On March 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for the anti–connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) antibody pamrevlumab for the treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer. This follows review of the phase II clinical...
People with stage III colon cancer who regularly eat nuts are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who don’t, according to findings published by Fadelu et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Findings The study followed 826 participants in the CALGB...
On February 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to GC4419, a highly selective and potent small molecule dismutase mimetic, for the reduction of the duration, incidence, and severity of severe oral mucositis induced by radiation therapy with...
On February 28, Shire announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the company’s biologics license application (BLA) for calaspargase pegol (Cal-PEG; SHP663). The investigational-stage compound is being reviewed as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Manzano et al found that unplanned rehospitalization within 30 days after gastrointestinal (GI) cancer hospitalization was more likely after medical vs surgical index hospitalizations among older patients. Some risk factors for...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has released new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) intended to help make sure people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are diagnosed with cancer receive safe, necessary treatment. According to ...
On February 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abemaciclib (Verzenio) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as initial endocrine-based therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced...
On February 26, Yisheng Biopharma Co., Ltd. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to its lead immuno-oncology candidate, YS-ON-001, for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. YS-ON-001 is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology biologic product...
Research shows that secondhand smoke is a major cause of disease, including lung cancer and heart disease, as well as respiratory problems in nonsmokers. In addition, exposure to secondhand smoke increases the likelihood of nonsmokers becoming active smokers. In a study assessing the impact of...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Drilon et al found that the oral tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor larotrectinib produced a high response rate and enduring responses in patients with TRK fusion–positive cancers. These fusions have been found to lead to...
The number of U.S. cases of Merkel cell carcinoma is rising about six times faster than most other cancers, and at nearly twice the rate of melanoma. Paulson et al reported these findings in The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, which are based on research conducted at the University...
On February 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application (NDA) for ivosidenib (AG-120) for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation. The NDA was granted Priority Review...
Combining ultrasound imaging with a blood test for high alpha fetoprotein levels may improve detection of early-stage liver cancer by as much as 40%, researchers at UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center found. Their findings were presented by Tzartzeva et al in Gastroenterology....
A family history of breast cancer continues to significantly increase chances of developing invasive breast tumors in women aged 65 years and older, according to research published by Braithwaite et al in JAMA Internal Medicine. The findings could impact mammography screening decisions later in...
On February 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with stage III unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose cancer has not progressed after treatment with chemoradiation. “This is the first treatment...
At the heart of every ASCO program—every clinical practice guideline, every policy statement, every scientific meeting—is evidence. What do the data say? Evidence informs decision-making across the spectrum of cancer care, from the question a bench researcher will investigate to the treatment a...
Nominations are now being accepted for the William L. McGuire Award and Lectureship. The award is given annually at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in recognition of an investigator whose extraordinary and sustained achievements in translational and/or clinical research have made an impact ...
Matthew J. Ellis, MB, PhD, Director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, commented on the POETIC trial for The ASCO Post. “This is a wonderful study that validates a point that our research team has also made over the years—that Ki67 is much more...
As innovations in immunotherapies multiply, cancer programs and practices must overcome care coordination and communication challenges across the nation’s health-care system to integrate these advances into effective patient care. A new report from the Association of Community Cancer Centers...
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood had an accuracy of up to 88% in detecting colorectal cancer and 84% in identifying adenomas, in a study from Taiwan presented at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Wen-Sy Tsai, MD, of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei.1 “The study ...
In the December 10, 2017, issue of The ASCO Post, I authored an article in which I raised the possibility of curing follicular lymphoma without the dreaded chemotherapy. Clearly, no good deed goes unpunished: My good friend and The ASCO Post’s editor Jim Armitage, MD, challenged me to defend that...
“This is a large, well-done study,” said Ravindra Uppaluri, MD, PhD, Chief of the Division of Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Director of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who underscored the small number of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved apalutamide (Erleada) for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer that has not spread, but that continues to grow despite treatment with hormone therapy. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for nonmetastatic,...
On February 12, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted and granted Priority Review to Pfizer’s new drug application for lorlatinib. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act goal date for a decision by the FDA is in August 2018. Lorlatinib is an investigational, anaplastic lymphoma...
Despite survivorship guidelines from ASCO and other organizations regarding follow-up care after cancer treatment ends, follow-up care is generally lacking for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. Since AYA cancer survivors are at an increased risk for late effects from their cancer...
Cancer care guidelines recommend that cancer survivors who experience sexual dysfunction after cancer treatment use therapeutic aids to help improve their sexual health. However, a new study of 25 leading cancer centers found that 87% of the centers reported having no sexual aids available on site...
Survivors of childhood cancer are at increased risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome, which can lead to other serious health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. However, engaging in regular physical activity may help remediate these health issues in young survivors. A...
