Investigators have found that the targeted therapy osimertinib may be associated with improved progression-free survival when administered after chemotherapy and radiation in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, according to a...
In a retrospective study (WARMTH Act) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sathekge et al found that actinium-225–prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) radioligand therapy showed activity in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Study Details The study consisted of 448...
Umang Swami, MD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, describes the molecular and immunologic mechanisms of metastatic tropism in advanced prostate cancer, data that may facilitate future drug development. In patients with metastatic disease, specific sites are associated with...
In a U.S./Canadian phase IIb trial (PREVENT-HF) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Armenian et al found that the beta-blocker carvedilol did not significantly improve cardiac function—measured as standardized left ventricular wall thickness–dimension ratio Z score (LVWT/Dz)—vs placebo in survivors of ...
In January 2021, two of us wrote in these pages about our field’s pressing need to pivot away from identifying and deploying the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) when it comes to targeted oncology therapies.1 We argued that, instead, one should be looking for the “optimal dose”—the dose that best...
Researchers may have uncovered a novel epigenetic pathway involved in the development of treatment resistance in melanoma and a chemical reagent that may be effective in resensitizing treatment-resistant tumors to targeted therapies, according to a recent study published by Wu et al in The Journal...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Trad et al found that individuals with cancer in the United States who were switched from low- to high-deductible employer-sponsored health plans had higher out-of-pocket costs but no reduction in the number of oncologist visits; these patients, however, had...
Researchers may have uncovered a novel strategy to identify which patients may experience poorer outcomes from chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy prior to treatment, according to a recent study published by Faramand et al in Blood Cancer Discovery. The findings indicate opportunities to ...
We have been taught that early cancer detection and treatment save lives. The way to cure cancer is to find it early and treat it aggressively. The public has subscribed to this approach in our struggle to “eradicate cancer.” In certain disease types, there is merit to this philosophy. The ability...
An increase in annual cardiorespiratory fitness may be linked to a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, according to a recent study published by Bolam et al in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Background There are relatively few known risk factors for prostate cancer. Although research...
Investigators have found that the protein UCHL1 may be used as a molecular biomarker for diagnosing patients with highly aggressive neuroendocrine carcinomas and neuroblastoma and predicting and monitoring responses to therapy, according to a study published by Liu et al in Cell Reports Medicine....
Investigators discovered that overweight and obesity may be contributing to rising rates of colon cancer mortality in younger patients, according to a recent study published by Santucci et al in the Annals of Oncology. The findings represent the first time colon cancer mortality rates among younger ...
Postoperative pulmonary embolism may be predictive of increased 30-day mortality, reintubation, and readmission rates in patients with lung cancer, according to recent findings presented by Axtell et al at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting. Background Patients with lung cancer...
In a U.S. multicenter retrospective analysis reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Amin H. Nassar, MD, and colleagues found that immune checkpoint inhibition resulted in mostly moderate activity in patients with primary cardiac soft-tissue sarcomas. Study Details The study included 24 patients with...
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has provided a new set of recommendations to eliminate inequities in cancer care in light of World Cancer Day on February 4, according to the new World Cancer Day 2024 Equity Report. Background Since its establishment in 2000, World Cancer Day has...
Subsequent systemic therapy with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab may offer overall survival benefit in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma who underwent surgery to remove their tumors, according to recent findings presented by Geynisman et al at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary...
Milind M. Javle, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase II results on tinengotinib, a next-generation FGFR inhibitor that seems to overcome acquired resistance and shows efficacy in patients with cholangiocarcinoma with other FGFR alterations who are not eligible...
A prospective pilot study investigating the use of early fluorodeoxyglucose F-18 (FDG) positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in patients with advanced melanoma has found that metabolic changes in melanoma metastases detected on early FDG PET/CT imaging are potentially predictive ...
The phase III KEYNOTE-564 study has reported that adjuvant pembrolizumab provides a significant improvement in overall survival for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma at high risk of recurrence after surgery. This study is significant, as it represents the first phase III study to show...
Patients with muscle-invasive urothelial cancer and a high risk of recurrence after surgery may have a new treatment option. The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology announced positive results from the phase III AMBASSADOR (A031501) trial for the adjuvant treatment of patients with localized...
The incidence and mortality of cervical cancer may be rising in patients residing in low-income areas of the United States, according to a recent study published by Amboree et al in the International Journal of Cancer. Study Methods and Results In the recent study, investigators used the...
The development of any type of secondary cancer following chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may be rare, according to a recent study published by Ghilardi et al in Nature Medicine. Background Secondary cancers, including T-cell lymphomas, are known risks of cancer treatments such as...
Harry P. Erba, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Leukemia Program in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, told The ASCO Post he was not surprised by one of the key findings reported by Smith et ...
Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with extrapelvic nodal or visceral metastasis who were treated with the combination of cabozantinib plus atezolizumab had significantly improved time to disease progression compared with those who were treated with hormonal therapy. This ...
