Invited discussant Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Milan, Italy, and Head of the Division of Early Drug Development at the European Institute of Oncology, said the “clear” findings of KEYNOTE-5221 are “practice-changing.” However, the...
The latest analysis of the pivotal phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial demonstrated significant improvements in clinical outcomes with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone as a neoadjuvant/adjuvant treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.1 This is the first large, randomized, phase III...
The session’s invited discussant Surbhi Sidana, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University, said CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies targeting myeloma are emerging as potentially effective options for patients with highly refractory disease. For this population of triple...
For the challenging population of patients with multiple myeloma who have become refractory to essentially all current treatments, new approaches are much needed. Early clinical trials data suggest bispecific antibodies may help meet this need, as suggested by studies presented at the 2021 ASCO...
Cancer clinical trial research rapidly adapted to the circumstances of enrolling and treating patients in clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to findings from a study of enrollment during 2020 and early 2021 published by Joseph M. Unger, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA Network ...
A meta-analysis of nearly 200,000 men revealed 22 new genetic locations that could be susceptible to inherited testicular germ cell tumors—a 40% increase in the number of regions known to be associated with the cancer. The new findings, published by Pluta et al in Nature Communications, could help...
In a single-center retrospective study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Robinson et al found a vaccine-related axillary adenopathy incidence rate of 3% among women undergoing screening or diagnostic mammography within 90 days of receipt of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine....
In a prospective study from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Williams et al found that prefrailty and frailty among young adult childhood cancer survivors were associated with neurocognitive decline vs nonfrail counterparts, mirroring the association...
In an analysis of four SWOG clinical trials of patients with advanced cancer reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Mo et al found that clinically significant fatigue at baseline was associated with poorer survival and increased risk of severe adverse events. Study Details The analysis included data...
Research shows that the majority of Americans—81%—are health-care information seekers, and that more than three-quarters of Americans get that information online. Unfortunately, much of that online information is inaccurate and could cause harm, according to a review of the most popular articles on ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting patients and health-care professionals that a clinical trial (OCEAN, Study OP-103; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03151811) evaluating melphalan flufenamide with dexamethasone to treat patients with multiple myeloma showed an increased risk ...
In the CAVA trial reported in The Lancet, Moss et al found that among central venous access devices used for the delivery of systemic anticancer therapy, totally implanted ports (PORTs) were associated with significantly reduced rates of complications compared with Hickman-type tunneled catheters...
In a French phase II trial (PANOPTIMOX-PRODIGE) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dahan et al found that 4 months of FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) followed by leucovorin/fluorouracil maintenance was associated with favorable outcomes vs 6 months of...
Chemotherapy has helped make acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) one of the most survivable childhood cancers. Now, a research team has shown how thiopurines may lead to mutations that set patients up for disease relapse. These findings were published by Yang et al in Nature Cancer. The research...
In the phase III KAITLIN trial, replacing adjuvant taxane and trastuzumab with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) did not result in a significant improvement in invasive disease–free survival in the node-positive or intent-to-treat population of women with high-risk, HER2-positive early breast...
Fabrice André, MD, PhD, Director of Research and Professor of Medical Oncology at Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, commented on the two studies that used the MammaPrint 70-gene signature to identify patients for de-escalation or escalation of endocrine therapy.1,2 The push to...
Patients with ultra-low–risk breast cancer, as classified by the MammaPrint 70-gene assay, had “excellent” long-term outcomes regardless of clinical risk or receipt of adjuvant therapy, a new analysis of the MINDACT trial has shown.1 In a separate study, a retrospective analysis of the National...
Prostate cancer experts have often stated it is important to add a bone-protecting agent for patients on treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Recent evidence in support of this recommendation comes from a study presented during the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, confirming a...
On March 10, 2021, the VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor tivozanib was approved for treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma following at least two prior systemic therapies.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label, phase III...
Targeting mutations appears to be bearing fruit in the treatment of some difficult-to-treat tumors. For instance, in one study of adult-onset neuroblastoma, targeting ALK mutations in ALK-positive tumors demonstrated activity, even in patients who had not responded to their first ALK inhibitor. Of...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Eugenie Spiguel, MSN, ANP-BC, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on American...
Canada’s publicly funded health-care system has a complex drug approval and funding process. Due to multiple assessment steps and bureaucratic processes, newly developed cancer drugs can often experience long delays before oncologists may use them to treat their patients with cancer. Several...
Invited discussant of the FORWARD II trial,1Amit M. Oza, MD, MBBS, concluded that bevacizumab and mirvetuximab soravtansine was a “very well tolerated and effective” combination with “encouraging activity,” even in patients previously treated with bevacizumab and weekly paclitaxel. Dr. Oza is Head ...
On March 5, 2021, the CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T-cell immunotherapy axicabtagene ciloleucel was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy.1,2 Axicabtagene ciloleucel is...
“Learning never exhausts the mind.” —Leonardo da Vinci To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on treatments under study ...
In patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, the antibody-drug conjugate mirvetuximab soravtansine, given with bevacizumab, showed antitumor activity leading to durable responses in platinum-agnostic patients with strong expression of folate receptor alpha (FRα), researchers reported at the 2021 ASCO ...
