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Showing 30551 - 30600Expert Point of View: Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD
Results of CheckMate 057 represent excellent progress, but they are not truly ‘checkmate,’” said Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Chief of Medical Oncology, Director of the Thoracic Oncology Research Program, Associate Director for Translational Research at Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut....
Second-Line Nivolumab Therapy Improves Survival in Patients With Nonsquamous Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) immunotherapy with nivolumab (Opdivo) extended survival in patients with the most common form of lung cancer—nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients whose disease progressed on standard platinum doublet therapy who were treated with...
Expert Point of View: Neil Howard Segal, MD, PhD
Neil Howard Segal, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, who discussed the study at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, emphasized that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) exerted a “clear benefit in patients with mismatch repair deficiency,” based on the “very impressive response rate of...
Mismatch Repair Deficiency Predicts Benefit With Pembrolizumab in Colorectal Cancer
A genetic marker to predict response to anti–PD-1 (anti-programmed cell death protein 1) antibodies may have emerged in colorectal cancer, a tumor type that is a newcomer to the anti–PD-1 ballgame. In a phase II study of colorectal cancer patients treated with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), the presence ...
Clinical Trials, Drug Costs, and Restoring the Primacy of the Patient Volunteer
“What’s past is prologue.” —William Shakespeare Today, a cancer drug under study in a clinical trial is commonly provided for a finite period of time after the study closes to accrual. If that drug were not yet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved when the study began, the complimentary ...
Expert Point of View: Michael B. Atkins, MD
Michael B. Atkins, MD, Deputy Director, Lombardi Cancer Center of Georgetown University, Washington, DC, discussed CheckMate 067 at the Plenary Session. Pending overall survival data, he concluded, “Nivolumab and nivolumab plus ipilimumab are superior to ipilimumab. These treatments (along with...
CheckMate 067: Dual Checkpoint Blockade Proves Effective in Advanced Melanoma
In advanced melanoma, combination treatment with nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) more than doubled the median progression-free survival time over ipilimumab alone in the CheckMate 067 trial. That said, single-agent nivolumab proved almost as powerful in patients expressing the programmed ...
Sexual Dysfunction After Gynecologic Cancer Treatment
A study presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting showed decreased sexual activity in women following treatment for gynecologic cancers, down from 6 to 7 times per month before treatment to 3 to 5 times per month after treatment (abstract 9592). “[Sexual dysfunction] is a topic that not many people want ...
Response to May 10 Cartoon
As a medical writer specializing in oncology, an ASCO member, and someone who tries to build sensitivity to patients into all my work, I was concerned about the cartoon I saw in the May 10, 2015, issue of The ASCO Post. On page 46, there is a cartoon of someone being thrown off a cliff because he...
Patients’ Desire for Rapid Notification of Skin Biopsy Results Leads to Preference for Phone Call Over Face-to-Face Visit
Patients’ preference for how they receive biopsy results “has shifted from face-to-face visit to discussion over the telephone because of a desire for rapid notification,” according to a survey of 301 patients recruited at three different melanoma clinics. Although 67.1% of the patients preferred...
Patients With Relapsed/Refractory CLL That Progresses Early on Ibrutinib Have Poor Outcomes
Most patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who discontinued ibrutinib (Imbruvica) early “were difficult to treat and had poor outcomes,” according to a study of patients enrolled in four different clinical trials of ibrutinib, with or without rituximab (Rituxan), at...
Patient Guides Available Through ASCO University Bookstore
ASCO Answers: Managing the Cost of Cancer Care explains the various costs associated with cancer treatment, including health-care coverage through the Affordable Care Act. It also provides a list of financial resources available to help offset expenses related to care and tips for organizing...
Carpe Diem
My life as a cancer survivor and an oncologist has taught me the importance of living every day to the fullest. Sometimes we all need a little reminding to appreciate life to the fullest. When I think of my former patient, Marc, that is what comes to mind. When I was a senior in high school, I was...
2015 Oncology Meetings
JUNE ASCO Review 2015June 26 • Cleveland, Ohio For more information: www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/live/courses/2015/ASCO15/default.asp 2nd EACR Special Conference on Cancer GenomicsJune 28-July 1 • Cambridge, United Kingdom For more information: www.eacr.org IO360–Immuno-Oncology 360oJune 29-June...
Redefining Cancer
The ability to interrogate cancer cells at the genomic, proteomic, immunologic, and metabolomic levels will transform oncology care from one that relies mainly on trial-and-error treatment strategies based on the anatomy of the tumor to one that is more precisely based on the tumor’s molecular...
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancers
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers. The trials are investigating combination therapies, treatment toxicity, specialized adjuvant therapies, and proton therapy. All of ...
‘Frozen Sleep’ as Cancer Treatment, Springfield, Illinois, 1939
Through the Lens of Oncology History: A Century of Progress The text and photographs on this page are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology Tumors & Treatment: A Photographic History, by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS. The photo below is from the volume titled “The Radium...
Hormonal Therapy and Risk of Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with an estimated 21,290 new cases expected this year. Ovarian cancer causes 5% of all cancer deaths in women, making it responsible for the highest number of gynecologic cancer deaths.1 Age, family history, and...
Meta-analysis Shows Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer With Menopausal Hormone Therapy
In a study reported in The Lancet, the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer found that use of menopausal hormone therapy was associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer, with risk being highest among current users.1 The study consisted of meta-analyses of...
Deciphering the Genetic Variability of Cancer to Advance Precision Oncology Care
In 2014, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York opened the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology with the sole purpose of expediting the translation of novel molecular discoveries into clinical innovations to turn the goal of precision oncology care into...
National Cancer Institute Pulls PSA Data From SEER
In a move that reverberated through much of the cancer research community, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently announced that it had removed all prostate-specific antigen (PSA) data from its current Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data submission and associated...
Help Your Patients Catch Up on the Latest Research From the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting
Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/blog for podcasts with ASCO experts discussing the research that was presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting. This series of “Research Round Up” podcasts provides the latest information on treatment and care for people with cancer and will help your patients ...
2015 ASCO Annual Meeting Planning Committees
The ASCO Annual Meeting highlights the latest research and treatment advances in oncology, with more than 28,000 oncology professionals attending each year. ASCO wishes to acknowledge the volunteers on this year’s Cancer Education and Scientific Program Committees, and thank them for their time and ...
New Resources Developed by ASCO’s Community Research Forum
The ASCO Community Research Forum (CRF) is a solution-oriented venue for community research sites to overcome barriers to conducting clinical trials. Each year, the CRF council, comprising ASCO member volunteers, selects topic areas and specific solution-oriented projects for working groups to make ...
Registration Open for 2015 Community Research Forum Annual Meeting
Registration is now open for the Community Research Forum (CRF) Annual Meeting, which will take place on September 20 to 21, at ASCO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Join fellow physician investigators and research staff from all types of community-based research sites and programs to discuss...
ASCO Releases Updated, Expanded Set of Survivorship Care Planning Templates
ASCO has issued an updated and expanded set of treatment and survivorship care plan templates for oncology care professionals and patients with cancer. The templates serve to enhance ASCO’s existing suite of tools to help providers and patients fully plan a course of cancer treatment, from...
ASCO Releases Payment Reform Proposal to Support Higher Quality, More Affordable Cancer Care
ASCO released a proposal to significantly improve the quality and affordability of care for cancer patients. ASCO’s Patient-Centered Oncology Payment: Payment Reform to Support Higher Quality, More Affordable Cancer Care (PCOP) proposal is designed to simultaneously improve services to patients and ...
Expert Point of View: Ian Tannock, MD, PhD, DSc
Formal discussant of this trial Ian Tannock, MD, PhD, DSc, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and University of Toronto, Canada, took issue with the design of RTOG 0521. He questioned the use of one-sided P values instead of conventional two-sided P values, noting that overall survival would have...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy Proves Effective in Localized, High-Risk Prostate Cancer
For the first time, a large randomized trial has suggested that overall survival is improved by the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to androgen suppression and radiotherapy in men with localized, high-risk, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Docetaxel has been used to treat metastatic...
Expert Point of View: Jeremy Abramson, MD
Jeremy Abramson, MD, Clinical Director of the Center for Lymphoma at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, is not convinced that ibrutinib (Ibruvica) combined with bendamustine (Treanda) and rituximab (Rituxan) should be the new standard of care for previously treated chronic lymphocytic...
Ibrutinib Plus Bendamustine/Rituximab Called a New Standard in Patients With Previously Treated CLL
The addition of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) to standard therapy with bendamustine (Treanda)/rituximab (Rituxan) significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death and overall response rates compared with bendamustine/rituximab alone in previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia...
Two Factors Predict for Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Cancer
Patients with cancer who develop venous thromboembolism are at high risk of such obstructive disease recurring despite adequate anticoagulation. A prespecified analysis of the CATCH trial identified two major predictors of recurrence: venous compression by the tumor and a diagnosis of hepatobiliary ...
Eribulin Improves Overall Survival in Difficult-to-Treat Sarcoma Types
Eribulin (Halaven), a cytotoxic agent approved for advanced/metastatic breast cancer, may improve overall survival for patients with two common and difficult-to-treat forms of advanced/metastatic sarcoma, investigators reported at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 Eribulin is a microtubule inhibitor...
Expert Point of View: Lynn Schuchter, MD, and Vernon Sondak, MD
Lynn Schuchter, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, a designated ASCO expert, commented at the press briefing that the results might apply to a select group of patients concerned about lymphedema but not yet to the broader population. “I would say that this is a really important...
Not All Stage III Melanoma Patients Need Complete Nodal Dissection
Complete lymph node dissection did not improve survival in melanoma patients randomized to this practice, vs sentinel lymph node biopsy alone, German investigators reported at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “This is the first study that tested the typical recommendation of complete lymph node...
Expert Point of View: George Somlo, MD, FACP
This is a significant study. About 30% of patients who undergo breast-conserving surgery or partial mastectomy are likely to have positive margins. Optimal treatment is to remove the entire tumor surgically and then follow with radiation. Standard practice requires reexcision for positive margins,” ...
Routine Resection of Cavity Shave Margins Halved Reexcision Rates in Breast Cancer
Taking additional tissue circumferentially around the cavity left by partial mastectomy (“cavity shave margins”) cut the rate of positive margins by nearly 50% and the rate of reexcision for margin clearance by more than 50% compared with standard partial mastectomy with or without the surgeon...
Expert Point of View: Joseph A. Sparano, MD, and Don Dizon, MD
Joseph A. Sparano, MD, Professor of Medicine and Women’s Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, was the formal discussant of the study and commented, “These findings confirm the strong signal observed in the phase II PALOMA1 trial, and there were no subgroups that did not...
Expert Point of View: Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD
Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD, Director of the Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Program, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York Presbyterian Hospital, served as the study’s discussant. She called the 29% response rate in this heavily pretreated or refractory population...
Single-Agent Daratumumab Activity Deemed ‘Remarkable’ in Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma achieved rapid, durable, and deepening responses to the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab, in a phase II study presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “Daratumumab showed remarkable single-agent activity in heavily pretreated and...
ASCO Releases Details of Its Conceptual Framework for Assessing Value in Cancer Care
Defining and ensuring the delivery of high-value oncology care has been one of ASCO’s major goals for more than a decade. In 2007, ASCO formed the Task Force on the Cost of Cancer Care, now called the Value in Cancer Care Task Force, to identify the drivers of the increasing costs of oncology care...
Considering Clonality in Precision Medicine
Precision cancer medicine entails treating patients based upon the molecular characteristics of their tumor. One could argue that we have been tailoring therapeutic regimens based upon tumor characteristics for years, whether it be treating patients based upon disease subtypes determined by...
Expert Point of View: Hisham Mehanna, PhD
Formal discussant Hisham Mehanna, PhD, Chief of Head and Neck Surgery and Director of Head and Neck Studies and Education at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, congratulated Dr. D’Cruz on conducting an ambitious and difficult trial. “Like all studies, it has flaws, but the study has...
Elective Neck Dissection Beats Watch and Wait Approach in Early Oral Cancer
Elective neck dissection of node-negative early-stage oral cancer at the time of primary surgery improves overall survival and disease-free survival compared with therapeutic neck dissection (ie, therapeutic neck dissection at the time of nodal relapse, or “watch and wait” approach), according to a ...
Frederick Pei Li, MD, Pioneer of Cancer Genetics, Dies at 75
Frederick Pei Li, MD, who helped inaugurate the era of cancer genetics by demonstrating that people can inherit a genetic susceptibility to develop certain malignancies, died on June 12 at the age of 75. A Professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard T.H. Chan...
Date of Last Chemotherapy Is Not a Proxy for Deciding When to Stop Treating Metastatic NSCLC
“Patients, their families, and oncologists recognize the administration of chemotherapy near death as aggressive and poor-quality care,” William F. Pirl, MD, MPH, and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, wrote in the Journal of Oncology Practice. “However, rates have been slowly...
Significant Differences in Age at Diagnosis Between Blacks and Whites for Six Types of Cancer
Although blacks were diagnosed at a younger age than whites for nearly every cancer type, after adjustments for population structure shifted the comparisons toward older ages among blacks, only six statistically significant differences of 3 or more years remained, according to a study in the...
Building and Adjusting to My Life After Cancer
I had been watching a lump in my left breast for signs of cancer for 10 years, from around the time I was 21. Screening tests had failed to find any tissue abnormality, and my doctor said I was too young to have cancer, so I wasn’t overly concerned. But when I noticed the lump getting bigger in...
Expect and Encourage Questions About the Benefits and Harms of Cancer Screening
Issuing advice for high-value care in screening for five common cancers, the High Value Care Task Force of the American College of Physicians (ACP) stated: “The target audience for this paper is all clinicians. The target patient population is average-risk, asymptomatic patients.” “What we tried...
Agreement on High-Value Screening for Five Common Cancers
Finding agreement on high-value cancer screening among organizations publishing screening guidelines, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued advice listing the least-intensive screening strategies that all the organizations recommend—as well as strategies not recommended—for five common...
