The lungs can be a difficult organ to biopsy with a needle, so the promise of identifying lung cancer through a blood-based biopsy has lung cancer experts and patients optimistic. Knowing how and when to use a liquid biopsy is critically important and led global experts at the International...
As reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Socinski et al, the phase III IMpower150 trial has shown that the addition of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to bevacizumab (Avastin) plus chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted accelerated approval to the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for use in combination with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). KEYNOTE-021 This...
DESPITE STEADY declines in death rates in recent years, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in wealthy countries. In a study published by Anita Andreano, MD, of the University of Milan-Ciocco, and colleagues in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology,1 Yale researchers collaborated with ...
RESEARCHERS AT the University of California (UC), Davis, have shown that patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who received their care at a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center in California had a dramatically reduced risk of early mortality. Using data from the California Cancer...
The ASCO updated guidelines on the treatment of metastatic non-castrate prostate cancer penned by Morris and his colleagues1 provide valuable information annotated to the strengths of evidence in recently reported prostate cancer studies. CHAARTED, GETUG-AFU 15, LATITUDE, and STAMPEDE have...
After about 70 years with no significant progress, the landscape for men with de novo metastatic prostate cancer has changed dramatically in the past 4 years, with statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful survival improvement reported from multiple phase III trials when...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Michael J. Morris, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on optimizing anticancer therapy in men with metastatic non-castrate prostate cancer.1 To ...
“In CheckMate 227, the benefit of nivolumab [Opdivo] plus ipilimumab [Yervoy] was the same in tumor mutational burden–high patients whether or not they were programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–high or –low,” said formal discussant of this paper, Naiyer Rizvi, MD, Director of Thoracic Oncology...
The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) improved progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a high tumor mutational burden irrespective of programmed cell death ligand 1...
Ivosidenib, an isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) inhibitor, yielded durable and molecular remissions in some patients with IDH1-mutated advanced relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML). At a dose of 500 mg/d, ivosidenib was associated with a low frequency of grade 3 or higher...
With a growing emphasis on value in cancer care, some types of resource-intensive therapies may need to be reconsidered. One such treatment may be hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, which showed no benefit during surgery for colorectal cancer confined to the peritoneum in the PRODIGE 7...
The addition of durvalumab -(Imfinzi) to anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy had encouraging results as neoadjuvant therapy for early triple-negative breast cancer in the randomized phase II GeparNuevo study presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 The results were positive in a subgroup of...
As reported by Solomon and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the final overall survival results of the phase III PROFILE 1014 trial showed evidence of survival benefit of first-line crizotinib (Xalkori) vs chemotherapy in advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ...
In a Dutch phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, De Ruysscher et al found that prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) prevented symptomatic brain metastases vs observation in patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving treatment with curative...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Supriya G. Mohile, MD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center, and colleagues, ASCO has produced a guideline on the practical assessment and management of vulnerabilities in geriatric patients receiving chemotherapy. To develop the...
On May 26, Genmab A/S announced that following a planned review, the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has recommended that the phase Ib/II study (CALLISTO/LUC2001) of daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with the anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody atezolizumab (Tecentriq) vs ...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jemal et al found that the incidence of lung cancer in young white and Hispanic women is now higher than that in men in the US. Study Details The study involved analysis of data from the North American Association of Central Cancer...
In a research letter published in JAMA Oncology, Cagney et al found that brain metastases were more advanced and more likely to be symptomatic in patients with breast cancer compared to patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Current guidelines recommend magnetic resonance imaging...
In an analysis of two clinical trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Camidge et al found that brigatinib (Alunbrig) produced high intracranial response rates and good intracranial progression-free survival in patients with ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and...
ASCO’S TARGETED Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study now provides a full list of patient cohort expansions and closures on its website. Based on treatment responses in stage I, patient cohorts are either expanded to stage II for further study and identification of a signal or...
FORMAL DISCUSSANT of this trial, John V. Heymach, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, also was optimistic about these early findings. “This is a proof-of-concept study showing this approach is safe. Only modest activity was observed with standard [Response...
A NOVEL APPROACH using two doses of nivolumab (Opdivo) prior to surgery achieved major pathologic responses in 45% of patients with resectable stages I to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the results of a small Stand Up 2 Cancer–Cancer Research Institute Dream Team study...
THE QUANTITY of original research presented at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Annual Conference has been growing, and at the 2018 meeting, 121 researchers presented their work. The ASCO Post captured some of the findings for this report. Blood Markers Correlate With Anti–PD-1...
A FEDERALLY FUNDED randomized study demonstrated that use of geriatric assessment in the routine care of older adults with advanced cancer significantly improved doctor-patient communication about age-related concerns as well as patient satisfaction with the communication. The study was presented...