A recent study, published by Wang et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, conducted as part of the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE), may provide new insights into how diet may affect aging in adult survivors of childhood cancer. This study, involving 3,322 participants aged 18 to 65, found that ...
Decisions regarding the rationing of chemotherapy are commonplace in many countries around the world—including those where patients must pay for chemotherapy out of pocket—and increasingly so in cancer settings that treat both well-off and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. However, these...
At the 2023 Global Cardio-Oncology Symposium (GCOS), international experts explored the ongoing collaborative efforts to improve the cardiovascular health of patients being treated for cancer as well as the bidirectional challenges of translating basic research to clinical care. Focus on Basic and...
Invited discussant of the abstracts on the virtual mind-body fitness program and the BRIDGE intervention from the 2023 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, Daniel Curtis McFarland, DO, MS, of Wilmot Cancer Center, University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, said they highlight the unmet need...
Recent studies by multidisciplinary teams at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Massachusetts General Hospital are illuminating novel ways to address health-care challenges faced by patients with cancer. The research, presented at the 2023 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, highlights the...
Invited discussant Laura Huppert, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, Comprehensive Cancer Center, focused her remarks on the need for biomarkers for selection of immunotherapy as part of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. “Hormone...
Heather Han, MD, Research Director, Department of Breast Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, commented on the latest update from the NATALEE trial: “Despite the established standard adjuvant therapy, many patients with hormone receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer (including stages...
Invasive disease–free survival continued to be significantly improved for patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, early-stage breast cancer who received the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib plus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor compared with a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor alone....
In a press briefing at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, Cynthia E. Dunbar, MD, ASH Secretary and Chief of the Translational Stem Cell Biology Branch, Intramural Research Program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, offered her thoughts on...
Patients with multiple myeloma treated in the “real world” had worse outcomes than patients who received the same treatment on clinical trials, according to research presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 In a pooled analysis of clinical trial...
Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Medical Director of Quality Informatics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, offered his thoughts on the combination of venetoclax and ibrutinib in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma, as presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
Paul J. Hampel, MD, a hematologist/oncologist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, underscored the complexity of this arm of the adaptive FLAIR trial, which compared measurable residual disease (MRD)-directed ibrutinib plus venetoclax with standard, fixed-duration, FCR (fludarabine,...
A time-limited approach based on measurable residual disease (MRD) response could signal a potential paradigm shift for front-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to data presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition1 and...
Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, and Dan Vogl, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, shared their thoughts on the PERSEUS trial for The ASCO Post. Dr. Nooka noted that ...
At the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, researchers from Emory University presented a real-world comparison of the largest cohort of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma consecutively treated with either bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone ...
The addition of the CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab to a standard regimen for patients with newly diagnosed transplant-eligible multiple myeloma significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs standard treatment in the phase III PERSEUS trial. The study was reported as a late-breaking...
This is Part 3 of Clinical Considerations in the Treatment of Metastatic ROS1 Fusion–Positive NSCLC, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Narjust Florez, Christine Bestvina, and Debora Bruno discuss first-line...
Subgroup analyses of the randomized double-blind phase III MATTERHORN trial continue to show the benefit of adding perioperative durvalumab to standard chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced, resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. Detailed findings on pathologic complete...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Fujisaki et al found no significant differences among direct oral anticoagulant agents (DOACs) in the prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) associated with active cancer, whereas significant differences in...
On January 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued safety labeling change notification letters to all manufacturers of licensed B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed and CD19-directed genetically modified autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapies requiring ...
Over 50% of all melanoma diagnoses among White patients in the United States may in fact be overdiagnoses, according to a recent study published by Adamson et al in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine. Background “Cases of cutaneous melanoma have risen significantly in the [United States] over the last 40...
Investigators have found that only a minority of patients with Lynch syndrome may be receiving aspirin as chemopreventive therapy, according to new findings presented by Singhal et al at the 2024 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (Abstract 19). Background “[Patients] with Lynch syndrome are...
George D. Demetri, MD, FASCO, Director of the Sarcoma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was awarded the J.E. Wallace Sterling Lifetime Achievement Award in Medicine from the Stanford Medicine Alumni Association (SMAA). Dr. Demetri, an alumnus of the Stanford University School of Medicine,...
The road to my breast cancer diagnosis in 2018 was long and tortuous. For 3 years leading up to the diagnosis, I had imaging scans and tissue biopsies every 3 months because of suspicious masses in my breasts. The uncertainty was so destabilizing that I was in a constant state of emotional unrest....
Late in 2023, Richardson et al shared the results of a phase I/II clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03374085). They concluded that the “all-oral combination of mezigdomide plus dexamethasone showed promising efficacy in patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma.”1 Mezigdomide ...
In the phase III CheckMate 8HW trial, previously untreated patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer derived significant benefit from an immunotherapy doublet of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in the first-line setting, which...