FOX CHASE CANCER CENTER has hired Attila Seyhan, PhD, for the newly created position of Director of Translational Medicine Operations. Dr. Seyhan will work closely with Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, Deputy Cancer Center Director for Translational Research, to manage and promote multiple...
TWO IMPORTANT STUDIES, both updates of earlier findings and presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, provided different findings as to the relative benefit of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane), vs solvent-based paclitaxel in breast cancer. “The two studies...
JULIE GRALOW, MD, FASCO, Director of Breast Medical Oncology for the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, commented on the findings of the SUCCESS A trial in an interview with The ASCO Post. The Oxford meta-analysis...
THE PHASE III SUCCESS A trial, presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, found no benefit for extending the use of intravenous zoledronic acid from 2 years to 5 years.1 “At this time point, our study showed no difference in disease-free survival or overall survival between 5 years ...
DARATUMUMAB (DARZALEX) may be an effective treatment for systemic amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, according to phase II studies reported at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1,2 While the cohorts were small and the arms uncontrolled, the findings...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology by Lee et al, the investigational cell-cycle checkpoint kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor prexasertib produced responses in women with recurrent BRCA wild-type high-grade serous ovarian cancer. In the study, 28 women with measureable disease enrolled...
A detailed quality-of-life analysis of the phase III EF-14 trial of tumor-treating fields (Optune) in combination with temozolomide for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma was published by Taphoorn et al in JAMA Oncology. This secondary endpoint analysis demonstrated that the...
IN PATIENTS undergoing treatment of multiple myeloma, the prophylactic use of levofloxacin significantly reduced febrile episodes and deaths, without increasing healthcare-associated infections or carriage of key nosocomial pathogens, in a large multicenter study from the United Kingdom.1 The...
In a European phase III trial (ETNA) reported in JAMA Oncology, Gianni et al found no significant difference in pathologic complete response rate with nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) vs paclitaxel followed by an anthracycline regimen in neoadjuvant treatment for HER2-negative breast cancer. Study...
Patients with breast cancer may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, and may benefit from a treatment approach that weighs the benefits of specific therapies against potential damage to the heart, according to a new scientific statement from the American...
A new analysis of the ongoing STAMPEDE clinical trial found that adding docetaxel to hormone therapy for advanced prostate cancer improves quality of life and lowers the need for subsequent therapy. Docetaxel was also found to be cost-effective. These findings will be presented by James et al at...
Researchers have developed a model to predict overall survival for people with advanced urothelial cancers treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq). The model, which is based on six clinical factors, may help inform treatment decisions for use of atezolizumab in these...
Findings from the phase III placebo-controlled SPARTAN trial suggest that apalutamide is an effective treatment for men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who are at high risk for developing metastatic disease and for whom no approved treatments exist. Men who received...
STEPHEN LEONG, MD, of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center, Aurora, discussed the RAINFALL findings at the symposium, commenting, “The study did meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival; however, it was disappointing not to see a benefit in overall survival or...
BASED ON EFFICACY seen in the second-line setting for the treatment of metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, ramucirumab (Cyramza) was evaluated as first-line therapy in the international phase III RAINFALL trial. Although the study met its primary endpoint, with a 25%...
AS REVIEWED in this issue of The ASCO Post, ASCO and Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) have issued an updated guideline on the role of bone-modifying agents in metastatic breast cancer.1 The updated guideline supports a change in clinical practice for our patients with breast cancer and bone metastasis....
IN THE FIRST REPORT of the full cohort of CheckMate-142, nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) led to a 1-year overall survival rate of 85% in previously treated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability–high...
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health welcome Howard S. Hochster, MD, an internationally recognized leader in the development of cancer clinical trials, gastrointestinal oncology, and early-phase cancer drugs. In January, Dr. Hochster assumed the role of Associate Director...
In a single-center phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Feng and colleagues found that individualized adaptive stereotactic body radiotherapy achieved high rates of local tumor control with low complication rates in patients with liver tumors and preexisting liver dysfunction. Theodore S....
In an analysis of more than 120,000 women diagnosed with and treated for early-stage breast cancer, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center determined the rate of additional breast biopsies needed for these patients during their follow-up care. The findings, reported by...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced the launch of the AACR–Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Innovation Science Grants to stimulate research aimed at eradicating this malignancy. This new funding opportunity, which is supported by the Johnson & Johnson Lung...
Now that we have entered 2018, let’s take a moment to reflect on how far we have come and what lies ahead in integrative oncology care. Overview To cope with the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects of cancer, and in search of relief from symptoms that their conventional treatments have not...
Holly G. Prigerson, PhD, Co-Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine’s Center for Research on End-of-Life Care, was born in Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, where her father had been a resident. Her family moved to Long Island, first living in Islip, where Dr. Prigerson’s father practiced medicine...