In a Chinese phase 1b/II trial (COMPASSION-03) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gao et al found that the anti–PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody cadonilimab showed activity in previously treated patients with a range of advanced solid tumors, including advanced cervical cancer, esophageal squamous...
On October 9, HistoSonics, the manufacturer of the Edison System and novel histotripsy therapy platforms, announced the marketing authorization of its platform via the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) De Novo Classification Request process, a rigorous premarket review pathway for medical...
Although the 5-year survival rate for multiple myeloma has increased over the past 2 decades—from about 35% in 2000 to approximately 62% in 2015—due to more effective therapies, the cancer remains incurable. According to the American Cancer Society, this year, nearly 36,000 individuals will be...
In the phase III CANOPY-A trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Edward B. Garon, MD, and colleagues found that adjuvant therapy with the interleukin (IL)-1β pathway inhibitor canakinumab did not significantly improve disease-free survival vs placebo in patients with completely resected...
Investigators have determined that knowing which patient populations are following cancer screening guidelines may be beneficial to public health officials, policymakers, and researchers developing strategies to improve screening adherence, according to a recent study published by Bhattacharyya et...
The children of adolescent and young adult female patients with a history of cancer may face a higher risk of birth defects, according to a recent study published by Murphy et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Background “Concerns like the health of future children are at the ...
A guideline update on systemic treatment for melanoma offers new guidance in several areas, including the selection of front-line therapy for patients with metastatic disease with and without BRAF mutations, treatment of patients with earlier-stage disease in the adjuvant setting, and emerging...
After a fast-paced first half of the year, most state legislatures across the 50 states and Washington, DC, have adjourned for the year. The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and State Affiliates successfully collaborated to advance many shared 2023 state advocacy priorities, including those ...
In a study using SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) registry data reported in JAMA Network Open, Daniel Q. Huang, MBBS, MMED, of the National University of Singapore, and colleagues found that the incidence of cancer among U.S. persons up to age 50 (early-onset cancer) increased...
On August 14, 2023, the Hepzato Kit—melphalan for injection/hepatic delivery system—was approved as a liver-directed treatment for adults with uveal melanoma with unresectable hepatic metastases affecting less than 50% of the liver.1 Patients must have either no extrahepatic disease or extrahepatic ...
On August 14, 2023, the bispecific B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CD3 T-cell engager elranatamab-bcmm was granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of...
Gentry King, MD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington, and Assistant Professor in the Clinical Research Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, offered his thoughts on the findings of NuTide:121. “Only recently, with TOPAZ-1...
As a first-line treatment for advanced biliary tract cancer, an experimental formulation of gemcitabine, NUC-1031, given with cisplatin failed to improve outcomes over standard gemcitabine/cisplatin in the global phase III NuTide:121 trial.1 “NuTide:121 has not advanced the field in biliary tract...
Justin F. Gainor, MD, Director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, was invited to discuss IMpower151 and ILLUMINATE at the 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer. IMpower151 vs IMpower150 Dr. Gainor examined why IMpower151 was negative for both...
In advanced non–small cell lung cancer harboring mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors following disease progression with tyrosine kinase inhibitors has been unclear. Several studies reported at the International Association for the Study ...
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, has been in the field of oncology for more than 2 decades, he and says this is both one of the most exhilarating and challenging times in cancer care. “What excites me the most are the innovations in treatment that are literally transforming the lives of our patients and...
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, cautioned that although FLAURA2 is a positive result, most patients will still develop drug resistance. “The result is really good and clearly positive, but if you look at the survival curves, there is still early overlap in a way that makes it unlikely this combination will ...
First-line treatment with osimertinib plus platinum-based chemotherapy achieved a statistically significant and clinically meaningful progression-free survival improvement compared with osimertinib alone in patients with advanced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non–small cell lung...
In a Japanese-U.S. phase I/II trial (U31402-A-J101) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ian E. Krop, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the HER3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) produced durable responses in previously treated patients with HER3-expressing ...
In an updated analysis of a cohort in the phase IIa MyPathway study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Christopher J. Sweeney, MBBS, and colleagues described outcomes with the combination of pertuzumab and trastuzumab in nonindicated HER2-altered advanced solid tumors. As stated by the ...
In a phase II study (iSABR) reported in JAMA Oncology, Gensheimer et al found that individualized stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for up to four lung cancer tumors was associated with a high degree of local control and the ability to minimize radiation doses. Study Details Two hundred and ...
A recent study published by Yong et al in Value in Health may help clarify the intricate interplay between the quality-of-life and survival preferences of patients with advanced cancer. Limited access to palliative care services may contribute to suffering, particularly among patients with cancer...
The Alliance Data and Safety Monitoring Board has determined that adjuvant pembrolizumab may improve disease-free survival in patients with localized muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma and locally advanced urothelial carcinoma, according to the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. ...
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer, the benefit of two KRAS G12C inhibitors in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was upheld by the 2-year follow-up analysis of adagrasib in the KRYSTAL-11 and the early-phase CodeBreaK 101...
