In the phase II SWISH study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rugo et al found that use of a dexamethasone-based mouthwash may prevent everolimus-related stomatitis in postmenopausal women receiving everolimus (Afinitor) for hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer....
Patients in their 80s and 90s who have early-stage lung cancer but cannot undergo an operation can be treated safely and effectively with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), according to research presented by Cassidy et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium (Abstract...
New research led by a radiation oncologist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute indicates that less may be more when it comes to some forms of radiation therapy for cancer. In a presentation highlighted in a plenary session (Abstract 4) at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium in San...
In a Belgian two-center phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Schreuer et al found that rechallenge with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and the MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinist) showed activity in patients with BRAF V600–mutant melanoma whose disease had progressed on...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Perry et al found that adding temozolomide to short-course radiotherapy improved overall survival in patients aged ≥ 65 years with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The survival advantage was largest among patients with methylated ...
Douglas E. Wood, MD, of the University of Washington, discusses the importance of broad access to and education about lung cancer screening—now approved for people at high risk for the disease—and the need for expanded criteria for screening eligibility.
Charles B. Simone, II, MD, of the University of Maryland Medical Center, discusses results from a large prospective study in locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer, which suggest that circulating tumor cells may be a promising biomarker of progressive or recurrent disease and may help guide...
Boris Sepesi, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses immune cells within tumors and the potential role for checkpoint inhibitor therapy in the neoadjuvant setting of locally advanced lung cancer (Abstract 7).
Zofia Piotrowska, MD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, discusses heterogeneity and variation in resistance mechanisms among EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer patients with at least one postresistance biopsy (Abstract 1).
Zhongxing Liao, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the continued improvement in planning, delivery, and patient selection for proton therapy, which can both reduce radiation exposure and increase tumor dose.
Jennifer Ho, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, discusses study results on the use of intensity-modulated proton therapy, which can provide durable local control with minimal toxicity in patients who can have extended survivals; the data also suggest that higher doses may improve...
Tracey L. Evans, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the data supporting use of chemotherapy with radiation in locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer, targeted treatments and immunotherapy, and some of the controversies now debated.
Martin J. Edelman, MD, of Fox Chase Cancer Center, discusses study findings from a phase III study of celecoxib in addition to standard chemotherapy for advanced non–small cell lung cancer with COX-2 overexpression (Abstract 2).
Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD, of Stanford School of Medicine, discusses promising clinical applications of circulating tumor DNA in patients with thoracic malignancies: noninvasive detection of resistance mechanisms to targeted agents and treatment response assessment.
Shraddha M. Dalwadi, MBA, MD Candidate in the class of 2017 at Texas A&M Health Science Center, discusses findings from a SEER database study that showed African Americans and American Indians with stage I non–small cell lung cancer were less likely to receive definitive treatment and had lower ...
Richard J. Cassidy III, MD, of Emory Winship Cancer Institute, discusses results from a multicenter analysis of stereotactic body radiotherapy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer in patients 80 years and older; the patients tolerated the treatment well and had excellent estimated rates of...
Kamran Ahmed, MD, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses results from a small study of pneumonitis in patients who received thoracic radiotherapy within 6 months of anti–PD-1 therapy, anti–PD-L1 therapy, anti–CTLA-4 therapy, or some combination of these drugs...
An emerging approach for cancer treatment seeks to combine radiation therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors to more effectively control tumors in the chest with an acceptable risk of severe treatment-related side effects. About 10% of patients in a retrospective analysis of metastatic lung...
Analysis of the largest American cancer database indicates that racial disparities persist in the treatment and outcomes of patients diagnosed with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite increased availability of potentially curative treatments for early-stage NSCLC,...
A new study offers hope for patients with recurrent lung cancer, who historically have been considered ineligible for curative treatment. In the largest analysis to date of reirradiation using intensity-modulated proton therapy for lung and other thoracic tumors, more than three-fourths of patients ...
Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the chromosomal region containing both ABCB1 and ABCB4 genes were associated with an increased risk of gallbladder cancer, in an Indian case-control genome-wide association study reported in The Lancet Oncology by Mhatre et al. Study Details The study...
The genetic mutations underlying treatment resistance in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are more complex and dynamic than previously thought. Analysis of 355 biopsied tumors from patients who acquired resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors, the most common form...
In the phase III SYNERGY trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Chi et al found that the addition of the second-generation antisense oligonucleotide custirsen to docetaxel and prednisone did not improve overall survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Custirsen...
Results from a prospective clinical trial showed that a blood test looking at specific biomarkers was able to detect recurrences of lung cancer an average of 6 months before conventional imaging methods found evidence of recurrence. In the largest prospective clinical trial to date of circulating...
