Preliminary data from a phase I clinical trial of the ROS1 inhibitor NVL-520 to treat patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and other solid tumors suggested that it may have the potential to both halt tumor growth by inhibiting a cancer-causing gene change and reach cancer cells within...
Researchers have found that an incidental finding of clonal hematopoiesis in liquid biopsies can be used to trigger hematologic tests to assess the risk of developing myeloid malignancies, according to a new study published by Tagliamento et al in the European Journal of Cancer. The findings were...
Olaparib and adavosertib can be safely used to treat patients with cancers that are driven by certain mutations occurring in response to DNA damage if they are given in sequence rather than concurrently, according to a novel study published by Yap et al in the European Journal of Cancer. The...
Researchers have identified a range of genetic mutations in gliomas that may help them understand how different mutations in the BRAF gene interact with other gene mutations—and which ones are more susceptible to targeted treatments in adults—according to a new study published by Schreck et al in...
The ASCO Post asked for comment from Glenn J. Hanna, MD, Director of the Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hanna said it is important to put the findings of KEYNOTE-4121 into context...
Pembrolizumab plus chemoradiation therapy failed to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in event-free survival vs chemoradiation therapy alone in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, but favorable numerical trends were demonstrated, according to...
Patients with rare desmoid tumors may finally have an effective treatment. A first-in-class gamma secretase inhibitor, nirogacestat, led to an improvement in progression-free survival in the phase III DeFi trial. The results were presented during the Presidential Symposium at the European Society...
In resectable stage III to IV melanoma, three cycles of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab was significantly more beneficial than adjuvant pembrolizumab alone, based on the results of the phase II SWOG S1801 trial presented in a Presidential Symposium at the European...
Robin Kate Kelley, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, was invited to discuss the results of LEAP-002.1 She said the main take-away is that lenvatinib monotherapy is active as a preferred first-line agent for fit patients who have contraindications to ...
The highly anticipated final analysis of the phase III LEAP-002 trial failed to meet expectations, as first-line treatment with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab did not significantly improve outcomes in unresectable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Both progression-free survival and overall survival ...
Invited discussant James Larkin, PhD, a clinical researcher at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, commented on the findings from NICHE-2.1 “These striking data are consistent with the recent report in locally advanced mismatch repair–deficient [dMMR] rectal cancer from Memorial Sloan Kettering.2...
Treatment with neoadjuvant immunotherapy in colon cancer resulted in major pathologic responses in 95% of patients, NICHE-2 investigators reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022.1 Additionally, after 4 weeks of nivolumab plus ipilimumab, 67% of patients with...
To put the CheckMate 914, IMmotion010, and PROSPER trials into context, The ASCO Post spoke with Bernard Escudier, MD, former Chair of the Genitourinary Group of the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France. In general, Dr. Escudier believes that studies to date are not robust enough to justify...
Three negative phase III trials presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022 may dampen enthusiasm for immunotherapy as adjuvant therapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). None of the three trials—CheckMate 914, IMmotion010, and PROSPER—met its primary endpoint.1-3 The...
“Hats off to the investigators for the first comparison of triplet to doublet in advanced renal cell carcinoma. This is also the first results using a contemporary control group. The study met its primary endpoint,” said Sumanta K. Pal, MD, FASCO, Co-Director of the Kidney Cancer Program, City of...
The addition of cabozantinib to nivolumab plus ipilimumab prolonged progression-free survival in untreated intermediate-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the first results of the phase III COSMIC-313 trial. These findings were presented as a Presidential Symposium ...
“Platinum-ineligible patients are typically excluded from clinical trials, yet they represent the majority of patients that we diagnose and treat—patients with poor performance status and comorbidities,” said invited discussant Natasha Leighl, MD, of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto....
In platinum-ineligible patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), first-line treatment with the PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab improved overall survival by an absolute value of about 1 month but almost doubled the rate of 2-year overall survival compared with chemotherapy...
The KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib doubled the rate of progression-free survival at 12 months and reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 34% compared with standard second-line docetaxel for patients with previously treated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and KRAS G12C mutations....
Colorectal cancer ranks third among cancer deaths in both men and women in the United States, with an estimated 106,000 new cases and 52,000 deaths anticipated in 2022.1 Colorectal cancer rates have declined by approximately 2% per year from 2014 to 2018 in people over the age of 50 years, which is ...
At this year’s European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, we experienced an eagerly awaited return to normality (or almost), and the quality of the science on display was anything but disappointing: from molecular medicine to treatment de-escalation, from early cancer detection and...
Researchers discovered a differential clinical response to pembrolizumab in patients with Lynch-like (mutated) vs methylated microsatellite instability–high endometrial cancer, outlining characteristics of patients who may derive benefit from immune checkpoint blockade antibodies, according to new...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Bryant et al found that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening rates at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities declined between 2005 and 2019—and that diagnoses of metastatic prostate cancer increased over the same time period....
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chung et al described the performance of a newly developed assay using genomic microsatellite signatures (LOGIC; low-pass genomic instability characterization) in detecting germline mismatch repair deficiency (MMRD) in patients with the...
