In the phase III FIRST trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Lotfi Benboubker, MD, Service d’Hématologie et Thérapie Cellulaire, Hôpital Bretonneau, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire (CHRU), Tours, France, and colleagues found that continuous lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus...
In a related commentary, Kiran K. Turaga, MD, MPH, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, writes: “In the setting of these congratulatory reports of a successful public health screening program, this report from Bailey et al is rather unsettling.” “Nevertheless, assuming that this...
While the incidence of colorectal cancer in people 50 years or older has declined, the incidence among people 20 to 49 years has increased, according to a report published online recently by JAMA Surgery.1 From 1998 through 2006, the incidence of colorectal cancer declined 3% per year in men and...
At the opening press conference of the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), 2014 President Bruce G. Haffty, MD, FASTRO, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Rutgers–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Associate Director at the...
David G. Nathan, MD, President Emeritus of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Physician-in-Chief Emeritus of Boston Children’s Hospital, was recently honored as the inaugural recipient of the Boston Children’s Hospital Lifetime Impact Award at the Hospital’s second Annual Global Pediatric Innovation...
Whether it’s the approaching end of the tax year or simply the altruism of the season, many donors prefer to make charitable gifts in November and December. This year, those donors who have a passion for conquering cancer have an added incentive to consider a tax deductible year-end gift to the...
As part of ASCO’s 50th anniversary, the Society has published a weekly series on special moments in its history. In this edition of The ASCO Post, we revisit a unique time when ASCO’s history intersected with major world events. To read the entire series, visit the “News and Views” page on...
ASCO’s latest video series, Navigating Challenges: Perspectives from Survivors and Doctors, available at www.cancer.net/navigatingchallenges, offers information for people newly diagnosed with cancer who are facing real-world barriers to high-quality cancer care. In the four featured videos, health ...
ASCO has submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health regarding the role of data standards in biomedical science. The comments were in response to a Request for Information from the National Cancer Institute, Input on Information Resources for Data-Related Standards Widely Used in...
Since 2003, the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO has recognized more than 100 high-quality, community-based clinical research sites through the Clinical Trial Participation Award (CTPA). The program has been generously supported by the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups for the past decade....
The ASCO Nominating Committee has selected Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO, and Patrick J. Loehrer, Sr, MD, FASCO, as candidates for the position of 2015-2016 President-Elect (2016-2017 President). In the abridged interviews below, the candidates discuss their vision for the Society and their leadership ...
A secondary analysis of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-32 trial1 indicates that radiation therapy does not increase the incidence of lymphedema in patients with node-negative breast cancer, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s...
Hope S. Rugo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education at the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed the results of the RESILIENCE trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology ...
In patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, the addition of sorafenib (Nexavar), a broad-spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to capecitabine did not improve progression-free or overall survival in the phase III RESILIENCE trial. The findings were presented at the European Society ...
Hope S. Rugo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education for the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed the two studies on maintenance bevacizumab (Avastin) for metastatic breast cancer...
Although bevacizumab (Avastin) may no longer be an active player in metastatic breast cancer, phase III studies presented at this year’s European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress reignited interest in the drug as part of maintenance therapy. The TANIA trial met its primary endpoint,...
Formal discussant Giorgio V. Scagliotti, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Medical Oncology at the University of Turin and San Luigi Hospital, Orbassano, Italy, tackled each of the studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) session on metastatic non–small cell lung cancer...
The effort to identify new biomarkers for response and outcomes in lung cancer is advancing, according to studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress in Madrid. Immunohistochemical expression of folate receptor for vintafolide and thymidylate synthase for...
Patients who received postoperative radiation therapy lived an average of 4 months longer when compared to the patients who had the same disease site, tumor histology, and treatment criteria and who did not receive postoperative radiotherapy, according to research presented at the 2014 Chicago...
For advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), targeting of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and the ALK abnormality has become an established strategy. Later-generation drugs in these categories are now showing efficacy in trials, including for the treatment of...
Carfilzomib (Kyprolis), as a single agent, failed to improve survival in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients, as compared with a corticosteroid and optional cyclophosphamide, in the phase III FOCUS trial, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress in Madrid.1...
Formal discussant of the PAZOGIST trial at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Stefan Sleijfer, MD, PhD, of Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said “The title of my talk is ‘Small Molecules: Greater Success,’ and we are not yet there.” He agreed...
Patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) can achieve remission on tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but almost all of them eventually develop resistance to these agents. The PAZOGIST trial results suggest that pazopanib (Votrient)—a broad-spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitor—may be an effective ...
Formal discussant of the poster presented by Cullen et al at the ESMO Congress, Mark A. Rubin, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, said the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score could be used to measure disease aggressiveness in paraffin-embedded prostatectomy and biopsy samples and should ...
A prospectively designed study establishes the17-gene Oncotype DX prostate cancer test as a robust and independent predictor of the aggressiveness of prostate cancer based on a patient’s diagnostic specimen. Tumor aggressiveness, as measured by the test’s Genomic Prostate Score, was similar in...
