Constipation, a frequent and distressing side effect of cancer treatment, remains underdiagnosed and undertreated—particularly when driven by opioids. Opioid-induced constipation is distinct from functional constipation and requires tailored approaches to assessment and management. During a...
The outlook for adequate funding for federal health agencies has become more dire. In July, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced it is reducing the number of grant applications it will award for the remaining 2 months of fiscal year 2025 (FY2025), from 9% down to 4%.1 The result is that...
Use of the PARP inhibitor niraparib in combination with the androgen biosynthesis inhibitor abiraterone acetate and the corticosteroid prednisone reduced the risk of disease progression, both radiographic and symptomatic, in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer harboring...
The novel antibody-drug conjugate izalontamab brengitecan (also referred to as iza-bren, BL-B01D1) in combination with osimertinib induced a response in all patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR-sensitizing mutations treated with the combination in ...
The first-in-class EGFR × HER3 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate izalontamab brengitecan (also referred to as iza-bren; BL-B01D1) demonstrated promising efficacy results plus a manageable safety profile in the treatment of patients with previously treated EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer...
Adjuvant treatment with the first-generation ALK inhibitor crizotinib failed to improve disease-free survival outcomes over observation for patients with surgically resected ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to findings from the phase III E4512 trial presented at the...
A new analysis from the COMPEL trial showed that patients with EGFR-mutated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who experienced non–central nervous system (CNS) disease progression on first-line osimertinib benefit from continuing osimertinib treatment in combination with platinum-based...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Platzbecker et al, the European intergroup phase III APOLLO trial showed that an all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) plus arsenic trioxide (ATO; ATRA-ATO)–based regimen was associated with improved event-free survival vs a standard ATRA plus...
Despite data from the latest edition of The Cancer Atlas showing that nearly half of cancer mortality worldwide is attributed to modifiable risk factors, cancer incidence and mortality rates continue to soar.1 Globally, approximately 19 million new cases of cancer, excluding nonmelanoma skin...
In a study (INSPiRED 006) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cai et al found that an artificial intelligence–guided shear wave elastography (AI-SWE) model provided accuracy similar to expert reading of B-mode ultrasound in the diagnosis of breast cancer in women with Breast Imaging...
A single administration of autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte cell therapy with lifileucel led to disease stability in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, even among patients whose disease had progressed or did not respond to multiple prior...
For individuals diagnosed with early breast cancer, the long-term risk of developing a second primary cancer is low—around 2% to 3% greater than the general population)—according to findings published by McGale et al in The BMJ. The researchers say this information can help reassure many breast...
In a Chinese single-center phase II trial (SPRING-01) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tian et al found that the addition of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab to chemotherapy following short-course radiotherapy as part of total neoadjuvant treatment significantly improved the pathologic complete...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved rilzabrutinib (Wayrilz), a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, for adults with persistent or chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) who have had an insufficient response to a previous treatment. The approval was based on the pivotal LUNA ...
Based on the results of a single-center phase II trial published by Bhatt et al in the American Journal of Hematology, pretreatment geriatric assessment in older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) appeared to be feasible, to identify several functional impairments, to help guide the selection ...
Each year in the United States, nearly 16,000 children and adolescents between the ages of birth and 19 are diagnosed with cancer.1 And although survival rates have greatly improved for many types of childhood cancers, with more than 8 in 10 children and adolescents surviving at least 5 years after ...
In a German phase III trial (CONKO-007) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1Rainer Fietkau, MD, of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany, and colleagues found that adding chemoradiotherapy to chemotherapy vs...
In a retrospective analysis published in JCO Oncology Practice, Smolders et al investigated the incidence and clinical course of infusion-related reactions among patients treated with at least one monoclonal antibody in routine practice. The study evaluated real-world data to compare observed...
After 2 decades of practicing medicine across multiple disciplines and health systems, I’ve witnessed the dramatic transformation of patient-physician interactions, and none more dramatic than what I’m seeing in this era of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on cancer care. Early in my...
Patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma who received a vaccine of dendritic cells in addition to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and preconditioning cyclophosphamide experienced longer progression-free survival than those who received cyclophosphamide and TACE alone. The...
In an interim analysis of a National Institutes of Health phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lin et al found that lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lu-177 dotatate) was active in progressive metastatic pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs). As stated by the investigators,...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Shitara et al, the final overall survival analysis from the phase III KEYNOTE-585 study showed a numeric—but statistically nonsignificant—benefit with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy in perioperative therapy for patients with...
This is Part 3 of Managing Cardiovascular Risk in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Clinical Insights on CDK4/6 Inhibitors, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this roundtable. In this video, Drs. Kelly McCann, Hope Rugo, and Avirup Guha discuss a challenging...
The addition of everolimus to standard carboplatin chemotherapy led to a 52% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with carboplatin alone in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer, according to the results of a randomized phase II trial published in Breast...
Based on the results of a single-center phase III Chinese trial, which were published by Liao et al in JAMA Oncology, bacterial decolonization therapy with the antibiotic mupirocin may be an effective and cost-efficient strategy for alleviating severe acute radiation-induced oral mucositis in...
Clinical trials have sought to determine the benefit of treating the precursors of multiple myeloma, but as the phenotypes and genomics of this entity are becoming better delineated, the wisdom of early intervention has remained confusing for clinicians. At the 2025 Debates and Didactics in...
