In a policy review reported in The Lancet Oncology, Terpos et al presented updated recommendations from the Bone Working Group of the International Myeloma Working Group on the treatment of multiple myeloma–related bone disease. The recommendations cover: bisphosphonate use/dosing and management of ...
Although cancer survivors are living longer, cancer and its treatment can result in long-lasting or late-onset impairments that may affect their ability to work, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled Diagnosing and Treating Adult...
For patients with melanoma who do not respond to treatment with immunotherapy, adjusting the composition of microorganisms in the intestines through the use of fecal transplants may aid in overcoming resistance to therapy. These findings were published by Davar et al in Science. In the study, some...
A combination of genetic mutations may explain the higher incidence of and poorer outcomes from pediatric leukemia in Hispanic and Latino patients, according to a new study published by Raca et al in the journal Leukemia. Researchers said a novel therapeutic drug combination—as well as testing for...
On February 12, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trilaciclib (Cosela) as the first therapy in its class to reduce the frequency of chemotherapy-induced bone marrow suppression in adults receiving certain types of chemotherapy for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC)....
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, several elective surgeries for renal cell carcinoma were delayed, with an unknown impact on outcomes for patients. In a retrospective study, researchers from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey explored the impact of surgical delays for these patients...
“On the eve of his inauguration, the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) congratulates Joseph R. Biden, Jr, the 46th President of the United States. “ASCO shares the President’s commitment to ensuring equitable high-quality cancer care for every American, and recently released a policy...
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common type of skin cancer, with more than 1 million cases diagnosed in the United States annually.1 Historically, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is grouped together with basal cell carcinoma and collectively referred to as nonmelanoma skin...
The field of allogeneic stem cell transplantation continues to improve survival for patients with previously incurable blood cancers. However, up to 50% of patients who undergo transplantation with donor cells will develop chronic graft-vs-host disease, a potentially deadly condition that can also...
Shoshana Rosenberg, ScD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, weighed in on the implications of these findings. “The study underscores the importance of addressing psychosocial health in survivorship. it targeted a particularly...
A diagnosis of breast cancer and subsequent treatment may increase the risk of depression, especially among younger women with breast cancer. A new study showed that behavioral interventions—specifically mindfulness meditation and survivorship education classes—may reduce depressive symptoms, as...
“Knowledge has a beginning but no end.” —Geeta Iyengar To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are three abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel therapies for...
It may be possible to exploit T cells from healthy volunteers who have recovered from COVID-19 as a treatment for this viral infection. Researchers at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine have designed an off-the-shelf COVID virus–specific T-cell product (called...
“Although some B-cell lymphomas are highly curable, this goal remains elusive for most T-cell lymphomas (TCL). Refractory and relapsed disease post induction therapy remains a major challenge in management,” said Deepa Jagadeesh, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of...
Neil M. Iyengar, MD, Assistant Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, has researched the links between breast cancer and lifestyle. He provided comments on these two abstracts from the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) for The ASCO Post. “These two...
A growing body of evidence is showing a strong association between diet and breast cancer risk and survival, particularly high glycemic load and sugar intake. Two large population studies at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium supported these observations.1,2 Findings from the Nurses’...
The invited discussant of the GARNET study, John C. Krauss, MD, Medical Oncology Director of the Multidisciplinary Colorectal Cancer Clinic, Rogel Cancer Center of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, observed that “impressive” response rates to dostarlimab were demonstrated in a “relatively...
The study’s invited discussant, Michael J. Overman, MD, Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, said the findings of the study presented by Henriksen et al1 add to a convincing body of data showing that “the use of circulating...
The medical career of Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, spans more than 4 decades and includes a roster of nearly unprecedented accomplishments in patient care, research, and mentoring. He has held leadership positions in academia, first at the University of Chicago, where he spent the...
Linda G.W. Kerkmeijer, MD, PhD, of the University Medical Center Utrecht and Radboud University Medical Center, discusses results from the phase III FLAME trial, which explored the question of whether biochemical disease–free survival can be improved by adding a focal boost to the intraprostatic...
Treatment with the immunotherapy nivolumab with or without cisplatin-based chemotherapy following radical surgery significantly improved disease-free survival in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma, irrespective of their PD-L1 status, according to a study that will be presented by...
The keynote speaker did not mince words. “I tell everyone, do not use the term age-appropriate therapy,” said Jan White, a cancer survivor and patient advocate who described her own experience with stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “Patients with cancer,” she said, “are more than their age, gender,...
The National ComprehensiveCancer Network® (NCCN) has released new guidance1 on vaccinating people with cancer against COVID-19. The nonprofit alliance of leading cancer centers created an NCCN COVID-19 Vaccine Committee, which includes hematology and oncology experts with particular expertise in...
In the phase II NRG Oncology HN002 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that a reduced-dose intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) regimen for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma satisfied...
Janet Woodcock, MD, current Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been named acting FDA Commissioner, according to a report published in The New York Times.1Stephen M. Hahn, MD, who had been FDA Commissioner since December 17,...
