Investigators have addressed the need to improve access to oncology drugs designed to increase the survival and quality of life of patients in sub-Saharan Africa and combat the significant health-care disparities many of these patients continue to face, according to a new study published by Sharma...
Black patients may be 1.6 times more likely to believe medical information presented by a Black speaker than information presented by a White speaker, according to a new study published by Loeb et al in JAMA Network Open. The findings highlight the importance of increasing racial diversity among...
As a member of the Global Forum of Cancer Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) is pleased to announce that Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FSSO, FRCS, FACS, has been named Chief Executive Officer of the Global Forum of Cancer Surgeons. Dr. Are holds the title of Jerald L. and Carolynn J....
ASCO is deeply saddened by the death of A. William Blackstock, Jr, MD, FASCO, who served on the Society’s Board of Directors from 2018 to 2022. Dr. Blackstock passed away on June 18, 2023, from complications of prostate cancer. He was 60 years old. “We mourn the passing of a friend and colleague...
With a $35 million gift from researcher, philanthropist, and race car driver Theodore Giovanis, FHFMA, MBA, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine will study the biologic roots of the most fatal aspect of cancer: how it metastasizes through the body. The contribution, which is a 15-year commitment,...
Three scientists who are researching novel approaches to the treatment of cancer have been named the 2023 recipients of the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award: Nicole M. Cruz, MD; Mounica Vallurupalli, MD; and Nina Weichert-Leahey, MD. The awardees were selected through a highly...
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, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on the use of...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with neurosurgeon Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, MD, FAANS, FACS, the James C. and Sarah K. Kennedy Dean of Research, Monica Flynn Jacoby Chair of Neurologic Surgery, and William J. and Charles...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Syed Ali Abutalib and L. Jeffrey Medeiros explore the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
The James P. Allison Institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced the appointment of its first members, including pioneering researchers who have made notable contributions to science as well as rising stars on the path toward important breakthroughs. This group will ...
Invited discussant Gustavo Werutsky, MD, emphasized that health-related quality of life was consistently maintained in all phase III trials with fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) in the metastatic breast cancer setting. Dr. Werutsky also highlighted the need for real-world data to understand...
Recent improvements in overall and progression-free survival for patients with HER2-positive and estrogen receptor–positive breast cancers have not come at the expense of quality of life or symptom management, according to a pair of studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology...
“I think the NOW trial is a great study,” said Kathleen Moore, MD, MS, the Virginia Kerley Cade Endowed Chair in Cancer Developmental Therapeutics and Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, who shared her thoughts on the trial with The ...
Encouraging outcomes were achieved in patients with BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer who received neoadjuvant treatment with olaparib in a feasibility study led by Shannon N. Westin, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at The University of Texas MD...
The 5-year survival rate of pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has continued to increase to 94%, according to a new study published by Pieters et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Background ALL is the most common form of pediatric cancer in the Netherlands—with about...
A combination of the pancreatic cancer vaccine GVAX, the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab, and the anti-CD137 agonist antibody urelemab may be safe and increase the amount of immune T cells in the tumors of patients with operable pancreatic cancer when given 2 weeks prior to surgical tumor...
Barbara Burtness, MD, the Anthony N. Brady Professor of Medicine and Chief Translational Research Officer at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, featured the CONTINUUM study at the head and neck cancer session on Highlights of the Day during the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. She noted the study’s premise...
The addition of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab to standard induction chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy resulted in a significant improvement in 3-year event-free survival, a manageable safety profile, and comparable quality of life in high-risk, locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma vs standard ...
In a U.S. study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Canavan et al found that White vs Black patients, patients with commercial insurance vs Medicare/Medicaid, and patients treated at community practices vs academic centers were more likely to receive end-of-life systemic therapy for...
As reported in The Lancet by Becker et al, an interim analysis of a European phase II study (ADMEC-O) showed that adjuvant nivolumab was associated with a numeric benefit in disease-free survival vs observation in patients with completely resected Merkel cell carcinoma. Study Details In the...
In the phase II KEYNOTE-B61 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Laurence Albiges, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that first-line pembrolizumab plus lenvatinib produced durable responses in patients with advanced non–clear cell renal cell carcinoma. As stated by the investigators,...
In a secondary analysis from the SWOG S1007 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, and colleagues found low rates of locoregional recurrence irrespective of the use of regional nodal irradiation in patients with favorable-risk, node-positive breast cancer receiving radiation...
In a small phase II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Priscilla K. Brastianos, MD, and colleagues found that the BRAF-MEK inhibitor combination of vemurafenib and cobimetinib produced an objective response in almost all patients with newly diagnosed papillary craniopharyngiomas ...
In a phase III trial (LASER301) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Byoung Chul Cho, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that lazertinib improved progression-free survival vs gefitinib in the first-line treatment of EGFR-mutated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As stated by the...
Investigators have discovered that cetuximab in addition to concurrent radiotherapy may be safe and effective at treating patients with locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, according to a recent study published by Chang et al in Oncotarget. Treatment for locally advanced cutaneous...