I would like to begin by sharing a bit of my journey in geriatric oncology. Often, we do not hear the origin stories behind our professional paths, and I believe it is important to reflect on them. I have spent my entire academic career at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where I arrived...
Nivolumab in combination with RP1 (vusolimogene oderparepvec), a herpes simplex virus type 1–based oncolytic immunotherapy, showed activity in patients with advanced melanoma who experienced disease progression on standard anti‒PD-1‒based immunotherapy, according to findings from the phase I/II...
As reported in The Lancet by Barlesi et al, the phase III KRYSTAL-12 trial has shown a significant progression-free survival benefit with adagrasib over docetaxel in patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic KRAS G12C–mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details...
Rechallenge with the HER2-directed antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) after grade 1 interstitial lung disease (ILD) appeared to be safe in a diverse real-world population, including many patients with breast cancer, as presented during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 The ...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Xue et al found that sequential chemoradiotherapy (SCRT) was noninferior to induction chemotherapy (IC) plus concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in terms of failure-free survival in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal...
“Neoadjuvant treatment with osimertinib, with or without chemotherapy, should be considered when planning treatment for patients with resectable, EGFR-mutated, stage II to IIIB non–small cell lung cancer [NSCLC],” according to Jamie E. Chaft, MD, FASCO, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and ...
In a phase II/III trial (NRG-CC003) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gondi et al found that hippocampal avoidance (HA) in prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) did not improve delayed recall failure but was associated with benefits in...
New research published by Phadke et al in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer found that adding a third immune-targeting drug to existing therapies may help to shrink tumors in laboratory models of treatment-resistant melanoma. Although immunotherapeutics have improved survival for many...
In a patient-level meta-analysis reported in The Lancet, Braybrooke et al of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group found that adding subsequent years of aromatase inhibitor treatment (AIT) for women with early estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer who had already received 5...
This is Part 3 of Optimizing Management of Myelofibrosis: Balancing Watchful Waiting and Early Action, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this roundtable. In this video, Drs. Raajit Rampal, Prithviraj Bose, and Jeanne Palmer discuss the treatment of a ...
This is Part 2 of Optimizing Management of Myelofibrosis: Balancing Watchful Waiting and Early Action, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this roundtable. In this video, Drs. Raajit Rampal, Prithviraj Bose, and Jeanne Palmer discuss the treatment of a ...
This is Part 1 of Optimizing Management of Myelofibrosis: Balancing Watchful Waiting and Early Action, a three-part video roundtable series. Scroll down to watch the other videos from this roundtable. In this video, Drs. Raajit Rampal, Prithviraj Bose, and Jeanne Palmer discuss the treatment of...
Use of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET/CT before undergoing salvage radiotherapy was associated with an improved overall survival and biochemical recurrence–free survival compared those who did not receive PSMA PET/CT scanning in male patients with biochemically recurrent prostate...
Less than half of responding patients with cancer were previously familiar with pharmacogenomic testing and its possible benefits, according to the results of a survey conducted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). Of the patients who did know about pharmacogenomic...
A new study calls for a paradigm shift in how cancer drug dosages are determined, concluding that the long-standing practice of using the “maximum tolerated dose” (MTD) may be outdated, harmful to patients, and ill-suited for modern cancer therapies. “The Totality of the Evidence: Optimizing Dosage ...
ASCO has issued a new update to its living guideline on treatment of stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with driver alterations based on two recent studies.1 The update, which amends the most recent version published in February 2025, includes a discussion of osimertinib therapy options in ...
The addition of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab to ICE (ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide) chemotherapy appeared to significantly improve the complete remission rate and showed a trend toward improved progression-free survival in second-line classical Hodgkin lymphoma, according to Yuankai Shi,...
Adding tafasitamab-cxix, an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody, to lenalidomide and rituximab significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, according to data presented at the 2025 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress.1 Results...
In an early-phase study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Liu et al evaluated the safety and preliminary efficacy of DEP-SN38, a polylysine-based dendrimer-nanoparticle delivery platform for the topoisomerase 1 inhibitor SN38, in patients with advanced solid tumors. SN38 is the active...
A new drug-releasing system, TAR-200, eliminated tumors in 82% of patients in the phase II SunRISe-1 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04640623) for individuals with high-risk non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer whose disease had previously resisted treatment. In the majority of cases, the...
For the 20th year in a row, major advances in cancer research and practice-changing clinical trials from the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (ASCO25) were presented at the ASCO-licensed Best of ASCO meeting, held on July 18–19, 2025, in Beirut, Lebanon. It was indeed a great celebration and commitment to...
In a substudy of the Australian phase II ENZA-p trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Emmett et al found that baseline prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)–positron-emission tomography (PET) total tumor volume (TTV) was prognostic for overall survival and predictive for a beneficial effect on ...
In a French-Belgian phase III trial (ASTER 70s) reported in The Lancet, Brain et al examined the survival benefit of adding adjuvant chemotherapy to hormone therapy in women aged ≥ 70 years with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer with high-risk disease on the basis of genomic...
John C. Byrd, MD, FASCO, an internationally lauded researcher and clinical specialist in hematologic malignancies, has been appointed Director of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, effective November 2025. In his role as Director, Dr. Byrd will be responsible for all aspects of the University of...