The sun was out, and the weather was beautiful for the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2023 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer held in Tampa, Florida, in March 2023. Participants came from across the world for this second hybrid gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic to share ongoing advances in ...
Emergency department (ED) visits by patients with cancer increased by 67.1% between the start of 2012 and the end of 2019, compared with an increase of just 7.5% in cancer incidence, according to a recent study in JAMA Network Open.1 Factors identified as possible explanations for the...
In an article in Annals of the American Thoracic Society, James L. Mulshine, MD, of the Center for Healthy Aging, Department of Medicine, Rush University, and colleagues maintained that the high frequency of emphysema newly identified during low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening...
ASCO has updated two living guidelines on the systemic treatment of stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with and without driver alterations with the inclusion of new evidence-based treatment recommendations.1,2 Among the updates, the guidelines add the recently approved RAS GTPase family...
In hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, tumors eventually become resistant not only to endocrine blockade but to inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6). This obstacle to successful treatment is being tackled with novel hormone receptor–directed therapies, with the...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recently announced its newly elected class of Fellows of the AACR Academy. Fellows of the AACR Academy serve as a global brain trust of top contributors to cancer science and medicine who help advance the mission of the AACR to prevent and cure...
Invited discussant Jarushka Naidoo, MBBCh, MHS, Professor of Medical Oncology and Consultant Medical Oncologist, Beaumont RCSI Cancer Centre, in Dublin, called the results of amivantamab-vmjw therapy in patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...
Amivantamab-vmjw, an EGFR and MET bispecific monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated encouraging long-term benefits and consistent efficacy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 20 insertions, according to data presented by Pilar Garrido, MD, PhD, Associate...
Invited discussant of the phase II APPLE trial, Daniel SW Tan, BSc, MBBS, PhD, of the National Cancer Centre Singapore, noted that 17% of patients have had only molecular disease progression and were switched over to the sequential strategy. “This may be in some parts related to the sensitivity of...
Using liquid biopsies to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may soon transform treatment strategies for patients with advanced EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented during the European Lung Cancer Congress 2023 by lead study author Jordi Remon, MD, PhD, of...
The combination of neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy continues to demonstrate potential as a standard treatment for patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented during the European Lung Cancer Congress 2023.1 The 3-year update from the phase III...
The latest research on sotorasib, a targeted therapy for KRAS G12C–mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), reveals that patients may experience better quality of life while benefiting from improved clinical outcomes. Analysis of patient-reported outcomes presented during the European Lung...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) presented Olivier Delattre, MD, PhD, with the 2023 AACR–St. Baldrick’s Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Cancer Research during the AACR Annual Meeting 2023 in April in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Delattre is Director of the...
Debra L. Richardson, MD, Associate Professor and Chief of the Section of Gynecologic Oncology, Oklahoma TSET Phase I Program, at the Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, discussed the emerging field of antibody-drug conjugates at a session on platinum-resistant ovarian...
Treatment with the folate receptor alpha (FRα)-targeted antibody-drug conjugate mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx benefited patients with FRα-high, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, even after multiple lines of prior therapy, according to an updated analysis of the SORAYA trial presented at the...
Jaffer A. Ajani, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told The ASCO Post that obesity (defined as high body mass index of 30–39.9 kg/m2) is increasing around the globe; by 2035, more than 50% of adults will...
The search for an effective cancer vaccine has been frustrating, but finally there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Adjuvant use of an investigational personalized mRNA vaccine (mRNA-4157) plus the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab improved recurrence-free survival vs pembrolizumab alone in...
On May 9, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) posted a draft recommendation statement on screening for breast cancer. The USPSTF now recommends that all women get screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40 years (this is a B grade recommendation, meaning the USPSTF...
Researchers have found that patients who are obese and undergo bariatric surgery may have a greater than 50% decreased incidence rate of obesity-related cancer compared with patients who did not have the weight-loss procedure, according to new findings presented by Chittajalu et al at Digestive...
Researchers have revealed the impacts of several new developments in screening and treating patients with biliary tract cancer and colorectal cancer—including the development of patient-derived organoids to test chemotherapy response, the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to...
In a Japanese phase III trial (AERAS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Iwase et al found that an additional 5 years of adjuvant anastrozole after 5 years of anastrozole or tamoxifen followed by anastrozole was associated with improved disease-free survival vs no further anastrozole...
In a French study (CUTALLO) reported in The Lancet, de Masson et al found that patients with advanced-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphomas who were able to undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) had prolonged progression-free survival vs matched patients receiving...
No one doubts the deadly nature of high-grade serous ovarian cancer. This histologic subtype is responsible for most ovarian cancer deaths, representing the eighth leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide and the fifth in the United States. Although there has been some progress in...
Screening that reduces cancer mortality serves as a foundational element of impactful care for certain cancers. That said, harms related to screening deserve our attention—overdiagnoses; diagnostic odysseys that may be invasive, expensive, or even unintentionally harmful; overtreatment of diagnosed ...
Invited discussant Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of the Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, called this “a very exciting abstract exploring when surgery meets immunotherapy.” He commented: “NSCLC is a big disease, affecting 2 million or more people worldwide, and this is the tip...
