In a research letter published in JAMA Oncology, Xuesong Han, PhD, and colleagues identified the number of deaths attributable to both cancer and COVID-19, with either as an underlying or contributing cause, in the United States from March 1 to December 31, 2020, and analyzed risk factors for these ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Carroll et al, an analysis from the Thinking and Living with Cancer Study has shown higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) at baseline and during follow-up among women with stage 0 to III breast cancer diagnosed at age ≥ 60 years vs controls,...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Christopher R. Manz, MD, MSHP, and colleagues found that oncologist participation in the Medicare Oncology Care Model (OCM) was not associated with a reduced likelihood of prescribing novel cancer therapies to their patients. As stated by the investigators, ...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Voleti et al identified the proportion of patients with cancer receiving routine clinical care who reported financial hardship and analyzed risk factors for financial hardship. The researchers found that patients who reported experiencing financial...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Hu et al found decreases in the rates of opiate prescription and potential misuse/substance use disorders among survivors of childhood cancer following the March 2016 release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) opioid-prescribing guideline....
In an analysis of National Cancer Database data reported in JAMA Surgery, Nassoiy et al found that neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy followed by surgery was associated with higher rates of R0 resection and improved survival vs other treatments in patients aged 80 and older undergoing surgery for...
The addition of 24 months of androgen-deprivation therapy to postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy provided a metastasis-free survival benefit and improved the time to salvage therapy in patients with prostate cancer, according to the preliminary results from the RADICALS-HD trial...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Lucie M. Turcotte, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that real-world costs for care for commercially insured U.S. pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were higher in those diagnosed at age 10 or older and have increased substantially...
Although breast cancer death rates dropped by 43% from 1989 to 2020, Black women continue to be 40% more likely to die of the disease, despite a lower incidence, according to findings outlined in the American Cancer Society’s report Breast Cancer Statistics, 2022, and a companion study published by ...
Although standard therapies may provide long-lasting remissions for many patients with various subtypes of lymphoma, there is a critical need for new strategies for the sizable high-risk subset. At the 2022 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference, four experts in the field described future therapies for...
First-line maintenance therapy with olaparib extended survival beyond historical expectations in some women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer, according to two phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2022 Congress.1,2 In the SOLO1 trial,1 more...
Pembrolizumab (anti–PD-1 therapy) plus chemotherapy continued to demonstrate a survival benefit and durable responses as first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the results of two phase III trials.1,2 Five-year overall survival was improved in both...
The legal climate surrounding reproductive health care and fertility preservation has changed drastically since the June 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which revoked the constitutional right to abortion. With this ruling, individual state legislatures are now able to pass laws...
With the aging of the world population, geriatric oncology is becoming a mainstay. Over the past year in The ASCO Post, we published a couple of articles on the history of oncology, including one on the history of geriatric oncology in the United States and Europe. Our goal was to promote a...
Following an extensive national search, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, has appointed Cristina R. Ferrone, MD, as Chair of the Department of Surgery. Currently Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Office of Clinical Careers for Massachusetts General...
The addition of cabozantinib to nivolumab plus ipilimumab prolonged progression-free survival in untreated intermediate-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the first results of the phase III COSMIC-313 trial. These findings were presented as a Presidential Symposium ...
Survivors of prostate cancer originally diagnosed with metastatic disease may experience significantly worse health-related quality of life than those diagnosed with early-stage disease and individuals without a cancer history across all domains, according to a new study by Zheng et al published in ...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Olson et al, the primary toxicity results of the phase II SABR-5 trial have shown a low rate of toxic effects with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for patients with up to five oligometastases. As stated by the investigators: “After the publication of the...
In an analysis from the International PPB/DICER1 Registry reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schultz et al found that chemotherapy with IVADo (ifosfamide, vincristine, actinomycin-D, and doxorubicin) appeared to be associated with similar or improved outcomes vs historical controls among ...
Young women who are cancer survivors may be at a much higher risk of sexual problems, including loss of libido and discomfort, according to research published by Wettergren et al in the journal Acta Oncologica. The study also suggests that cancer type and intensity of treatment may influence the...
In a report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study population reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shin et al identified symptom clusters among adult survivors of childhood cancer and potential associations with health-related quality of life and physical and neurocognitive performance....
In a Swedish study reported in JAMA Network Open, Gahm et al found that multiple vs single doses of prophylactic intravenous (IV) antibiotics did not significantly reduce the risk of surgical site infection leading to implant removal in women undergoing implant-based breast reconstruction after...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Okhawere et al found that minimally invasive surgery was associated with similar or reduced total expenditures vs open surgery during the first year after partial or radical nephrectomy for kidney cancer. Study Details The study...
In a survey study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Jimenez et al found that half of surveyed oncologists reported sometimes or usually using reduced doses at initiation of a new systemic treatment in patients with metastatic cancer in order to potentially reduce toxicity. Study Details The study...
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Oncology, Allen S. Ho, MD, and colleagues found evidence that active surveillance may be a suitable treatment for most patients with low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma. Study Details The prospective study included 222 patients enrolled at...
Over the past few years, we have seen rapid and dramatic transformation in the therapeutic landscape of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We have had multiple new targeted therapies for newer targets (previously undruggable targets) and better diagnostic strategies to workup patients to realize...
