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Showing 2951 - 3000FDA Approves Daratumumab in Combination Therapy for Patients With Multiple Myeloma Receiving at Least One Prior Treatment
On November 21, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid) and dexamethasone or bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior...
Experts Consider the New Immunotherapy Paradigm in Advanced Lung Cancer
One immune checkpoint inhibitor has now moved to the front of the line for treating advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Based on pivotal studies presented at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) became a first-line option, and it is...
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act: The Final Rule
It is gratifying to see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) does listen to public comments regarding new proposals. Since CMS opened the comment period for its Quality Payment Program, which repeals the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula and was proposed to implement the Medicare...
ASH 2016: Additions to Standard Multiple Myeloma Therapy Do Not Appear to Yield Additional Benefit
Trial results presented by Stadtmauer during the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego (Abstract LBA-1) suggest two therapies that are often added to standard therapy in patients with multiple myeloma do not improve rates of progression-free survival ...
ASH 2016: CD19-Targeting CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy Yields High Response Rates in Treatment-Resistant CLL
In a small, early phase trial, a high percentage of patients who had exhausted most traditional treatments for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) saw their tumors shrink or even disappear after an infusion of a highly targeted, experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy...
EORTC-NCI-AACR 2016: ‘Remarkable Antitumor Activity’ in Phase I Studies of PDGFRα and KIT Mutation Inhibitors
Two studies at the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany focused on the inhibition of mutations in the KIT and PDGFRα oncogenes. These genes provide instructions for making proteins that are part of a family of proteins called receptor...
Gleevec Is Saving My Life but at a Cost
Like many patients in the chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), my cancer was discovered during a routine physical, when an off-the-chart white blood cell count signaled a serious problem that my primary care physician attributed to unspecified internal bleeding. Fortunately for me, my...
SU2C Launches $7.5 Million Initiative in Research Grants Focusing on Immuno-oncology
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is making $7.5 million in research grants available to early-career scientists who are pursuing innovative cancer research projects focusing on immuno-oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research recently announced. Funded by a grant from SU2C Visionary...
Baylor Welcomes New McNair Scholar, Bing Zhang, PhD
Bing Zhang, PhD, a computational biologist with a focus on cancer bioinformatics, has been named the newest McNair Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine. The McNair Scholar program at Baylor identifies influential researchers in breast and pancreatic cancers, juvenile diabetes, and neuroscience....
Drainage of Massive Ascites: Patient of Nicholas Senn, MD
Prior to the 20th century, there were very few specific therapies for disease. Many diseases, especially cancers and infections, resulted in accumulations of fluid or pus in body cavities. Physicians had to become masters of the trocar, needle, and catheter. They learned to artfully remove fluid...
Expect and Encourage Questions About Breast Reconstruction
An article in The New York Times about women who had chosen not to have reconstruction following breast cancer surgery might prompt questions from newly diagnosed patients considering their options.1 Deanna J. Attai, MD, FACS, told The ASCO Post that whenever an article on breast cancer appears in...
Dave, Dave, Dave
It was 1983, and I was in my third year as an attending physician at a major East Coast university medical center and just 5 years out of fellowship. As was common at the time, I saw and treated all malignancies except leukemia and gynecologic cancers. In the middle of a typically busy day at the ...
The Future of Health Care in America: Which Corridor?
It was mid-morning, and I was walking along one of the long corridors in our hospital, attending to clinical duties. From a distance, I noticed this elderly couple walking in the opposite direction. As we got closer, it became obvious that the elderly gentleman appeared winded and was looking...
How When Breath Becomes Air Is Helping the Public—and Physicians—Confront Their Mortality
It should not come as a surprise to anyone who has read Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s brilliant—and unforgettable—memoir, When Breath Becomes Air (Random House, 2016), that nearly a year after publication, it remains on The New York Times best-seller list, its popularity only increasing with time. Written...
A Lung Cancer Specialist Talks About Value in Cancer Care
Over the past few years, the term value-based cancer care has become integrated into the vernacular of the oncology community. Value is a subjective term, which is defined largely by its clinical setting. However, value in cancer care is evaluated by the multiple stakeholders involved in the...
How Video Support Tools Help Patients Make Informed Decisions About End-of-Life Care
A relatively recent study by Areej El-Jawahri, MD, and her colleagues is showing how the use of visual media can empower patients with advanced cancer, as well as other life-threatening illnesses, to make more informed decisions about their end-of-life care.1 The aim of Dr. El-Jawahri’s study was ...
Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer Outcomes Improved With Neoadjuvant Therapy
In studies presented at the 2016 European Society for Surgical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, two different neoadjuvant treatment approaches improved the outcomes of patients with esophageal cancer. Investigators from the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG) reported that the addition of...
