Methotrexate may be linked to an elevated risk of three types of skin cancer, according to a new study published by Polesie et al in the British Journal of Cancer. Additionally, among patients taking the drug to treat moderate to severe psoriasis, an increased risk was observed only for basal cell...
Risk model–based lung cancer screening strategies may be more cost-effective than current recommendations that are based solely on the patient’s age and smoking history, according to a new study published by Toumazis et al in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings also suggested that...
Biliary tract cancer is particularly difficult to treat, with a median overall survival of about 1 year with standard-of-care gemcitabine-based regimens. Advanced biliary tract cancer is an area of significant unmet need because of its aggressive nature, limited treatment options, and poor...
Researchers have found that stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) may be an effective treatment for patients with early-stage lung neuroendocrine tumors, according to a new study published by Oliver et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics. Background Primary...
Investigators have revealed that individuals who react defensively to an invitation for colorectal cancer screening may be less likely to take part, according to a new study published by Clarke et al in Cancer. Background Colorectal cancer is one of the most treatable cancer types—especially if...
Biorepositories created to support precision cancer research through their vast stores of genomic data may lack sufficient representation of cancer distribution among racial and ethnic minorities, according to a new study published by Cheung et al in npj Precision Oncology. The investigators also...
Researchers revealed that the blood pressure drug losartan may prevent immunotherapy-induced edema and allow patients with glioblastoma to continue receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors without developing adverse effects in the brain, according to a new study published by Datta et al in...
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new Global Breast Cancer Initiative Framework, providing a roadmap to attain targets to save 2.5 million lives from breast cancer by 2040. The new framework recommends that countries implement three pillars of health promotion—early detection,...
On February 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy) for patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic, hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative (immunohistochemistry [IHC] 0, IHC 1+, or IHC 2+ with a negative in situ...
A new study from University Hospitals (UH) Connor Whole Health found children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer or sickle cell disease treated at a pediatric academic medical center reported clinically significant reductions in pain, stress, and anxiety in response to massage therapy....
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)—in light of World Cancer Day, taking place on February 4—has called on governments around the world to prioritize policy actions to reduce preventable cancers caused by tobacco use and the consumption of alcohol and ultraprocessed foods, including...
Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, known as SPHINKS, capable of performing advanced computational analyses to identify potential therapeutic targets for patients with glioblastoma multiforme. The platform may also have applicability in other cancers, according to...
Moderator of the session, Emily K. Curran, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, in Ohio, said that the data presented by Dr. Short and colleagues demonstrated very impressive event-free and overall survival rates, especially for a disease that...
According to a review published by Ashley et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, preexisting dementia may complicate cancer care and increase the risk of worse clinical outcome and inferior patient experience. People living with dementia are more likely to have cancer diagnosed at an...
Higher consumption of ultraprocessed foods may be linked to increased cancer burden and mortality, according to a new, UK-based study published by Chang et al in eClinicalMedicine. Ultraprocessed foods are food items which have been heavily processed during their production—such as fizzy drinks,...
The EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib may improve rates of disease-free survival and reduce the risk of recurrence in patients with resected, EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a new exploratory analysis of the ADAURA trial published by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD,...
Compared to other common supplemental screening methods, breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was superior at detecting breast cancer in patients with dense breasts, according to a new study published by Hussein et al in Radiology. Background Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer...
Age-based heuristics may lead to large differences in breast cancer treatment based on small differences in chronologic age, according to a new study published by Talcott et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • and Physics. Background Radiation therapy often is given...
Zev A. Wainberg, MD, of the UCLA School of Medicine, discusses phase III findings from the NAPOLI-3 trial, which showed that first-line NALIRIFOX (liposomal irinotecan plus fluorouracil/leucovorin plus oxaliplatin) improved overall and progression-free survival compared with nab-paclitaxel plus...
Population-based genomic screening may facilitate early detection of medullary thyroid cancer in patients with variants in the RET gene, according to a new study published by Pichardo et al in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. Background Medullary thyroid cancer accounts for 2% to 5% of...
The targeted therapy momelotinib may offer clinically significant improvement in disease-related symptoms, including anemia and spleen enlargement, for patients with myelofibrosis, according to a novel study published by Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD, and colleagues in The Lancet. The findings support...
In one of the first clinical trials combining immunotherapy and targeted therapy for patients with BRAF V600E–mutated colorectal cancer, researchers discovered that a combination regimen of dabrafenib, trametinib, and spartalizumab resulted in long-lasting responses. The study findings published by ...
Laura A. Dawson, MD, of Canada’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, discusses phase III findings from the NRG/RTOG1112 study, which showed that stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) administered prior to sorafenib vs sorafenib alone, improved outcomes in patients with advanced hepatocellular...
Kohei Shitara, MD, of Japan’s National Cancer Center Hospital East, discusses the SPOTLIGHT study’s phase III findings on zolbetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 as first-line treatment for patients with the biomarker claudin-18.2–positive and HER2-negative locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or ...
On January 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca) for patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma after at least two lines of systemic therapy, including a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor. BRUIN Efficacy was...
On January 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved elacestrant (Orserdu) for postmenopausal women or adult men with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative, ESR1-mutated advanced or metastatic breast cancer with disease progression following at least one line of endocrine...
