Despite a 30-year history as an ASCO volunteer, for Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, this past year as President-Elect has opened new perspectives on the organization he will soon lead as ASCO’s 62nd President, effective during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 30–June 3, 2025, in Chicago. After serving...
Zongertinib, an investigational oral, HER2-selective, EGFR-sparing tyrosine kinase inhibitor, elicited durable responses and demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced, previously treated, HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented by John V. Heymach,...
Studies have shown that having overweight or obesity increases the risk of developing more than a dozen cancers, including meningioma; multiple myeloma; and esophageal, thyroid, breast, gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreatic, kidney, ovarian, uterine, and colorectal cancers. The presence of excess ...
The accuracy of HER2 breast cancer scoring improved with the use of AI assistance, especially for patients with low and ultralow levels of HER2 expression, results from a multinational study showed. The findings were presented in a press briefing ahead of the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract...
ASCO and Google Cloud have announced a collaboration to launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-based ASCO Guidelines Assistant. Developed with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform and Gemini models, the tool is poised to transform how oncology professionals access and use critical clinical...
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), termed HPV-DeepSeek by the study investigators, showed greater sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy than any current...
Cellular therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy are transforming outcomes for patients with cancer, particularly in the relapsed or refractory setting. “We’re seeing outstanding response rates in patients with B-cell malignancies...
The disease we now call diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has gone by the names of reticulum cell sarcoma, diffuse histiocytic lymphoma, and diffuse large cell lymphoma, and included both lymphomas of B cells and T cells. We now know DLBCL is still heterogenous and some subtypes might benefit...
This is Part 2 of Navigating the Complexities of Relapsed/Refractory AML: Identifying Mutations and Optimizing Targeted Therapy, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this roundtable. In this video, Drs. Uma Borate, Naval Daver, and Joshua Zeidner...
This is Part 1 of Navigating the Complexities of Relapsed/Refractory AML: Identifying Mutations and Optimizing Targeted Therapy, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this roundtable. In this video, Drs. Uma Borate, Naval Daver, and Joshua Zeidner...
Forty nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations issued a statement this week to the House Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees in regard to budget cuts and policy changes affecting Medicaid and health-care marketplaces. “As organizations representing millions of patients with serious...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) released its first set of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) in 1996, covering eight tumor types. Today, guidelines are available for more than 60 tumor types, subtypes, and related topics. During the NCCN’s 30th Annual...
The first sign that something was terribly wrong was in 2015, when I began to feel so fatigued that it was difficult to get out of bed even after 8 to 10 hours of sleep. I’ve been full of energy my whole life and couldn’t understand why I was so tired all the time. Then I began to experience...
Thomas B. Tomasi, Jr, MD, PhD, who led Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1986 to 1996, died on March 23 at age 97. His tenure marked a renaissance at Roswell Park that elevated it to a place among the nation’s top cancer centers. The pinnacle of ...
The 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research was presented to Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, during the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago. This award honors individuals who have made significant fundamental contributions to cancer...
The Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute established a Financial Toxicity Tumor Board in 2019. The board is the first known institutional-level intervention of its kind and functions like a traditional disease-focused multidisciplinary tumor board—with a singular focus on financial distress. Now,...
Applications are now being accepted for the 2025 Integrative Oncology Scholars Program and Integrative Oncology Fellows Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (https://sites.google.com/view/integrative-oncology-scholars-/home). Launched in 2018, the Integrative Oncology Scholars Program ...
In the phase III KEYNOTE-689 trial, perioperative use of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab given with standard therapy significantly improved event-free survival in newly diagnosed, previously untreated patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, researchers reported at the ...
Investigators have uncovered mixed progress in major cancer risk factors, preventive behaviors, and screenings in the post–COVID-19 pandemic period among adults in the United States, according to a new study published by Bandi et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Background An ...
“Knowledge is like a lion; it cannot be gently embraced.” –South African Proverb Long-term efficacy and safety confirm that a hypomethylating agent and venetoclax is an improvement in the standard of care for patients with AML who are not eligible for intensive chemotherapy because of advanced age...
A 20-year initiative that offered flexible options for colorectal cancer screening at a major integrated health system doubled colorectal cancer screening rates, cut cancer incidence by a third, halved deaths, and brought racial differences in outcomes to nearly zero, according to a study that will ...
The addition of neoadjuvant and adjuvant pembrolizumab to standard-of-care therapy significantly improved event-free survival over the standard of care alone for patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer in the phase III KEYNOTE-689 trial, according to results presented at the American...
Researchers may have identified the bacterial toxin colibactin as a potential factor contributing to the concerning rise in early-onset colorectal cancer, according to a novel study published by Díaz-Gay et al in Nature. The findings demonstrated a substantial enrichment of colibactin-related...
In late January 2013, while playing with my young son, I noticed my left breast seemed slightly larger than my right breast. Although, at the time, I had no idea this type of swelling is a hallmark of inflammatory breast cancer, a rare and aggressive disease, I immediately made an appointment with...
ASCO has released an update to the guideline for fertility preservation in people with cancer. The update, recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 provides recommendations regarding evaluation and counseling for fertility preservation; methods and timing of fertility preservation;...
