Recent developments in surgery and therapeutics are changing the perioperative approach to non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These advances were discussed at the 2023 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology conference, sponsored by Emory University, by Jennifer W. Carlisle, MD, Assistant ...
Fewer and higher doses of radiation may be effective at treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to new findings presented by Bentzen et al at the 2023 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA 02). Background Head and neck squamous...
In a first-of-its-kind study, patients with breast cancer who underwent implant-based breast reconstruction immediately following a mastectomy reported that getting fewer, higher doses of radiation was just as effective as standard radiation, did not increase side effects, and saved them time and...
People with intermediate-risk, localized prostate cancer may be treated as effectively using fewer and higher doses of radiation therapy delivered over five treatment sessions as they can with lower doses delivered over several weeks, a new phase III randomized trial suggested. The findings, which...
Adam Wolfe, MD, PhD, a radiation oncologist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, has received a $583,200 grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to study radiation resistance in pancreatic cancer, a lethal disease with the highest...
ASCO recently released a new rapid recommendation update that addresses the use of olanzapine to treat cancer-related cachexia, a topic originally addressed in its 2020 guideline on the management of cancer cachexia in adults with advanced cancer.1,2 At that time, there was insufficient evidence to ...
A total of 29 distinguished members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have been named Fellows of ASTRO. The ASTRO Fellow designation, FASTRO, honors individuals who have contributed significantly to the Society through committee work, other volunteer service, and to the field...
The addition of the monoclonal antibody atezolizumab to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib failed to improve progression-free survival and overall survival vs cabozantinib alone in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (previously treated with an immune checkpoint inhibitor) in the...
Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is a rare and incurable low-grade B-cell lymphoproliferative disease defined by specific genotypic subtypes that have implications for treatment response and long-term outcomes. Treatment—and there is no established standard—is mainly focused on controlling symptoms...
As a first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab plus weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel provided clinically significant efficacy in the phase II FRAIL-IMMUNE (GORTEC 2018-03) trial.1 This regimen may prove to be an effective...
In patients with N2 and N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant treatment with concurrent gemcitabine and cisplatin significantly improved progression-free survival, with acceptable toxicity, over fluorouracil plus cisplatin, according to a phase III trial reported from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer...
Barbara Burtness, MD, the Anthony N. Brady Professor of Medicine and Chief Translational Research Officer at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, featured the CONTINUUM study at the head and neck cancer session on Highlights of the Day during the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. She noted the study’s premise...
The addition of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab to standard induction chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy resulted in a significant improvement in 3-year event-free survival, a manageable safety profile, and comparable quality of life in high-risk, locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma vs standard ...
The first-in-class agent xevinapant (also known as Debio 1143), given with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, significantly improved overall survival in a phase II study of 96 patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.1 “This is the first study in decades to improve...
Pembrolizumab plus chemoradiation therapy failed to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in event-free survival vs chemoradiation therapy alone in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, but favorable numerical trends were demonstrated, according to...
Osimertinib plus chemotherapy may have demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful progression-free survival benefit in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with osimertinib alone, according to new findings presented by Jänne et al at the...
Novel treatments beyond the current chemoimmunotherapies are offering more treatment options in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), though real breakthroughs remain elusive, according to Ticiana Leal, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School...
Two phase III trials presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting explored treatments under study for patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In an exploratory analysis of the CodeBreaK 200 trial, the KRAS inhibitor sotorasib was compared with docetaxel chemotherapy in subsets of patients...
In patients with melanoma who are undergoing neoadjuvant therapy with immune checkpoint blockade, response to treatment may guide the intensity of additional treatment, according to a retrospective analysis of two major trials presented by Irene L.M. Reijers, an MD/PhD candidate in the Christian...
In patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), gut microbiome characteristics differed between those who had durable responses to immunotherapy and those who did not, according to a retrospective study presented at the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting.1 The presence of Clostridium...
Postoperative molecular residual disease detected by circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) at 4 weeks after resection has emerged as the strongest prognostic risk factor for disease-free survival in patients with resected colorectal cancer. This finding was observed regardless of BRAF V600E status and...
It seems that exercise is good for almost everything, including prostate cancer. In fact, exercise had a positive effect on sexual function and enjoyment in men with prostate cancer, according to a recent study presented at the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting by lead study author Daniel Galvão, PhD, ...
Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma who were treated with a chemoimmunotherapy regimen containing the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab experienced significantly improved overall survival compared with those treated with chemotherapy alone, with acceptable tolerability, according...
Presented here are some brief summaries of novel therapies under study from the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting in Yokohama, Japan. The subjects range from new observations about a HER2-directed bispecific antibody and systemic treatment of gastric cancer to an option for treating hand-foot syndrome ...
