In a simulation-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ward et al estimated that delay in diagnosis due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile will lead to an early surge of newly diagnosed cancers at later stages, resulting in excess mortality over the next 10 years. As stated by the...
Jason J. Luke, MD, of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, discusses phase III results showing that adjuvant pembrolizumab for patients with resected stage IIB and IIC melanoma decreased the risk of disease recurrence or death by 35% compared with placebo. It was also associated with significantly prolonged ...
New details about patients with cancer who have been infected with COVID-19 have emerged from the large observational OnCOVID study. According to data presented by Alessio Cortellini, MD, and colleagues at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2021 (Abstract 1560O_PR),...
“The phase III ENGOT/GCIG study1 proved to be negative, with no advantage seen with the extension of bevacizumab treatment,” said the abstract’s invited discussant, Carol Aghajanian, MD, Chief of the Medical Gynecologic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Dr....
According to the investigators, the SENTOR trial suggests that sentinel lymph node biopsy should be considered for the surgical staging of apparent clinical stage I endometrial cancer with no evidence of extrauterine disease on imaging or intraoperative survey.1 “If [sentinel lymph node biopsy] is...
Sentinel lymph node biopsy “had similar diagnostic accuracy and prognostic ability as lymphadenectomy in patients with high-grade endometrial cancer at greatest risk for nodal metastases,” according to the SENTOR trial, a prospective cohort study of 156 patients with clinical stage I disease. Using ...
In the first report from the pivotal phase III KEYNOTE-775/Study 309 trial, the combination of lenvatinib, a multikinase inhibitor of VEGFR1, VEGFR2, and VEGFR3 kinases, and the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab significantly improved multiple outcomes compared with standard single-agent chemotherapy in ...
The invited discussant of the phase II feMMe trial1 was Angeles Alvarez Secord, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina. She noted that, because of its “alarming” increase in incidence and mortality, endometrial cancer is “a critically ...
Disease regression was observed in 82% of women with endometrial hyperplasia with atypia and 43% of women with endometrial cancer after treatment for 6 months with a hormonal intrauterine device, in a phase II study reported during the virtual edition of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)...
The PARP (poly [adp-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor niraparib is safe for long-term use and effective as maintenance treatment in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer, according to data presented by Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2021...
Although the incidence of cervical cancer has decreased 1.03% a year over the past 17 years in the United States, likely due to screening or vaccination, other human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers are increasing in both men and women, according to a study by Cheng-I Liao, MD, currently of...
The addition of niraparib maintenance to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy with bevacizumab demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, according to data from the OVARIO study presented by Melissa M. Hardesty, MD, MPH, during the Society of Gynecologic Oncology...
The invited discussant of the SOLO-1 trial, Deborah Armstrong, MD, Professor of Oncology and Director of the Breast and Ovarian Surveillance Service at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the update provides “important information for us.” It shows that 2 years of maintenance olaparib conveys “a really...
The invited discussant of EMPOWER-Cervical 1 was Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, Chief Oncologist at Copenhagen University Hospital and Chairman of the European Network of Gynaecological Oncology Trials group (ENGOT). Dr. Mirza called the findings “amazing” and predicted they will “usher in a new era” in...
Perspectives on ARIEL4 were provided for The ASCO Post by the invited discussant Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Chief of Gynecologic Oncology and the Brock Wilson Family Chair at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and Konstantin Zakashansky, MD,...
The discussant of the fuzuloparib abstract at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology meeting was Thomas Herzog, MD, Deputy Director of the University of Cincinnati (UC) Cancer Center and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UC College of Medicine. He said that these data have already led to...
Mark G. Kris, MD, FASCO, Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service and the William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented on the excitement in the field of lung cancer about the new drugs targeting KRAS. Sotorasib is one of several new...
The KRAS-specific inhibitor sotorasib achieved responses in patients with KRAS G12C–mutated non–small lung cancer (NSCLC) who had experienced disease progression on platinum-based chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or both treatments. The objective response rate was 37.1%, and responses extended to all...
Atezolizumab given after chemotherapy to patients with resected stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) significantly improved disease-free survival compared with best supportive care alone in patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1.1 These results of the global phase III IMpower010 trial ...
An updated analysis of the PALOMA-3 randomized, placebo-controlled trial demonstrated continued superiority for the combination of palbociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) plus fulvestrant over fulvestrant plus placebo in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer whose...
In addition to covering the biggest news from the meeting in other articles, The ASCO Post brings you these brief news summaries of notable abstracts in multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia. Maintenance Daratumumab in Multiple Myeloma Part 2 of the CASSIOPEIA trial in 866 patients with newly...
EA1131 study discussant, Melinda Telli, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Stanford Cancer Institute, and Associate Director of the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center, commented: “At this point, capecitabine remains preferred as...
In patients with triple-negative breast cancer who have residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant capecitabine remains the standard of care. In the multicenter randomized noninferiority EA1131 trial, which included primarily basal tumors, noninferiority of adjuvant platinum over...
Invited study discussant Jacqueline C. Barrientos, MD, MS, of Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Great Neck, New York, commented: “The BTK [Bruton’s tyrosine kinase] inhibitors ibrutinib and acalabrutinib, along with the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax,...
