In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that childhood cancer survivors with pathogenic neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) variants had a greater risk of subsequent neoplasms than survivors without NFI variants and that radiotherapy was...
According to the American Cancer Society, excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women in the United States and the second most common cause of cancer deaths. This year, it is expected that more than 51,000 people will die of the malignancy....
Michael J. LaRiviere, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the safety and efficacy of an alternate radiation-based approach to using cytotoxic chemotherapy alone in preparation for CAR T-cell treatment (Abstract 135).
This week, we’ll be going over news from the 2019 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting, including an analysis of the effect of long-term hormonal therapy on men with low prostate-specific antigen levels treated with early salvage radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy...
The monoclonal antibody daratumumab has been widely embraced for the treatment of multiple myeloma, but for newly diagnosed patients, its benefit has been proved only in some patients, according to Craig Hofmeister, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory...
Two recent studies showed varying degrees of the effectiveness of mammography in different populations. In a report published in Radiology, Gao et al showed that in men at high risk for breast cancer, screening mammography may be able to increase the rate of detection of early-stage disease....
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 flaxseed because...
Andreas Rimner, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses study findings showing that, for patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer, durvalumab reduced the rate of and time to disease progression vs placebo and also reduced the number of new distant lesions (Abstract LBA6).
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Earlier this year, ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) was...
Although between 8% and 12% of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer harbor a BRAF gene mutation, not all non-V600 BRAF alterations respond to EGFR antibody treatment, according to findings from a study by Yaeger et al published in Clinical Cancer Research. The study investigated whether...
Two topics that hematologists are currently grappling with were addressed at the 2019 Debates and Didactics Conference in Sea Island, Georgia, sponsored by Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, by Editor-in-Chief of The ASCO Post, James O. Armitage, MD, FASCO.1 They focus on the emerging role ...
Findings from a recent SWOG study could cast doubt on the generalizability of treatment effects observed in positive clinical trials, especially among underinsured patients. According to data presented at the 2019 ASCO Quality Care Symposium,1 patients with Medicaid or no insurance had no observed...
Alex A. Adjei, MD, PhD, of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved in KEYNOTE-189 or KEYNOTE-021, provided some perspective on the exploratory analyses of tumor mutational burden from these and other studies. “Four studies at this meeting presented data on tumor mutational burden...
Tumor mutational burden failed to prove effective as a biomarker for response to chemotherapy plus checkpoint inhibitor or chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment for nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in two different exploratory analyses of KEYNOTE trials.1,2 In both analyses,...
In a research letter published in JAMA Oncology, Wang et al identified the frequency of mutations in DNA polymerase epsilon (POLE) and delta 1 (POLD1) genes across cancer types and found that these mutations were associated with better survival outcomes among patients receiving immune checkpoint...
Andreas Rimner, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, presented an update of the landmark PACIFIC trial at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) (Abstract LBA-6). In earlier reports from the randomized phase III trial, Antonia et al had evaluated...
Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for the vast majority of all lung cancers—between 80% and 85% of those diagnosed in the United States—and is among the most deadly cancers for both men and women, exceeding the mortality rate of colon, breast, and pancreatic cancers combined. The results...
This week, we’ll be discussing findings presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer and the ASCO Quality Care Symposium, including a pooled analysis on 5-year overall survival rates in patients with previously treated non-small...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to tepotinib for metastatic non–small cell lung cancer harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations, and Orphan Drug designations to novel chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies in both multiple myeloma ...
Patients with RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprise up to 2% of all NSCLC cases, but there are no targeted therapies currently approved for patients with this form of lung cancer. Selpercatinib (also known as LOXO-292) is an oral and highly selective investigational drug...
First-line pembrolizumab monotherapy provides durable long-term overall survival benefit compared to chemotherapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data from the KEYNOTE-024 trial presented by Martin Reck, MD, PhD, at the International Association for the...
Patients with stage IV squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression treated with atezolizumab and chemotherapy experienced longer overall survival rates than those treated with chemotherapy alone. The data from the IMpower131 trial were...
Cristina Merkhofer, MD, MHS, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses study results showing that for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer at her institution, enrolling in a therapeutic drug clinical trial was associated with a 47% lower risk of death, compared with not...
Bernardo H. L. Goulart, MD, of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses his findings that high out-of-pocket costs for oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors may lower survival rates, shorten the duration of therapy, and reduce the number of prescriptions for patients with metastatic EGFR- or ALK-positive...
