Advanced radiotherapy techniques may reduce the risk of severe and debilitating toxicity associated with radiation, but not all patients have equal access to these modalities, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Retrospective analysis of the...
Young women with nonmetastatic breast cancer have similar survival rates whether they are treated with mastectomy or lumpectomy, despite tumors that are typically more aggressive and discovered at a later stage compared to their older counterparts. These findings were from a recent study examining...
COVID-19 may have caught the world off guard in 2020, but in the 2 years since the pandemic began, several effective monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs have emerged to protect the most vulnerable patients. The ASCO Post spoke with Gunjan L. Shah, MD, a hematologic oncologist at Memorial...
On April 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to alpelisib (Vijoice) for adult and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older with severe manifestations of PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS) who require systemic therapy. PROS encompasses a group of rare...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Maron et al, a retrospective study found that use of EGFR inhibitor therapy was associated with benefit in patients with unresectable or metastatic EGFR-amplified gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. As stated by the investigators, “Subset analyses...
“Prior to these two studies, smaller studies showed a lack of response to PARP [poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase] inhibitors in previously treated patients with urothelial cancer, both as monotherapy and in combinations,” said formal discussant of the BAYOU and ATLANTIS trials, Sandy Srinivas, MD,...
Alexander T. Pearson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, commended the artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented, ultrasound-based platform for screening and staging of thyroid cancer. “In this study, Dr. Chan and colleagues processed high-resolution ultrasound...
In a population-based cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Schonfeld et al identified the incidence of immune-related adverse events among White patients aged ≥ 65 years with newly diagnosed melanoma treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. They compared the risk of these adverse events...
Guideline-directed medical therapy for the prevention and treatment of cardiotoxicity is improving quality of life and oncologic outcomes associated with breast cancer treatment, according to Jean-Bernard Durand, MD, FACP, FCCP, FACC, FHFSA, Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas MD...
In a single-institution retrospective study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Uppal et al found that telemedicine postoperative visits during the COVID-19 pandemic did not result in increased unplanned hospital readmissions vs in-person postoperative visits among patients undergoing elective...
The combination of nivolumab plus cabozantinib achieved a continued survival benefit compared with sunitinib in patients with untreated clear cell metastatic or advanced renal cell carcinoma, according to a final overall survival analysis of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial.1 Additionally,...
More than half of patients diagnosed with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergo biomarker testing, and this figure has increased over the past 5 years, according to real-world data from a Spanish national registry study reported by Calvo de Juan et al at the European Lung Cancer...
Black patients with cancer experienced significantly worse outcomes after a COVID-19 diagnosis than non-Hispanic White patients, according to findings published by Fu et al in JAMA Network Open. Investigators from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) studied the electronic health records of...
Despite advances in treatment for pediatric patients, cancer remains the primary cause of disease-related mortality in children and adolescents. Data from the international clinical trial MAPPYACTS, which aims to define tumor molecular profiles in pediatric patients with recurrent/refractory...
In a study of a population of predominantly community-based oncologists reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Ajeet Gajra, MD, and colleagues found that a majority of oncologists surveyed did not use a formal geriatric assessment instrument to assist in treatment decisions for older patients with...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Kenneth L. Kehl, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that only a slight majority of patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were enrolled in a U.S. screening study (ALCHEMIST) received guideline-recommended adequate lymph ...
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the number of attacks on health-care facilities continues to mount. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of March 16, there have been 43 attacks on health facilities, including 34 attacks that have directly impacted health facilities and...
Nilofer Azad, MD, Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Co-Director of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, was invited to discuss the results of the phase III TOPAZ-1 study, which found an overall survival...
Gabriel A. Brooks, MPH, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, was invited to discuss the results of the ACCENT/IDEA database analysis of early treatment discontinuation in stage III colon cancer. Although the results confirm the...
The phase II GERCOR NIPICOL study evaluated 1 year of treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with chemotherapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors were microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR). With this shortened treatment duration,...
As reported in The Lancet by Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 649 trial has shown that the addition of first-line nivolumab to chemotherapy resulted in improved overall and...
The past year has seen unprecedented progress across the spectrum of gastrointestinal malignances, including the advancement of immunotherapy and targeted molecular agents and the refinement of adjuvant therapy using novel as well as existing therapies. Three themes emerging from these reports are: ...
Reflecting recent significant classification changes and new data on the use of biomarkers to inform treatment for central nervous system tumors, a new guideline offers oncologists up-to-date recommendations for managing gliomas in adults with neurologic cancer.1 “Over the past decade, there have...
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 checkpoint inhibitors are among the most important advances in oncology in recent times. They have changed the natural history of many tumors, particularly melanoma. They have a favorable toxicity profile, which for most patients is manageable and tolerable. However, there are several...
According to Quynh-Thu Le, MD, FACR, FASTRO, Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at Stanford, these results suggest that monitoring circulating human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA may lead to the detection of relapse prior to imaging. In an interview with The ASCO Post, Dr. Le also noted that...