Clinical Strategies for Improving Endocrine Therapy in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Most women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer receive endocrine therapy as part of their treatment, but “the reality is that patients who receive antihormone therapy in the metastatic disease setting ultimately develop disease progression, ” William J. Gradishar, MD, stated at the 18th...
Encouraging First Study of Pembrolizumab in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
Immunotherapy with an anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor—pembrolizumab (Keytruda)—showed encouraging responses in patients with advanced cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (either mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome). Pembrolizumab achieved a 38% overall response rate and responses...
ASCO Quality Improvement Grant Spotlight: The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care
In 2016 and 2017, a team from The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care (RLCCC) is participating in an ASCO Quality Improvement Grant program, which is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The grant program aims to improve the delivery of cancer care in medically underserved communities by...
Novel Urine Test May Predict High-Risk Cervical Cancer
Johns Hopkins Medicine specialists reported they have developed a urine test for the likely emergence of cervical cancer that is highly accurate compared to other tests based on genetic markers derived directly from cervical tissue. The new urine test, they said, is different because it analyzes...
Neoadjuvant Nivolumab Appears Safe and Feasible in Lung Cancer
Neoadjuvant immunotherapy with the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) is safe and feasible in early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The results come from the first report of PD-1 blockade prior to surgery in this tumor, according to Patrick Forde, MD, of...
Immunotherapy Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies focused on immunotherapy as treatment for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These studies are researching programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody therapy; hypofractionated...
The Emergence of Philanthropy to Fund High-Risk, High-Reward Cancer Research
Earlier this year, Sean Parker, the cofounder of the music streaming service Napster and an early president of Facebook, joined a growing list of entrepreneurs who are committing large portions of their wealth to funding cancer research. In April, Mr. Parker announced he was donating $250 million...
Expert Point of View: Sandro Pignata, MD
“This study represents a significant step forward in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer,” stated formal discussant Sandro Pignata, MD, of the IRCCS National Cancer Institute “Fondazione G. Pascale,” Naples, Italy. He highlighted some key factors: Patients selected for the study were those...
Recent Progress and Concepts in Pancreatic Cancer
November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, the impetus for this article. Pancreatic cancer is a huge health challenge. It's the eighth most common cancer in the United States and the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths but is expected to become the second most common cause of...
NAALADL2 Marker for Aggressive Prostate Cancer May Also Serve as a Drug Target
Researchers have discovered that a marker found on aggressive prostate cancer cells could also be used as a way to guide treatments to the cancer, according to new research presented by Luxton et al at the 2016 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool, United...
Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer Is Like Walking a Tightrope
I’ve always had fibrocystic breasts and was steadfast in performing monthly breast self-exams, so I could become familiar with the terrain of my breasts and spot any subtle changes. So, in November 2002, when I felt something in my left breast that seemed different from my usual lumps, I made a...
Two Big 10 Universities Compete in Challenge and Help Raise More Than $5.9 Million for Childhood Cancer Research
The first-ever Wolverine–Badger challenge between C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan (Wolverines) and the University of Wisconsin’s American Family Children’s Hospital (Badgers) helped raise more than $5.9 million for pediatric cancer research. An October 1 football game...
Medical Marijuana: The Topic You Can’t Escape
With reports about new marijuana dispensaries sprouting up as more states approve the legal use of medical marijuana, and patients and family members questioning how to get it, medical marijuana is a “topic you can’t escape,” noted Judith A. Paice, PhD, RN.1 Dr. Paice is Director of the Cancer...
The Smartest Guys in the Room
The smartest guys in the room were never from the big energy companies, and they’re not running hedge funds on Wall Street or building the next Facebook. For me, the smartest guys in the room are the selfless men and women who’ve transformed cancer from what was all too often a death sentence to...
Meeting the Needs of Older Adults With Cancer
I have served as a patient advocate in many different ways since I was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2000. For many years, my advocacy was focused on issues related to breast cancer. Since 2012, I have also been engaged in identifying and meeting the needs of the rapidly growing...
Forging Collaboration Between Children’s and Adult Oncology Groups in Designing Trials for Adolescents and Young Adults
Nonrhabdomyosarcoma soft-tissue sarcomas account for about 5% of all childhood malignancies and are also diagnosed in adolescents and young adults, as well as in older adults, and can require different approaches to treatment based on a patient’s age and stage of disease. These sarcomas comprise...
Interviews With ASCO’s President-Elect Candidates
ASCO Connection: Why do you want to serve as ASCO President? Monica Bertagnolli: Serving as ASCO President is a tremendous personal honor for anyone in the field of oncology. Much more importantly, it is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference by providing a strong voice in the health-care ...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Olaratumab for Treatment of Advanced Soft-Tissue Sarcoma
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to olaratumab (Lartruvo) in combination with doxorubicin to treat adults with certain types of soft-tissue sarcoma. Olaratumab is approved for use with the FDA-approved chemotherapy drug doxorubicin for the treatment...