Approximately 6% of patients with stage I to III lung cancer develop second primary lung cancer within 5 years of their initial diagnosis, according to research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2022 World Conference on Lung Cancer.1 Analysis of data...
Lung cancer screening has been shown to significantly reduce lung cancer mortality, but some management protocols have more benefit than others, according to data presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2022 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).1 Although the...
The first discussant of the NADIM II study, Corinne Faivre-Finn, MD, PhD, Professor of Thoracic Radiation Oncology, University of Manchester, and Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, England, called the results “very impressive” but noted that...
A common, spontaneous mutation in blood stem cells, which has been linked to a higher risk of blood cancer and cardiovascular disease, may promote these diseases by altering the stem cells’ programming of gene activity and the mix of blood cells they produce, according to a study co-led by...
In a Korean single-institution retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Kim et al found that higher sinoatrial node radiation doses were associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation and poorer survival in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and locally ...
In a retrospective cohort study performed in U.S. veterans reported in JAMA Oncology, Strohbehn et al found that a minority of patients receiving singe-agent pembrolizumab for cancer received the extended-interval dosing of 400 mg every 6 weeks. Analysis of efficacy measured as the time to...
A large prospective analysis, published by Bayle et al in Annals of Oncology, evaluated differences between tissue and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) next-generation sequencing (NGS) with a large cancer gene panel. The investigators compared the impacts of both methods in terms of molecular tumor...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ji et al, the HOPE study (Hurria Older Patients [HOPE] with Breast Cancer Study) has shown that older women categorized as robust prior to adjuvant chemotherapy are at risk for clinical decline postchemotherapy, with high baseline levels of the...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Tree et al, an analysis from the phase III PACE-B trial has shown no difference in 2-year genitourinary or gastrointestinal toxicity with conventionally fractionated/moderately hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) vs highly hypofractionated...
In a retrospective analysis from the neoadjuvant I-SPY2 trial reported in JAMA Surgery, Osdoit et al found that among patients with breast cancer achieving pathologic complete response (pCR), there were no significant differences in treatment outcomes according to the presence or absence of...
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schultz et al found poor survival among children and young adults with lack of response to tisagenlecleucel for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Salvage therapy after relapse was capable of inducing responses, but...
On September 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved bevacizumab-adcd (Vegzelma), a biosimilar to bevacizumab (Avastin), for the treatment of six types of cancer: metastatic colorectal cancer; recurrent or metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); recurrent...
On September 28, the Lasker Foundation announced the winners of the 2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the 2022 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and the 2022 Lasker~Bloomberg Public Service Award. Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award Richard O. Hynes, PhD, of the...
In a case-control study within the U.S. Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study population reported in JAMA Oncology, Lønning et al found that BRCA1 promoter methylation identified in white blood cells was associated with increased risks of incident triple-negative breast cancer and high-grade serous ...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Brittany L. Bychkovsky, MD, MSc, and colleagues analyzed the spectrum of cancer phenotypes associated with germline CHEK2 variants. They found that CHEK2 pathogenic variants apart from p.I157T, p.S428F, and p.T476M were associated with...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Li et al identified elements of increasing financial burden associated with the use of high-cost targeted oral anticancer drugs among Medicare patients between 2011 and 2016. The study used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results...
In a French phase Ib/IIa trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Adotévi et al found that a therapeutic universal cancer peptide–based vaccine (UCPVax) induced specific CD4+ T helper–1 responses in many patients with refractory advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with...
In a Japanese study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kaneko et al found that hypertension in patients with cancer not receiving blood pressure–lowering medication was associated with an increased risk of heart failure and other cardiovascular disease events. Study Details The...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by DiSilvestro et al, the 7-year follow-up of the phase III SOLO1/GOG 3004 trial showed a reduction in risk of death by almost half with maintenance olaparib vs placebo in newly diagnosed patients with advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation,...
In a European study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, de Baat et al identified heart exposure to radiotherapy and cumulative anthracycline doses as factors associated with increased risk of heart failure in survivors of childhood cancers. Survivors who received a mean heart radiotherapy ...
State-run Medicaid insurance, expanded in 2014 as part of the Affordable Care Act, has resulted in decreased metastatic cancer incidence rates as well as decreased overall cancer mortality rates, and has averted over 1,000 deaths due to cancer per year. About 12% of the improvements in cancer...
A cancer navigation program can reduce overall costs when deployed in collaboration with a statewide Medicare Advantage health plan across a wide range of practice types, according to findings to be presented by Worland et al at the upcoming 2022 ASCO Quality Care Symposium (Abstract 4). A...
Substituting biosimilars, generics, and clinically appropriate lower-cost drugs for established, costlier drugs was shown to be an effective way to reduce the total cost of care, by 5% or so, while maintaining the quality of care for patients with cancer. Even small shifts toward lower-cost drugs...
Despite a significant potential for cure, relapsed and refractory large B-cell lymphomas (LBCL) comprise the most common cause of lymphoma-related mortality. Sequential relapses reflect the limits of repeated exposure to chemotherapy, even when delivered at high doses. More than 30 years ago,...