The combination of the VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared with TACE alone, according to...
A 3-week moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy regimen has been found to be noninferior to the 5-week fractionation when irradiating nodal areas in patients with breast cancer, according to data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024.1 The 5-year results of...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 in Barcelona featured several groundbreaking trials with the potential to significantly influence clinical practice. These studies highlighted the benefits of new combination immunotherapy strategies and innovative approaches in the...
At the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, Rebecca D. Kehm, PhD, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, and colleagues presented some of the ...
Investigators have found that firefighters may face occupational exposures to multiple chemicals that could increase their risk of developing breast cancer, according to a recent study published by Cardona et al in Toxics. Background Prior research has revealed that firefighters have significantly...
Investigators have found that among all cancer survivors, male adolescents and young adults (AYAs) may have the highest rate of suicide-related mortality, according to a recent study published by Matsuo et al in JAMA Network Open. Cancer is becoming more common among young patients, and cancer...
“While clinical trials emphasize improvement in cure rates for patients with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma, an important goal is reducing the potential long-term effects of treatment,” commented Iris Isufi, MD, of the Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, and ...
A recent analysis of pancreatic cancer data in young adults (aged 15–39) has found that although there is an increase in incidence, the mortality rate remains stable. According to Patel et al, who published their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the rise in incidence is primarily due to ...
In a phase I study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Maruyama et al found that valemetostat—a novel dual inhibitor of EZH2 and EZH1—showed activity in patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Study Details In the study, 90 patients from sites in Japan and the United States were...
A large cohort study investigating the long-term treatment-related adverse effects and complications from prostate cancer treatment compared to an untreated control group has found that treatment was associated with higher rates of 10 potential complications in the 12 years after treatment. Given...
A large cohort study investigated the long-term treatment-related adverse effects and complications from prostate cancer treatment compared with an untreated control group. The investigators found that treatment was associated with higher rates of 10 potential complications in the 12 years after...
Researchers may have uncovered the immune basis for the development of myocarditis in patients with cancer receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to a recent study published by Blum et al in Nature. The findings revealed changes in specific types of immune and stromal cells in the heart...
Researchers may have developed ultrasensitive, nanoscale sensors that distinguished a key change in the chemistry of the breath of patients with lung cancer, according to a recent study published by Cheng et al in ACS Sensors. Background Individuals breathe out many gases, such as water vapor and...
The alternative use of the monoclonal antibody cetuximab during the shortage of cisplatin in the treatment of head and neck cancer resulted in a 16% total cost increase, leading to a 144-fold increase in costs at the administrative level, impacting payer costs and patient cost-sharing amounts....
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Surgery, Sakowitz et al found that R0 resection was more commonly achieved in patients with stage I to III thymic tumors who received surgery at high-volume centers (HVCs) for thymectomy in the United States. Study Details and Results The study...
The use of measurable (or minimal) residual disease (MRD) status to guide treatment in multiple myeloma has become a topic of intense interest. Phase III studies presented at the Plenary Session of the 2024 International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting moved MRD status ever closer to validation in...
In a Canadian population–based cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ye et al found that patients with cancer were at increased risk of fracture compared with individuals without cancer. In addition, a Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) provided accurate prediction of this increased risk. As...
Just weeks or even days or hours away from death, the majority of conscious terminally ill patients often experience growth and meaning in their lives and the absence of fear through end-of-life dreams and visions, according to research by Christopher W. Kerr, MD, PhD. Dr. Kerr is Chief Executive...
Because colonoscopies and more established stool-based tests are more effective at detecting early cancers and precancerous polyps compared with emerging blood-based tests, their long-term impact is projected to be substantially greater than that of blood-based tests, according to a recent study...
Researchers have trained and validated an artificial intelligence (AI) model based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to develop a consistent method of estimating prostate cancer lesion size, according to a recent study published by Yang et al in Radiology. The findings could aid physicians...
The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group and Caris Life Sciences announced a new multiyear research collaboration that will begin with the interrogation of the TAILORx trial. Background Breast cancer remains the most common cancer type in the United States, with approximately 310,720 new cases per...
Researchers may have uncovered how urothelial carcinoma originates and progresses, according to a novel study published by Nguyen et al in Nature. The findings provided insights into the biology of urothelial carcinoma and may point to new therapeutic strategies for this difficult-to-treat cancer...
A 3-week moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy regimen has been found to be noninferior to the 5-week fractionation when irradiating nodal areas in patients with breast cancer, according to data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024.1 The 5-year results of...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Provencio et al, analysis of a Spanish phase II trial (NADIM) showed good long-term outcomes with preoperative chemotherapy and perioperative nivolumab in patients with stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details In the multicenter trial, 46...
In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that “no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.”1 The warning came decades after the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen, which is the highest risk group, and also includes...