Positron-emission tomography (PET) scans obtained before and midway through treatment may be used to de-escalate therapy for patients with oropharyngeal cancer, leading to fewer side effects, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 An interim...
David R. Penberthy, MD, MBA, was recently named President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) at the organization’s 48th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit. Oncology professionals from around the nation gathered at the conference to discuss the convergence of...
“The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely.” —Sir William Osler To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting...
The rising incidence and prevalence of gastroenteropancreatic endocrine tumors make them the second-most prevalent gastrointestinal cancer.1 Although most of these tumors are relatively slow growing, their histologic grade and differentiation are closely correlated with their clinical behavior.2,3...
Use of the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab with or without radiotherapy showed antitumor activity in stage IV penile cancer in the phase II PERICLES trial, although the study failed to meet the primary endpoint of 1-year progression-free survival of at least 35%. The hints of activity were ...
An updated analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-564 trial continues to support the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with renal cell carcinoma at high risk of recurrence, according to a presentation at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.1 At 30 months of follow-up,...
Formal discussant of the ARASENS trial, Elisabeth I. Heath, MD, FACP, Professor of Oncology and Associate Center Director, Translational Sciences, at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, commented on the changing paradigm in prostate cancer treatment. “The narrative is changing to triplet therapy, ...
Triplet therapy with the oral androgen receptor inhibitor darolutamide plus docetaxel plus androgen-deprivation therapy significantly improved overall survival in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer vs docetaxel plus androgen-deprivation therapy, according to results of the...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by David Dearnaley, FRCR, and colleagues, the phase III PROMPTS study has shown that a strategy of routine screening with spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and preemptive treatment to prevent clinical spinal cord compression is likely not warranted in...
The combination of nivolumab plus cabozantinib achieved a continued survival benefit compared with sunitinib in patients with untreated clear cell metastatic or advanced renal cell carcinoma, according to a final overall survival analysis of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial.1 Additionally,...
On March 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved lutetium Lu-177 vipivotide tetraxetan (Pluvicto) for the treatment of adult patients with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have been treated with androgen receptor...
In patients with breast cancer tumors harboring BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, inhibitors of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) have emerged as essential therapeutic agents. What more needs to be done to obtain even more benefit from these targeted agents? This question was tackled at the 2022 Miami...
A new therapeutic strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that initially primes the tumor with an immune checkpoint inhibitor before using a multikinase inhibitor has shown efficacy in a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Kikuchi et al reported that the new...
In a study in a German cohort reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tilki et al found that adjuvant radiation therapy was associated with reduced all-cause mortality vs early salvage radiation therapy after radical prostatectomy among men with pN1 prostate cancer. The benefit increased with ...
In a single-institution retrospective review reported in JAMA Oncology, Zurko et al found that early intrathecal therapy with hydrocortisone with or without intrathecal chemotherapy was effective in treating grade ≥ 3 immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) in patients...
Researchers have published an analysis of strategies for treating retroperitoneal soft-tissue sarcoma, which has historically been understudied due to its rarity. The researchers say the trends they identified—particularly the convergence of certain treatments across centers—will help guide the way ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chihara et al found that rates of grade 5 toxicity have remained low and that rates of overall and complete response have increased over time in phase I trials for patients with hematologic malignancies sponsored by the National Cancer...
Formal discussant of the ARASENS trial, Elisabeth I. Heath, MD, FACP, Professor of Oncology and Associate Center Director, Translational Sciences, at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, commented on the changing paradigm in prostate cancer treatment. “The narrative is changing to triplet therapy, ...
Triplet therapy with the oral androgen receptor inhibitor darolutamide plus docetaxel plus androgen-deprivation therapy significantly improved overall survival in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer vs docetaxel plus androgen-deprivation therapy, according to results of the...
Hypofractionated radiotherapy to the prostate bed proved to be noninferior to conventionally fractionated radiotherapy after prostatectomy regarding gastrointestinal and genitourinary side effects, according to the results of the phase III NRG Oncology GU003 trial, presented at the 2021 American...
The addition of 2 years of abiraterone acetate plus prednisolone (AAP) to androgen-deprivation therapy improves metastasis-free survival and overall survival compared with androgen-deprivation therapy alone in men with nonmetastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, according to a primary...
The addition of abiraterone acetate plus prednisone on top of androgen-deprivation therapy plus docetaxel improved survival in patients with de novo metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer vs androgen-deprivation therapy plus docetaxel alone. These results were from the phase III PEACE-1...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kim N. Chi, MD, of BC Cancer and Vancouver Prostate Centre, and colleagues, the final overall survival analysis of the phase III TITAN trial showed significant benefit of apalutamide plus androgen-deprivation therapy vs placebo plus...
Lutetium-177–PSMA-617 (LuPSMA)—an investigational radiolabeled small molecule—significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival when added to the standard of care compared with the standard of care alone for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer...