In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chang et al found that atrial fibrillation occurs in a substantial proportion of patients who have undergone allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and is associated with poor outcomes. Study Details The...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on the use of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) in the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Allison Magnuson, DO, and colleagues have developed a risk tool for predicting severe toxicity in patients aged 65 and older receiving chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. Study Details The prospective cohort study included 473 patients...
Despite increases in overall suicide rates in the United States during the past 2 decades, cancer-related suicides declined by 2.8% per year in the same time period, according to a new study published by Han et al in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study found that the largest...
Completing cancer screening tests such as mammograms can be challenging for low-income patients who may face such issues as lack of transportation or inability to take time off work. A team at Massachusetts General Hospital explored the possibility of addressing preventive care needs when patients...
Electronic health record–based artificial intelligence may help uncover new risk factors in the development of early-onset colorectal cancer, according to study findings presented by Parker et al at the AACR Virtual Special Conference: Artificial Intelligence, Diagnosis, and Imaging (Abstract...
In a cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Washington et al found that the use of active surveillance or watchful waiting for patients with low-risk prostate cancer in the United States varied by region, but not according to factors such as Black race or county-level socioeconomic status. As...
In an Italian single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Merz et al evaluated the use of electronic medical record–assisted telephone follow-up (E-TFU) of breast cancer survivors to minimize hospital exposure over a 3-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy was...
B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is the most frequent target of immunotherapies in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, but bispecific T-cell–engaging (BiTE) antibodies with novel targets are also achieving promising results. Studies presented at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
Alphonse G. Taghian, MD, Professor at Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of Breast Cancer Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, said that these results from the PRIME II trial are quite similar to those of the older CALGB study first initiated in 1994.1 Both studies had a ...
Omitting postoperative radiotherapy with whole-breast irradiation may not compromise 10-year overall survival or increase the risk of developing metastasis in most women 65 years and older with low-risk breast cancer, according to results of the large randomized PRIME II trial reported at the 2020...
Overall cancer death rates in the United States dropped continuously from 1991 through 2018, for a total decrease of 31%, including a 2.4% decline from 2017 to 2018. These findings were reported in the American Cancer Society’s “Cancer Statistics, 2021” article, published by Rebecca L. Siegel, MPH, ...
In a registry-based observational study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Chalkidou et al found that stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) was associated with high overall survival and low rates of toxicity in patients with extracranial oligometastatic cancers. Study Details The prospective ...
The first phase III study to evaluate the subcutaneous form of daratumumab has met its primary endpoint, investigators of the APOLLO trial reported at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 The triplet of daratumumab, pomalidomide, and low-dose dexamethasone ...
In the phase II FIGARO trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Craddock et al found that intensified reduced-intensity conditioning with fludarabine/amsacrine/cytarabine–busulfan (FLAMSA-Bu) did not improve outcomes following allogeneic stem cell transplantation vs standard...
In a brief report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Arakawa et al described the identification of lung cancer in two children that likely resulted from transmission of maternal cervical cancer tumor cells during vaginal delivery. As noted by the investigators, the transmission of...
Sara Zarnegar-Lumley, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses an analysis of a large cohort confirming the age-associated prevalence of IDH mutations in patients, across the age spectrum, with acute myeloid leukemia and therapeutic implications. IDH-mutated genes were found to...
In a study examining the effect of a Mediterranean diet in relation to prostate cancer progression in men on active surveillance, researchers found that men with localized prostate cancer who reported a baseline dietary pattern that more closely follows the key principles of a Mediterranean-style...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Network Open, Zhao et al found that the rate of complications from invasive diagnostic procedures after low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening in the community setting was lower than a prior estimate—but still higher than reported in ...
Many patients with prostate cancer are treated with androgen-deprivation therapy. However, patients receiving androgen-deprivation therapy often experience higher levels of fatigue, depression, and cognitive impairment. In a new study published by Hoogland et al in the journal Cancer, researchers...
In a retrospective study reported as a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Aschele et al found that the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 0.68% among a large population of patients receiving anticancer treatment in Italy over an approximately 3.5-month period in 2020. Study Details The study...
Pooled results of two phase I studies, reported in The Lancet by Benjamin et al, indicate that the genome-edited, donor-derived allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product UCART19 is active and has a manageable toxicity profile in pediatric and adult patients with relapsed...
A study published by Hyuna Sung, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA found that adult-onset cancer survivors may have a greater risk of developing and dying from subsequent primary cancers than the general population. Cancers associated with smoking or obesity accounted for a majority of subsequent primary ...
In an analysis from the phase III MAIA trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Perrot et al found that the combination of daratumumab, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (D-Rd) was associated with better health-related quality-of-life outcomes vs lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) in...
A comprehensive study involving more than 250,000 women showed that oral contraceptive use may be protective against the development of ovarian and endometrial cancers, but the effect on lifetime risk of breast cancer is more limited. The protective effect on ovarian and endometrial cancers was...
