Karriem S. Watson, DHSc, MPH, of the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program, discusses the importance of engaging in clinical trials for those who are underrepresented in biomedical research. Community engagement is a proven and effective tool, Dr. Watson says, to enhance...
Researchers revealed that 39.2% of patients who consented to whole-exome sequencing and were identified as carriers of predisposition genes for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer or Lynch syndrome did not qualify for genetic screening under current guidelines, according to new findings presented...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Zhu et al found that immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment did not appear to be associated with long-term survival in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer. Study Details The analysis included data from six trials of pembrolizumab, avelumab, and...
In a phase II study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Agrawal et al found that a single treatment with psilocybin (COMP360) with a 1:1 therapist-to-patient ratio reduced symptoms of depression in patients with cancer and major depression disorder treated at a single community cancer...
In an Indian trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Badwe et al found that peritumoral infiltration of local anesthetic prior to surgery in patients with early breast cancer was associated with improved disease-free and overall survival. As stated by the investigators, “Preventing...
Although the 5-year relative survival rate for multiple myeloma is improving—up from 34.6% in 1998 to 53.9% in 2016—due to the approval of more effective therapies, multiple myeloma remains incurable, and new treatment options are needed, especially in the relapsed/refractory setting. A small phase ...
Black individuals are disproportionately affected by colorectal cancer. They have the highest rates of the disease of any racial or ethnic group in the United States, and are about 20% more likely to develop colorectal cancer and about 40% more likely to die of the disease than most other groups. A ...
An analysis of lung cancer incidence rates showed wide variations among the racial and ethnic subgroups in Florida’s Black and Hispanic population, according to data presented by Cranford et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023 (Abstract 1902/8). Study...
Americans have become less aware that the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer in recent years, according to survey data presented by Adjei Boakye et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023 (Abstract 4210 /11). Survey respondents also showed low...
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have outlined opportunities for achieving President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s Cancer Moonshot national goal of reducing the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years. A study published by Shiels et al in Cancer...
Treatment-naive patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received neoadjuvant durvalumab plus chemotherapy and adjuvant durvalumab monotherapy had improved event-free survival and pathologic complete response compared with those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone,...
Guest Editor’s Note: Despite its high prevalence, cancer pain remains undertreated. Racial disparities present further challenges to assessing and managing pain. Music therapy, a nonpharmacologic intervention, has been documented to be effective in controlling cancer pain. In this article, Kevin T. ...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Tang et al, the phase II EXTEND (External Beam Radiation to Eliminate Nominal Metastatic Disease) trial has shown that the addition of metastasis-directed therapy to intermittent hormone therapy improved progression-free survival in patients with oligometastatic...
Researchers have found that digital breast tomosynthesis may have improved breast cancer screening performance in community practices and could be effective at identifying more invasive cancers compared with digital mammography, according to a new study published by Lee et al in Radiology. The...
A new survey of Hispanic adults residing in Indiana may present a snapshot of their cancer-related knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors and provide guidance for the future development of tailored cancer screening messaging and prevention strategies, according to a study published by Espinoza-Gutarra...
Hereditary cancer syndromes are caused by a pathogenic variant in cancer susceptibility genes, which overall account for approximately 10% of all cancers. Carriers of pathogenic variants are at an increased risk of developing cancer during their lifetime. Genomic cancer risk assessment makes it...
Researchers have found that the novel intravesical chemotherapy delivery system TAR-200 may be safe and effective for patients with advanced muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are medically unfit for standard treatment, according to a new study published by Tyson et al in The Journal of Urology....
Researchers have discovered that the financial impact of an individual’s cancer diagnosis may also impact a partner’s health-related quality of life, according to a new study published by Ghazal et al in JAMA Network Open. “When you think of key developmental milestones young adults expect to...
Researchers have developed a novel combination therapy approach to help patients with KMT2A-mutated acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) overcome resistance to bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) inhibitors without adding toxicity, according to a novel study...
Pancreatic cancer is a rare disease, accounting for about 3% of all cancers in the United States. It is the deadliest of all solid malignancies, accounting for about 7% of all cancer deaths each year, and carries a 5-year survival rate of just 11.5%. According to the American Cancer Society, in...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Kahi et al found no differences in all-cause or cancer-specific mortality among veterans in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health-care system with colonoscopy-detected colorectal cancer vs those with postcolonoscopy-diagnosed colorectal cancer. Study Details...
In a prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Asif et al found that endoscopic surveillance may be an alternative to prophylactic total gastrectomy in patients at risk for hereditary diffuse gastric cancer due to germline CDH1 pathogenic variants. Study Details In the study, 270...
In a Japanese phase II trial (STATICE) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nishikawa et al found that fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) showed activity in patients with HER2-expressing advanced or recurrent uterine carcinosarcoma. Study Details In the multicenter trial, 32 evaluable ...
Researchers have provided strong evidence that a healthy lifestyle may significantly reduce mortality in adults who have survived pediatric cancer, according to a new study published by Dixon et al in The Lancet. The findings are among the first to reveal that the specific primary causes of...
Researchers have revealed that the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, the state of necrosis, and mutations to the tumor-suppressor gene PBRM1 form a biomarker signature that may predict how patients with renal cell carcinoma will respond to immunotherapy, according to a novel study published ...