Formal discussant of the OlympiA trial, Nadine M. Tung, MD, Director of Breast Medical Oncology and the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, was enthusiastic about the ability of olaparib to improve invasive disease–free survival ...
Adjuvant therapy with the PARP inhibitor olaparib for 1 year extended disease-free survival in patients with high-risk early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer with BRCA1/2 germline (inherited) mutations, according to a prespecified interim analysis of the phase III OlympiA trial presented at the...
The session’s invited discussant Surbhi Sidana, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University, said chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies targeting myeloma are emerging as potentially effective options for patients with highly refractory disease. For...
Despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the practice-changing studies presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting clarified the continuing momentum in the oncology community to improve the lives of our patients. Immunotherapy demonstrated efficacy in cancers where it had not been...
For the challenging population of patients with multiple myeloma who have become refractory to essentially all current treatments, new approaches are much needed. Early clinical trials data suggest bispecific antibodies may help meet this need, as suggested by studies presented at the 2021 ASCO...
Despite the fact that we have made significant progress in metastatic melanoma with immune checkpoint inhibitors—now the standard of care—most patients experience disease progression and are left without approved treatments. There is a need for newer treatments with clinical benefit. Lifileucel, an ...
Invited discussant of the KEYNOTE-564 trial, Rana R. McKay, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Urology at the University of California San Diego, offered these comments about the trial results. “This is a positive study, showing a 32% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death with adjuvant ...
Adjuvant pembrolizumab following surgery significantly improved disease-free survival compared with placebo among patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the international phase III KEYNOTE-564 study presented at the Plenary session during the 2021 ASCO Annual...
Invited discussant of the VISION trial, Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, commented on the study, noting that she was a co-investigator of the trial. “Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer have a number of treatment options. There are 10...
Lutetium-177–PSMA-617 (LuPSMA)—an investigational radiolabeled small molecule—significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival when added to the standard of care compared with the standard of care alone for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer...
As first-line treatment of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, nivolumab-containing regimens improved overall survival over standard-of-care chemotherapy, according to the first results of the global phase III CheckMate 648 trial presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by Ian Chau, MD,...
The invited discussant of the JUPITER-02 study was Anthony TC Chan, MD, the Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation Professor of Clinical Oncology at Hong King Cancer Institute and Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He noted that anti–PD-1/L1 therapies are at the forefront...
A new first-line standard of care may be emerging for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, based on the findings of the global phase III JUPITER-02 trial presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by investigators from China.1 In the study, toripalimab, an anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody, ...
Patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and brain metastases derived benefit from treatment with atezolizumab plus chemotherapy, according to findings from the multicenter phase II ATEZO-BRAIN/GECP 17/05 trial. The study was presented at the International Association for the Study ...
Less than half of community oncologists surveyed indicated that they use biomarker testing to guide patient discussions compared with 73% of academic clinicians, according to a report by Boehmer et al presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2021 World...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Jenei et al found that women with cancer have been underrepresented in global oncology drug trials over the past 20 years, with underrepresentation persisting through the present in multiple cancer types. Study Details The study involved ...
Jamie L. Studts, PhD, of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, discusses data that show the stigma surrounding lung cancer hinders optimal patient care. This information stems from a campaign launched by the National Lung Cancer Roundtable to eliminate this stigma and offer a range of...
Neoadjuvant atezolizumab combined with pemetrexed and cisplatin, followed by surgical resection and maintenance atezolizumab, proved safe and feasible and offered hints of benefit in patients with resectable pleural mesothelioma. Results from a small multicenter study were presented by Boris...
A study presented by Kevin Ginsburg, MD, and colleagues at the American Urological Association 2021 Annual Meeting has found that among patients treated with radical cystectomy, those with cT1 micropapillary bladder cancer had similar or worse oncologic outcomes compared with patients with cT2...
As a second-line treatment for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), lurbinectedin plus doxorubicin failed to improve overall survival in the multicenter ATLANTIS trial, but it did provide other benefits, Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, and colleagues reported at the International Association for...
In an interim analysis of a single-institution study reported in JAMA Network Open, Pavlos Msaouel, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the use of a mobile device application for patient reporting of adverse reactions to immune checkpoint inhibition was feasible. It permitted identification of...
Research advances are being made faster than ever before, yet it often takes several months before study results can be presented at an upcoming conference. Faster dissemination of practice-changing science is needed to better help clinicians deliver the most up-to-date care and treatments to...
In light of findings from multiple recent clinical trials in HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, ASCO has revised its treatment recommendations to inform more evidence-based care for metastatic breast cancer.1 “This guideline update provides important clinical guidance about the new use of...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Chi et al1—and summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post—the prespecified final overall survival analysis of the phase III TITAN trial1-3 has confirmed a clear overall survival and radiographic progression-free survival benefit with the combination ...
Mary Gospodarowicz, MD, FRCPC, former Medical Director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, will co-chair a new The Lancet Commission on cancer and health systems as it examines global cancer care and health systems. The Commission will work over the next 2.5 years, drafting a final report with...
Invited study discussant Jacqueline C. Barrientos, MD, MS, of Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Great Neck, New York, commented: “The BTK [Bruton’s tyrosine kinase] inhibitors ibrutinib and acalabrutinib, along with the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax, are ...