Researchers have uncovered how non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors may develop drug resistance over time and identified the APOBEC3A protein as a potential target for novel cancer therapeutics, according to a study published by Isozaki et al in Nature. The findings point to potential...
Assessments of the health impacts of the nonsugar sweetener aspartame were released today by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO)/Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Citing “limited...
In a single-institution, phase I, first-in-human trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cowan et al found that the combination of the γ-secretase inhibitor (GSI) crenigacestat and B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy was tolerable and produced a high...
In a systematic review and individual patient meta-analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Claire L. Vale, PhD, and colleagues in the STOPCAP M1 collaboration identified factors associated and not associated with improved outcomes after the addition of docetaxel to androgen-deprivation therapy...
In a phase I/IIa study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Piotrowska et al found that the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor zipalertinib showed activity and an acceptable safety profile in previously treated patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR exon 20...
Researchers have revealed that combining pembrolizumab with other treatments may reduce the size of target tumors, resulting in a higher response rate for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent study published by Gutierrez et al in Nature Medicine. “We are...
Researchers have uncovered a potential link between chemotherapy-induced changes to gut bacteria and weight gain seen in patients with breast cancer, according to a recent study published by Walker et al in BMC Medicine. The findings may help to identify approaches to avoid obesity-related diseases ...
This is Part 3 of Treatment Considerations in Renal Cell Carcinoma, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Brian Rini, Pedro Barata, and Kathryn Beckermann discuss the treatment of immunotherapy (IO)-refractory...
This is Part 2 of Treatment Considerations in Renal Cell Carcinoma, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Brian Rini, Pedro Barata, and Kathryn Beckermann discuss the front-line treatment of advanced renal cell...
This is Part 1 of Treatment Considerations in Renal Cell Carcinoma, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this Roundtable. In this video, Drs. Brian Rini, Pedro Barata, and Kathryn Beckermann discuss the role of adjuvant therapy for renal cell carcinoma...
New research could warrant reconsideration of current screening guidelines to include a poorly recognized cause of Lynch syndrome, according to a novel study published by Hitchins et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The findings suggest that the guidelines leave a...
In an analysis of National Wilms Tumor Study (NWTS) protocols reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Oosterom et al identified the incidence of treatment-related severe hepatopathy in patients with Wilms tumor and described outcomes in these patients. Study Details The study involved data...
The novel Blood Cancer Awareness Measure tool could identify gaps in the public's knowledge of hematologic malignancy symptoms and aid in the development of future awareness campaigns designed to save lives, according to a new study published by Boswell et al in BMC Cancer and Whitaker et al in...
In an interim analysis of a Spanish pilot trial (CARTBCMA-HCB-01) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Oliver-Caldés et al found that an academically developed B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, ARI0002h, showed activity in patients with relapsed...
In a study of real-world prospective data—GOSAFE—reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Montroni et al found that the majority of patients aged ≥ 70 years undergoing colorectal cancer surgery showed maintained or improved quality of life and achieved functional recovery during follow-up....
In the phase IIb HERIZON-BTC-01 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, James J. Harding, MD, and colleagues found that zanidatamab—a bispecific antibody targeting two distinct HER2 epitopes—showed activity in previously treated patients with HER2-positive advanced biliary tract cancer. Study...
In the phase I/II BRUIN trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Anthony R. Mato, MD, and colleagues found that the noncovalent (reversible) Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor pirtobrutinib exhibited strong activity in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic...
In a German trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Roder et al found that intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided surgery did not improve the rate of complete resection vs fluorescence-guided surgery with aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) in newly diagnosed patients with...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Irajizad et al found that use of a blood-based four-marker protein panel (4MP)—together with the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCOm2012) lung cancer risk model—was capable of identifying patients at high risk of lung cancer...
Session co-moderator Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, the Louisa and Rand Glenn Family Chair in Breast Cancer Research, Director of the Glenn Family Breast Center, and Director of Breast Medical Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, offered his thoughts on PHERGain to The...
The phase II PHERGain trial, which employed a response-adapted strategy in the treatment of early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer, has shown promising results for the selective use of HER2 blockade and de-escalation of chemotherapy.1 Nearly all patients assigned to skip chemotherapy prior to...
An elevated body mass index (BMI) could potentially be associated with inferior treatment outcomes in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to a new study published by Shimony et al in Blood Advances. The findings may demonstrate the impact of...
Investigators have found that millions of dollars could be saved annually across the Veterans Health Administration by reconsidering how immune checkpoint inhibitors are delivered, according to a new study published by Bryant et al in Health Affairs. The findings suggested that if vials of immune...
Researchers have found that fecal microbiota transplants from healthy donors may be safe and show potential in improving response rates to immunotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma, according to a phase I study published by Routy et al in Nature Medicine. Background While immunotherapy...
About 50% of patients with metastatic prostate cancer may experience financial hardship as a result of their treatment, according to a new study published by Joyce et al in The Journal of Urology. Background "Our most significant finding may be that patients experience financial toxicity despite...