Although the development of new therapies for multiple myeloma has significantly improved response rates and outcomes for patients with the blood cancer, most patients eventually relapse, including those who initially achieved remission. A phase I study is investigating whether a dendritic cell...
In a noninferiority phase III trial (SOUND) reported in JAMA Oncology, Gentilini et al found that no axillary surgery was noninferior to sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in terms of distant disease–free survival among patients with small breast cancer and negative findings on preoperative...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has released a follow-up survey on the ongoing chemotherapy shortages, refreshing findings they originally shared in June 2023. According to their results, 72% of the cancer centers surveyed continue to experience a shortage of carboplatin, and 59% ...
Residing in more walkable neighborhoods could protect against the risk of overall obesity-related cancers in female patients, according to a recent study published by India-Aldana et al in Environmental Health Perspectives. Background Obesity has previously been linked to an increased risk of...
In August 2014, just a few weeks after my 15th birthday, my body began sending me a lot of worrisome signals that life as I knew it would soon be over. The year before, I had developed a hematoma in my right femur, which was resolved with surgery. But now the pain I was experiencing in that leg was ...
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, Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, DiplOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on ...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Seema A. Khan, MD, MPH, Professor of Breast Cancer Surgery at Northwestern Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine. Along with her surgical and academic pursuits, Dr. Khan is an active...
Racial minority patients are impacted differently by the social and physical characteristics of their environments, which may negatively affect cancer outcomes compared with White patients with cancer, according to a new study by Robinson-Oghogho et al presented during the 16th AACR Conference on...
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) recognizes the enduring legacies of exceptional U.S. patent holders on an annual basis. On October 26, 2023, three female inductees will be recognized for their extraordinary contributions to cancer care and clinical research. Biochemist Jennifer...
In an interim analysis of a German phase II trial (MMG-CONCEPT) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leypoldt et al found that Isa-KrD (isatuximab, carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone) produced high rates of measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity newly diagnosed patients...
Breast milk from women with breast cancer who were diagnosed during pregnancy or postpartum contains circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), according to researchers at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona. The investigators noted that ctDNA can be detected through liquid biopsy in...
In a phase II trial (RTOG 3501, TRYHARD) reported in JAMA Oncology, Wong et al found that the addition of lapatinib to chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin did not appear to improve progression-free survival in front-line therapy for stage III to IV non–human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by PierFranco Conte, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the final analysis of the Italian phase III noninferiority ShortHER trial showed little difference in 10-year disease-free survival and overall survival with 9 weeks vs 1 year of adjuvant trastuzumab in...
In an Italian phase II trial (ARTO) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Francolini et al found that the addition of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to first-line abiraterone acetate and prednisone resulted in a significantly higher rate of biochemical response among patients...
A majority of older adults may disagree with the idea of using life expectancy as part of cancer screening guidelines, according to a new University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. Background The response goes against a trend in guidelines aimed at helping health-care providers decide...
Xiuning Le, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses results of the VISION trial, the largest on-treatment liquid biopsy biomarker data set of a MET inhibitor in patients with MET exon 14 non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tepotinib showed durable efficacy in this...
Seshiru Nakazawa, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses activating the MET tyrosine kinase domain mutation, which has been identified as the sole oncogenic mutation in a small but significant subset of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). According to Dr. Nakazawa’s...
Shirish M. Gadgeel, MD, of the Henry Ford Cancer Institute, discusses a 5-year follow-up study of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy. According to Dr. Gadgeel, the findings continue to support the use of pembrolizumab...
Patients with multiple myeloma who also have diabetes may experience worse overall survival outcomes compared with patients who don’t have diabetes, according to a recent study published by Shah et al in Blood Advances. The new findings demonstrated that the differences in survival may be dependent ...
Liquid biopsy may help determine which patients with oligometastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with metastases may be most likely to benefit from targeted, high-dose radiation therapy rather than drug-based therapy, according to findings simultaneously published by Semenkovich et al in npj ...
Despite a steady increase in palliative care utilization from 2004 to 2020, racial and ethnic minority patients with metastatic breast cancer may be less likely to receive palliative care compared with non-Hispanic White patients with the disease, according to new findings presented by Freeman et...
Using previously taken diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans in place of CT simulation scans to plan simple palliative radiation treatments may substantially reduce the time spent waiting for urgent treatment, improving the patient experience, a new study suggests. Patients who may benefit from ...
People who engage in sexual activity or vaginal dilation after chemoradiation for cervical cancer are at lower risk for long-term side effects, according to a new study from researchers in Austria. Findings of the EMBRACE study were presented by Kirchheiner et al at the 2023 American Society for...
Recent developments in surgery and therapeutics are changing the perioperative approach to non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These advances were discussed at the 2023 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology conference, sponsored by Emory University, by Jennifer W. Carlisle, MD, Assistant ...
Fewer and higher doses of radiation may be effective at treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to new findings presented by Bentzen et al at the 2023 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA 02). Background Head and neck squamous...
Two liquid biopsy tests designed to detect the human papillomavirus (HPV) in the blood may accurately identify patients at high risk of cervical cancer recurrence following the completion of chemoradiation, according to new findings presented by Han et al at the 2023 American Society for Radiation...