A phase II, multicenter trial published by Alvarnas et al in Blood challenges the generally held belief that individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and aggressive lymphoma are not candidates for standard treatment. According to the researchers, people with HIV-associated lymphoma who...
In a phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Massard et al found that the anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody durvalumab was active in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial bladder cancer. Objective response appeared to be confined to...
As reported by Choueiri et al in The Lancet Oncology, the final results of the phase III METEOR trial indicate significantly improved overall survival with cabozantinib (Cabometyx) vs everolimus (Afinitor) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that had progressed after previous...
Researchers at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) presented a means of evaluating an immunotherapy that fights off non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by strengthening a patient’s own immune system (Scientific Paper 134). Due to...
As reported by Seiwert et al in The Lancet Oncology, the monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed activity in patients with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-012 study. Study ...
Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black cancer patients between ages 15 and 29 may be more likely than same-aged white patients to die of their disease, according to a University of Colorado Cancer Center study presented by Colton et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6557). The finding is...
My experience with cancer, or more accurately, cancers, is complicated. In 2002, after returning from a medical mission to Honduras, I noticed a bean-sized lymph node above my left clavicle. As an oncology-certified nurse, I knew not to ignore any unusual nodules that pop up on the body and asked...
An otherwise healthy, actively working, independent 60-year-old patient came to us with a several months’ history of abdominal pain. He had been seen by other physicians prior to coming to us for a second opinion. Our workup revealed a large cystic lesion emanating from the pancreas but involving ...
According to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), environmental toxic exposures are responsible for between 7% and 19% of human cancers. However, the 2008–2009 President’s Cancer Panel Annual Report estimated that the “true...
As reported in The Lancet by Nicholas D. James, BSc, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Warwick, and colleagues, survival results of the STAMPEDE trial, which used a multiarm, multistage seamless phase II/III design, provide little evidence of benefit of zoledronic acid and showed increased survival ...
Multiple myeloma cells uniformly overexpress CD38.1 Daratumumab (Darzalex), a CD38-targeting human IgG1 kappa monoclonal antibody, has been evaluated in a series of phase I/II trials involving patients with relapsed or relapsed and refractory myeloma who have received at least two or more prior...
In the phase II SIRIUS trial reported in The Lancet, Sagar Lonial, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, and colleagues found that the CD38-targeted monoclonal antibody daratumumab (Darzalex) produced durable responses in patients with multiple myeloma who had received at least three ...
Diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer have been the source of heated debate for decades, most of which has centered on the clinical value of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. In 2012, the U.S Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) gave the PSA test a D grade, which discourages many...
It is more and more common for people to wait until their 30s or 40s to have children. Consequently, many young adults have not completed their desired childbearing when they are diagnosed with cancer. Cancer treatments can impair fertility directly (usually via gonadotoxicity from chemotherapy,...
Oophorectomy was the first proposed form of endocrine therapy for women with breast cancer. Over 100 years ago, Thomas Nunn reported a relationship between menopause and regression of breast cancer.1 This incited interest in the induction of menopause as an anticancer therapy, and in 1986, a...
Guest Editor Physiatry in Oncology explores the benefits of cancer rehabilitation in oncology practice to screen survivors for physical and cognitive impairments along the care continuum to minimize survivors’ disability and maximize their quality of life. The column is guest edited by Sean Smith, ...
Moderator of the session, Sam S. Chang, MD, MBA, Professor of Urologic Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, and American Urological Association spokesperson, said that due to these results he would definitely consider this treatment option for both high-risk and African...
A new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study suggests that African American men and men with a higher tumor stage may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy following radical prostatectomy.1 According to prespecified analysis of these two “high–risk” subgroups, patients with ≥ T3b disease had a ...
An adjuvant chemotherapy regimen improved overall survival in early-stage pancreatic cancer patients, in the large phase III European ESPAC-4 study reported at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 The combination of gemcitabine and capecitabine almost doubled the 5-year survival rate, compared to...
For relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, daratumumab (Darzalex), combined with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone, reduced relapses by 61% in the phase III CASTOR study reported at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “The results are unprecedented in a randomized study comparing a novel...
The global economic crisis has been associated with increased unemployment and reduced public-sector expenditure on health care. In a study reported in The Lancet, Maruthappu et al found that the global economic crisis beginning in 2008 was also associated with a large excess in cancer mortality...
In a European phase III noninferiority trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Eichhorst et al found that progression-free survival was better with standard first-line fludarabine/cyclophosphamide/rituximab vs bendamustine/rituximab in fit patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)...
Lung cancer patients with oligometastases, defined as three or fewer sites of metastasis, may benefit from aggressive local therapy, surgery, or radiation, after standard chemotherapy, according to research led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. If validated in larger studies,...
The anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tecentriq) is effective in patients with previously untreated advanced bladder cancer who are not eligible for the standard treatment with cisplatin. According to a nonrandomized phase II trial, atezolizumab shrank...
A biosimilar trastuzumab antibody (MYL-1401O) is comparable in efficacy and safety to trastuzumab (Herceptin) in women with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer, according to a randomized phase III study. The response rates were comparable among women who received trastuzumab and among...
