Bristol-Myers Squibb announced on January 23 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved nivolumab (Opdivo) in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type and BRAF V600 mutation–positive unresectable or metastatic...
Amgen announced on January 21 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental New Drug Application of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) for injection in combination with dexamethasone or with lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed or...
Although the fecal immunochemical test is a common method for colorectal cancer screening, its acceptability and performance over several rounds of annual testing are largely unknown. Now, a large retrospective cohort study by Jensen et al assessing the fecal immunochemical...
Although little controversy exists regarding the indication for urologic evaluation for patients with gross hematuria, the evaluation of patients with the much more common finding of microscopic hematuria is complicated by a lack of clarity regarding indications for clinical referral, according to...
Novocure presented data from its ongoing phase II PANOVA clinical trial at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, showing that tumor-treating fields therapy plus first-line gemcitabine is tolerable and safe in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The data also suggest...
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc, announced that an updated overall survival analysis of the phase III NAPOLI-1 study of irinotecan liposome injection (Onivyde) in combination with fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin achieved a substantial improvement in 12-month overall survival compared to 5-FU and...
Findings from a Polish phase III study point to an additional treatment option for patients with advanced rectal cancer. Patients who received short-course (5-day) radiation followed by consolidation chemotherapy before surgery achieved outcomes similar to those of patients treated with...
Researchers report the results of a new analysis from a phase III trial of patients with neuroendocrine tumors that begin in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract or have an unknown origin. Compared to placebo, everolimus (Afinitor) was associated with a 6- to 8-month longer time period before the cancer ...
Early results from the NETTER-1 phase III study of patients with previously treated, advanced midgut neuroendocrine tumors show that a novel therapy, lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lutathera), may substantially slow tumor growth. Patients treated with the experimental drug had a 79% lower risk ...
At NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, researchers have discovered an inherited genetic marker that might provide clinicians with a personalized tool to gauge an individual’s survival and determine which patients require closer monitoring in the years...
In a phase III trial (National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project [NSABP] B-35) reported in The Lancet, Margolese et al found that adjuvant anastrozole significantly improved the breast cancer–free interval vs tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has published new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for vulvar cancer; these NCCN Guidelines® are currently available as Version 1.2016. The NCCN Drugs & Biologics Compendium (NCCN Compendium®) has been...
In a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Sequist et al reported clinical benefit with the recently approved third-generation EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib (Tagrisso) in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who had disease...
A committee of national experts, led by a Cleveland Clinic researcher, has established first-of-its-kind guidelines to promote more accurate and individualized cancer predictions, guiding more precise treatment and leading to improved patient survival rates and outcomes. These guidelines were...
Melanoma is on the rise in women of childbearing age. Those at the greatest risk, according to new Cleveland Clinic research, are women younger than 50 who are pregnant or have recently been pregnant. After adjusting for age, tumor location, and stage, researchers from Cleveland Clinic's...
Retrospective analyses of the ATAC, TEAM, and BIG 1-98 adjuvant endocrine therapy trials in breast cancer have suggested that treatment-emergent endocrine symptoms may be associated with superior survival outcomes. However, in a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stearns et al...
Two quality improvement projects described by Bryant-Bova in the Journal of Oncology Practiceresulted in reduced errors in prescribing intravenous and oral chemotherapy. A project at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston outpatient infusion centers first identified 15 different types ...
A protein that is constantly expressed by cancer cells and quiescent in healthy cells appears to be a solid target for reducing cancer's ability to spread, scientists reported. The WASF3 protein enables cancer cell invasion, and by interrupting its relationship with another protein, CYFIP1, which...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ofatumumab (Arzerra) for extended treatment of patients who are in complete or partial response after at least two lines of therapy for recurrent or progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Ofatumumab was previously approved for the...
Solid-organ transplant recipients have a higher rate of cancer mortality than what is expected in the general population, according to a Canadian study by Acuna et al published in JAMA Oncology. Cancer mortality among transplant recipients was significantly elevated compared with data for the...
A randomized phase II study in symptomatic, untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) found an increased overall response rate with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) at a dose of 2,000 mg vs 1,000. In addition, the “data demonstrate that obinutuzumab produces a higher response rate in...
In a landmark study, investigators from Europe proposed a new and simple method to assess the risk of malignancy of women with an adnexal mass. The method identified between 89% and 99% of patients with ovarian cancer using the results of ultrasound examination, which can be obtained in referral...
Radiation-induced breast cancer risk from digital mammography is low for the majority of women, but the risk is higher in women with large breasts, who received 2.3 times more radiation and required more views per examination to image as much of the breast as possible compared to those with small...
As reported in The Lancet by Jacobs et al, the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) suggests there may be a mortality benefit of ovarian cancer screening in postmenopausal women. Study Details In the trial, 202,546 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 74 years from 13 centers...
In a study using Pennsylvania Cancer Registry data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Epstein et al found that use of the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) assay was associated with lower use of chemotherapy and lower medical spending among patients younger than age 55 with early-stage...