Researchers have found that 12 months of the oral factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban may be superior to 3 months for the reduction of thrombotic events in patients with cancer and distal deep vein thrombosis, according to new findings presented by Yamashita et al at the European Society of Cardiology...
On August 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved luspatercept-aamt (Reblozyl) to treat anemia in adult patients with very low– to intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who may require regular red blood cell transfusions and who have not received previous...
Platinum resistance occurs in almost all patients whose ovarian cancer recurs. Single-agent chemotherapies are commonly used in this setting, but outcomes are generally poor, leaving a large unmet need for effective treatment. At the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2023 Annual Meeting on...
New approaches are offering hope for better outcomes in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, according to Suchita Pakkala, MD, of Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta. She shared her thoughts on using PARP inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates at the 2023 Debates and...
Treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy achieved an objective response rate of 32% in platinum-ineligible patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who experienced disease progression on an immune checkpoint inhibitor, according to the primary analysis of the...
“Clinically, the implications [of the THOR trial] are clear in that all metastatic urothelial cancers should be tested for FGFR mutations,” stated invited discussant Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, of Yale School of Medicine. “This should be done at the beginning of treatment for metastatic disease, as it...
Targeted treatment with the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor erdafitinib significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates compared with investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial cancers and FGFR2/3...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Karim Fizazi, MD, PhD, of Gustave Roussy Institute, Paris-Saclay University, and colleagues, the phase III TRITON3 trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with rucaparib vs physician-selected single-agent therapy in the...
The addition of the androgen receptor inhibitor darolutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy and docetaxel reduced the risk of death by 30% compared with androgen-deprivation therapy plus docetaxel in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, according to a post hoc analysis of...
The addition of the PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor olaparib to standard-of-care abiraterone in the first-line setting of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer achieved longer progression-free survival vs abiraterone alone, as demonstrated in the final results of the phase...
Presented here are summaries of three abstracts from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting that are pertinent for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The first two focus on men with homologous recombinant repair (HRR) gene alterations, including BRCA1/2. In the first study,...
The addition of cabozantinib to nivolumab plus ipilimumab prolonged progression-free survival in untreated intermediate-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the first results of the phase III COSMIC-313 trial. These findings were presented as a Presidential Symposium ...
At extended follow-up, lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab showed sustained superiority over sunitinib for overall and progression-free survival as first-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma.1 The majority of the benefit was observed in intermediate- and poor-risk subgroups, according to the...
Insights on findings from the phase II MonumenTAL-1 trial1 were offered by Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, and Medical Director of the Winship Data and Technology Applications Shared Resource, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School ...
Urvi A. Shah, MD, Assistant Attending at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, moderated the session where the MagnetisMM trial updates1,2 were reported and was interviewed by The ASCO Post. Elranatamab vs Teclistamab Dr. Shah noted...
Compared with the standard of care for relapsed multiple myeloma, a single infusion of ciltacabtagene autoleucel was associated with a significant 74% reduction in the risk of disease progression in patients with lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma after one to three relapses, the phase III...
The next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor zanubrutinib demonstrated superior progression-free survival compared with ibrutinib, with an improved cardiac safety profile, in the first head-to-head comparison between these two BTK inhibitors in relapsed or refractory chronic...
The addition of nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, to chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free survival in adults and children with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma with reduced toxicity compared with standard-of-care brentuximab vedotin plus chemotherapy, according to the...
In the primary overall survival analysis of ZUMA-7, second-line treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel significantly improved overall survival compared with high-dose therapy plus autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-HCT) in patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma....
The past several months have brought significant advances within the field of hematologic oncology. Here we will review some key updates focusing on pivotal clinical trials and new drug approvals. Advances in Lymphoma Presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, SWOG S1826 compared nivolumab plus...
On August 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the fixed-dose combination of niraparib and abiraterone acetate (Akeega), with prednisone, for adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, as determined by...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. With this installment, we launch a new series of articles on commercially available chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Syed Ali Abutalib, MD, and Jennifer N. ...
A report published by Kwan et al in the journal Cancer provides new information that may help oncologists answer one of the most common questions they hear from breast cancer survivors: Is it safe to drink alcohol? The findings suggest drinking alcohol is not associated with an increased risk of...
Approximately 65% of adults in the United States consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily. Researchers led a study examining the associations among intake of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages and the incidence of liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality in a large cohort of ...
Two studies presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting challenge the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors as part of upfront treatment of advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The first, the SONIA trial, found that first-line treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors led to greater toxicity...
In patients with N2 and N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant treatment with concurrent gemcitabine and cisplatin significantly improved progression-free survival, with acceptable toxicity, over fluorouracil plus cisplatin, according to a phase III trial reported from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer...