The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. With this installment, we launch a new series of articles on commercially available chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Syed Ali Abutalib, MD, and Jennifer N. ...
A report published by Kwan et al in the journal Cancer provides new information that may help oncologists answer one of the most common questions they hear from breast cancer survivors: Is it safe to drink alcohol? The findings suggest drinking alcohol is not associated with an increased risk of...
Approximately 65% of adults in the United States consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily. Researchers led a study examining the associations among intake of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages and the incidence of liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality in a large cohort of ...
A machine-learning model found that background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) on breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be an indicator of breast cancer risk in patients with extremely dense breasts, according to a study published by Wang et al in Radiology. Patients with extremely dense...
On July 7, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor, and the Treasury Department issued a proposed rule regulating the availability of short-term limited duration insurance plans. The rule would restrict the availability of these plans to no more than 4 months....
ASCO has been awarded $11 million in research funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study dosing strategies of oral CDK4/6 inhibitors in older adults living with metastatic breast cancer. The study aims to address a critical evidence gap in the treatment of this...
Formal discussant Daniel G. Stover, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the SONIA and PALMIRA trials raised several questions. Can CDK4/6 inhibitors be personalized and differentiated? Can patients delay treatment with these agents? Should all patients receive a...
Two studies presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting challenge the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors as part of upfront treatment of advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The first, the SONIA trial, found that first-line treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors led to greater toxicity...
Preparing and running a medical conference is usually a complex but rewarding mission. It is a demanding job that is typically done voluntarily by physicians and educators who are dedicated to professional and community service; advancement of research and education; as well as the dissemination of ...
As we detailed in our Special Report “Surviving, but Not Always Thriving, After Cancer,” in the May 25, 2023, issue of The ASCO Post, the combination of advances in more effective therapies to treat cancer, gains in early detection, and sharp declines in tobacco use have led to a staggering 33%...
The invited discussant of the study by Bar et al, Barbara Pistilli, MD, Head of the Breast Cancer Unit at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, Villejuif, France, noted that third-generation antibody-drug conjugates, such as fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd), are showing activity across a wide range ...
The probability of obtaining a HER2-low test result increases with the number of biopsies performed, according to a study of more than 500 biopsy samples in patients with triple-negative breast cancer. For patients originally labeled as having no HER2 expression (HER2 0), each successive biopsy...
Chronic exposure to fine particulate air pollutants (PM2.5, particulate matter 2.5 µm in diameter) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may increase non-lung cancer risk in older adults, according to a study published by Yaguang et al in Environmental Epidemiology. In a cohort study of millions of Medicare...
New research published by Ou et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network evaluated how an important analysis on adjuvant chemotherapy for advanced colon cancer impacted prescribing patterns. The IDEA collaboration included more than 12,000 patients with stage III colon...
In a new study published by Hyuna Sung, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open, non-Hispanic Black individuals diagnosed with a second primary cancer experienced 21% higher cancer-related death rates and 41% higher cardiovascular-related death rates compared with non-Hispanic White individuals;...
Cancer research centers conducting clinical trials could potentially enroll more patients from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups by placing a greater emphasis on relieving investigators of the costs of translating consent documents into languages other than English, according to a study...
Experts have suspected that depression and anxiety may increase cancer risk by affecting a person’s health-related behaviors or by having biological effects on the body that support cancer development. Some research has supported an association among depression, anxiety, and cancer incidence,...
A study covering the northeast region of Colombia found nearly 12% of patients with a high body mass index (BMI) being treated for breast cancer at a regional center experienced cardiotoxicity during chemotherapy. The study will be presented at the upcoming American College of Cardiology Latin...
In patients with N2 and N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant treatment with concurrent gemcitabine and cisplatin significantly improved progression-free survival, with acceptable toxicity, over fluorouracil plus cisplatin, according to a phase III trial reported from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer...
Presented here are summaries of three abstracts from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting that are pertinent for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The first two focus on men with homologous recombinant repair (HRR) gene alterations, including BRCA1/2. In the first study,...
Investigators have found that exposure to wildfires within 1 year of surgery may significantly lower the chance of survival in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent study published by Zhang et al in JAMA Oncology. Background Lung cancer is the second most common...
Researchers have compared the efficacy of surgical and nonsurgical interventions for patients with malignant bowel obstructions, according to a recent study published by Krouse et al in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. The new findings may help to inform clinical decision-making in the ...
Investigators have found that monthly U.S. adult cancer diagnoses decreased by 50% early in April 2020 and that the largest decreases were observed for stage I tumors, resulting in a higher proportion of late-stage cancer diagnoses, according to a recent study published by Han et al in The Lancet...
The American College of Physicians (ACP) suggested screening asymptomatic, average-risk adults for colorectal cancer at age 50 years, according to updated clinical guidelines published by Qaseem et al in the Annals of Internal Medicine. New ACP Clinical Guidelines Colorectal cancer has the fourth...
About 80% of geriatric female colorectal cancer survivors may experience a range of gastrointestinal symptoms years after receiving a diagnosis and treatment for their tumors, according to a recent study published by Han et al in PLOS ONE. Background While depression, anxiety, and fatigue are...
