Georgina V. Long, MD, PhD, of the Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, discusses results of the CheckMate 915 trial, which may reinforce nivolumab as an adjuvant standard of care in patients with stage IIIB–D/IV melanoma, with or without complete lymphadenectomy (Abstract CT004).
Lipika Goyal, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses phase II results of the FOENIX-CCA2 trial, which explored the clinical benefit of futibatinib, an FGFR1–4 inhibitor, tested in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma that harbored FGFR2 gene fusions or other rearrangements...
Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the challenges in developing CAR T-cell therapy, as well as the progress being made, such as creating hybrid CAR and T-cell receptors that should enable T cells to recognize much lower levels of antigens. The field, he...
Karen H. Vousden, PhD, of The Francis Crick Institute, and Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, discuss emerging evidence that diet may affect which nutrients are available to tumor cells, which can influence both tumor growth and response ...
A new study has found higher rates of medical financial hardship among adult survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers than in adults without a history of cancer in the United States. The research was published by Lu et al in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute....
Ralph R. Weichselbaum, MD, of the University of Chicago, discusses oligometastasis as a part of the metastatic spectrum where ablative therapies, such as surgery or stereotactic body radiotherapy, may be curative alone or with systemic agents, as well as some potential biomarkers to guide treatment ...
Charlotte E. Ariyan, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses improved outcomes with metastasectomy in the setting of checkpoint inhibitors, with the removal of residual disease and “escape” lesions. Surgical outcomes may also be better than targeted treatments, although...
Jeanne Tie, MD, MBChB, of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, discusses how to improve the current, somewhat imprecise, approach based on pathologic staging alone, used to select patients for adjuvant treatment. Circulating tumor DNA analysis after curative-intent treatment may detect minimal...
Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH, of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, discusses previous studies that show wide variability in cancer diagnoses, the uncertainties introduced by computer-aided detection tools, and new research on artificial intelligence and machine learning that may lead to more...
Death from infection—the leading cause of death for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)—may be linked to specific gene mutations, according to results from a study published by Else et al in the journal Leukemia. Testing for these mutations could be used to identify patients at a...
A report published by Kotecha et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network suggests that baseline brain imaging should be considered in most patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Researchers found incidental brain metastases occur in a clinically significant...
Melinda L. Telli, MD, of Stanford Cancer Institute, discusses highlights of the new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology®, including nonanthracycline, taxane-based regimens as preferred treatments for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer; newly approved combination therapies such as...
Linda T. Vahdat, MD, MBA, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses results of a phase II trial designed to test the concept that targeting the tumor microenvironment by depleting copper may prevent metastases, essentially disrupting the infrastructure that contributes to tumor spread.
Richard S. Finn, MD, of UCLA Medical Center, discusses updated efficacy and safety data from the IMbrave150 trial of patients receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab vs sorafenib as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (Abstract CT009).
Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, reflects on the ways in which breast cancer research pioneered the targeted treatment approach, as understanding of the basic biology of tumors deepened and new pathways were uncovered. He sees a future ripe with possibilities...
Katelyn T. Byrne, PhD, of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the first in-depth analysis of the impact of selicrelumab, an anti-CD40 antibody, which was found to enrich T cells in pancreatic tumors, activate the immune system, and alter the tumor stroma...
Carey K. Anders, MD, of the Duke Cancer Center, discusses the ways in which treatment of brain metastases arising from solid tumors has moved into a new era of patient care and how the field may advance.
On April 12, Patrizia Cavazzoni, MD, was announced as the Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Janet Woodcock, MD, Acting Commissioner of the FDA, noted on Twitter: “Pleased to announce the permanent appointment of Patrizia ...
In the next 2 decades, rankings of incidence and death across cancer types in the United States will undergo important changes, according to new research published by Lola Rahib, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open. The study estimates that pancreatic cancer is on course to become the...
Lower levels of cancer aneuploidy were associated with more favorable outcomes after immune checkpoint inhibition in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented by Alessi et al at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021...
Tumor mutational burden (TMB) was an accurate predictor of response to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors for female patients with melanoma, but not for male patients, according to results of a study presented by Sinha et al during the virtual American Association for Cancer Research...
Enrique Grande, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Madrid, discusses phase III overall survival results from the IMvigor130 study of atezolizumab plus platinum and gemcitabine vs placebo plus platinum and gemcitabine in patients with previously untreated metastatic...
On April 13, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who previously received a platinum-containing chemotherapy and either a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor....
Samra Turajlic, MBBS, PhD, of The Francis Crick Institute, discusses our limited understanding of metastases in terms of the timing of dissemination, the many metastatic phenotypes and varieties of seeding, as well as how the spread of cancer evades the immune system and resists treatment....
Brian I. Rini, MD, of Vanderbilt University, discusses the IMmotion151 trial results on overall survival and the association of gene expression and clinical outcomes with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab vs sunitinib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Abstract CT188).
Cirmena et al discussed whether using a liquid biopsy test to assess plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity could improve the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting the achievement of complete response among patients with locally advanced breast cancer who had received...
Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer were more than three times more likely than the general public to be diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and adjustment disorder, according to results presented by Hu et al during the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021...
Racial differences in genetic mutations were observed among patients with early-onset colorectal cancer, according to data presented by Andreana N. Holowatyj, PhD, MS, during the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 (Abstract 101). The incidence of early-onset ...
Karen E. Knudsen, MBA, PhD, will be the next Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), starting June 1, 2021. She will take the reins from the retiring Gary Reedy, who has served as both...
Jessica C. Hassel, MD, of University Hospital Heidelberg, discusses phase III results of a study that compared tebentafusp, a bispecific fusion protein, with investigator’s choice in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. Tebentafusp nearly halved the risk of death among patients in the trial...
Matthew J. Matasar, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses phase III results of the CHRONOS-3 trial, which showed that copanlisib plus rituximab led to a 48% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with placebo plus rituximab in patients with relapsed...
Patrick M. Forde, MD, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, discusses results from the CheckMate 816 trial, which showed that adding nivolumab to chemotherapy as a neoadjuvant treatment for patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer improved the...
Vivek Subbiah, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses data on selpercatinib that showed promising activity across a variety of RET fusion–positive cancers, including treatment-refractory gastrointestinal malignancies. This analysis highlights the need for genomic...
Rita Nanda, MD, of the University of Chicago, discusses the latest data on novel treatment strategies for triple-negative breast cancer, including immune checkpoint, PARP, and ATK inhibitors; antibody-drug conjugates; and targeting the androgen receptor.
Brian Bolwell, MD, FACP, has been appointed to the newly created role of Chair, Physician Leadership and Development within the Mandel Global Leadership and Learning Institute at Cleveland Clinic. His new position is effective May 1, 2021. Dr. Bolwell has served as Chair of Cleveland Clinic...
Treatment with unselected autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) showed early clinical efficacy among patients with advanced melanoma, according to results presented by Hawkins et al during week 1 of the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 (Abstract ...
Bispecific anti-CD19/CD20 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy was well tolerated and showed signs of clinical efficacy in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma, according to phase I clinical trial data presented by Ghafouri et al during week 1 of the virtual American...
We who live and work in Seattle recently took note of two milestones: the first death of a patient from COVID-19 reported in the United States in Seattle on February 28, 2020, and recognition of 5,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the state of Washington on March 2, 2021. The juxtaposition of these two...
An experienced executive has rejoined the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center team, announced Roswell Park President and Chief Executive Officer Candace S. Johnson, PhD. Jeff Walker, MBA, has been recruited back to Western New York to fill the new role of Executive Vice President of Operations ...
Surgeon and women’s cancers expert Leslie R. Boyd, MD, has been named Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center and within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University (NYU) Langone Health. Dr. Boyd joined NYU Langone in...
Cancer researcher Andrew Ewald, PhD, has been appointed Director of the Department of Cell Biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He will take over the position from Peter Devreotes, PhD, who will remain on the faculty at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Ewald joined the medical school...
The European Society for Medical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer recently presented the Heine H. Hansen Award 2021 to Johan Vansteenkiste, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven and Head of Clinic in the Respiratory Oncology Unit...
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has appointed cancer researcher Ze’ev Ronai, PhD, as Director of its National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center. Established in 1976, the Cancer Center is one of only seven NCI-designated Basic Laboratory Cancer Centers in the...
City of Hope recently announced the appointment of Terence M. Williams, MD, PhD, as Professor and Chair of its Department of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Williams takes the helm of one of the largest and most experienced radiation oncology services in the country, with more than 15 locations and 42...
Fox Chase Cancer Center recently welcomed Cihangir Duy, PhD, MS, who has joined the Cancer Signaling and Epigenetics Program as Assistant Professor. Before coming to Fox Chase, Dr. Duy was Instructor in Cell and Developmental Biology at Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences in...
Krista Nelson, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW, was named President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) at the organization’s virtual 47th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit. Ms. Nelson will lead the association for the next year, as oncology professionals tackle critical...
Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD, Chair of Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, George P. Canellos, MD, and Jean S. Canellos Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Institute Member of Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, has been awarded the Sjöberg Prize, an annual international...
The Sarcoma Alliance recently announced the appointment of William Tseng, MD, to the organization’s Board of Directors. A surgical oncologist at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), Dr. Tseng specializes in soft-tissue sarcoma. “Our Board of Directors comprises a...
A group of 37 medical and radiation oncologists—along with a staff of cancer-care providers, led by Bruno S. Fang, MD, and Edward J. Licitra, MD, PhD, who currently constitute the Central Jersey Division of Regional Cancer Care Associates—are forming Astera Cancer Care, an independent and...
Stand Up To Cancer has announced $3.25 million in grants from four national nonprofits to fund research to find new treatments for head and neck cancers, which are newly diagnosed in about 65,000 Americans every year. The grants include contributions of $1.5 million each from the Fanconi Anemia...