AN ECONOMIC model comparing different types of genetic testing in metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) found using next-generation sequencing to test for all known lung cancer–related gene changes at the time of diagnosis was less costly and faster than sequentially testing one or a...
“THIS STUDY represents a true milestone in the field of lung cancer. For the first time, the vast majority of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can receive immunotherapy with pembrolizumab (Keytruda),” said ASCO expert John Heymach, MD, PhD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston,...
IMMUNOTHERAPY WITH pembrolizumab (Keytruda) improved overall survival compared with investigator’s choice of platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the KEYNOTE-042 trial. Median overall survival was improved by 4 to 8...
Elderly patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed improved overall survival when treated with chemoradiation compared with definitive radiation alone, according to findings published by Eric D. Miller, MD, PhD, of The Ohio State University, Columbus, and colleagues in the...
Ulixertinib (BVD-523) is an ERK1/2 kinase inhibitor with potent preclinical activity in BRAF- and RAS-mutant cell lines. Now, a multicenter phase I study investigating its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors has found that ulixertinib has an acceptable...
Results from KEYNOTE-407, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III study evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel or carboplatin/nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) as first-line treatment for metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer...
On May 4, 2018, dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) in combination was granted approval for treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic anaplastic thyroid cancer with BRAF V600E mutation and no satisfactory locoregional treatment options.1-3 Dabrafenib is not indicated for ...
Many patients with follicular lymphoma relapse within 2 years of initial therapy, and for a number of these individuals, hematopoietic cell transplantation is a good treatment option. Transplant, however, both autologous and allogeneic, is vastly underutilized in these patients, according to Mehdi ...
Interim results from cohort A of KEYNOTE-427, a phase II trial evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as first-line treatment for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), were presented by McDermott et al at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 4500). Interim data showed an overall response...
Overall survival (OS) data from the ARCHER 1050 trial evaluating dacomitinib as a first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR-activating mutations compared to gefitinib showed a median OS of 34.1 months for patients...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, O’Connor et al found that anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) agents rapidly reached eligible patients after U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The study also showed that real-world patients were...
The phase III ENLIVEN study showed a statistically significant 39% overall response rate at week 25 based on central review of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), version 1.1 (the primary endpoint) for patients treated with oral...
Updated results of the global phase III ALEX trial comparing alectinib (Alecensa) with crizotinib (Xalkori) as first-line treatment against ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) show a median progression-free survival of 34.8 months in 152 patients treated with alectinib vs 10.9...
Results from a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III iNNOVATE (PCYC-1127) study evaluating the investigational use of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) in relapsed/refractory and treatment-naive patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia were...
Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MBBS, of Baptist Cancer Center, discusses a kit used in non–small cell lung cancer resection that improves staging quality and overall survival without adding to morbidity of curative surgery (Abstract 8502).
Naoki Furuya, MD, PhD, of the St. Marianna University School of Medicine, discusses phase III study findings on a comparison of bevacizumab plus erlotinib to erlotinib in patients with untreated non–small cell lung cancer with activating EGFR mutations (Abstract 9006).
Tony Mok, MD, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, discusses study findings on dacomitinib vs gefitinib for first-line treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer, a final overall survival analysis.
A randomized phase III clinical trial showed that people with advanced colorectal cancer may not need a frequently considered component of treatment—heated chemotherapy delivered to the abdomen during surgery. There was no difference in survival between patients with metastases in the abdomen ...
Nathan A. Pennell, MD, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic, discusses the economic impact of next generation sequencing vs sequential single-gene testing modalities to detect genomic alterations in newly diagnosed metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract 9031).
Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses study findings on lisocabtagene maraleucel in relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL (Abstract 7505).
Gilberto Lopes, MD, MBA, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, discusses phase III findings on pembrolizumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced/metastatic non–small cell lung cancer with a PD-L1 tumor proportion score ≥ to 1%...
A large, randomized phase III trial shows that the immunotherapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is a more effective initial treatment than chemotherapy (the current standard of care) for the majority of patients with the most common type of lung cancer. People with advanced non–small cell lung...
Robert M. Jotte, MD, PhD, of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, discusses phase III study findings on atezolizumab plus carboplatin plus paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel vs carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel, as first-line therapy in advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract LBA9000).
Initial findings from a randomized phase III clinical trial showed that patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) benefit more from initial treatment with the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-targeted immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and chemotherapy than...
An analysis of cancer registry data from a California hospital system showed that women with head and neck cancer were less likely to receive intensive chemotherapy (35% vs 46%) and radiation (60% vs 70%) compared to men. Controlling for factors such as age and serious medical conditions, a...