We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in lung cancer. In the past 2 years, the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (anti–PD-1) inhibitors nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) were found to improve overall survival in the second-line setting compared with docetaxel for patients with...
In the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Martin Reck, MD, PhD, of the German Center of Lung Research, Grosshansdorf, and colleagues, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly improved progression-free and overall survival vs platinum-based chemotherapy in...
Here is a brief look at the study findings and clinical implications of several recent and important clinical trials in neoplastic hematology. Attention is focused on myelodysplastic syndromes, multiple myeloma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Myelodysplastic Syndromes Clinical Trial:...
Cancer researcher Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms that drive the disease. In recognition of her accomplishments, she has been named a recipient of the Outstanding Investigator Award, an honor presented by the National Cancer Institute...
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) has announced the official opening of a first-of-its-kind clinic dedicated to providing immunotherapies for cancer patients in clinical trials. The Bezos Family Immunotherapy Clinic, named in recognition of a family that has been deeply committed...
In the phase III PALOMA-2 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Finn et al found that the addition of palbociclib (Ibrance) to letrozole significantly improved progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with previously untreated advanced estrogen receptor–positive,...
More than 100 participants are now enrolled on study drug in ASCO’s Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study. The trial launched in March 2016 at 37 sites, and in November, it welcomed its newest participating clinical sites: Cancer Treatment Centers of America,...
Safety and efficacy data from a phase I/II study of urelumab in combination with nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with hematologic and solid tumors, including biomarker analyses by level of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, was recently presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer ...
An interim efficacy analysis from a phase I/II study of the combination of lirilumab and nivolumab (Opdivo) in the cohort of advanced platinum refractory squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, including exploratory biomarker analyses of patient response by level of programmed death ligand 1...
In a case report in Cancer Biology & Therapy, Lou et al described an exceptional response to first-line treatment with the hedgehog inhibitor vismodegib (Erivedge) in a 51-year-old patient with a history of basal cell carcinoma who was diagnosed with an unresectable/multifocal form of adult...
While it is well established that obesity is closely linked to endometrial cancer risk, most past findings have only looked at risk in relation to one measure of body size at a time. In a new study led by the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, published by Horn-Ross et al in Cancer Causes...
The first evidence-based consensus statement on cancer immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with the most common type of kidney cancer, renal cell carcinoma, has been published by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer by Rini et al. The...
Faltas et al identified factors in the clonal evolution of chemotherapy-resistant urothelial carcinoma, according to a study reported in Nature Genetics. Findings included wide intrapatient mutational heterogeneity and enrichment for clonal mutations involving L1 cell–adhesion molecule...
A randomized phase II clinical trial evaluating cabozantinib (Cabometyx) compared with standard-of-care sunitinib (Sutent) as first-line therapy for patients with advanced kidney cancer has found the experimental drug reduced the rate of disease progression or death by 34% compared with sunitinib....
Treatment with the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib (Cabometyx) alone or with erlotinib (Tarceva) improved progression-free survival vs erlotinib alone in second- or third-line treatment of advanced nonsquamous epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) wild-type non–small cell lung cancer...
In a phase I/II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gettinger et al found that the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor brigatinib, which showed preclinical activity against ALK mutants resistant to crizotinib (Xalkori) and other ALK inhibitors, was active in patients with ALK-rearranged...
After nearly 2 decades of unsuccessful attempts, researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have created the first mouse model for the most common form of infant leukemia. Their discovery, reported by Lin et al in Cancer Cell, could...
Combination immunotherapy is producing response rates ranging from 26% to 38% among patients with metastatic bladder cancer in the early stages of a three-arm clinical trial presented at the 2016 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting in National Harbor, Maryland. “Until...
Researchers have discovered that a marker found on aggressive prostate cancer cells could also be used as a way to guide treatments to the cancer, according to new research presented by Luxton et al at the 2016 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool, United...
Blocking a molecule may bypass bowel cancer's defense against the drug cetuximab, according to new research presented by Weir et al at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Cetuximab is used to treat advanced bowel cancer, and just under half ...
In the phase III TELESTAR trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kulke et al, telotristat ethyl, a tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor, significantly reduced the frequency of bowel movements in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors and carcinoid syndrome. Telotristat ethyl...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Platzbecker et al, the final results of the Italian-German phase III APL0406 trial indicate that the combination of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO [Trisenox]) is associated with better outcomes than standard ATRA plus...
As part of its mission to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has announced the launch of Just Bag It: The NCCN Campaign for Safe Vincristine...
On November 10, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with disease progression on or after a platinum-based therapy. Approval was based on data from an...
In the phase III PICASSO III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ryan et al found that adding palifosfamide to doxorubicin did not prolong progression-free survival among patients with metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Palifosfamide is the active metabolite of ifosfamide. In the...
In a study of population-based data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hawkins et al found that adult cancer survivors receive medication for anxiety and depression at twice the rate of that in adults without cancer. The study involved data from the National Health Interview Survey for...
