Kenneth Yu, MD, MSc, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, called investigational PEGPH20 “a very promising tumor microenvironment-targeted approach” that appears to be well tolerated. “The results are preliminary but there appears to be a biomarker ...
Patients with stage IV pancreatic cancer who received a novel enzyme along with standard chemotherapy experienced a doubling in progression-free survival, compared to those given chemotherapy alone, in a study presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 Response rates and median duration of...
Commenting on the pembrolizumab (Keytruda) phase Ib study, Noah Hahn, MD, of Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Baltimore, called the overall response rate of 28% with pembrolizumab “pretty impressive. Nearly two-thirds of patients had some response or tumor reduction, and overall survival...
Two immunotherapy agents show promise in preliminary studies of advanced urothelial bladder cancer: the anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and the anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody atezolizumab. Separate phase I studies of each drug...
Jeffrey L. Wolf, MD, Director of the Myeloma Program at the University of California, San Francisco, formally discussed the ENDEAVOR study at the ASCO Annual Meeting. He commented that the “doubling” in progression-free survival is “impressive” and said that “time will tell if this difference...
In the first head-to-head study comparing two proteasome inhibitors in relapsed multiple myeloma, carfilzomib (Kyprolis)/dexamethasone provided a doubling in progression-free survival, compared with bortezomib (Velcade)/dexamethasone.1 Results of the phase III ENDEAVOR trial of the two regimens in...
ASCO’s endorsement of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) guidelines on the role of radiotherapy in locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is an important summary of the best evidence on the appropriate role and techniques for radiotherapy in this disease.1 These...
We’ve seen how dramatically patients’ lives can change when they are matched with the right treatment at the right time in their disease course. Although this is still an exception and not the rule, we believe collaborative research approaches will make this kind of precision medicine a reality for ...
Jeremy Abramson, MD, Clinical Director of the Center for Lymphoma at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, agrees that obinutuzumab is an advance over rituximab. Like rituximab, obinutuzumab targets CD-20, but rituximab does not directly induce cell death. Obinutuzumab is a type 2 antibody and...
The addition of obinutuzumab (Gazyva) to standard bendamustine (Treanda) chemotherapy followed by obinutuzumab maintenance therapy delays the progression of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), almost doubling progression-free survival in rituximab (Rituxan)-refractory patients, according to the...
Nearly 20% of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma “wait more than 3 months from presentation to diagnosis, which can contribute to interval tumor growth,” Nishant Patel, MD, and colleagues concluded in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. They based their conclusions on a...
Collaboration between surgeons and medical oncologists “is associated with lower mortality without increased cost among patients with stage III colon cancer,” according to a study by Tanvir Hussain, MD, MSc, and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and the...
In a breakthrough proposal announced on July 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to reimburse physicians for end-of-life counseling, a move that the oncology community has long been lobbying for. Arriving just as the presidential election cycle begins to heat up, the CMS ...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Charles W.M. Roberts, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President and Director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center in Memphis, the first and only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Dr....
It is a humbling experience to reach 90 and to have a party and to have friends of the caliber I have. I think what keeps me going is the pleasant activities I have with Drs. Beatriz Pogo [MD, DMSc, Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology at Mount Sinai] and Stella Melana [PhD,...
On May 14, 2015, over 160 colleagues, family members, friends, and patients of James F. Holland, MD, FASCO, gathered in the Goldwurm Auditorium in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to honor Dr. Holland for the contributions he has made during his remarkable career in ...
Janssen Biotech, Inc, announced the opening of a daratumumab expanded access program for eligible patients in the United States. Daratumumab is an investigational human anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody being evaluated in clinical trials as a treatment for patients with multiple myeloma. The...
An 80-year-old patient with metastatic prostate cancer asked me to discontinue his treatments, which were costing him more than $1,000 every 3 months. Although he had Medicare, he did not have secondary insurance. I told him that I would seek compassionate-care payment from the pharmaceutical...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is pleased to announce the launch of the AACR NextGen Grants for Transformative Cancer Research, a new funding initiative to stimulate highly innovative research from young investigators. This new grant mechanism is intended to promote and...
Three years ago, a study of adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 28 with metastatic or recurrent cancer or HIV/AIDS compared the usefulness of two previously developed advance care planning guides—one prepared specifically for adolescents and young adults and one specifically for adults. The...
Charles M. Rubin, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago Medicine, a highly respected specialist in the care of children with cancer, died on July 17. He was 62. An authority on all aspects of pediatric cancers, Dr. Rubin had a particular interest in brain tumors and...
When Emil J Freireich, MD, retires from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on September 1, he will have spent 50 years at the institution and a total of 60 years in the pursuit of curing childhood leukemia as well as other cancers and in the educational development of young...
CancerCare, a national nonprofit organization that provides free psychosocial support, education, and financial assistance to anyone affected by cancer, has announced the launch of a bold, new research initiative. Through surveys among a nationally representative sample of thousands of people with...
Carrie Kitko, MD, has joined Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt as Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program in the Division of Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Kitko was previously Assistant Professor of the Blood and Marrow...