In addition to, or instead of, receiving therapies that are the standard of care, patients with cancer sometimes request to receive complementary (therapies used in conjunction with standard cancer treatment) and alternative (nonstandard treatments used in place of standard cancer treatment)...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Benoit You, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that an unfavorable CA-125 elimination rate constant K (KELIM) score, indicating poorer tumor chemosensitivity, was associated with derived benefit from first-line bevacizumab when given with...
In the phase II FIGHT trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zev A. Wainberg, MD, and colleagues found numerically better progression-free survival with the addition of the anti-FGFR2b antibody bemarituzumab to mFOLFOX (modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) in patients with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cora N. Sternberg, MD, and colleagues, interim analysis of the phase II portion of the phase II/III FORT-1 trial has shown similar objective response rates with the oral FGFR1–4 inhibitor rogaratinib vs chemotherapy in previously treated patients...
A new study identified both common and rare genetic mutations that may impact radiation resistance and sensitivity, an important step toward providing more individualized and effective radiotherapy for patients with cancer, according to findings published by Gopal et al in Clinical Cancer ...
A new study has revealed significant racial disparities in how quickly minority patients with non–small cell lung cancer receive radiation therapy compared with their White counterparts, according to findings published by Rekulapelli et al in Health Equity. Researchers reviewed data from more than...
Researchers have developed a new swab test that can identify origins of potentially dangerous cervical cell changes up to 4 years before they happen, according to a new study published by Barrett et al in Genome Medicine. Scientists found that the new cervical screening method was more sensitive...
In an international, multicenter phase II clinical trial, almost two-thirds of patients with stage II to IV cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma had tumors nearly or completely eradicated by neoadjuvant treatment with cemiplimab-rwlc, an agent targeting PD-1. The results were presented at the European ...
Do patients with breast cancer and a low 21-gene recurrence score need regional node irradiation to reduce their risk of locoregional recurrence? An analysis of RxPONDER trial data suggests only a randomized clinical trial devoted to this question can provide a decisive answer. An analysis of data...
NRG Oncology investigators analyzed clinical and digital histopathology data from five phase III prostate cancer trials (NRG/RTOG 9202, 9408, 9413, 9910, and 0126) to develop and validate multimodal artificial intelligence models (MMAI) that could outperform the National Comprehensive Cancer...
Overall cancer death rates continued to decline among men, women, children, adolescents, and young adults in every major racial and ethnic group in the United States from 2015 to 2019, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. From 2014 to 2018, overall cancer...
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated that adding metastasis-directed radiation therapy to intermittent hormone therapy improved progression-free survival in patients with oligometastatic prostate cancer. Findings from the multicenter EXTEND trial were...
Meeting with a medical physicist who can explain how radiation therapy is planned and delivered may reduce patient anxiety and increase patient satisfaction throughout the treatment process, according to a new study published by Burmeister et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology •...
On October 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to teclistamab-cqyv (Tecvayli), the first bispecific B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CD3 T-cell engager, for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four...
The Republic of Austria is a high-income, landlocked country in south-central Europe and has been a member of the European Union since 1995.1 Vienna, the capital city of nearly 2 million people, is regularly ranked among the most livable cities in the world.2 The total population of Austria is more ...
In 2000, the da Vinci Surgical System broke new ground by becoming the first robotic surgery system approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for general laparoscopic surgery. In its early years, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy was characterized by some in the surgical community as an...
In our continuing effort to connect and learn more about our international oncology colleagues, The ASCO Post recently spoke with Rossana Berardi, MD, Professor in Medical Oncology and Director of the Postgraduate School of Oncology at the Università Politecnica Marche, Ancona, Italy, where she is...
It is estimated that one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. The disease is so prevalent, and other than skin cancer, it is the most common cancer diagnosed in American men. According to the American Cancer Society, this year, about 268,490 new cases of prostate...
Endocrine therapy is the foundation of first-line therapy in most patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Many of these patients respond to endocrine therapy but eventually become resistant to it through both intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms....
“Hats off to the investigators for the first comparison of triplet to doublet in advanced renal cell carcinoma. This is also the first results using a contemporary control group. The study met its primary endpoint,” said Sumanta K. Pal, MD, FASCO, Co-Director of the Kidney Cancer Program, City of...
The Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and ASCO have released a guideline that appraises the evidence to support incorporating integrative medicine approaches into managing pain in adults with cancer.1 The guideline builds upon existing ASCO guidelines on pain management, the growing body of...
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with William L. Dahut, MD, who is currently serving as Chief Scientific Officer for the American Cancer Society (ACS). In this role, Dr. Dahut manages all pieces of the organization’s discovery work,...
Richter transformation, usually a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma developing in a person with CLL, remains a challenging entity, but novel regimens look promising, as described at the 2022 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference by Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard...
New research from Yale Cancer Center reveals a higher risk of cancer mortality in incarcerated adults, as well as among those diagnosed with cancer in the first year after release from prison. The findings were published in the journal PLoS One.1 “Cancer is the leading cause of death among people...
To put the CheckMate 914, IMmotion010, and PROSPER trials into context, The ASCO Post spoke with Bernard Escudier, MD, former Chair of the Genitourinary Group of the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France. In general, Dr. Escudier believes that studies to date are not robust enough to justify...
Three negative phase III trials presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022 may dampen enthusiasm for immunotherapy as adjuvant therapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). None of the three trials—CheckMate 914, IMmotion010, and PROSPER—met its primary endpoint.1-3 The...