A palliative care consultation initiated in the emergency department for patients with advanced cancer was associated with improved quality of life and did not seem to shorten survival, according to an article published by Grudzen et al in JAMA Oncology. Visits to the emergency department are...
Findings from a new study reveal that the activity of PARP inhibitors, an emerging class of drugs being studied in cancer clinical trials, may be enhanced by combining them with inhibitors targeting the oncogene c-MET, which is overexpressed in many cancers. The findings resulting from in vitro and ...
In a Swedish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Holm et al found that high risk on the Tyrer–Cuzick predicted 10-year breast cancer risk score (TCRS) and a 77-single nucleotide polymorphism polygenic risk score (PRS) tended to be associated with favorable prognostic features...
In a European phase III study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Kröger et al found that inclusion of antihuman T-lymphocyte immune globulin (ATG) in the myeloablative conditioning regimen in patients with acute myeloid or lymphoid leukemia resulted in a significant reduction in...
ASCO has announced the creation of the Ellen L. Stovall Award and Lecture for Advancement of Cancer Survivorship Care, intended to recognize and promote the work of pioneers and leaders in the growing field of survivorship. The first award will be presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship...
Obesity has long been associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer, but the link has never been understood. Now, a research team led by investigators at Thomas Jefferson University has revealed the biologic connection, and in the process, has identified an approved drug that might prevent...
A new study of women cancer survivors indicated that 45% still have chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms years after completing cancer treatment. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy was associated with worse physical functioning, poorer mobility, and a nearly twofold higher...
In a Japanese phase III trial (SELECT BC) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Takashima et al found that first-line treatment with the oral fluoropyrimidine S-1 was associated with noninferior overall survival vs taxane regimens in women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer resistant to...
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact...
ASCO announced today that the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) will be printed on a monthly basis and offer new resources to supply oncology professionals with cutting-edge information on cancer care delivery. Doubling its content, the expanded journal also features clinical information from a...
A regional anesthesia technique called thoracic paravertebral nerve block is highly effective in controlling pain after breast cancer surgery, but concern about potential complications may limit its use. A new study provides evidence that using ultrasound to guide the nerve blocking procedure...
Adolescent girls living in high-poverty communities and majority Hispanic communities were more likely to have received at least one dose of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine than those living in low-poverty communities and in communities of other racial and ethnic compositions. These findings...
Results of a phase III trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Piccart-Gebhart et al, showed a modest and statistically nonsignificant increase in disease-free survival with concurrent adjuvant lapatinib (Tykerb) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) vs trastuzumab alone in patients with...
In a study from the Utah Cancer Registry reported in JAMA Oncology, Samadder et al found an increased risk of carcinoma of unknown primary and other cancers in relatives of patients with this type of cancer. Study Details The study was a nested case-control study including 4,160 patients with a...
Physicians treating patients with metastatic melanoma may soon have a superior tool in their efforts to closely track the disease. A new study shows that a blood test that monitors blood levels of DNA fragments from dead cancer cells does a better job than the current standard test at tracking the...
In the LEAN (Lifestyle, Exercise, and Nutrition) study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Harrigan et al found that telephone and in-person weight loss counseling was effective in reducing weight and C-reactive protein level in overweight or obese women treated for breast cancer. In the ...
As reported in The Lancet by Herbst et al, the phase II/III KEYNOTE-010 trial showed that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly improved overall survival vs docetaxel in patients with previously treated programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer...
ASCO released a new policy statement with recommendations to ensure that clinical pathways in oncology promote—not hinder—the care of patients with cancer. Published by Zon et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice, the statement asserts that the way in which these treatment management...
Doctors at the Duke University School of Medicine have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon’s ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The imaging technology was developed through...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, and Carol’s Crusade for a Cure Foundation have announced a new partnership and grant opportunity in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer research. The AACR–Triple Negative Breast Cancer...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA, Robbins et al found evidence that the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Expansion (ACA-DCE) has resulted in increased diagnosis of cervical cancer at an early stage and increased use of fertility-sparing treatments in women aged 21 to 25 years. ...
Melanoma of the skin remains a fatal disease, and its incidence continues to rise, mostly in young adults during their prime. Surgery remains the most effective therapeutic modality, but patients’ survival depends on the stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Various therapeutic agents have ...
Patients of the Women’s Cancer Center at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia often ask about ovarian cancer risk, the center’s Director, Robert A. Burger, MD, told The ASCO Post. Moreover, the recent study showing that bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy reduced that risk generated discussion among ...
Recently reported findings that bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy decreased the risk of ovarian cancer compared to ovarian conservation and hysterectomy, without increasing cardiovascular, fracture, and other cancer risks, should “challenge” current thinking about bilateral...
A retrospective exploratory analysis of pooled efficacy data from more than 500 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib (Sutent) “support the hypothesis that hypertension may be a viable biomarker of antitumor efficacy in this patient population,” according to a report...