Patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma with an isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation showed clinical benefit and improved progression-free survival (PFS) when treated with ivosidenib vs placebo, according to results presented by Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, at the European Society for Medical...
GUEST EDITOR Addressing the evolving needs of cancer survivors at various stages of their illness and care, Palliative Care in Oncology is guest edited by Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, FASCO. Dr. Von Roenn is ASCO’s Vice President of Education, Science, and Professional Development. It has been well...
Patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer with a germline BRCA mutation demonstrated significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) with the addition of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor veliparib to chemotherapy (comprised of carboplatin/paclitaxel)...
After treatment with R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone), rituximab maintenance therapy seems to provide no additional benefit for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in first complete remission, according to data from a phase III trial.1...
Patients with advanced colon cancer and plasma samples containing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) were less likely to achieve 2-year disease-free survival with oxaliplatin-based adjuvant treatment than patients with ctDNA-negative samples, according to findings presented at the European Society for...
White men older than age 65 will have the greatest burden of oropharyngeal cancer by the year 2030, according to Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, Professor and Endowed Chair at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But there is some good news, she said at the 2019 Winship Cancer Institute of Emory...
ASCO has announced the three recipients of its CancerLinQ Discovery® Research Support Grant. The awardees will undertake research projects using data from CancerLinQ Discovery®, an offering of ASCO’s CancerLinQ® initiative that provides deidentified data from patients to academic researchers,...
The ASCO Post has offered comprehensive coverage of the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting. To complement this news coverage, here are featured clinical trials of several treatments in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). They focus on the monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab in combination therapy in the CLL14...
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001*, on the World Trade Center in New York City resulted in the deaths of more than 2,700 people.1 Nearly 2 decades later, that number may soon be exceeded by the more than 2,000 deaths—and climbing—of first responders to the attack, including firefighters,...
The finding that women have a higher incidence of lung cancer than men of the same age and with the same smoking history was unexpected when it first emerged from studies in the 1990s. Just as unexpected was a subsequent finding. Even with their higher risk, women have a lower mortality and higher...
Earlier this year, ramucirumab was approved as a single agent for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level ≥ 400 ng/mL and have been previously treated with sorafenib.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the double-blind phase III...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that childhood cancer survivors with pathogenic neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) variants had a greater risk of subsequent neoplasms than survivors without NFI variants and that radiotherapy was...
According to the American Cancer Society, excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women in the United States and the second most common cause of cancer deaths. This year, it is expected that more than 51,000 people will die of the malignancy....
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test Cologuard for eligible average-risk individuals aged 45 years and older, expanding on its previous indication for those aged 50 years and older. Cologuard is a stool DNA-based colorectal...
Findings from a phase Ib study of the combination of the mutant IDH1 inhibitor ivosidenib plus azacitidine for patients with IDH1-mutated, newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for intensive treatment showed that the combination was well tolerated and produced more responses than...
Two recent studies showed varying degrees of the effectiveness of mammography in different populations. In a report published in Radiology, Gao et al showed that in men at high risk for breast cancer, screening mammography may be able to increase the rate of detection of early-stage disease....
During the past decade, scientists began to test whether the addition of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) to treatment with sorafenib could increase survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Scientists from Taiwan and Japan performed the first large, national-level,...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jawhar et al have developed a risk model for advanced systemic mastocytosis that differentiates low-, intermediate-, and high-risk disease. Study Details The study included 383 patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis from the German Registry on ...
In a presentation of updated efficacy and safety data from the phase II HORIZON trial, Paul G. Richardson, MD, and colleagues found that melflufen, a lipophilic peptide-conjugated alkylator, showed activity in patients with late-stage relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma refractory to...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Earlier this year, ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) was...
Two topics that hematologists are currently grappling with were addressed at the 2019 Debates and Didactics Conference in Sea Island, Georgia, sponsored by Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, by Editor-in-Chief of The ASCO Post, James O. Armitage, MD, FASCO.1 They focus on the emerging role ...
Findings from a recent SWOG study could cast doubt on the generalizability of treatment effects observed in positive clinical trials, especially among underinsured patients. According to data presented at the 2019 ASCO Quality Care Symposium,1 patients with Medicaid or no insurance had no observed...
In patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, isatuximab in combination with pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone nearly doubled progression-free survival when compared with pomalidomide and dexamethasone alone, with a manageable safety profile, according to data from a phase III...
In the POLO trial, which is discussed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Golan and colleagues evaluated the potential benefit of maintenance olaparib after disease stability or response to a minimum of 4 months of platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and a...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Talia Golan, MD, of Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, and colleagues, the phase III POLO trial showed that maintenance treatment with the poly (ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib improved progression-free survival vs...