Formal discussant of the RADIANT-3 trial at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, Alexandria Phan, MD, of Houston Methodist Cancer Center, agreed that the crossover to open-label everolimus (Afinitor) by placebo patients probably muddied the waters in the survival estimate....
Final results from the RADIANT-3 trial showed a 6-month difference in overall survival favoring everolimus (Afinitor) plus best supportive care over placebo plus best supportive care in patients with well-differentiated advanced and progressive pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.1 Although the...
In his discussion of the QUASAR2 presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Axel Grothey, MD, Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, said the results “confirm what we know” and have no implications for clinical practice or for future...
The final analysis of the international phase III QUASAR2 trial confirmed the lack of benefit for bevacizumab (Avastin) as part of the adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer. “There is no role for bevacizumab in combination with capecitabine as adjuvant treatment for colorectal cancer,” said...
In a subgroup analysis of the pooled results of the EINSTEIN-DVT and EINSTEIN-PE trials reported at the 2014 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress and published recently in The Lancet Haematology, Martin H. Prins, MD, of Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht,...
The phase III CONCUR trial1 of regorafenib (Stivarga) monotherapy in Asian patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer confirmed the overall survival benefit seen in the previous CORRECT trial,2 and in a planned subgroup analysis, suggesting the benefit is substantial in patients ...
Putting the maintenance trials into context was Axel Grothey, MD, Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, who commented, “These studies inform our clinical practice and have a meaningful impact on how we treat our patients.” DREAM Trial In the DREAM Trial, Dr. Grothey...
Studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress in Madrid added insight regarding maintenance therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer, an area lacking a clear recommended strategy following first-line regimens. Two phase III trials found benefit for bevacizumab...
During a special session at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, additional analyses from the FIRE-3 and Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB)/SWOG 80405 trial were presented, and an expert panel was charged with putting the findings into context. Role of Subsequent...
Now that clinicians know to “think beyond KRAS” in metastatic colorectal cancer—and test for all RAS mutations, not just those in exon 2—it seems this is still not sufficient for selecting the best drugs. At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress in Madrid, a proffered paper ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved new labeling for morphine sulfate and naltrexone hydrochloride extended-release capsules. The drug, marketed as Embeda, is an opioid analgesic used to treat pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and ...
Pembrolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2. By binding to the PD-1 receptor and blocking the interaction with the receptor ligands, pembrolizumab releases the PD-1 pathway–mediated inhibition of the immune response,...
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and Moffitt Cancer Center have joined forces to create the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN), the largest collaboration of its kind designed to accelerate discoveries in cancer research. Members of this alliance of cancer...
To kick off the second national Turning the Tide Against Cancer conference, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), and Feinstein Kean Healthcare, Edward Abrahams, PhD, President of PMC, noted that U.S. health-care costs are unsustainable...
Suleika Jaouad, a journalist, was 22 and had just gotten her first chance to cover a major news story—the revolution underway in Tunisia—when she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome that had evolved into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Months into her treatment, she began to write again, but...
More than 150 oral and poster presentations were featured at the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium, held September 4–6 in San Francisco. The multidisciplinary meeting is sponsored by ASCO, the American Society of Breast Disease, American Society of Breast Surgeons, American Society for Radiation...
Up until now, our paradigm—particularly in indolent lymphoma—has been episodic treatment, remission, and retreatment at emergence of symptoms. Very frequently, we can show that you can defer therapy in asymptomatic patients until relapse,” explained Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Vice Chair of the...
The use of targeted therapies in indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a burgeoning area. New targeted therapies directed at the cell surface, intracellular pathways, and the microenvironment are being studied for relapsed indolent NHL. These treatments, if validated in large randomized trials,...
ASCO has issued an endorsement of the American Urological Association (AUA)/American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) guideline on the use of adjuvant and salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy, which was based on a systematic review of medical literature. The ASCO endorsement was published ...
Over the past 50 years, there have been incredible changes in the field of colorectal cancer,” Emily K. Bergsland, MD, noted in opening the colorectal cancer session at the Best of ASCO meeting in Chicago. Dr. Bergsland is a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive...
Two phase III studies presented at the Best of ASCO meeting in Chicago shed more light on the role of maintenance therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer undergoing first-line treatment with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. The two studies compared maintenance therapy with bevacizumab...
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has released a new report, “Researching Cancer Medicines: Setbacks and Stepping Stones,” which highlights the number of investigational cancer medicines that did not succeed in clinical trials and how these so-called failures are a...
Magee-Womens Hospital of University of Pittsburgh is offering its patients the FDA-cleared breast cancer test assessing a woman’s risk of cancer recurrence by providing a risk category and numerical score. The hospital is the first in the tri-state area (Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia) to offer...
Improvements over the past 3 decades in 5-year survival rates for patients with osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma owe a lot to chemotherapy clinical trials conducted by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), Mark Agulnik, MD, acknowledged at the Best of ASCO meeting in Chicago. Dr. Agulnik is...
Targeted agents have started to make inroads in sarcoma therapies, and gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the poster child for this success,” Mark Agulnik, MD, stated in summarizing progress in GIST and other sarcomas at the Best of ASCO meeting in Chicago. Dr. Agulnik is Associate Professor, ...