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University has named Timothy L. Lash, DSc, MPH, Professor of Epidemiology in the Rollins School of Public Health and Winship member, as the new Leader for the Winship Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Research Program. His position takes effect immediately....
“Between animal and human medicine there is no dividing line—nor should there be. The object is different but the experience obtained constitutes the basis of all medicine.” — Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902) Everyone has seen photographs of people who look like their dogs: the young woman with long...
The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust announced the newest class of Pew–Stewart scholars for cancer research on June 11. Five standout scientists, nominated by the country’s leading cancer research institutions, will receive 4 years of flexible funding to pursue...
Stephen L. Lessnick, MD, PhD, has joined the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio as Director of the Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. As Director, Dr. Lessnick leads a team of pediatric researchers in the Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood...
Michael Allen Pulsipher, MD, joined the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases and the Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) as Head of the Section of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) and as BMT Clinical...
In a paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine1, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued advice for screening average risk adults without symptoms for five common cancers: breast, colorectal, ovarian, prostate, and cervical. In a companion piece also published in Annals2, ACP outlined...
Stephen S. Grubbs, MD, a community oncologist and managing partner at Medical Oncology Hematology Consultants, PA, in Newark, Delaware, has been named the Senior Director of ASCO’s new Clinical Affairs department. Dr. Grubbs is a longtime ASCO member and volunteer and the Principal Investigator of...
Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/blog to get important information on traveling with cancer, including getting medical clearance before they book their flight. This information includes questions to ask the doctor, how to get permission from the airline to fly, and information on packing...
ASCO represented the oncology community at the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Annual House of Delegates (HOD) Meeting, held June 6–10 in Chicago. While AMA’s chief policy-making body worked to shape its priorities and initiatives, ASCO delegates and alternates represented the cancer care...
Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, began her term as the 2015–2016 President of ASCO at the 2015 Annual Meeting on June 1, 2015. Dr. Vose, a leading expert in the treatment of patients with lymphoma, is the current Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professorial Chair and Chief of the Oncology/Hematology ...
In 1964, when the first seven physicians who founded ASCO met, I doubt they imagined what a successful Society they were forming. At that time, cancer treatments were just beginning to have some early successes with a few cytotoxic therapies, new radiation modalities, and improved surgical...
The following essay by Karen J. Krag, MD, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. It is easier ...
BOOKMARK Title: The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales of Science, Surgery, and Mystery Author: Rob Dunn Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Publication date: February 3, 2015 Price: $27.00; hardcover, 384 pages No part of the human anatomy has been as mythologized, analogized, and...
BOOKMARK Title: Megalies: A Memoir Author: Lodovico Balducci, MD Publisher: Resource Publications Publication date: February 28, 2014 Price: $33.00; hardcover, 304 pages Reading a good book produces various sensory responses; a skilled author exerts his or her narrative power on each page,...
Genomic applications are now an accepted part of oncologic science and practice. Differences in gene expression have been used to understand and predict tumor behaviors and response to treatment. And now it seems likely that genomics may also play a pivotal role in guiding treatment preferences by...
Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital announced Stephen Szabo, MD, as the new Director of Community Oncology at the hospital’s Winship Cancer Institute. The new program combines the best aspects of community and academic oncology by providing seamless patient care within one medical system. “This is a...
Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have received grants totaling more than $12 million from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN) for a new Center for Precision Medicine in Leukemia and for the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation ...
Earlier this spring, the T.J. Martell Foundation, which supports research in leukemia, other cancers, and AIDS, announced the honorees of its 2015 Women of Influence Awards, which celebrate the achievements of outstanding women in a variety of fields. Among this year’s seven recipients was Jimmie...
In June, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Memorial) in New York announced it had appointed Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, Chief of Breast Medicine Service, to a newly created position of Vice President for Government Relations and Chief Advocacy Officer. In addition to his new role, Dr. Hudis ...
Kaufman and colleagues recently reported findings of a phase III trial comparing eribulin (Halaven) vs capecitabine in patients with advanced breast cancer who had previously received anthracycline and taxane therapy,1 and a review of their study appears in this issue of The ASCO Post. Although...
Eribulin (Halaven) currently is indicated in the United States for treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer who previously received at least two chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease and an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting. Its approval was...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) favored the approval of necitumumab in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin for use in first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In...
An elegant study by Siddiqui et al1—reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—offers compelling evidence for the diagnostic utility of “targeted” prostate biopsy using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data fused with ultrasound images. The technique involves first performing a...
In a study reported in JAMA, M. Minhaj Siddiqui, MD, currently of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and colleagues found that targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/ultrasound fusion–guided prostate biopsy increased diagnosis of high-risk prostate cancer and reduced detection of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to Novogen Limited’s chemotherapy candidate drug Anisina for neuroblastoma. Anisina is a small molecule belonging to a family of compounds called antitropomyosins. It has been designed to inhibit Tpm3.1, a structural...
The costs associated with cancer drug prices have risen dramatically over the past 15 years, a trend concerning to many oncologists. In a new analysis, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center concluded the majority of existing treatments for hematologic cancers are...