Molecular biologist Christine Mayr, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Sloan Kettering Institute is among this year’s 12 recipients of the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award. Established in 2004, the annual award recognizes and supports individual...
José R. Conejo-Garcia, MD, PhD, has joined Moffitt Cancer Center as Coleader of the Immunology Program and Chair of the Department of Immunology. The Immunology Program is focused on defining the regulation role of immune checkpoint molecules in tumor immune surveillance and in identifying new...
I’ve always had fibrocystic breasts and was steadfast in performing monthly breast self-exams, so I could become familiar with the terrain of my breasts and spot any subtle changes. So, in November 2002, when I felt something in my left breast that seemed different from my usual lumps, I made a...
Pang et al found that the enrollment disparity in clinical trials in lung cancer has been reduced in recent years for older patients and women overall, according to a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. However, disparities persist for elderly women, blacks, Asian/Pacific Islanders, ...
In a propensity score–matched analysis of National Cancer Database data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mokdad et al found that neoadjuvant therapy followed by resection was associated with a survival benefit vs upfront resection. Patricio M. Polanco, MD, of the Division of Surgical...
Clement et al found that 25% of survivors of childhood brain tumors were diagnosed with endocrine disorders over 6.6 years of follow-up, based on a Dutch nationwide study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Hanneke M. van Santen, MD, PhD, of Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University...
In an analysis of National Cancer Data Base data reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Shailender Bhatia, MD, of the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and colleagues found that adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with a survival benefit in...
In the HIV-negative population, there is growing evidence suggesting that chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are both associated with the development of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), although the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. The incidence rate of NHL ...
In a pooled analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Michel Meignan, MD, PhD, of the Université Paris-Est Créteil, and colleagues found that higher baseline total metabolic tumor volume measured by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron-emission tomography–computed tomography (FDG...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Puya Gharahkhani, PhD, of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues identified several new genetic risk variants for the development of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma through a large-scale meta-analysis of...
The first-ever Wolverine–Badger challenge between C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan (Wolverines) and the University of Wisconsin’s American Family Children’s Hospital (Badgers) helped raise more than $5.9 million for pediatric cancer research. An October 1 football game...
“Whether or not individual professionals support the clinical use of herbal cannabis, all clinicians will encounter patients who elect to use it and therefore need to be prepared to advise them on cannabis-related clinical issues despite limited evidence to guide care,” according to a recently...
Marijuana, or cannabis, used to be legal in the United States and was “actually listed in the U.S. formulary in 1854,” according to Judith A. Paice, PhD, RN, Director, Cancer Pain Program, Division of Hematology-Oncology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago. “Many of...
With reports about new marijuana dispensaries sprouting up as more states approve the legal use of medical marijuana, and patients and family members questioning how to get it, medical marijuana is a “topic you can’t escape,” noted Judith A. Paice, PhD, RN.1 Dr. Paice is Director of the Cancer...
David Cella, PhD, Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control Research at the Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University, was awarded the Gustav O. Lienhard Award for his pioneering work to measure and apply patient-reported outcomes in health care. The award was presented at the...
The smartest guys in the room were never from the big energy companies, and they’re not running hedge funds on Wall Street or building the next Facebook. For me, the smartest guys in the room are the selfless men and women who’ve transformed cancer from what was all too often a death sentence to...
The fourth annual JADPRO Live conference was held recently in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) on November 3–6, 2016, at the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, Maryland. More than 1,100 individuals attended...
NOVEMBER 21st Annual Perspectives in Thoracic OncologyNovember 18-19 • New York, New YorkFor more information:http://imedex.com/perspectives-thoracic-oncology-conference/index.asp Mayo Clinic Angiogenesis and Tumor Microenvironment Symposium: From Translational Research to Clinical Practice...
During the 1890s, aseptic principles were extended only to the operative area of the patient, not the surgeon, although some surgeons did advocate the use of special white or colored uniforms, and hand washing had already been established. In 1895, just 7 years after Arpad Gerster, MD, published...
Seattle Genetics, Inc, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited have announced completion of patient enrollment in the ECHELON-2 clinical trial. ECHELON-2 is a global phase III randomized trial evaluating brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) as part of a front-line combination chemotherapy regimen in...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will recognize Thalia Papayannopoulou, MD, of the University of Washington, Seattle, with the 2016 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology. Dr. Papayannopoulou will be honored for her innovative contributions to cutting-edge areas of ...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will honor David Scadden, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, with the 2016 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize for his work on the bone marrow hematopoietic microenvironment. This lectureship and prize is named after the late...
On October 19, 2016, the platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFR-α)-blocking antibody olaratumab (Lartruvo) was granted accelerated approval in combination with doxorubicin for the treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma not amenable to curative treatment with radiotherapy or surgery and...
Let’s Win is an online community for persons with pancreatic cancer (www.letswinpc.org), but it is far more than a typical support group. Let’s Win propels interested users toward cutting-edge research, based on its founders’ commitment that no patient with pancreatic cancer should settle on the...