusses the “external validity deficits” of randomized clinical trials, which still involve only about 5% of adults with cancer, who may differ in important ways from real-world populations. Dr. Khozin describes the reasons for...
On December 14, U.S. Representative Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act (CCSA)—legislation that will address...
Investigators revealed that the travel time to the nearest mammography facility may be long for a considerable proportion of patients in the United States, particularly affecting more than 50% of patients in the rural areas of 28 states, according to a new study published by Wiese et al in the...
The novel MinimuMM-seq technique may make it possible to detect tumor cells in individuals at higher risk for multiple myeloma, assess the risk of disease progression in patients with myeloma, and track genetic changes in tumor cells over time from a single blood sample, according to a new study...
On December 14, Monica M. FACS, Bertagnolli, MD, FASCO, Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), released the following statement: I was very recently diagnosed with early breast cancer. The prognosis is very favorable. The cancer is hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer...
Richter syndrome is an aggressive lymphoma that develops in up to 1% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and it serves as an example of histologic transformation. While recent advances have transformed the treatment landscape of CLL, Richter syndrome remains associated with poor...
Zanubrutinib showed superior efficacy to ibrutinib—with fewer side effects—in the first head-to-head comparison between the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), according to data presented by Jennifer...
A new phase II trial demonstrated that the chemotherapy-free regimen of ponatinib and blinatumomab may have achieved high response rates and reduced the need for an allogeneic stem cell transplant for patients with recently diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic...
The bispecific T-cell engager molecule blinatumomab was found to improve overall survival for patients with no measurable residual disease (MRD) after initial treatment for B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to the phase III ECOG-ACRIN E1910 trial presented by Litzow et al at...