In a single-institution phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cheung et al found that a subcutaneous ganglioside G2/G3 vaccine plus oral β-glucan produced antibody responses in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, with higher anti–GD2-IgG1 titers being associated with...
In a retrospective cohort analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Atkins et al identified a volume (V, percent) of exposure of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery to a radiation dose (V15 Gy ≥10%) that is an independent risk factor for major adverse cardiac events and all-cause mortality ...
On December 15, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released the latest estimates on the global burden of cancer. The GLOBOCAN 2020 database, accessible online as part of the IARC Global Cancer Observatory, provides estimates of incidence and mortality in 185 countries for 36...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Wang et al found that patients with cancer were at a greater risk of being infected with COVID-19 and having worse outcomes vs patients without cancer. Risk was greatest among patients with a more recent diagnosis and was even further exacerbated among Black...
“Equity: Every Patient. Every Day. Everywhere” was selected by 2020–2021 ASCO President Lori J. Pierce, MD, FASTRO, FASCO, as the theme for her presidential term. As oncology care providers work to put this theme into practice, they can find support in ASCO eLearning’s new Cultural Literacy course...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fernandez et al found high rates of conditional recurrence-free survival during watch-and-wait surveillance among patients with rectal cancer who maintained clinical complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 1, 3, or 5 years. Study Details In the...
Cancer has been an intimate part of Nancy Borowick’s life since her mother, Laurel, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997, when Nancy was 12. She began photographing her mother’s journey with the disease after the cancer recurred in 2009 for her final project for the Documentary Photography and ...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are three abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel therapies for polycythemia vera. For full details of these study...
The prevention of infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), and its related cancers, has become a focus of the European Cancer Organisation. At the group’s 2020 European Cancer Summit, held virtually, members of the organization’s HPV Action Network convened with other experts to share...
It has become a familiar theme of late: Inequities exist in all aspects of cancer care. Although study after study documents problems with access to care and poorer cancer outcomes among underrepresented groups, less is heard about organized efforts to address these issues. This critical topic was...
Harikrishna Nakshatri, PhD, who is identifying the unique biology that may make Black women more susceptible to aggressive breast cancer, received a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Defense–Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program’s breast cancer research program. Dr. -Nakshatri...
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. On December 1, 2020, pralsetinib (Gavreto) was granted...
The ASH Research Collaborative COVID-19 Registry for Hematology provides up-to-date information on outcomes and the course of illness for a group of patients with hematologic malignancies and COVID-19.1 In general, registry data showed that hematologic malignancies increase the risk of severity of...
The randomized phase II CAPTIVATE trial showed that a fixed-duration treatment approach with 12 cycles of ibrutinib and venetoclax as first-line therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) achieved a 30-month progression-free survival of more than 95% in patients with undetectable minimal...
Six months before my diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer, in 2016, at age 38, I told my mom, “I feel like I’m dying.” Even though more than 10 specialists I had seen over the previous 8 years for unexplained bouts of abdominal pain and bloating, fatigue, and constipation kept assuring me that ...
Ruxolitinib was superior to best available therapy in achieving efficacy as determined by best overall response and duration of response, with acceptable safety in adolescents and adults with steroid-dependent or steroid-refractory chronic graft-vs-host disease effects. These findings were shown in ...
Here we discuss a complex and often emotionally wrenching challenge related to informed consent in the provision of pediatric cancer care. For example, what legal and ethical claims do young patients have to information about their cancer diagnosis and treatment recommendations? What are the...
On November 25, 2020, naxitamab-gqgk (Danyelza) was granted accelerated approval for use in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for pediatric patients 1 year of age and older and adult patients with relapsed or refractory high-risk neuroblastoma in the bone...
For patients with indolent follicular lymphoma, generally take a conservative approach to treatment unless the patient is symptomatic, advised John P. Leonard, MD, Executive Vice-Chair of Weill Department of Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian, New York.1 “Prognostic scores are...
Just in are the results of the SWOG S1007 RxPONDER trial, which evaluated the benefit of chemotherapy in women with early-stage hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and node-positive disease.1 The data showed that many postmenopausal women can skip adjuvant chemotherapy, based on ...
Over the past year (January to December 2020), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to several novel drugs and new indications for older therapeutic agents used in oncology and hematology. A brief review of new approvals appears here. For complete prescribing information for ...
Stem cell transplants are not frequently offered to older patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). According to a study from the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMTCTN 1102), these patients may indeed achieve a survival benefit from stem cell transplant. As...
A study by Ivy Abraham, MD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues, investigated the contribution of structural violence, specifically neighborhood socioeconomic status, on the racial/ethnic differences in the survival of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They found that ...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Bernardo H.L. Goulart, MD, and colleagues found that higher out-of-pocket costs for tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) were associated with reduced adherence to and increased discontinuation of TKI therapy—as well as poorer overall...
A new study published by Codipilly et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention investigated the trends in incidence, stage at presentation, and survival outcomes of young-onset esophageal adenocarcinoma—defined as patients aged 50 and younger at diagnosis—over the past 4 decades....