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Showing 2651 - 2700ASCO’s Inaugural Breakthrough Global Summit Showcased Evolving Technologies Poised to Revolutionize Cancer Care
Unlike ASCO’s Annual Meeting, symposia, and conferences, which highlight the current scientific advances in specific cancers and how they are improving cancer outcomes for the more than 18.1 million people worldwide diagnosed with cancer each year,1 ASCO Breakthrough: A Global Summit for Oncology...
Gabapentin and Methadone for Patients Undergoing Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer
With nearly all patients who undergo treatment for cancer of the head and neck experiencing oral mucositis, effective pain control is one of the main goals of physicians and care teams. Looking to provide more effective relief for patients—while also reducing the need for opioid painkillers—a team...
Ringing a Bell on the Last Day of Radiation Therapy: Helpful or Harmful?
Some patients with cancer celebrate the end of a course of radiation or chemotherapy by ringing a bell. Indeed, many patients say they love the graduation-like ceremony and the sense of closure it gives them. However, a study published by Williams et al in the International Journal of Radiation...
How Real-World Data Can Help Contextualize New Treatments in Older Patients
Consider a patient who is referred for neoadjuvant therapy for stage IIIA, HER2-positive breast cancer. She is otherwise healthy, with no significant medical history, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0, unremarkable baseline labs, and a left-ventricular ejection fraction...
‘Unprecedented’ Responses to Cisplatin/Gemcitabine in BRCA-Mutated Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
As first-line treatment of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and a germline BRCA/PALB2 mutation, cisplatin plus gemcitabine yielded high response rates and encouraging survival, establishing this doublet as a standard approach in this subset of patients, according to Eileen M....
CMS Expands Coverage of Next-Generation Sequencing for Patients With Breast or Ovarian Cancer
On January 27, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took action to cover U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved or –cleared laboratory diagnostic tests using next-generation sequencing (NGS) for patients with germline ovarian or breast cancer. Over the last several years, CMS ...
APHINITY Update Supports Benefit of Pertuzumab-Based Triplet in Early HER2-Positive, Node-Positive Breast Cancer
Six-year follow-up of the APHINITY trial found a modest, but not statistically significant, overall survival benefit for the addition of pertuzumab to chemotherapy plus trastuzumab vs chemotherapy/trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy in patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer. The benefit was...
Studies Find Estrogen Alone Protective, Estrogen Plus Progestin Detrimental in Postmenopausal Women
In postmenopausal women without prior breast cancer, estrogen alone reduced the risk of breast cancer, not only during treatment, but for years after estrogen was stopped. It also reduced deaths as a result of breast cancer and deaths after breast cancer from all causes. However, in contrast,...
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to Establish Chen-Huang Center for EGFR-Mutant Lung Cancers
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will create the Chen-Huang Center for EGFR-Mutant Lung Cancers to stimulate research, promote clinical trials, and strengthen the Institute’s capabilities for studying and treating lung cancer. The Chen-Huang Center is being established with a $5 million gift from...
Taking Action Against Cancer: Celebrating 20 Years of World Cancer Day
February 4, 2020, will mark the 20th anniversary of World Cancer Day, an annual event meant to raise cancer awareness and encourage governments, oncology societies, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and individuals to take action against the global impact of the disease. Formed in...
Largest Single-Year Drop in Cancer Mortality Ever Reported: 2016–2017
The cancer death rate declined by 29% from 1991 to 2017, including a 2.2% drop from 2016 to 2017—the largest single-year drop in cancer mortality ever reported. These findings were reported in “Cancer Statistics, 2020,” the latest edition of the American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer...
Oral CC-486 Maintenance Therapy Extends Survival in Older Patients With AML
Use of CC-486—an investigational oral form of azacitidine—as maintenance therapy significantly improved overall survival and relapse-free survival in older patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were in remission following induction chemotherapy with or without consolidation ...
Expert Point of View: Debra A. Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, FASCO, and C. Kent Osborne, MD, FASCO
Debra A. Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, FASCO, Clinical Professor at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin and Executive Vice President of Public Policy and Strategy Initiatives for Texas Oncology, told attendees in a symposium highlights talk, “We all identify and follow some patients who ...
A Deeper Understanding of the Miracle of the Human Body
Despite millennia of anatomic and biomedical search and discovery, there are parts and functions of the human body that remain a mystery. For years, medical students were taught that there are 78 organs in the human body. In February 2017, that number was revised, with the announcement of a new...
Seven Haircuts
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
Tucatinib Combination Extends Survival in HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer, Including Patients With Brain Metastases
For patients with progressing HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), no single regimen is an established standard of care. More than 50% of these patients will develop brain metastasis, and thus far, treatments...
Study Finds African Americans With Cancer Are at Higher Risk for Blood Clots
African Americans appear to be at higher risk for cancer-associated venous thromboembolism than patients with cancer of other races, according to a recent study by Vipul Chitalia, MD, PhD, of Boston University Medical Center, published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 Several studies...
Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium Emphasized Caring for the Whole Patient From Diagnosis to End of Life
The 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium: Advancing Palliative Research Across the Care Continuum, held this past October in San Francisco, marked the fifth anniversary of its inauguration and its last as a stand-alone ASCO thematic meeting. Since its launch in 2014 as the Palliative Care in...
Cancer No Longer Scares Me
Cancer was a disease I feared until 3 years ago, when I was diagnosed with gastric cancer. After receiving the diagnosis, I knew I didn’t have any time to indulge in fear; I had to take action if I was going to survive. In hindsight, symptoms of the cancer, including some fatigue and indigestion,...
CancerCare to Provide Support for Patients With Cancer Impacted by the California Wildfires
As many California residents continue to deal with the aftermath of past wildfires and the advent of new ones, CancerCare is now offering a patient assistance program for both emotional and financial support to patients with cancer affected by the California fires. As a leading national nonprofit...
Value-Based and Patient-Centered Cancer Care: Looking at Closing Gaps in Perspectives of Value
Value-based care in oncology—a concept that emphasizes quality over quantity—has evolved over the past 2 decades to become a guiding principle of both public and private payers. The concept was part of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008; informed elements of...
Expert Point of View: Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, and Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA, FASCO
Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, Professor of Medicine, Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the residual cancer burden index is being increasingly used in medical oncology. “The...
Extended Letrozole Boosts Disease-Free Survival in 10-Year Update of NSABP B-42 Trial
“In the 10-year analysis of the NSABP B-42 trial, the effect of extended treatment with 5 years of letrozole on disease-free survival persisted and reached statistical significance. There was no significant improvement in overall survival with letrozole, but letrozole continued to provide a...
Expert Point of View: Michael Jain, MD, PhD
Michael Jain, MD, PhD, of the Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida, commented on both studies with the combination of brentuximab vedotin/nivolumab. “For older patients, ABVD [doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine] is not easy to tolerate, and it would be good to find an easier...
Using T-Cell Fraction to Predict Melanoma Recurrence
In a paper published by Pruessmann et al in Nature Cancer, investigators presented a new, quantitative technique that leverages DNA sequencing to make more sophisticated and accurate predictions about which primary melanomas are likely to recur and spread. "As recently as 10 years ago, the outlook...
Three Studies Examine Relationship Between B-Cell Enrichment and Response to Immunotherapy
The likelihood of a patient responding to immune checkpoint blockade may depend on B cells in the tumor, located within specialized immune-cell clusters known as tertiary lymphoid structures, according to three studies all recently published in Nature. The studies showed that enrichment of B cells...
Comparing Options for Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation to Preserve Fertility in Pediatric Patients With Cancer
With the pediatric cancer survival rate exceeding 80%, “we can reasonably suspect that most of these children will survive more than 5 years from their diagnosis and then go on to puberty,” when they may have to deal with the consequences of cancer treatment, according to Rebecca Flyckt, MD,...
Blinatumomab Outperforms Chemotherapy as Post-Reinduction Consolidation Therapy in Younger Patients With B-Cell ALL
Blinatumomab was superior to standard chemotherapy in children, adolescents, and young adults at the first relapse of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as post-reinduction consolidation therapy prior to hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), according to the results of a late-breaking...
Higher 21-Gene Recurrence Score May Be Associated With Increased Risk of Locoregional Recurrence in Patients With Breast Cancer
A new study shows that a test physicians commonly use to guide chemotherapy for patients with breast cancer after surgery may also help them decide whether radiation therapy may be of benefit. Results published by Wendy A. Woodward, MD, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology suggest patients with an...
Association Between Colorectal Cancer and Ulcerative Colitis
Patients with the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis have a higher risk of dying from colorectal cancer, despite modern therapy, even though the risk has declined in recent years. Olén et al published these findings in The Lancet. Previous research has shown that patients with ulcerative ...
Transplantation Specialist Karen Ballen, MD, Treasures Long-Term Connections With Her Patients
Karen Ballen, MD, an international expert in stem cell transplantation, particularly for patients who have a difficult time finding a donor, was born and reared in the Bronx in a family that encouraged academic and professional pursuits. “My grandfather was an old-fashioned pediatrician who made...
Patient Access to High-Quality Oncologic Pathology Improves Care
Accurate and timely diagnoses are critical components for developing treatment plans for patients with cancer and also for informing prognosis and assessment of responses. Pathologists are an essential part of the oncology team because they have specialized knowledge that helps inform diagnostic...
Does Weight-Loss Surgery Lower the Risk of Malignant Melanoma?
Bariatric surgery is associated with a distinct reduction in skin cancer risk, according to findings published by Taube et al in JAMA Dermatology. This finding further substantiates the connection between weight loss and malignant skin cancer. “This [study] provides further evidence for a...
Largest Single-Year Drop in Cancer Mortality Reported in ‘Cancer Statistics, 2020’
The cancer death rate declined by 29% from 1991 to 2017, including a 2.2% drop from 2016 to 2017—the largest single-year drop in cancer mortality ever reported. These findings were reported in “Cancer Statistics, 2020,” the latest edition of the American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer...
