Computed tomography (CT)-detected emphysema may be linked to a higher risk of lung cancer, a risk that increases with emphysema severity, according to a new study published by Yang et al in the journal Radiology. Lung cancer is the primary cause of cancer-related death worldwide. However, lung...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Krishnansu S. Tewari, MD, of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of California, Irvine, and colleagues, the phase III EMPOWER-Cervical1/GOG-3016/ENGOT-cx9 trial has shown improved overall survival with cemiplimab-rwlc vs...
In an analysis from the ASCO Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Chen et al found that a high proportion of patients with rectal cancer do not receive guideline-recommended pretreatment staging transrectal ultrasound or pelvic magnetic resonance imaging...
In a meta-analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Farooq et al found that immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for cancer was associated with a lower risk of neurologic adverse events compared with treatment with other agents overall in randomized trials comparing immune checkpoint inhibitors with...
Recent findings with the use of sequencing technology have suggested that the gut microbiome may play a role in the treatment of cancer. A review paper published in JAMA Oncology by Liu and Shah captured the current understanding of the connection between the gut microbiome and therapeutic response ...
The novel antibody-drug conjugate mirvetuximab soravtansine could become the new standard of care for patients with folate receptor alpha–positive, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, according to data presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2022 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.1...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has released the latest recommendations from the NCCN Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis. The updated recommendations point to two booster vaccine doses for people who are immunocompromised (meaning three...
Contrary to what has been assumed, all recurrences of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are not genetically the same, according to a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022.1 Almost 20% of ipsilateral recurrences found in the study were genetically...
Two new, large studies led by researchers at the American Cancer Society showed an increase in the use of proton-beam therapy for patients with cancer in the United States during the past decade. However, Black patients were less likely to receive proton-beam therapy than White patients, and the...
The risk of self-harm after incident psychiatric disorder diagnosis in patients with 26 cancer types and the risk of unnatural deaths after self-harm were examined in 459,542 individuals in a study published by Chang et al in Nature Medicine. Patients with cancer may experience substantial...
In a small multi-institutional study, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system improved providers’ assessments of whether patients with bladder cancer had complete response to chemotherapy before a radical cystectomy. These findings were published by Sun et al in Tomography. Yet the researchers ...
Mikkael Sekeres, MD, Chief of the Division of Hematology at the University of Miami Health System and a hematologist at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, applauded the IDIOME1 and IDEAL2 investigators for conducting studies. These studies, he noted, were “very difficult because of the rarity...
In an analysis from the Women’s Health Initiative reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Kerryn W. Reding, PhD, MPH, RN, of the University of Washington at Seattle, and colleagues, identified the incidence of hospitalization for heart failure among postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. They reported...
The “holy grail” of triple-negative breast cancer therapy has been effective incorporation of drugs to improve outcomes in the early nonmetastatic setting. Although outcomes have improved with better chemotherapy drugs and schedules, triple-negative breast cancer still carries the worst prognosis...
As summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post, the highly anticipated results of the GOG 281/LOGS study, which randomly assigned patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer to the MEK inhibitor trametinib vs standard-of-care chemotherapy or endocrine therapy, have now been reported by...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On March 18, 2022, fixed-dose nivolumab and...
On March 9, 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) issued a new report, Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation, recommending the National Institutes of Health (NIH) implement new guidelines to standardize the collection of data on sex, gender,...
Editor’s Note: The following is adapted from Dr. Hrynkiv’s presentation at the March 18 ASCO/ECO Briefing: Cancer Care During the War in Ukraine. Find resources for impacted patients and providers at asco.org/ukraine and onco-help.org. Official statistics regarding damage and losses in Ukraine are...
The theme of the 2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was “Accelerating Access to Precision Care Through Innovation.” Several studies presented at this meeting focused on older patients, who represent the majority of patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Data reviewed at the meeting...
Abstract discussant, Angela DeMichele, MD, MSCE, the Alan and Jill Miller Professor in Breast Cancer Excellence at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, complimented the study design and conduct of the ABC trial while exploring several possible...
Taking aspirin daily does not prevent breast cancer recurrence, according to research presented during the February ASCO Plenary Series Program.1 Results of the double-blind phase III study of more than 3,000 patients with high-risk, HER2-negative breast cancer showed no improvement in invasive...
The discussant of the PEARLS/KEYNOTE-091 trial, Martin Reck, MD, PhD, underscored the need to do more in the perioperative management of patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to improve rates of overall survival and relapse after surgery. Dr. Reck is Head of the Department of ...
Cervical cancer screening has reduced new cases and deaths from the disease over the past 50 years. However, the percentage of women in the United States who are overdue for cervical cancer screening has been growing, and the reasons have not been clear. To better understand the decline in cervical ...
Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, discussant of the CHOICE-01 trial, underscored the “tremendous progress” that’s been made over the past 2 decades in the management of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer, with overall survival increasing from less than 1 year with the use of combination chemotherapy to...
