In the global phase III COMMANDS trial of patients with low-risk transfusion-dependent myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), with or without ring sideroblasts, treatment with luspatercept essentially doubled the likelihood of achieving transfusion independence and an increase in hemoglobin level,...
In a single-institution study conducted in New Zealand reported in JAMA Surgery, Goh et al found that microdoses of incisional antibiotics may reduce the risk of surgical site infections during surgery for skin cancer, as well as reduce the risk of infections requiring postoperative systemic...
Black and Hispanic cancer survivors with subsequent primary malignancies may have a higher risk of mortality compared with White patients, according to new findings presented by Sung et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 12093). The new research demonstrated that Black patients with...
Investigators have found that many U.S. cancer survivors with transportation barriers to care also reported struggling financially and experiencing additional barriers to timely care, according to new findings presented by Jiang et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6534). Study Methods...
ASCO has issued new clinical guidance for treating patients with gastrointestinal cancers amid a nationwide shortage of carboplatin and cisplatin. The two chemotherapy agents, in extremely short supply, are essential to treating an array of gastrointestinal cancers—such as esophageal cancer,...
Results from the largest prospective study of patients with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) showed that radiation therapy may be omitted in patients who have a complete metabolic response after chemoimmunotherapy. The IELSG37 international study found that these patients may be spared...
Patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be able to stop receiving immunotherapy at 2 years as long as their cancer hasn’t progressed, according to new findings presented by Sun et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 9101) and simultaneously published in JAMA Oncology. ...
Investigators have found that race and ethnicity may affect the 21-gene recurrence score in patients with early-stage, estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, according to new findings presented by Gill et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 511). Background The 21-gene recurrence...
Researchers have found that exercise may be effective at strengthening the immune system in patients with multiple myeloma, providing them with a nonpharmaceutical method of managing the disease, according to new findings presented by Joseph et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 8060)....
Three clinical trials demonstrated positive results from the targeted therapy erdafitinib for patients with multiple tumor types harboring FGFR alterations. The data were presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. Erdafitinib is an oral medication that blocks the activity of FGFR signaling...
Cathy Eng, MD, of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Lars Henrik Jensen, MD, PhD, of the Danish Colorectal Cancer Center South and the University Hospital of Southern Denmark, discuss phase III results from the Scandinavian NeoCol trial, which showed that neoadjuvant chemotherapy is not superior...
Alicia K. Morgans, MD, MPH, and Praful Ravi, MRCP, MBBChir, both of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss an individual patient-data analysis of randomized trials from the ICECAP collaborative. A PSA nadir of ≥ 0.1 ng/mL within 6 months after radiotherapy completion was prognostic for prostate...
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Javier Cortes, MD, PhD, of the International Breast Cancer Center and Universidad Europea de Madrid, discuss phase II findings showing that one in three patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer may safely omit...
Funda Meric-Bernstam, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses interim results from the DESTINY-PanTumor02 trial, the first tumor-agnostic global study of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) in a broad range of HER2-expressing solid tumors. This agent showed an...
A novel study is shedding light on factors that may affect treatment response in patients with young-onset colorectal cancer. Researchers uncovered differences in transcriptional metabolic profiles and other drivers of disease, as well as immune profiles, between younger and older patients with...
Omid Hamid, MD, of The Angeles Clinic & Research Institute, discusses study findings on fianlimab plus cemiplimab-rwlc, which showed clinical activity in patients with advanced melanoma, comparing favorably with other approved combinations of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the same clinical...
Researchers have found that patients who have breast cancer who undergo treatment with taxanes show a pattern of clinically meaningful, persistent sensory and motor symptoms associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, according to new findings presented by Trivedi et al at the 2023...
The combination of apalutamide and abiraterone acetate plus prednisone, which previously demonstrated little overall survival benefit in White patients with metastatic prostate cancer, may yield better survival outcomes in Black patients with the disease, according to new findings presented by...
Jennifer A. Ligibel, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses a telephone-based weight loss intervention that induced clinically meaningful weight loss in patients with breast cancer who had overweight and obesity, across demographic and tumor factors. Additional tailoring of the intervention ...
Patients with locally advanced rectal cancer with tumors that respond to chemotherapy may safely forgo radiation therapy before surgery, based on the findings of the PROSPECT trial. These data were presented by Deborah Schrag, MD, FASCO, MPH, at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA2) and...
Treatment with osimertinib after surgery significantly lowered the risk of death in adults with completely resected EGFR-mutated stage IB, II, or IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the findings of the international ADAURA study. The research was presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual...
Tycel J. Phillips, MD, and Alex F. Herrera, MD, both of the City of Hope National Medical Center, discuss results from the SWOG S1826 study, which showed that nivolumab and AVD (doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) improved progression-free survival vs brentuximab vedotin plus AVD in patients ...
The immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab plus chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression and disease-related death compared with standard treatment with the CD30-targeted drug brentuximab vedotin plus chemotherapy in pediatric and adult patients with previously untreated...
Eunice S. Wang, MD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Gregory Roloff, MD, of the University of Chicago, discuss data that are the first to demonstrate post–FDA approval efficacy and toxicity rates of brexucabtagene autoleucel in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute...
Among patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) positive for expression of the Schlafen-11 gene (SLFN11), those who received maintenance treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab plus the PARP inhibitor talazoparib had significantly longer progression-free...
LaQuisa C. Hill, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, discusses study findings showing that CD5 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells may induce clinical responses in heavily treated patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Manufacturing...
In a phase II clinical trial, investigators found that 42% of patients with brain metastases benefited from treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab, with 7 of the 57 patients in the trial surviving for longer than 2 years. The study authors cautioned that these benefits must be ...
A population-based study using information from a database of veterans found that those who had been exposed to Agent Orange may be at an increased risk of developing myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Agent Orange is a herbicide that was used by the U.S. military in Korea and Vietnam to clear...
Despite the common use of opioids in clinical settings, new and persistent opioid prescriptions have declined among patients both with and without cancer, according to new findings presented by Baum et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 1592). However, the declines in opioid use among...
Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who receive fewer than three cycles of chemotherapy prior to cystectomy may have an increased risk of cancer recurrence and worse survival outcomes, according to the findings of a retrospective study presented by Chakraborty et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual ...
The HER2-targeted bispecific antibody zanidatamab demonstrated durable responses in patients with treatment-refractory HER2-positive biliary tract cancer, according to research presented by Shubham Pant, MD, and colleagues at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 4008). The results were also...
Patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer without a BRCA mutation who received durvalumab and olaparib in addition to the standard of care had improved progression-free survival compared with those who received the standard of care alone, according to the interim analysis of DUO-O, an...
Adding the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib to endocrine therapy resulted in a significant improvement in invasive disease–free survival for patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer. Findings from the phase III NATALEE trial were presented by Dennis J. Slamon, MD, ...
Simple hysterectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection may be a safe treatment option for patients with early-stage, low-risk cervical cancer and may help improve quality of life, according to results from the large, international phase III SHAPE clinical trial. The research was presented by Plante...
Extended lymphadenectomy in patients undergoing radical cystectomy for clinically localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer was not associated with improved disease-free survival or overall survival and may increase the risk of adverse events and postsurgical mortality, according to new findings...
Researchers have found that the bacteria, fungi, and viruses within the tumors of patients with colorectal cancer varied significantly depending on whether they were diagnosed with early-onset or late-onset disease, according to new findings presented by Weinberg et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual...
A new global health initiative, the Access to Oncology Medicines (ATOM) Coalition, may be capable of reducing the burden of suffering and death from cancer in low- and middle-income countries by improving patient access to essential cancer medicine. Gilberto Lopes, MD, FASCO, MBA, will highlight...
On May 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved olaparib (Lynparza) in combination with abiraterone and prednisone (or prednisolone) for adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, as determined by an...
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, Deputy Director of The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in a place and time she found exhilarating during her early years. “We didn’t have a lot of money—actually, we were poor. But I had a lot of freedom walking around...
In the era of genomics and precision medicine, the role of pathology in diagnosis and cancer management is rapidly evolving. For the past 50 years, from her office at the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NCI), pathologist Elaine S. Jaffe, MD, has been at the forefront of that...
In a population-based cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Abdel-Qadir et al found that receipt of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors was associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization for heart failure—but not risk for heart failure—among patients aged ≥ 65 years with...
In a small study reported in JAMA Network Open, D’Andrea et al found that diffusing alpha-emitter radiation therapy—a novel solid tumor management strategy using alpha-particle interstitial brachytherapy—appeared to be safe and showed activity in patients with recurrent or unresectable skin...
Researchers have identified 116 genes as key molecular vulnerabilities for multiple myeloma, according to a novel study published by de Matos Simoes et al in Nature Cancer. The findings demonstrated the potential for these genes to act as leads and help researchers discover new therapeutic options...
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has called for greater action for World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 2023 in light of a new study published by Safiri et al in Cancer Medicine, which found that 2.5 million tobacco-related cancer deaths were reported in 2019. The UICC is a global...
Researchers have found that patients with cancer-related fatigue who practiced qigong may have demonstrated clinically significant improvements in their fatigue burden after 10 weeks, according to a new study published by Zimmerman et al in Integrative Cancer Therapies. The findings revealed that...
Early-phase data from the SOLTI TOT-HER3 and ICARUS-BREAST01 trials suggest that the novel HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan may have beneficial activity in patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative and triple-negative breast cancer subtypes, according to...
Manali Patel, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine (Oncology) at Stanford University, grew up in Shelby, a small town in the textile and farming community of Western North Carolina, among mill workers and other blue-collar laborers. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Dr. Patel’s early life was...
On May 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the optimized, high-affinity radiohybrid prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging agent flotufolastat fluorine-18 (Posluma). Flotufolastat F-18 is indicated for PET imaging of...
Delays in cancer screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic may have resulted in lower reported incidences of colorectal, lung, and breast cancers, reflecting potentially high rates of undiagnosed cancer and later-stage diagnoses, according to a new study published by Romatoski et al in the Journal of ...
Researchers have developed a new strategy to identify which patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer may be most likely to resist first-line treatment with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy, according to a new study published by Jong et al in Science Translational Medicine. The...