Gold Nanoparticle Radiopharmaceuticals for the Selective Treatment of Telomerase-Positive Tumors
Tagging gold nanoparticles with a small dose of radiation has helped researchers trace the precious metal as it delivers a drug right into the heart of cancer cells, according to new laboratory research presented by Bavelaar et al at the 2016 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer...
Is Observation Without Surgery a Viable Strategy for Managing Ductal Carcinoma in Situ?
In a spirited debate, abounding with citations of clinical trials and other evidence, but not without humor and mutual respect, E. Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, and Armando E. Giuliano, MD, reviewed the data and their clinical experience managing ductal carcinoma in situ and reached opposite...
Vaccines May Boost Immune Responsiveness of Pancreatic Tumors
Pancreatic cancer has been notably unresponsive to immunotherapeutic approaches, but a Stand Up 2 Cancer Dream Team believes their research can change that. Team co-leader Elizabeth Jaffee, MD, Deputy Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, ...
Scientists Are Boosting Immune Responses in Pancreatic Tumors
The successes observed with various immune oncologic treatment approaches have largely bypassed pancreatic cancer, but this may be about to change, based on emerging insights into how and why these tumors evade attacks by T cells. At the 2nd International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference, two...
Combination Strategies Harness the Power of the Oncolytic Virus Talimogene Laherparepvec
The injectable oncolytic immunotherapy talimogene laherparepvec (also known as T-VEC, Imlygic) may become a valuable component of combination immunotherapy approaches in melanoma, a strategy believed to help overcome resistance of tumors to single-agent immunotherapies. “[Talimogene laherparepvec] ...
Pembrolizumab, but Not Nivolumab, Improves Outcomes in Front-Line Setting for PD-L1–Positive Advanced NSCLC
Checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but evidence of their benefit was restricted to the second-line setting. However, early-phase trials with both pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo) demonstrated favorable results in...
Expert Point of View: Axel Bex, MD, PhD
The formal discussant of this trial, Axel Bex, MD, PhD, of The Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, was cautious in interpreting these results to be practice-changing. “I congratulate the investigators for the first-ever positive trial for adjuvant treatment of renal cell carcinoma,” he...
Phase III Study of Sunitinib Is First to Show Benefit in Adjuvant Setting for Treatment of Renal Cell Carcinoma
Sunitinib (Sutent) improved disease-free survival by more than 1 year when used as adjuvant treatment for high-risk locoregional renal cell carcinoma following nephrectomy, but with the cost of toxicity. S-TRAC is the first phase III trial showing a benefit for adjuvant therapy in renal cell...
Expert Point of View: Bernard Escudier, MD
Formal discussant of this trial, Bernard Escudier, MD, Chairman of the Renal Cancer Unit at Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, said: “The main question is whether this study will change practice.” He is not so sure it will and would like more data. Dr. Escudier told listeners that the...
Cabozantinib Improves Progression-Free Survival and Response Rates vs Sunitinib in First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Kidney Cancer
Cabozantinib (Cabometyx) improved progression-free survival and response rates in patients with untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma compared with the standard of care, sunitinib (Sutent), according to the results of a phase II multicenter randomized trial called CABOSUN reported at the 2016...
How ASCO Is Preparing Members for MACRA
On October 14, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its final policy on what physicians need to do to begin implementing the Quality Payment Program outlined in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). The Quality Payment Program is a...
Study Raises Concerns About Timely Follow-up to Positive Mammogram for the Uninsured
A study by University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers has found that younger, uninsured women in North Carolina had higher odds of missing a 60-day window for getting follow-up after an abnormal mammogram, even though research underscores the importance of ...
Study Shows International Trends in Anal Cancer Incidence Rates
A new American Cancer Society study finds that incidence of anal cancer has been increasing in women or in both men and women in 13 of 18 countries studied, particularly in the Americas, Northern/Western Europe, and Australia. The authors say population-based preventive measures, including human...
Sexual Pain Experienced by Women After Cancer Is Common and May Be Ignored
Painful sex in women after cancer treatment is relatively common, often treatable, and needs to be addressed by medical providers, a University of California (UC), Davis, oncologist and researcher suggests. Vanessa Kennedy, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at UC Davis Health System, said that with...
ASCO Applauds MACRA’s Focus on High-Quality, Patient-Centered Care
Editor’s note: As The ASCO Post went to press, the Department of Health & Human Services finalized a landmark new payment system for Medicare clinicians. The system, known as MACRA, (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015), replaces the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate and will...