ASCO President Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FACP, FASCO, released the following statement today: “We soundly oppose President Trump's budget outline, which would cut $6 billion from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Reducing NIH's funding by nearly 20% will devastate our nation's...
In a substudy of a European phase III trial (Nordic Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology ALL2008) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Nygaard Nielsen et al found that higher leukocyte DNA-incorporated thioguanine nucleotide (DNA-TGN) levels were associated with an improved relapse-free...
To reduce costs and improve quality of care, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made reducing hospital readmission rates a priority, yet two research studies presented at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer question the use...
Parental concern that a child is not sexually active is declining as a reason parents do not vaccinate their children against papillomavirus (HPV), according to a study presented by Beavis et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2017 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer...
A new immunotherapy drug, axalimogene filoslisbac (AXAL), showed improved survival rates for patients with cervical cancer, according to a study presented at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. Study coauthor Charles Leath, MD, MSPH, an SGO member ...
Secondary endpoint results from the phase III ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial of niraparib were presented at the 2017 Society for Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer, by Sven Mahner, MD, Director, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Munich. “The results of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) therapy, for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients who have refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma or have relapsed after three or more prior lines of...
A new study demonstrates that the use of less radiation therapy for patients with breast cancer who have undergone lumpectomy does not negatively impact patient outcomes, and could result in significant reductions in health-care costs. These findings, which examine patient eligibility for...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ladenstein et al found that high-dose chemotherapy with busulfan and melphalan vs carboplatin, etoposide, and melphalan was associated with an improved event-free survival in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma and adequate disease response to ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Green et al found that risk factors for death within 1 month of diagnosis of childhood cancer included age up to 1 year, specific diagnoses, and minority race/ethnicity. The study involved analysis of data from SEER (Surveillance,...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dhesy-Thind, ofJuravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton Health Sciences, and colleagues, Cancer Care Ontario and ASCO have issued a clinical practice guideline on the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates and other bone-modifying agents in breast cancer. The...
Long-term follow-up of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) randomized to imatinib in the IRIS trial was reported by Hochhaus et al in The New England Journal of Medicine. In the open-label crossover-design trial, 1,106 patients with CML were randomized to receive imatinib at 400 mg/d (n = ...
In a large European cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Smith Byrne et al found that vasectomy was not associated with an increased overall risk of prostate cancer or death from prostate cancer but appeared to increase the risk of lower-grade disease. Other studies have...
In the phase III NEMO trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Dummer et al found that treatment with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib improved progression-free survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced NRAS-mutant melanoma. Study Details In the open-label trial, 402 patients from 118 sites in ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rosenthal et al found evidence of a shift to an earlier stage among ovarian cancers detected in high-risk women in the UK Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study. Study Details The study was performed to evaluate performance of screening using...
In the phase III TOWER trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Kantarjian et al found that blinatumomab (Blincyto) treatment improved overall survival vs chemotherapy in heavily pretreated patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Blinatumomab received...
ASCO and the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) have proudly announced the winners of ASCO's Special Awards, the Society's highest honors, and the CCF Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. The recipients of these awards include researchers, patient advocates, and global oncology leaders...
On March 13, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ribociclib (Kisqali), a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor, in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as initial endocrine-based therapy for the treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive,...
A genetically engineered mouse model developed by Blattner et al investigating the role of the gene Speckle Type BTB/POZ Protein, or SPOP, as a driver of prostate cancer has found that the mutation drives prostate neoplasia through coordinate deregulation of both P13K/mTOR and androgen receptor...
Regular exercise appears to help mitigate the increased cardiovascular risk faced by women treated for breast cancer, according to a study scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session (ACC.17). The study found that women with breast cancer who...
Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified a stem cell–regulating gene that affects tumor growth in patients with brain cancer and can strongly influence survival rates of patients. The findings, published by Edwards et al in Nature Scientific Reports, could move physicians closer to their...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Salloum et al found that use of nonindicated imaging for diagnostic staging of low-risk prostate cancer in a nonprofit integrated health-care system remained common but has decreased in frequency. As noted by the authors: “The overuse...
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hummel et al found that use of an Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention improved sexual functioning among breast cancer survivors. Study Details In the study, 169 women with a diagnosis of sexual dysfunction from 10 ...
In the UK phase III LUNGSTAR study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Seckl et al found that adding pravastatin to first-line standard chemotherapy did not improve overall survival in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Numerous large prospective cohort and registry studies...
The importance of a strong federal investment in cancer research was front and center at ASCO’s congressional briefing this past month, where the Society presented Clinical Cancer Advances 2017: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer. In addition to announcing the top cancer advance of the ...
ASCO is working—through research, education, and promotion of the highest quality patient care—toward a world where cancer is prevented or cured, and every survivor is healthy. With the goal of ensuring that all patients receive the high-quality care they expect and deserve, ASCO is committed to...