City of Hope in Duarte, California, recently announced that its subsidiary, Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), will fully transition its clinical locations to City of Hope’s brand. CTCA locations in different cities will now be called City of Hope Atlanta, City of Hope Chicago, and City of ...
In this installment of our Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Kelly M. McMasters, MD, PhD, who, for the past 27 years, has directed a basic and translational science lab studying adenovirus-mediated cancer gene therapy and melanoma biomarkers....
On March 9, 2023, President Joseph Biden released his proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 federal budget, with an emphasis on increased funding for medical research and expanded access to health insurance. The proposal allocates $48.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an $811 million ...
In a Russian single-institution prospective cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sheikh et al found that quitting smoking after a diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) was associated with improved disease progression and survival outcomes among patients. Study Details The...
Penile cancer is a rare disease with an incidence that is rising globally. Driven by a goal to offer clinicians and patients guidance on the management of this rare condition, ASCO collaborated with the European Association of Urology (EAU) to develop new guidelines on its diagnosis and treatment....
Although advances in radiation therapy have rendered this treatment modality more tolerable, they have not completely eliminated the burden of radiation-related toxicity. In an ideal setting, clinicians would be able to identify patients whose risk of recurrence is sufficiently low that they can...
The management of early-stage triple-negative breast cancer has been evolving at a fast pace, thanks largely to the discovery that immune checkpoint blockade can be effective in this subtype. At the 2023 Miami Breast Cancer Conference, Priyanka Sharma, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of...
Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab may significantly improve the management of desmoplastic melanoma, increasing the likelihood of successful resection and reducing the need for further surgery or radiation therapy, according to the response data presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, with the surgical...
Here are some brief reports from the 2023 ASCO Genitourinary (GU) Cancers Symposium that we hope are of interest. They include real-world evidence about the use of avelumab maintenance in metastatic urothelial carcinoma, data on the feasibility of sequencing radium-223 and Lu-177–PSMA-617 in...
Researchers have demonstrated that patients with low-grade lymphomatoid granulomatosis who were treated with the immunotherapy interferon alfa-2b may survive for a median of 20 years after diagnosis, according to a novel study published by Melani et al in The Lancet Haematology. The findings...
Specially trained oncology infusion room nurses may be capable of improving advance care planning for patients with advanced cancer at the end of life, according to a new study published by Cohen et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Background “Advance care planning...
The results of recent trials of PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor plus second-generation androgen receptor inhibitor combinations have had varying results in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Some trials suggest the benefit is confined to those with BRCA mutations and/or...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced that the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) has been named its newest member institution. With the addition, there are now 33 academic centers across the United States that have multidisciplinary subject...
Researchers found that 20% of patients attending breast cancer screening appointments were likely to skip additional testing after abnormal findings on their mammograms if there was a deductible or copayment involved, according to a new study published by Ngo et al in Radiology. Background...
In a Chinese single-center phase II trial (EC-CRT-001) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zhu et al found that the addition of the PD-1 inhibitor toripalimab to definitive chemoradiotherapy resulted in “encouraging activity and acceptable toxicity” in patients with locally advanced esophageal...
In a phase II trial (ACOSOG Z11102/Alliance) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Judy C. Boughey, MD, and colleagues found that breast-conserving therapy was associated with a low rate of local recurrence in women with multiple ipsilateral breast cancer sites. Study Details A total of 204 ...
On April 3, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a National Cancer Plan, which calls for collaboration to realize the objectives laid out in the Cancer Moonshot to reduce cancer mortality by at least 50% over the next 25 years and “end cancer as we know it.” Developed by...
Researchers have discovered that pathologic complete responses may be associated with improved survival outcomes for patients with localized soft-tissue sarcoma who received preoperative chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy, according to a novel study published by Wang et al in JAMA Oncology. The new...
Since 2010, investigators have discovered that the number of patients with prostate cancer in the United States who are choosing active surveillance over surgery or radiation therapy may be rapidly increasing, according to a new study published by Al Awamlh et al in JAMA Internal Medicine....
Commenting on these studies of menin inhibitors, Mikkael Sekeres, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, was enthusiastic about the promise of these agents because they are targeted to...
The inaugural MD Anderson Clinical Education Symposium on Immunotherapy Toxicity Management (IOTOX) welcomed more than 250 international attendees, both virtually and in person at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on December 3, 2022. The symposium focused on bringing the ...
“Providing hope when there is little to hope for is hard,” noted Hyman B. Muss, MD, Professor of Medicine and the Mary Jones Hudson Distinguished Professor of Geriatric Oncology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. At the 2023 Miami...
Patients with hematologic malignancies may experience a significant improvement in their reported quality of life 6 months after receiving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, according to a new study published by Johnson et al in Blood Advances. Background Although CAR T-cell therapy...
Investigators have revealed the findings from an examination of the prevalence, severity, and co-occurrence of sleep disturbance, pain, physical function impairment, anxiety, depression, and low energy/fatigue (SPPADE) symptoms, as well as their association with different cancer types and patient...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kim N. Chi, MD, and colleagues, the phase III MAGNITUDE trial showed that the addition of niraparib to abiraterone acetate and prednisone improved radiographic progression–free survival as first-line treatment in patients with metastatic...