Management of the regional nodes in breast cancer has evolved from the era of the extended radical mastectomy to exclusion of axillary dissection in appropriately selected patients. Throughout this evolution, studies of nodal irradiation have been shown to improve locoregional control, usually...
Two phase III trials recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine indicated that the addition of regional nodal irradiation was associated with no or marginal overall survival benefit but significantly improved disease-free survival in patients with early-stage breast cancer.1,2 NCIC...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Catherine Van Poznak, MD, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline on the use of biomarkers to guide decisions on systemic therapy in women with metastatic breast cancer.1 The statement is based on an ASCO expert panel review...
It has long been said that white women of European ancestry are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but African American women are more likely to die of it. This statement has introduced multiple articles on the topic of the racial survival disparity in breast cancer, including our own...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has appointed Robert C. Young, MD, as Interim Vice President of the NCCN Oncology Research Program. Dr. Young brings to NCCN more than 45 years of oncology experience. He is President of RCY Medicine, a consulting service focused on cancer center...
Led by George Demetri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, expert medical oncology investigators from leading academic sarcoma centers and Janssen Pharmaceuticals employees performed a phase III trial in order to provide evidence for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of...
The treatment of hairy cell leukemia is one of the great success stories in hematologic malignancies, with patients now having a survival that is only slightly inferior to an age-matched normal population. Purine analogs, such as cladribine, are the mainstay of first-line therapy, with...
The following five abstracts were chosen as the best studies presented at the 12th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) because of their quality and the impact they will have on the field of integrative medicine, according to Suzanna Zick, ND, MPH, Immediate Past...
Over the past year or so, a host of new agents were approved for the treatment of patients with various types of cancer (see related article on page 1). Patrick Medina, PharmD, of the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy, Oklahoma City, and Monique Giordana, PharmD, BCOP, of Regions...
We have a responsibility to develop better treatment for inflammatory breast cancer,” Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, FACP, told participants at the 17th Annual Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium in Chicago. As recently appointed Associate Director of Translational Research and Precision Medicine at the ...
As summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post (see "ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline: Use of Biomarkers to Guide Systemic Therapy for Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer"), Van Poznak and colleagues recently presented an ASCO clinical practice guideline on the use of biomarkers for decisions...
The following new hematology/oncology agents and expanded indications were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in 2015: Alectinib (Alecensa), an ALK inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive...
BookmarkTitle: Malignant Metaphor: Confronting Cancer MythsAuthor: Alanna MitchellPublisher: ECW PressPublication date: September 15, 2015Price: $24.95; hardcover, 184 pages Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom...
Internationally renowned breast cancer surgeon Lisa A. Newman, MD, MPH, has joined Henry Ford Health System to lead its metro Detroit breast cancer program and new international breast cancer research center. She begins work in December as the Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Henry Ford....
Two recent studies1,2 found that the rates of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening have declined since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against PSA screening in 2012. One of those studies additionally found that the incidence of early-stage prostate cancer also...
The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) is developing a marketing campaign to highlight the value of academic cancer centers to their communities and the nation. Called “The Academic Difference,” the 2-year campaign is the initiative of AACI President George J. Weiner, MD, Director of...
The first class of National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award recipients showcases the cutting edge of oncologic research and the 43 investigators behind it. NCI’s Outstanding Investigator Award supports accomplished leaders in cancer research, who are providing significant...
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have high relapse rates after induction chemotherapy, low survival rates, and fewer treatment options compared with younger patients. One of the options for both younger and older patients is hematopoietic cell transplantation, but relatively few...
Question 1: Based on the rationale for the current “standard of care” for primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the CNS, what is the optimal induction therapy? Correct Answer: C. A high-dose methotrexate–based regimen. Expert Perspective Untreated primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the CNS ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an occasional feature that includes a case report detailing a particular hematologic condition followed by questions. Answers to each question appear on page 84 with expert commentary. In the November 10 issue of The ASCO Post, part 2 of ...
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, highlighting therapeutics in acute leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes. For full details of these study abstracts, visit...
Charles S. Abrams, MD, the Francis C. Wood Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Blood Center for Patient Care & Discovery at Penn and The Children’s Hospital ...
In the current climate of rising health-care costs, particularly in the field of oncology, clinical guidelines provide a crucial tool to guide practitioners in evidence-based care and to improve the quality and consistency of care.1 The ASCO review and endorsement of the American College of Chest...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 ASCO has endorsed the current American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guideline on treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), released in 2013.2 After review of evidence from an updated literature search covering 2011 to March 2015, an ASCO...