Souya Nunobe, MD, PhD, of Japan’s Cancer Institute Hospital and the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, discusses 5-year follow-up results of the phase III OPAS-1 trial, which compared four and eight courses of S-1, a novel oral fluoropyrimidine derivative adjuvant chemotherapy for patients...
On this episode, Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FSSO, FRCS, FACS, Professor of Surgical Oncology and Global Health at University of Nebraska Medical Center, and an editorial advisor for The ASCO Post, holds a conversation with John H. Strickler, MD, a medical oncologist at Duke University Medical...
Individuals who ovulate for longer over their lifetimes may have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer, suggesting that suppressing ovulation can lower this risk, according to a new study published by Fu et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers also offered clues...
New research shows that patients with type 2 diabetes may experience a substantially higher rate of cancer mortality than the general population—by 18% for all cancers combined, 9% for breast cancer, and as much as 2.4-fold for colorectal cancer—according to a new study published by Ling et al in...
On January 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for adjuvant treatment following resection and platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with stage IB (T2a, ≥ 4 cm), II, or IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). KEYNOTE-091 Efficacy was evaluated in...
Laura A. Dawson, MD, of Canada’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, discusses phase III findings showing that compared with best supportive care alone, single-fraction whole-liver radiation therapy appears to improve hepatic pain in the majority of patients with treatment-refractory or -ineligible...
Filippo Pietrantonio, MD, of Italy’s Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, discusses phase II results from the INFINITY trial of tremelimumab and durvalumab as neoadjuvant treatment of patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI) resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma...
Julien Taïeb, MD, PhD, of Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Université Paris-Cité, discusses the clinical implications of new phase III findings from the SUNLIGHT study, which showed that trifluridine and tipiracil (FTD/TPI) plus bevacizumab resulted in improved outcomes compared with FTD/TPI...
Utilizing chronochemotherapy—a method aimed at delivering chemotherapy at a time when the body is least vulnerable to its harmful effects and when the cancer cells are at their most vulnerable—may improve the outcomes of some patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to a novel ...
Emily C. Daugherty, MD, of the University of Cincinnati, discusses results from the FAST-01 study, which showed that FLASH proton radiotherapy, delivered at ultra-high–dose rates, may be efficacious, with adverse events comparable to conventional dose-rate treatment of patients with cancer....
Soon after my marriage, in 2003, I noticed swelling in the glands around my throat. Although I otherwise felt fine, I went to see my primary care physician for a checkup and a blood test. The results of the test showed that I had an abnormally high number of lymphocytes circulating in my...
Atrium Health recently announced that Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP, has been named President and Executive Director of its cancer service line—which includes both Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center—and Vice Dean for Cancer Programs at...
Most of us have felt our stomachs sink as we opened a patient’s radiology or laboratory report and realized the patient faced a grave situation. If we’re lucky, we have a couple of days before a scheduled patient appointment to prepare ourselves to deliver that bad news. Other times, we may have...
The four inaugural recipients of the Lubin Family Foundation Scholar Award have been announced by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation. Lubin Scholars are among the most promising physician-scientists pursuing cancer-relevant basic or translational...
Nancy Chan, MD, Director of Breast Cancer Clinical Research at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York, commented on the monarchE analysis for The ASCO Post. She noted that the study investigated the addition of adjuvant abemaciclib (an oral CDK4/6 inhibitor) to endocrine therapy in a...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will award the 19th AACR–Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship to Andrea Schietinger, PhD, during the 2023 AACR Annual Meeting, held April 14–19, in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Schietinger, an associate member of the Immunology Program...
Precision medicine has revolutionized cancer treatment—but only for patients who have access to treatments. Nearly 2 million people in the United States are diagnosed each year with cancer, but access to targeted treatments varies widely, and only about half of the eligible people receive them,...
Northwell Health recently announced a gift from longtime trustee Roy J. Zuckerberg to create the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Hospital at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center—Long Island’s first cancer hospital—and to establish the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center, Northwell’s largest ambulatory cancer...
Options are growing in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma after complete response. At the 2022 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference,1 the use of these newer strategies in older patients was discussed by Brad S. Kahl, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Lymphoma Service at Washington...
NRG Oncology, a National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network (NTCN) group focused on improving outcomes for adults with cancer through international clinical research, recently announced the appointed leadership of the organization’s new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)...
Urvi A. Shah, MD, Assistant Attending at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, moderated the session where the MagnetisMM trial updates1,2 were reported and was interviewed by The ASCO Post. Elranatamab vs Teclistamab Dr. Shah noted...
The Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center at The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, has announced the appointment of the Ira Brind Endowed Professor, Maureen Murphy, PhD, as Deputy Director. Dr. Murphy will guide the growth of the Cancer Center through expanding research initiatives and collaboration, ...
Manik A. Amin, MD, of Dartmouth Cancer Center, discusses the future of immunotherapy in gastrointestinal cancers, the challenges of creating effective adoptive cell therapies, and the next generation of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Nick Pavlakis, PhD, MBBS, of Australia’s Royal North Shore Hospital, discusses phase III findings from the INTEGRATE IIa study of regorafenib vs placebo in refractory advanced gastroesophageal cancer. The trial provides a platform for the investigation of combination therapy with an immune...