Information shared by women with metastatic breast cancer on social media platforms like Twitter may be a timely source of data for policymakers hoping to improve care and outcomes for these patients, according to a study published by Shimkhada et al in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance. Role of...
At-home tests, which measure blood in stool as a potential marker for colon cancer, are often used for colorectal cancer screening. Usage of these tests has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as patients try to avoid clinical visits. However, effectiveness of these screening tools, along with...
On February 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the scheduling of a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to discuss the request for emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen Biotech Inc. Additionally, Acting...
B-cell–depleting immunotherapy may cause B-cell aplasia and impair the body’s immune response. A retrospective, multicentric French study of patients with lymphoma and persistent COVID-19 infection has found that those treated with B-cell–depleting therapies within the previous 12 months had nearly ...
Administering colorectal cancer screening kits through a socially distant drive-by flu vaccination clinic increased access to colorectal cancer screening among Black Americans, according to results presented by Washington et al at the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer (Abstract S02-04)....
A study presented by researchers with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan confirmed low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening may be feasible in a predefined, never-smoking, high-risk population. The research was presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer...
On February 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to tepotinib (Tepmetko) for adult patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14–skipping alterations. VISION Trial Efficacy was...
Molecular profiling allows clinicians to identify the molecular and genetic signatures that help to deliver treatments that are highly specific to a tumor. This tool has made possible a number of advances in the past year that are improving care for patients with gastrointestinal cancers. In...
Neoadjuvant treatment with single-agent atezolizumab for patients with stage IB to IIIB lung cancer resulted in a major pathologic response rate of 21% and pathologic complete response rate of 7% in the primary analysis of the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium 3 (LCMC3) study. The findings were...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet, Lheureux et al found that the addition of the oral Wee1 inhibitor adavosertib to gemcitabine significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with platinum-resistant/refractory recurrent ovarian cancer. As related by the investigators, the...
Giorgio V. Scagliotti, MD, PhD, of the University of Torino, talks about why he believes that many more patients with lung cancer can be cured within the next 4 years, given decreases in mortality rates, widespread use of targeted treatments and immunotherapies, and earlier diagnoses as a result of ...
At a press briefing held by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), researchers presented new data that revealed factors relating to race, gender, sexual orientation, and income continue to be significant barriers to those living with lung cancer. The press briefing is...
Press conference moderator Virginia Kaklamani, MD, of UT Health San Antonio, and Leader of the Breast Cancer Program, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, weighed in on this study. “This study compared patients’ reports with physicians’ reports about the severity of symptoms. It is a...
A study led by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that shortening a traditional 45-day course of radiation to a 5-day course delivered in larger doses was safe and as effective as conventional radiation for men with high-risk...
To mark World Cancer Day on February 4, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) will give voice to and say thank you to the nurses, doctors, researchers, volunteers, advocates, and other caregivers in oncology from around the world, as well as government agencies, who have worked through...
Engineering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to overcome CD58 loss may be a way to boost responses in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who do not respond to treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel and other CAR T-cell therapies, according to an experimental study presented...
In a phase II trial (SWOG S1406) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of vemurafenib to irinotecan and cetuximab significantly improved progression-free survival in previously treated patients with BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic...
Four years after patients with melanoma were treated with a personalized cancer vaccine, the immune response caused by the vaccine remained robust and effective in keeping cancer cells under control, according to a new study published by Hu et al in Nature Medicine. The findings demonstrate the...
Patients with inactive cancer who are not currently undergoing treatment also face a significantly higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, according to a new study published by Sun et al in JNCI Cancer Spectrum. The findings underscore the importance of COVID-19 mitigation, like social...
Researchers have developed the first comprehensive framework to classify small cell lung cancer (SCLC) into four unique subtypes based on gene expression and have identified potential therapeutic targets for each type. These findings were published by Gay et al in Cancer Cell. SCLC is known for...
In a U.S. population-based, case-control study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Hu et al identified the prevalence of and risk associated with germline pathogenic variants in established and candidate breast cancer predisposition genes. Study Details The study involved 32,247 women...
BOOKMARK Title: Milkshakes and Morphine: A Memoir of Love and LifeAuthor: Genevieve FoxPublisher: VintagePublication date: January 2019Price: $15.95, paperback, 384 pages “It doesn’t hurt, but I know it is there and I know it shouldn’t be. Interloper. I have touched it a couple of times already,...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has announced the publication of new, free informational resources on health and wellness for cancer survivors. These two new NCCN Guidelines for Patients® are focused on healthy living and managing late and long-term side effects, and they include...
Sometimes there just is no escaping cancer. I thought I had done everything right. I was diligent about adhering to my annual physical exams, including mammograms, and routinely performed breast self-exams to spot any early changes in my breasts. Still, in the summer of 2015, I was diagnosed with...
The first independent, community oncology practice recently joined the Mayo Clinic Care Network. Minnesota Oncology comprises a group of carefully vetted, independent health-care providers with special access to the Mayo Clinic’s knowledge and expertise, including its research, diagnostic, and...