Adding the PD-1 inhibitor toripalimab to chemotherapy significantly improved survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without EGFR/ALK mutations, according to research presented during the 2022 ASCO Monthly Plenary Series.1 At the...
Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab has been approved in combination with chemotherapy for high-risk, early-stage, triple-negative breast cancer, but not all patients with node-positive disease have been able to receive the regimen, according to data presented during the Society of Surgical Oncology 2022...
Imagine this. You are a large pharmaceutical company that launches an international randomized phase III trial to assess whether one of your drugs improves the outcome of patients with a common type of cancer. The trial was solidly backed by preclinical evidence that the drug target was essential ...
In patients with myeloid or lymphoid neoplasms with FGFR1 rearrangements, pemigatinib produced high and durable response rates, despite patients’ extensive use of prior treatments or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), according to the early results of the multicenter phase II FIGHT-203 ...
The addition of the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab to first-line chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 50% and, despite a 49% crossover rate, numerically boosted overall survival in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer, Zhang et al...
Today, 1 year after its founding, Break Through Cancer announced $50 million in grants to support several cutting-edge research projects using a novel “TeamLab” structure—designed to maximize interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Sidney Kimmel...
Results from two early-stage clinical trials show two drugs that target the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway in cancers—the ATR inhibitor elimusertib and the PARP inhibitor AZD5305—are safe and clinically beneficial in treating patients with advanced solid tumors. Principal investigator Timothy...
A new study published by Englisch et al in the journal Blood Advances suggests that people with cancer and non-O blood types—such as types A, B, and AB—may face an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) 3 months after their initial diagnosis. Scientists have long strived to...
In an analysis from the prospective cohort Pathways Heart Study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, and colleagues found that breast cancer survivors were at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality compared with women without breast cancer, with...
Preliminary data from an artificial intelligence (AI) model could potentially predict side effects resulting from new combination therapies, according to results presented by Küçükosmanoğlu et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022 (Abstract 6312). “Clinicians ...
In a UK observational cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Price et al found that pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) was associated with overall survival and predictive of benefit of the addition of cisplatin to radiotherapy in patients with oropharyngeal squamous...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a new draft guidance to industry for developing plans to enroll more participants from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations in the United States into clinical trials—expanding on the agency’s previous guidances for industry to...
Sotorasib, the first KRAS G12C inhibitor approved for the treatment of KRAS G12C–mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), continues to demonstrate meaningful and durable efficacy at 2-year follow-up in the phase II CodeBreaK 100 trial. At a median follow-up of 15.3 months, 2-year overall...
An artificial intelligence (AI) model trained using sequential health information derived from electronic health records identified a subset of individuals with a 25-fold risk of developing pancreatic cancer within 3 to 36 months, according to results presented by Placido et al at the American...
Recently, I had the honor of coauthoring a chapter with Eric P. Winer, MD, President-Elect of ASCO, on the evolution of clinical cancer care since the enactment of the National Care Act of 1971 for the book A New Deal for Cancer: Lessons From a 50-Year War, by Abbe R. Gluck and Charles S. Fuchs,...
“OlympiA is clearly a practice-changing trial, and olaparib should be offered to patients meeting the entry criteria for the study,” said Mark E. Robson, MD, Chief of the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Dr. Robson was invited to discuss the findings of...
A rapid recommendation update to an ASCO guideline offers revised parameters for adjuvant therapy in patients with resected non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have stage IB to IIIA disease.1,2 The new guidance reflects the findings from two randomized clinical trials that assessed the use of...
Somatic genomic testing should be a routine part of clinical care for many patients with metastatic or advanced solid tumors, according to a new ASCO provisional clinical opinion.1 As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the expert panel found that genomic testing in oncology practice has...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, DiplOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present the Hematology Expert Review, an occasional feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib, Kröger, and Mikulska focus on the challenges of providing cancer care amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Here they present two...
On February 28, 2022, ciltacabtagene autoleucel was approved for treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after at least four lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory agent, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.1 Ciltacabtagene autoleucel is a...
The Hamoui Foundation and LUNGevity Foundation recently announced the 2022 recipients of the first The Hamoui Foundation/LUNGevity Clinical Research Award for RET-Positive Lung Cancer. RET is a driver mutation found in approximately 1% to 2% of people with non–small cell lung cancer. The goal of...
Thomas W. Flaig, MD, of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, discusses the rapidly changing treatment landscape for patients with bladder cancer, including PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors now approved for urothelial carcinoma; a category 1 indication for pembrolizumab in metastatic disease,...
Margaret A. Tempero, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the most effective ways to use the regimens available to treat patients with pancreatic cancer (FOLFIRINOX [fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin] and...
Using the nation’s largest COVID-19 data resource, a research team found that the COVID-19 vaccine offered protection for most patients with cancer. However, patients with certain types of cancer—especially those with hematologic malignancies—had a higher and widely varied risk of breakthrough...
New research published by Lowry et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found the rate of mammography participation by breast cancer survivors has been steadily declining since 2009, particularly among younger survivors. The researchers reviewed a nationwide commercial...