Musa Yilmaz, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses study results suggesting that quizartinib with decitabine and venetoclax is active in patients with FLT3-ITD–mutated acute myeloid leukemia and that RAS/MAPK mutations continue to drive primary and secondary resistance ...
Manali Kamdar, MD, of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, discusses phase III results from the TRANSFORM study, which suggest that lisocabtagene maraleucel, a CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy, improved outcomes with a favorable safety profile and may be a potential new standard of care for...
New research indicates that psychological distress from cancer and its treatment can cause many adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors to seek additional care and burden them with considerable medical expenses. The findings were published by Abdelhadi et al in the journal Cancer....
A team of researchers has revealed some of the mechanisms by which polyps develop into colorectal cancer, setting the framework for improved surveillance for the disease. Their study, published by Chen et al in the journal Cell, describes findings using a single-cell transcriptomic and imaging...
Research published by Hahn et al in JAMA showed depression screening for patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer was highly effective at identifying patients in need of behavioral health care. The new screening initiative was subsequently and successfully built into the patient care and daily...
On January 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to shorten the time between the completion of a primary series of the vaccine and a booster dose to at least 5 months for individuals aged 18 years and older....
A team of scientists has used artificial intelligence (AI) to identify which patients with certain head and neck cancers may benefit from reducing the intensity of treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Their findings were published by Corredor et al in the Journal of the National...
A portable, rapid prostate cancer screening kit could provide early warning to populations with a higher incidence of prostate cancer and may particularly aid those with limited access to health care. The proof-of-concept test, described by Srinivasan et al in Current Research in Biotechnology, is...
Banu Arun, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a session she moderated that included discussion of how exercise and diet may reduce the risk of breast cancer, and emerging non-endocrine treatments that may help prevent the disease.
A new study published by Hannan et al in European Urology Oncology showed that highly focused radiation to isolated metastases that progress despite drug therapy may prolong drug efficacy in patients with kidney cancer. Together with a Canadian report recently published by Cheung et al in European...
Patients with lung cancer who quit smoking after their diagnosis experienced improvement in their overall survival compared to patients who continued smoking after diagnosis, according to results from a meta-analysis published by Caini et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Researchers led by...
Patrick Hwu, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center and President of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), and Mary Dean, JD, CAE, SITC Executive Director, discuss the organization’s mission, strides made in cancer immunology, meeting the challenge of immunoresistance, and the new SITC app for...
Joe Schroers-Martin, MD, of Stanford University, discusses his latest study findings, which show that follicular lymphoma driver mutations are detectable in blood and saliva years prior to a clinical diagnosis. These data build on previous work and suggest that researchers may be able to stratify...
Today, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) published significant updates to the expert consensus recommendations on vaccination and preexposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 for people with cancer. The NCCN Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination and Preexposure Prophylaxis meets...
Cancer deaths rose to 10 million and new cases jumped to over 23 million globally in 2019, according to a new study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine published in JAMA Oncology. At the start of the decade in 2010, total...
A study evaluating the clinical characteristics and outcomes of fully vaccinated patients with cancer who had breakthrough COVID-19 infections indicated they remained at high risk for hospitalization and death. The report, published by Schmidt et al in Annals of Oncology, showed that fully...
Nikhil C. Munshi, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the findings from a large nationwide Veterans Affairs study, which showed that, for patients with multiple myeloma, the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine is reduced, likely due to patients’ immunosuppression. Dr. Munshi...
Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses what she considers to be the most notable presentations at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. They include the focus on early-stage disease, especially in the TEXT/SOFT, RxPonder, and KEYNOTE-522 trials, as well as...
Nearly 100% of patients with solid tumors have antibodies effective against the SARS–CoV-2 delta variant after a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to results published as a correspondence by Fendler et al in Cancer Cell. The new findings also highlight a proportion of patients with blood...
Patients with melanoma who reported eating more fiber-rich foods when they began treatment with immunotherapy survived longer without cancer growth than patients with insufficient dietary fiber intake, according to new research published by Spencer et al in Science. The benefit was most noticeable...
On January 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to expand the use of a single booster dose to include use in individuals aged 12 to 15 years; shorten the time between the completion of primary...
Sangeetha Venugopal, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a retrospective analysis of 562 patients with treated secondary acute myeloid leukemia and prior exposure to hypomethylating agents (HMAs). The results showed that an HMA plus venetoclax yielded significantly...
Andrew Matthews, MD, of the Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, discusses findings from a retrospective study at an academic institution, which showed there was no statistically significant difference in overall survival between induction with CPX-351 and venetoclax/azacitidine for...
Oropharyngeal cancer incidence among men is continuing to rise rapidly in nearly all 50 U.S. states and among women living in states in the Midwest and Southeast regions, according to a new study published by Damgacioglu et al in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. In addition, the...
Eight substances have been added to the Report on Carcinogens, bringing the total list to 256 substances that are known—or reasonably anticipated—to cause cancer in humans. The 15th Report on Carcinogens, which is a cumulative report mandated by Congress and prepared by the National Toxicology...