In the phase III GLOW trial, the all-oral regimen of fixed-duration ibrutinib plus venetoclax as first-line treatment for older or unfit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) showed superior efficacy compared with chlorambucil and obinutuzumab.1Kostas Stamatopoulos, MD, PhD, of the...
Native Americans are among the most underserved minority populations in the United States and are disproportionately affected by cancer. They have the lowest survival rates for nearly all types of cancer of any minority population and much higher rates of certain types of cancer, including lung,...
Fixed-duration ibrutinib and venetoclax as a first-line treatment yielded superior outcomes compared with chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), based on the primary analysis of the phase III GLOW trial presented during the European Hematology...
Women account for a growing proportion of the oncology workforce. Multiple studies, however, show that women oncologists are underrepresented in leadership positions, may have significantly lower salaries than men, and may be subjected to discriminatory practices stimulated by a medical culture...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nathan H. Fowler, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, a phase IIb trial (UNITY-NHL) has shown that the dual PI3Kδ/casein kinase (CK)1ε inhibitor umbralisib produced durable responses in patients with relapsed...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet, Stephanie Lheureux, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, and colleagues, found that the addition of the oral Wee1 inhibitor adavosertib to gemcitabine significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in...
On this episode, we’re reviewing recommendations from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer on the use of liquid biopsy for lung cancer. We’ll also hear about a study that compared two regimens added to radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer.
Evidence shows that early detection and treatment of cancer can significantly improve health outcomes. However, women in Mississippi—particularly in underserved populations—experience high rates of late-stage cancer diagnoses. A report published by Michelle Williams, PhD, and colleagues in the...
In advanced ovarian cancer, the duration of maintenance bevacizumab should remain 15 months, according to the European multicenter phase III ENGOT/GCIG trial. These results were presented during the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by Jacobus Pfisterer, MD, PhD, of the AGO Study Group and Gynecologic...
A screening tool used to evaluate the need for endometrial cancer biopsies in women frequently misses the signs of this cancer in Black women, according to a new study published by Kemi M. Doll, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology. Dr. Doll, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington...
A report published by Oba et al in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer shares new data on combining standard treatment for breast cancer with a particular form of cancer immunotherapy—dendritic cell vaccines. The study is reportedly the first to demonstrate that in situ dendritic cell vaccines...
In the phase III IPATential150 trial reported in The Lancet, Christopher Sweeney, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of the AKT inhibitor ipatasertib to abiraterone and prednisolone produced a significant improvement in progression-free survival among patients with metastatic...
In a Swedish cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, de Boniface et al found that breast-conserving surgery plus radiation therapy for women with breast cancer was associated with better survival vs mastectomy with or without radiotherapy in analysis adjusting for comorbidities and socioeconomic...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sant P. Chawla, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of the heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimen CMB305 to atezolizumab did not improve survival outcomes in patients with soft-tissue sarcomas expressing the...
Despite advances in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), only 29.5% of patients with the cancer are alive 5 years after diagnosis. Even with aggressive therapy, just 30% of patients achieve a complete remission with a median survival of 7.5 months, making it imperative to develop novel...
A study from the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) estimates that annual costs associated with metastatic breast cancer treatment among women in the United States will total $152.4 billion in 2030—nearly two and a half times the estimate for 2015 costs—due to an increase ...
In a Swedish population-based noninferiority trial (STHLM3-MRI) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Eklund et al found magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-targeted biopsy was noninferior to standard biopsy in detecting clinically significant cancers in men with elevated prostate-specific...
In a Swiss phase II trial (SAKK 16/14) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rothschild et al found that the addition of perioperative durvalumab to neoadjuvant cisplatin/docetaxel resulted in a high major pathologic response rate and an event-free survival rate of 73% in patients with...
Locoregional delivery of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells has resulted in objective responses in adults with glioblastoma, but the approach has not been evaluated in pediatric patients with brain and central nervous system tumors. The innovative, ongoing phase I BrainChild-01 trial is...
In a Canadian population-based retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ethier et al identified real-world survival outcomes among women receiving pertuzumab and trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) for stage IV HER2-positive breast cancer, observing that outcomes appeared to be poorer than...
In a phase Ib/IIa trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Wagner et al found that the combination of a type I KIT inhibitor, PLX9486, with the type II inhibitor sunitinib produced clinical benefit and improved progression-free survival rates in patients with refractory gastrointestinal stromal tumors...
On July 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved belumosudil (Rezurock), a kinase inhibitor, for adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with chronic graft-vs-host disease after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy. KD025-213 Efficacy was evaluated in ...
In a U.S. and Swiss study, nearly all patients with cancer developed an immune response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines 3 to 4 weeks after receiving their second dose. However, a small group of the patients exhibited no response, raising questions about how their protection against the virus will be...
More research into the efficacy of a modified ketogenic diet may be beneficial for people with brain tumors, according to a new study published by Schreck et al in the journal Neurology. The diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, led to changes in the metabolism in the body and the...