Researchers may have uncovered the immune adverse events and the specific type of CD8 T cells that characterize inflammatory arthritis induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Science Immunology. Immune checkpoint inhibitors used to treat...
Joshua Zeidner, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Chief of Leukemia Research, and Associate Chief of Hematology Research at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, emphasized the high risk of relapse, even after allogeneic stem cell transplantation, for patients ...
A new therapeutic option is under study for use in a difficult-to-treat subset of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a presentation during the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2023 Hybrid Congress.1 Exploratory results of the phase III MORPHO trial showed a benefit to the ...
Human papillomavirus (HPV)–positive head and neck squamous cell carcinomas can be divided into two distinct subtypes that may help determine how well patients will respond to therapy, according to a novel study published by Schrank et al in PNAS. The findings also identified a new mechanism of HPV...
Researchers in Japan have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic tool for colposcopy examinations that may accurately identify cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and subsequently suggest appropriate biopsy sites. The research will be presented by Ueda et al at the 2023...
A combination of resistance and aerobic exercise may improve sexual function in patients with prostate cancer, according to a new study conducted in Australia. The research was presented by Galvao et al at the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting (Abstract 71) in Yokohama, Japan. “Sexual dysfunction is a ...
In a Dutch analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Horeweg et al found that molecular classification predicted response to radiotherapy in patients with early-stage endometrioid endometrial cancer. As stated by the investigators, “The molecular classification of endometrial cancer...
As presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, the phase III IMerge trial of imetelstat1 and the phase III COMMANDS trial of luspatercept2 met their primary endpoints of transfusion independence. The findings suggest that lower-risk patients with transfusion-dependent, non-del(5q) myelodysplastic...
Investigators have found that just 4.5 minutes of vigorous activity per day could reduce the risk of some cancer types by up to 32%. The results of the recent study were published by Stamatakis et al in JAMA Oncology. Background Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity describes very...
Patients who reside in lower-income communities may be less likely to undergo colorectal cancer screenings with computed tomography (CT) colonography than those who reside in higher-income communities, according to a new study published by Christensen et al in the American Journal of ...
In the Dutch single-institution phase II PERICLES trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, de Vries et al found atezolizumab produced activity in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. Study Details In the study, 32 patients enrolled at The Netherlands Cancer...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Robertson et al found U.S. veterans most frequently cited a preference for stool testing as a reason for declining participation in the CONFIRM trial, which compared the effect on colorectal cancer mortality with annual colonoscopy vs annual fecal...
As a first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab plus weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel provided clinically significant efficacy in the phase II FRAIL-IMMUNE (GORTEC 2018-03) trial.1 This regimen may prove to be an effective...
Increased skin cancer screenings may not reduce disparities in the survival rates of patients with melanoma who have darker skin tones, according to a recent study published by Smith et al in JAMA Dermatology. Background Although melanoma—the leading cause of skin cancer mortality—is most common...
In a modeling study reported in JAMA Oncology, Kalyta et al found that reducing the starting age for colorectal cancer screening with the biennial fecal immunochemical test (FIT) in Canada would result in reduction in colorectal cancer burden at a “modest cost.” As stated by the investigators:...
Investigators have proposed that cancer centers may be uniquely positioned to protect communities and patients with cancer from climate-driven disasters by bolstering climate change–associated emergency preparedness, according to a recent study published by Espinel et al in the Journal of the...
A novel artificial intelligence (AI) model may be able to accurately predict the risk of death from lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other causes by using data from low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans of the lungs, according to a recent study published by Xu et al in Radiology....
Long-term follow-up of selinexor maintenance therapy in patients with p53 wild-type endometrial cancer has demonstrated anticancer activity, according to data presented by Brian M. Slomovitz, MD, and colleagues during the ASCO Plenary Series: July 2023 Session (Abstract 427956). Results of the...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, KC et al identified factors involved with primary cancer mortality vs noncancer mortality among long-term survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. Study Details The study included data on 627,702 patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology,...
An ancient practice may offer modern relief for sleep disturbances experienced by patients with multiple myeloma undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), according to research published by El Iskandarani et al in Acupuncture in Medicine. Based on a randomized, prospective study of 63...
Syrian migrants, including refugees, may be more likely to be diagnosed with a more advanced stage of breast cancer at a younger age when compared with individuals from Jordan, according to a recent study published by Hazra et al in JAMA Network Open. The new findings suggest the trauma associated...
The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines may be an effective strategy for reducing COVID-19–related hospitalizations and mortality in patients with cancer, according to a recent study published by Starkey et al in Scientific Reports. Study Methods and Results In this study, investigators analyzed the...
Investigators have found that overall survival rates may not vary significantly among patients with gallbladder cancer who have had different volumes of their livers resected, as long as the cancer is completely removed, according to a study published by Vega et al in the Annals of Surgical...
Black cancer survivors in the United States may experience a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and associated mortality than White cancer survivors, according to a recent study published by Sung et al in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The investigators also found that...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Im et al found that a polygenic risk score (PRS) may be useful in stratifying risk for subsequent malignant neoplasms among nonirradiated survivors of childhood cancer according to chemotherapy received. Study Details The study involved...