The optimal management strategy for ductal carcinoma in situ has become increasingly controversial with respect to potential overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Much of the controversy for ductal carcinoma in situ stems from its exceptional breast cancer–specific survival, which approaches close to...
Partnering endocrine therapy with new targeted agents for women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer “changes the nature of endocrine therapy from something easily tolerated, with not a lot that you have to do as physicians to monitor it,” William J. Gradishar, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On November 24, 2015, nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved for use as...
Upfront treatment with midostaurin added to standard chemotherapy improved survival compared with placebo plus chemotherapy in high-risk patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) characterized by FLT3 mutations. No new drugs have been approved for AML since 1990, and midostaurin is the first...
As health-care providers, we have an obligation and a responsibility not only to care for our patients, but also to educate them—and the general public—about their cancer risk and ways to reduce or prevent it. We are living in the golden era of cancer prevention and treatment, made possible by...
Andrew Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Seema A. Khan, MD, MPH, of the Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center, discuss the session moderated by Dr. Khan on this important topic (Session ES8).
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and John F. Gerecitano, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discuss a phase I study of venetoclax monotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including updated safety and efficacy data...
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and David Straus, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discuss the initial results of the U.S. Intergroup Trial of response-adapted chemotherapy or chemotherapy/radiation therapy based on PET for nonbulky stage I and II...
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Rafat Abonour, MD, of Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, discuss the session that he chaired on the question of whether researchers can design therapy that addresses the heterogeneity of the disease and eradicate most if...
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Cameron J. Turtle, MBBS, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discuss anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor-modified T-cell therapy and clinical outcome (Abstract 184).
Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, has been elected President of ASCO for the term beginning in June 2017. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2016. Additionally, four new members were elected to the ASCO Board of Directors, as well as three new...
As reported by Murphy et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, an analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data from patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer indicated that the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in colon cancer declined slightly between 2005 and ...
In a nested case-control study in the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Trial, reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Murphy et al, endogenous estrogen levels were inversely associated with and sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) levels were positively associated with...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Gunter and colleagues found that increased levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) were associated with increased risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy. No associations of...
“Anemia was highly prevalent and independently associated with functional disability” among older adults with cancer, according to an analysis of data conducted by Owusu et al. “Older patients with anemia were more than twice as likely to have functional disability than those...
Pediatric low-grade gliomas are the most common type of brain tumor diagnosed in children, and represent a heterogeneous group of tumors, which are poorly classified based on histology and location, according to Payal Jain, a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, and lead author of a...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Advani et al, the cumulative incidence of cardiac events remained significantly higher at 6 years in breast cancer patients who received adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) in the NCCTG N9831/Alliance trial. However, few new congestive heart failure...
Researchers investigating the role of exosomes, comprised of tumor-derived proteins, in the development of cancer metastasis have found that an “exosomal protein signature” could identify patients at risk for metastasis. The research also indicates that integrin expression profiles of...
For men with prostate cancer who have had a prostatectomy and salvage radiation therapy, analyzing their tumor genome provides clues as to whether their cancer will metastasize, thereby enabling clinicians to better personalize treatment options, according to research presented by Den et al...
Cancer is the result of normal cellular functions going wildly awry on a genetic level. That fact has been known for some time, but increasing evidence is showing that the human microbiome, the diverse population of microorganisms within every person, may play a key role in either setting the stage ...
In a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine, Ransohoff et al describe genetic evidence of phenotype switching from basal cell to squamous cell carcinoma in a patient receiving vismodegib (Erivedge) for basal cell carcinoma. Hedgehog signaling pathway activation, a central feature of...
Determining the answer to a simple question, “Would you be surprised if this patient died within the next year?” can be an important tool to help predict which patients with cancer may be in their final year of life, according to the findings from a study by Vick et al. The tool, known...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has endorsed the current American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) guideline on treatment of small cell lung cancer, released in 2013. After review of evidence from an updated literature search covering 2011 to March 2015, an ASCO...
A study evaluating the effects of bariatric surgery on obese women most at risk for cancer has found that the weight-loss surgery slashed participants' weight by one-third and eliminated precancerous uterine growths in those who had them. Other effects included improving patients' physical quality...
The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has prolonged lives and resulted in cancer becoming increasingly common in this population, with a higher burden than the general population due to impaired immune function, including...
Over 80% of the 15 million people diagnosed with cancer worldwide in 2015 will need surgery, but less than one-quarter of them will have access to proper, safe, affordable surgical care when they need it, according to a major new Commission examining the state of global cancer surgery. The...