Physical Activity at Recommended Levels May Lower Risk of Multiple Cancers
A pooled analysis of nine prospective studies involving more than 750,000 adults has found that recommended amounts of leisure-time physical activity were linked to a lower risk for seven cancers, with several cancer types having a dose/response relationship. These findings were published by...
Make a Holiday Gift to Conquer Cancer,® the ASCO Foundation
Help fund breakthrough cancer research on behalf of someone you love this holiday season. Make a gift in honor or in memory of a loved one, and then send an e-card or mailed notification of your tribute. For many families, this time of year is marked by worry or grief rather than joy. With your...
Taking a Reasonable Approach to Treating Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma is a malignancy characterized by clonal proliferation of terminally differentiated plasma cells within the bone marrow. Although it leads to a host of different issues within the body, overall survival has steadily improved in recent years. “This is largely because of better...
My Dream Is That Multiple Myeloma Will One Day Be in My Past and No Longer a Part of My Future
A year before my diagnosis of multiple myeloma, in 2010, my husband Paul and I moved with our six children to Monterrey, Mexico, where Paul was helping to create a venture capital industry. We were so busy settling into a new country and getting our children integrated into school that when I...
FDA Pipeline: Priority Reviews in SCLC, Bladder Cancer, Colorectal Cancer
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Reviews for treatments in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), non–muscle invasive bladder cancer, and BRAF V600E–mutant colorectal cancer. The Agency also recently issued multiple Breakthrough Therapy designations and ...
Explaining Risk Factors Related to Anal Cancer
A recent study found rising rates of squamous cell carcinoma of the anus, “particularly advanced-stage disease, and a similar rise in mortality.”1 The authors concluded: “Improved prevention strategies are urgently needed to mitigate the rising [squamous cell carcinoma of the anus] burden among a...
Incidence of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anus Has ‘Increased Dramatically’ in Older Women and Young Black Men
“Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus incidence has increased dramatically in elderly women and young black men,” according to a study of recent trends in incidence and mortality. “Advanced-stage [anal squamous cell carcinoma] incidence tripled with a prominent rise in … mortality,” researchers...
Global Survey Shows Misperceptions About Lung Cancer Among the General Public
Only one in five people (22%) disagrees with the statement “generally, patients with lung cancer have caused their illness through their lifestyle choices and behaviors,” according to a global, omnibus survey conducted by Ipsos MORI and sponsored by the Lung Ambition Alliance. The results were...
Coexisting With Cancer and Depression
Among the highlights at the 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium in October was the keynote address by Thomas J. Smith, MD, FACP, FASCO, FAAHPM, the Harry J. Duffey Family Professor of Palliative Medicine and Director of Palliative Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Professor of Oncology ...
ASCO’s National Cancer Opinion Survey Finds Gaps in Knowledge on Cancer Prevention and the Dangers of E-Cigarettes
As in the previous 2 years, the results from ASCO’s 2019 Cancer Opinion Survey revealed some startling answers about the public’s understanding of cancer, its risk factors, and strategies to prevent the disease. Although a majority of Americans (57%) said they were concerned about developing...
Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma Outcomes Improving Exponentially
Emerging treatments for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma include options beyond triplet regimens, including immunotherapy and mutation-driven therapy. Several exciting drugs are poised to be available in the clinic in 2020, according to speakers at the recent JADPRO Live, the annual...
Expert Point of View: Thierry Facon, MD, and Michael Jain, MD, PhD
Thierry Facon, MD, Professor of Hematology at Lille University Hospital in France, and Michael Jain, MD, PhD, of Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, were interviewed by The ASCO Post on the second-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell products for treating multiple myeloma. According to Dr. ...
CancerCare to Provide Support for Patients With Cancer Impacted by the California Wildfires
As many California residents continue to deal with the aftermath of past wildfires and the advent of new ones, CancerCare is now offering a patient assistance program for both emotional and financial support to patients with cancer affected by the California fires. As a leading national nonprofit...
Early Research Shows Potential New Targets in Treating Glioblastoma, Colorectal Cancer, and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
Glioblastoma multiforme, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma represent some of the most difficult-to-treat cancers and collectively cause more than 114,000 deaths each year in the United States. A trio of recently published basic research studies in these cancers have found...
A Systematic Approach to Identifying the Molecular Factors That Lead to Cancer Progression
Although gene mutations are the primary drivers of carcinogenesis, an array of complex and tumor-specific molecular interaction networks determine cancer cell behavior. To learn more about this line of inquiry, The ASCO Post recently spoke with Andrea Califano, Dr., Professor of Chemical Biology...
Lung Cancer Expert Julie R. Brahmer, MD, MSc, Was an Early Believer in Immunotherapy—and Still Is
Lung cancer specialist Julie R. Brahmer, MD, MSc, comes from a long line of Midwest farmers who still run a family operation. “I’m originally from what I would call the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. My father is a sixth-generation farmer, and my mother is a nurse. I was inclined toward medicine at ...