Pooled data on two clinical trials demonstrated patients with previously treated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with nivolumab had a greater than fivefold increase in 5-year overall survival rate compared to treatment with the chemotherapy docetaxel. Scott Gettinger, MD, of Yale...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Anna E. Coghill, PhD, MPH, and colleagues found that outcomes are often worse among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients aged 65 years or older with cancer vs HIV-negative patients with cancer, after adjustment for first courses of treatment....
On July 30, 2019, pembrolizumab was approved for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1; Combined Positive Score [CPS] ≥ 10), as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug...
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,...
Oncologist Nakul Singhal, MD, has joined New York Cancer & Blood Specialists (NYCBS) and will be accepting new patients at the Bayside and New Hyde Park locations. NYCBS also welcomes oncologist Nicole Carreau, MD. Prior to joining NYCBS, Dr. Singhal practiced at Hackensack Meridian Health...
Two scientists, whose discoveries in stem cell and cancer cell biology have led to innovative advances in fields ranging from oncology and immunology to cancer genomics and regenerative medicine, will receive the 2019 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. Bert Vogelstein, ...
Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which standards of care have not been well established. In light of recent insights into its pathophysiology and the emergence of novel approaches, The ASCO Post asked Tracy T. Batchelor, MD, a specialist in...
On August 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to entrectinib (Rozlytrek) for adult and adolescent patients whose cancers have an NTRK (neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase) genetic fusion and for whom there are no effective treatments. Entrectinib was also...
The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) has published the first clinical immunotherapy guidelines for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, providing oncologists and other advanced practice providers with a clinical roadmap to treating this disease with immunotherapies approved in...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology,1Zhaoming Wang, PhD, and colleagues at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, found that the presence of a germline BRCA2 mutation increased the risk of development of pediatric or adolescent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. As noted by the...
In a clinical trial testing the toxicity of a KRAS inhibitor, the treatment demonstrated early promising antitumor activity and few adverse side effects in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring a KRAS G12C mutation. The research was presented by Govindan et al at the...
First-line therapy consisting of nivolumab plus ipilimumab showed a consistent safety profile in special populations with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to research presented by Fabrice Barlesi, MD, PhD, of Aix-Marseille University, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille...
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), two presentations showed that tumor mutational burden is not associated with the efficacy of pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to magrolimab in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The agency also granted Breakthrough Therapy designations in lung cancer and desmoid tumors, as well as Breakthrough Device designations...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos, MD, PhD, and colleagues found evidence of promising activity of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor avelumab in mismatch repair–deficient (MMRD) recurrent or persistent endometrial...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Thomas E. Stinchcombe, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of bevacizumab to erlotinib did not significantly improve progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with advanced EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details The...
Drug costs and requirements for prior authorization of treatment plans pose barriers to cancer treatment and can potentially affect outcomes for many patients, according to two studies that will be presented at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium. The studies respectively examine how the high...
Researchers from the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle investigated the relationship between participation in a clinical trial and overall survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Cristina Merkhofer, MD, MHS, will present...
This week, we review a pooled analysis of long-term survival rates in patients with previously treated non–small cell lung cancer treated with nivolumab. We then turn to the recently reported USPSTF recommendation on risk assessment, genetic counseling, and genetic testing for BRCA1 or BRCA2...
In a study reported in The Lancet, Strongman et al found that survivors of most site-specific cancers had an increased risk for one or more cardiovascular diseases during follow-up compared with a matched control group of patients without cancer. This population-based cohort study employed multiple ...
In a Chinese phase Ib study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sheng et al reported activity with the combination of the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) agent toripalimab plus axitinib in patients with metastatic mucosal melanoma. As stated by the investigators, whereas...
There were numerous notable presentations at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, many of which were covered in The ASCO Post over the past few months. To add to our continued coverage of this meeting, here are some highlights from studies focusing on novel therapeutics in renal cell carcinoma ...
On July 30, 2019, darolutamide was approved for the treatment of patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.1,2 Approval was based on findings in the double-blind phase III ARAMIS trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02200614), in which 1,509 patients were randomly assigned ...
There were numerous notable presentations at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, many of which were covered in The ASCO Post over the past few months. To add to our continued coverage of this meeting, here are some highlights from studies focusing on novel therapeutics in renal cell carcinoma ...
Breast cancer researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, are beginning to select patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who might forgo surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. While this fine-tuning is currently intended to inform clinical trials—in particular, to ...
Virtual reality can be used to improve functioning in patients with cancer, according to David Rhew, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Healthcare, Samsung Electronics America. Research has shown that this technology can decrease pain and improve vision, as...