A study by Reddy et al investigating the use of a machine-learning model to predict which patients with head and neck cancer being treated with radiation may experience significant weight loss, feeding tube placement, and unplanned hospitalization has found that the model accurately identified the...
Although there may be a clear role for prophylactic anticoagulation in hospitalized patients and those undergoing surgery, indication for prophylactic anticoagulation for patients with cancer seen in the ambulatory setting has yet to emerge. Until clinical trial data on prophylactic...
Following the closure of nearly 100 women’s health clinics across the United States from 2010 to 2013, fewer women were screened for cervical cancer; more women were diagnosed with advanced stages of the disease; and disease mortality rates rose. Findings from a new analysis combining several...
Video-assisted thoracic surgery was associated with lower in-hospital complications and a shorter length of stay compared with open surgery among British patients who were diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer, according to research presented by Lim et al at the International Association for the...
Researchers from Milan reported that using a blood microRNA assay accompanied by low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening is safe and effective in screening patients for lung cancer. The results were shared at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2019 World...
In a Canadian study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blanchette et al found the influenza vaccine was effective among patient with cancer, with greater effectiveness in patients with solid tumors vs those with hematologic malignancies. Study Details The population-based study involved...
Researchers reported that a prospective trial comparing two screening methods for patients at risk of developing lung cancer found that a model used by Canadian, Australian, and European public health organizations detected more cancers than the screening model used by the United States Preventive...
On August 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule to require new health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements to promote greater public understanding of the negative health consequences of smoking. The proposed warnings, which feature photo-realistic...
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Karla Kerlikowske, MD, and colleagues found that the combined use of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) breast density and Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC)-defined risk for breast cancer may be an effective way of...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Anna E. Coghill, PhD, MPH, and colleagues found that outcomes are often worse among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients aged 65 years or older with cancer vs HIV-negative patients with cancer, after adjustment for first courses of treatment....
In 1994, I was a normal, active 15-year-old, who loved cars, sports, and rock music, especially songs from my favorite group, The Clash. In fact, it was while jubilantly dancing alone in my room to one of their tunes that I vomited into my hands, an early symptom of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I...
“Live while you’re living, friends,” writes Julie Yip-Williams in her memoir, The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After. It was The New York Times bestseller when she died of stage IV colon cancer at the age of 42. She is the most recent of several...
On May 24, 2019, alpelisib was approved for use in combination with fulvestrant for postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, PIK3CA-mutated advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test following...
On June 27, 2019, daratumumab was approved for use in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label phase...
Many clinicians are confused by the evolving opioid prescribing guideline issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meant to stem the rising epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose in the United States.1 Many are also worried about regulatory oversight by the U.S. Drug...
Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which standards of care have not been well established. In light of recent insights into its pathophysiology and the emergence of novel approaches, The ASCO Post asked Tracy T. Batchelor, MD, a specialist in...
On October 18, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to axicabtagene ciloleucel for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. Specifically, this treatment can be used after two or more lines of systemic therapy for diffuse...
On August 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to entrectinib (Rozlytrek) for adult and adolescent patients whose cancers have an NTRK (neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase) genetic fusion and for whom there are no effective treatments. Entrectinib was also...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology,1Zhaoming Wang, PhD, and colleagues at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, found that the presence of a germline BRCA2 mutation increased the risk of development of pediatric or adolescent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. As noted by the...
Women who experienced six or more symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in life had a twofold greater risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women who never experienced any PTSD symptoms. These findings were published by Roberts et al in Cancer Research. The...
In a study reported in The Lancet, the Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer found that the use of menopausal hormone therapy is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, with risk increasing as the duration of use increases, in both current and past users. Study...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jennifer K. Litton, MD, and colleagues found that 6 months of neoadjuvant talazoparib therapy resulted in a high rate of residual cancer burden (RCB) of 0 (pathologic complete response) in patients with stage I–III breast cancer with germline ...
A retrospective analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in The Lancet Oncology by Dietz et al found that the need for solid organ transplantation was infrequent in aging survivors of childhood cancer, with greater organ-specific risk being associated with particular therapeutic...
In a study to be presented by Unger et al at the 2019 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, researchers found patients living in socioeconomically deprived areas were more likely to experience worse survival in cancer clinical trials, even after adjustments for race and insurance (Abstract 162). Methods...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Kim N. Chi, MD, of BC Cancer and Vancouver Prostate Centre, and colleagues, the first analysis of the phase III TITAN trial has shown that the addition of apalutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy improved radiographic progression-free and...