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses findings from a pooled analysis of the MONALEESA-2, -3, and -7 trials. Among the findings was a consistent overall survival benefit with ribociclib plus endocrine therapy...
Charles Coombes, MD, PhD, of Imperial College, London, discusses study results on samuraciclib, a first-in-class, oral, selective inhibitor of CDK7, in combination with fulvestrant in patients with advanced hormone receptor–positive HER2-negative breast cancer. The combination of agents has...
New data were presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium demonstrating that the Breast Cancer Index (BCI) may predict preferential recurrence-prevention benefit from extended endocrine therapy and may also predict the overall benefit/risk and likelihood of improved health outcomes...
Molecular and genetic research has advanced the categorization of different risk groups in patients with smoldering myeloma. Notable presentations at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition included reports on biomarkers to predict response to immunotherapy in...
OCE Insights is an occasional column developed for The ASCO Post by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this installment, Julie A. Schneider, PhD, Associate Director for Research Strategy and Partnerships, OCE; Jennifer J. Gao, MD,...
NYU Langone Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center opened a new state-of-the-art center to treat people with hematologic malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. The new center, led by Samer Al-Homsi, MD, MBA, Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine and...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized Peter Marks, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for his outstanding commitment to hematology in overseeing the approval of therapeutics that improve the...
Alba Rodriguez-Meira, DPhil, of the University of Oxford, discusses a comprehensive analysis of the genetic, cellular, and molecular landscape of TP53-mediated transformation, providing insights into the evolution of chronic hematologic malignancies toward an aggressive acute leukemia. Because TP53 ...
Leslie S. Kean, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, discusses findings from her analysis of the International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Database, which led to the recent FDA approval of abatacept for the prevention of acute graft-vs-host disease...
ASCO has elected Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, FASCO, a long-time member and volunteer, to serve as its President beginning in June 2023. Dr. Schuchter will take office as President-Elect immediately after the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2022. Seven new members were also elected to the ASCO...
Several of the researchersand scientists at the 42nd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), held December 10–14, attended the event on the basis of scholarships awarded through SABCS and its cosponsor, the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). The goal of the scholarships is...
Over the past year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to many novel drugs and new indications for older therapeutic agents used in oncology and hematology. NOVEMBER Pafolacianine for Ovarian Cancer Lesions: On November 29, pafolacianine (Cytalux), an imaging drug,...
Women who live in urban areas and those residing in rural areas are screened for breast cancer at similar rates, but rural women are screened for colorectal cancer at significantly lower rates than their urban counterparts, research published by Shete et al in JAMA Network Open showed. The...
Professor and neurosurgical oncologist Orin Bloch, MD, FAANS, has been appointed as the new co-leader of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Biomedical Technology Program effective December 1. Dr. Bloch is replacing Chief of Nuclear Medicine Ramsey Badawi, PhD, who is stepping down from the role ...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized three Choosing Wisely Champions—individuals working to tackle the overuse of hematology tests and treatments—at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition, held December 11–14 in Atlanta. Choosing Wisely is an initiative that seeks to advance a...
The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, the National Medical Fellowships, and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recently announced the first group of 52 physicians selected for its Diversity in Clinical Trials Career Development Program. The 52 physicians selected by an independent...
Eunice S. Wang, MD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses phase III results showing that gilteritinib and azacitidine led to significantly higher composite complete response rates in patients with newly diagnosed FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia who are ineligible for intensive...
The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed some aspects of health care forever. At the 2021 JADPRO Live Virtual event, a panel discussion focused on how several cancer centers faced challenges, and what changes the participants view as positive.1 JADPRO Live is an annual educational conference for...
Roni Shouval, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses his findings, which show, for the first time, that TP53 alterations are a valuable prognostic and potentially predictive marker in patients with large B-cell lymphoma who receive CD19–CAR T-cell therapy. Gene-expression...
Despite the availability of several effective screening tests, colorectal cancer screening rates remain below national goals. Although colonoscopy is the most often recommended screening method, a new study has found that the preferences of primary care clinicians have shifted toward noninvasive...
New research published by Wilson et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that only 59% of oncology clinical trials studied provided adequately defined rules for censoring. The researchers examined published randomized control trials supporting U.S. Food and Drug...
Michael R. Bishop, MD, of the University of Chicago, discusses insights from findings of the phase III BELINDA study, which may inform the design of future CAR T-cell trials, as well as the use of second-line tisagenlecleucel therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell...
On December 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abatacept (Orencia) for the prophylaxis of acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD), in combination with a calcineurin inhibitor and methotrexate, in adults and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older undergoing hematopoietic stem...
Carsten Utoft Niemann, MD, PhD, of Copenhagen University Hospital, discusses a primary analysis of the phase II Vision HO141 trial, which showed the feasibility of stopping and restarting ibrutinib and venetoclax in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have...