A neighborhood doctor who told a good story was an unwitting mentor to internationally regarded lung cancer expert James L. Mulshine, MD. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Dr. Mulshine relocated with his family to West Hartford, Connecticut, when he was a year old, and except for a brief hiatus on...
The numbers are difficult to fathom. According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in 2015, over 60 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of conflict, persecution, generalized violence, or human rights violations.1 Over 9 million of those ...
Sarcoma therapy is a challenge for oncologists. Soft-tissue sarcomas encompass more than 50 different histologies, resulting in limited familiarity of management for many treating physicians. In addition, there have been few available effective therapies. The phase III trial of eribulin (Halavan) ...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Patrick Schöffski, MD, of University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven Cancer Institute, Belgium, and colleagues found that eribulin (Halaven) improved overall survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma who had received...
A new study of the relationship between physical activity and cancer has shown that greater levels of leisure-time physical activity were associated with a lower risk of developing 13 different types of cancer. The risk of developing seven cancer types was 20%, or more, lower among the...
The recent study by Rosenberg et al in The Lancet—summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post—is a very important paper in the field of bladder cancer therapy.1 It is the first phase II trial in metastatic transitional cell carcinoma that demonstrates the single-agent activity of the...
Renal cell carcinoma is the most common cancer of the kidneys. Up to 30% of patients present with advanced/metastatic disease, and recurrence can develop in patients at high risk treated by nephrectomy for localized tumors. Renal cell carcinoma is notoriously resistant to chemotherapy and...
In the phase III ECOG-ACRIN E2805 trial reported in The Lancet by Naomi B. Haas, MD, of Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, no benefit of adjuvant vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) inhibitor treatment with sunitinib or sorafenib (Nexavar) was...
I like economies of scale, and thus it makes perfect sense that ASCO has set a formal process to allow potential endorsement of selected guidelines from other organizations, rather than redoing the whole process. Recently, we have seen the publication of a formal endorsement of the European...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) met April 12 to consider a New Drug Application by Clovis Oncology for rociletinib, an investigational therapy for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients...
Crizotinib (Xalkori) achieved overall and durable responses in advanced inoperable papillary renal cell carcinoma type 1 characterized by somatic MET mutations, according to an investigator-initiated trial conducted by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).1 “To...
This year’s Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) featured outstanding research in the field of cancer, as well as an inspiring talk by Vice President Joe Biden (see the May 10 issue of The ASCO Post). Here are some summaries of studies that warrant attention; they...
In this installment of Hematology Expert Review, I will summarize five studies from the recent literature addressing important questions about leukemias and their treatment, anticoagulant therapy with the new agent defibrotide (Defitelio), and the use of antilymphocyte globulin to prevent chronic...
The Middle East is a vast region comprised largely of developing nations with complicated sociopolitical challenges, violent internecine disputes, and deeply fragmented health-care systems. Not surprisingly, the region’s suboptimal health care contributes to the late diagnosis and poor survival...
A study found that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with cancer in the United States appear to be less likely to receive cancer treatment, regardless of insurance and other existing health conditions. The study, by researchers at the University of Utah, the National Cancer...
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is an effective tool that can be used for identifying proto-oncogene 1 receptor tyrosine kinase (ROS1) gene rearrangements and screening patients for the administration of the targeted therapy crizotinib (Xalkori), a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Chromosomal...
In a single-center phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Dickson et al found that changing the dose and schedule of palbociclib (Ibrance) from those in a previous phase II trial appeared to maintain activity while potentially reducing hematologic adverse effects in patients with advanced...
The addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to first-line endocrine therapy with letrozole improved progression-free survival but increased toxicity among postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, according to the results of the phase III CALGB 40503/Alliance...
A promising new test is detecting prostate cancer more precisely than current tests by identifying molecular changes in the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) protein, according to Cleveland Clinic research presented at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA)...
In the phase III MAGRIT trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Vansteenkiste et al found that adjuvant therapy with the MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapeutic did not improve disease-free survival in patients with resected MAGE-A3–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The...
On April 14, 2016, an 18-month-old patient with cancer named Baron Yerby flew home to Atlanta after receiving treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. However, instead of flying on a crowded commercial plane with the potential for immune deficiency issues, he and his parents flew on a...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it is expanding its award-winning “The Real Cost” campaign to educate rural white male teenagers about the negative health consequences associated with smokeless tobacco use. For the first time, messages on the dangers of smokeless tobacco...
Myriad Genetics announced results from a study of the prognostic information provided by its Prolaris test in patients with prostate cancer and a Gleason score < 7 at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) (Abstract MP02-20). Prolaris is a novel 46-gene ...
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 March 30, 2016, defibrotide sodium (Defitelio) was approved for...
In the randomized phase II TERRAIN trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Neal D. Shore, MD, of Carolina Urologic Research Center, Myrtle Beach, and colleagues found that use of the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide (Xtandi) more than doubled median progression-free survival vs bicalutamide...