Nicolas Girard, MD, a thoracic oncologist at the Institut Curie, Paris, presented the results of an interim analysis of the open-label phase II COCOON study, at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) 2025.1 A readily available preventive regimen (the COCOON regimen) reduced moderate-to-severe...
A few weeks ago, a family member underwent a minor outpatient operative procedure. From a few weeks before the scheduled date of the procedure, multiple text messages and e-mails were forwarded to provide preparatory instructions for the procedure. The day before the procedure, another...
Older patients with a solid tumor responded with similar clinical outcomes to younger patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, the results of a study published in Nature Communications showed. However, older patients did have divergent immune phenotypes compared with younger patients,...
There has been remarkable progress in treating EGFR-variant lung adenocarcinoma with tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as gefitinib, erlotinib, osimertinib, and afatinib. However, several important issues remain unresolved, including whether there remains a role for chemotherapy, who should receive a ...
New protocols for endocrine tumors and updated existing protocols for breast cancer diagnoses are now available from the College of American Pathologists (CAP). These and other updates to protocols reflect the latest scientific advancements, ensuring that pathology reports provide oncologists with...
A whole-genome sequencing–based, error-corrected method for detecting cancer from blood samples could be more sensitive and accurate in monitoring disease status posttreatment among patients with cancer compared with prior methods, according to a recent study published by Cheng et al in Nature...
Researchers have developed, and now validated, a biomarker test to predict for genitourinary (GU) adverse events induced by stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in patients with prostate cancer, according to the results of a study published by Kishan et al in Clinical Cancer Research. The test,...
A high proportion of Medicare beneficiaries cross state borders to access cancer care, particularly patients residing in rural areas, according to a recent study published by Moen et al in JAMA Network Open. The findings have significant implications for telehealth policies and physician licensure, ...
Postmastectomy radiation therapy may be significantly shortened for many patients planning breast reconstruction, according to data from a large phase III trial (RT CHARM, Alliance A221505).1 Investigators reported that hypofractionated (short-course) radiation therapy was found to be noninferior...
Current standard chemoradiation therapy remains the most effective treatment for selected patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer, based on the results of the NRG-HN005 trial. Researchers have halted this large, randomized phase II/III trial after patients in the...
Tobacco control–driven reductions in smoking prevalence may have helped avert over 3.8 million lung cancer–related deaths and gain just over 76 million years of life between 1970 and 2022 in the United States, according to a recent study published by Islami et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for...
Biopsies guided by high-resolution ultrasound may be as effective as those using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing prostate cancer, an international clinical trial has shown. The technology, called micro-ultrasound, is cheaper and easier to use than MRI. It could significantly speed up ...
Today’s oncologists are blessed with an abundance of therapies for HER2-positive early breast cancer, but this comes with the challenge of selecting among them. At the 2025 Miami Breast Cancer Conference, Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, FACP, offered insight on common clinical scenarios. Dr. Hurvitz is...
As a Native American and former president of the Seneca Nation of Indians, I am keenly aware of the disparities in cancer care we face in accessing screening and treatment, which results in worse survival rates compared with those of racial and ethnic populations.1 Native American and Alaska Native ...
Janet L. Abrahm, MD, FACP, FAAHPM, FASCO, has spent more than half of her oncology career as a palliative care physician. After receiving her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in 1973, Dr. Abrahm completed her internship and residency at Massachusetts General...
Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) can offer patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) improved survival while minimizing or avoiding late toxicities associated with the standard of care of radiation with cisplatin chemotherapy, according to a recent ASCO guideline.1 “We show in a...
A novel artificial intelligence (AI) tool, called Unfold AI, may help to determine which men with prostate cancer are most likely to benefit from partial gland cryoablation, according to a recent study published by Brisbane et al in BJUI Compass. The findings may play a key role in improving...
Definitive radiation therapy offers a high degree of locoregional control in large, locally advanced basal cell carcinomas (BCC), according to results from a recent multi-institutional research study published by Su et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology · Biology · Physics. One...
With right-sizing treatment an aim of many treatment approaches in breast cancer today, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), as well as its overtreatment, has become a potential target of change. Which patients, however, might safely forgo the current recommendations and be safely followed with active...
The ADAURA trial findings showed a significant benefit in disease-free survival with the EGFR inhibitor osimertinib, compared to placebo, making it the recommended standard of adjuvant treatment in patients with EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for up to 3 years after surgery. In a...
In previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, use of the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin-ejfv in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab continues to demonstrate a significant survival benefit over chemotherapy, according to updated...
The PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab plus the tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib continues to demonstrate a significant survival advantage over sunitinib alone in patients with previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma, according to data presented at the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers...
Taking more daily steps and engaging in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may both be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease–related mortality among postmenopausal women with a history of cancer, according to preliminary findings presented by Hyde et al at the American Heart...
Over the past 20 years, the investment in research and development of cancer therapies has been unprecedented, and the pace of new drug development has been accelerating. To illustrate this trajectory, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 71 treatments for solid cancers in adults...
Catharine Young, PhD, has spent the past decade of her career focused on cancer policy and advocacy. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Young served as Senior Director of Science Policy at the Biden Cancer Initiative, which began in 2017 by then former Vice President Joe Biden. There she...