Listening to music may accelerate postsurgical recovery, according to recent findings presented by Raees et al at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2024. Background “When patients wake up after surgery, sometimes they feel really scared and don’t know where they are,”...
On October 18, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved zolbetuximab-clzb (Vyloy), a claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2)-directed cytolytic antibody, with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy, for the first-line treatment of adults with locally advanced unresectable or...
Some cancer types may be slightly more prevalent among patients with multiple sclerosis compared with those without the condition, according to a recent study published by Pierret et al in Neurology. Background In multiple sclerosis, the body’s immune system attacks myelin, the fatty white...
In the final per-protocol analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-811 trial, an overall survival benefit was shown by adding the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab to trastuzumab and chemotherapy in treatment-naive, unresectable, HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.1...
Despite considerable progress in the discovery and development of new cancer drugs between 1990 and 2022, there may be disparities in both the availability and timeliness of these treatment options globally, particularly among lower-income countries, according to a recent study published by Li et...
In the European TransMet trial, reported in The Lancet, Adam et al found that liver transplantation plus chemotherapy improved overall survival vs chemotherapy alone in patients with permanently unresectable colorectal cancer liver metastases. Study Details In the open-label trial, 94 patients...
ASCO has issued a rapid update to its guideline on the management of stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on the results of the phase III LAURA trial, which was presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting and published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine.1,2 The...
The combination of the VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared with TACE alone, according to...
An artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm may be effective at writing physician’s letters, according to a recent study published by Heilmeyer et al in JMIR Medical Informatics. Background According to recent surveys, physicians may spend almost 3 hours per day on documentation activities. “The...
Total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) followed by rectal surgery is the standard of care in proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) locally advanced rectal cancer, but studies are finding that patients with clinical complete response may often avoid surgery and be followed “nonoperatively.” In the first...
A substantial number of patients with brain metastases who experience cognitive side effects after radiation therapy may fully regain cognitive function, according to recent findings presented by Cherng et al at the 2024 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 150). ...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently released Breast Cancer Statistics, 2024, the organization’s biennial update on breast cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. The new report finds breast cancer mortality rates overall have dropped by 44% since 1989, averting approximately...
As reported in The Lancet by Morris et al, the phase III PSMAfore trial has shown improved progression-free survival with lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) vs change in androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) in taxane-naive patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer...
Two types of contemporary radiation therapy—proton-beam therapy or intensity-modulated radiation therapy—may provide comparable rates of tumor control with no differences in patient-reported quality of life among patients with low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer, according to new findings...
Findings of a multi-institutional phase III trial indicated that people with limited-stage small cell lung cancer may benefit from the addition of immunotherapy to chemoradiotherapy, but not if both treatments are given simultaneously, new research finds. The results suggest that the timing of when ...
In the the phase IA/B dose-escalation and -expansion EMBER study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jhaveri et al, the next-generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader imlunestrant (alone and in combination with other targeted therapies) demonstrated a manageable safety...
Investigators have uncovered a higher risk for strokes, heart attacks, and hospital admissions for heart failure in older cancer survivors, according to a recent study published by Muhandiramge et al in Cancer. Background Although advances in cancer treatment have led to decreased mortality rates...
Advancing surgical and pathologic techniques may improve overall survival rates in high-risk patients with lung cancer, according to new findings presented by Akinbobola et al at the 2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium (Abstract 278). Background “Over the past 15 years, a quality improvement...
A community and academic partnership may provide effective education about the risks of radon, testing for radon, mitigating radon in homes with high levels of the chemical, and reducing the risk of developing lung cancer among Native community members residing in Wisconsin, according to new...
Researchers have found that olanzapine may be more effective in controlling severe nausea and improving the quality of life in patients with cancer who are undergoing treatment with chemotherapy, according to new findings presented by Peppone et al at the 2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium (Abstract...
The alternative use of the monoclonal antibody cetuximab during the shortage of cisplatin in the treatment of head and neck cancer resulted in a 16% total cost increase, leading to a 144-fold increase in costs at the administrative level, impacting payer costs and patient cost-sharing amounts,...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased guideline-concordant care for colorectal cancer among non-White patients, those from rural areas, and those from the most deprived neighborhoods in Pennsylvania, according to new findings presented by Kudaravalli et al at the 2024 American Association for ...
Cabozantinib may be effective at improving progression-free survival in patients with previously treated neuroendocrine tumors, according to recent findings presented by Chan et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 (Abstract 1141O) and simultaneously published in The ...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ruiz-Esteves et al identified risks for immune checkpoint inhibitor–induced diabetes in patients with cancer. Study Details The retrospective cohort study involved data from 14,328 adult patients with cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the Mass ...
The AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024, released on September 18, showcases the extraordinary progress being made against cancer. The report highlights continuing reductions in mortality, which has fallen by 33% between 1991 and 2021, translating into more than 4 million deaths averted from cancer,...