Patients with treatment-naive resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with neoadjuvant durvalumab plus chemotherapy and adjuvant durvalumab monotherapy had improved event-free survival and pathologic complete response rates compared with those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy...
The parameters set to determine which patients can enroll in clinical trials testing new multiple myeloma treatments may disproportionately exclude patients from racial and ethnic minority groups, according to a new study published by Kanapuru et al in the journal Blood. Background Multiple myeloma ...
Researchers have found that acute radiation dermatitis may involve the skin bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and that a simple, low-cost treatment may prevent severe cases in patients undergoing radiation therapy, according to two novel studies published by Kost et al—one a randomized clinical trial ...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, O’Connor et al found that pediatric and young adult patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) who did not respond to induction therapy had poorer outcomes vs those with induction response. The investigators also attempted...
In an analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Grace K. Dy, MD, and colleagues report 2-year outcomes of the CodeBreaK100 phase I/II trial of sotorasib in previously treated patients with KRAS G12C–mutated locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). According...
In the phase I/II KRYSTAL-1 trial, the KRAS inhibitor adagrasib demonstrated clinical activity in previously treated patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, biliary tract cancer, and other solid tumors harboring KRAS G12C mutations, according to research presented at the ASCO Plenary Series ...
In a Korean nationwide cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Park et al found that individuals aged 20 to 39 years with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were at an increased risk of developing early-onset digestive tract cancers. Study Details The study included data on ...
Researchers have identified four warning signs and symptoms that may indicate an elevated risk of early-onset colorectal cancer, according to a new study published by Fritz et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The findings may be key to helping physicians more effectively detect...
A new artificial intelligence (AI) model could help physicians diagnose lung cancer earlier, according to a study published by Hunter et al in eBioMedicine. The findings suggested that the new model may yield a diagnosis more quickly and potentially more accurately than two existing risk assessment ...
Judy C. Boughey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses the decrease, over the past decade, of axillary lymph node dissection, especially in patients with node-positive breast cancer at diagnosis who had sentinel lymph node surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. These findings are based on the records...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Marion T. van Mackelenbergh, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer who achieved pathologic complete response (pCR) on neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus anti-HER2 treatment had better overall and...
Researchers have discovered that the investigational optical imaging agent pegulicianine in fluorescence-guided surgery (pFGS) may have been effective at helping surgeons identify and remove residual tumor tissue in patients with breast cancer during breast-conserving surgery, according to a novel...
Researchers have found that pediatric patients with cancer undergoing radiation therapy may experience greater baseline and long-term neurocognitive outcomes when they have supportive environments compared with those who live in neighborhoods with economic hardship, according to a new study...
In a phase II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, van der Sluis et al found that the addition of blinatumomab—a bispecific T-cell engager molecule targeting CD19—to standard chemotherapy appeared to result in marked improvements in outcome among infants with KMT2A-rearranged...
As reported in The Lancet by Kohei Shitara, MD, and colleagues, the phase III SPOTLIGHT trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free and overall survival with the addition of the anti–claudin-18 isoform 2 (CLDN18.2) antibody zolbetuximab to mFOLFOX6 (modified leucovorin [or...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Vicky Makker, MD, and colleagues, an updated analysis of the phase III Study 309/KEYNOTE-775 trial showed overall and progression-free survival benefits with lenvatinib/pembrolizumab vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy among previously treated...
Investigators discovered both favorable and unfavorable changes in major cancer risk factors, preventive behaviors and services, and screenings in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study published by Star et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention....
Females in rural areas may be six times more likely to receive timely breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings with remote outreach that involves interactive education and follow-up support by telephone compared with females in rural areas who don’t have remote outreach, according to a...
Researchers have found that studying the landscape of DNA and RNA alterations across multiple organs of metastasis may provide a new direction in cancer therapeutics to address treatment failure, according to a new study published by Liu et al in Nature Medicine. The new findings from analyzing...
Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were not associated with a reduction in positive margins at the tumor site or in the need to reoperate to help ensure complete tumor excision in patients with breast cancer undergoing lumpectomy, according to new findings presented by Cairns et al ...
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lubberts et al identified risk factors for cardiovascular disease among survivors of testicular cancer and assessed the impact of cardiovascular disease on quality of life. Study Details The study involved data from a multicenter cohort ...
Patients who underwent pathology evaluation of their sentinel lymph nodes during mastectomy surgery may have been significantly more likely to receive aggressive nodal therapy than patients whose lymph node biopsies and treatment strategies were evaluated after surgery. The new findings were...
Two new studies revealed that specialized exercise and wellness programs may significantly increase physical well-being and quality of life as well as reduce health-care costs in patients with breast cancer, according to findings presented by Wonders et al and Brahmbhatt et al at the 24th American...
Investigators have found that undergoing an annual surveillance mammography may remain common among geriatric patients with breast cancer, even in those with only a small risk of developing a second primary tumor or with significant competing mortality risks as a result of advanced age and...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Youssef et al found that the standard Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) and modified RANO (mRANO) criteria produced similar correlations between progression-free survival and overall survival in newly diagnosed glioblastoma and...