“Pregnancy confers a dual effect” on breast cancer risk, “with an initial transient increased risk for breast cancer that is followed by long-term protection over time,” Luis Zabala Blanco, Jr, MD, noted in an update on the pathology of pregnancy-associated breast cancer, which was presented at the ...
“I knew my husband was dying in June. He’d been living with a terminal diagnosis for 6 years, but suddenly his cancer turned aggressive…. The last time we saw the oncologist, he sent us home with a DNR order and told me to put it on the refrigerator, because that’s where the EMTs look,” writes...
Breast cancer specialist Brittany L. Bychkovsky, MD, MSc, grew up primarily in Kansas; however, given that her father was a pilot, her childhood was not wholly centered in the Sunflower State. “When I was 12 years old, my mom, who was a schoolteacher, was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. Her ...
Guest Editor’s Note: In October, the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) held its 2022 Annual International Conference in a hybrid format (virtual and in Scottsdale, Arizona). It was centered on the basic science, education and training, and implementation of integrative oncology in diverse...
The ASCO Post is pleased to continue this occasional special focus on the worldwide cancer burden. In this issue, we feature a close look at the cancer incidence and mortality rates in Bolivia. The aim of this special feature is to highlight the global cancer burden for various countries of the...
The National Academy of Medicine recently announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated...
On October 25, 2022, the bispecific B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CD3 T-cell engager teclistamab-cqyv was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome...
The repercussions from the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, to overturn Roe v Wade, effectively ending a nearly 50-year federal constitutional right to an abortion and allowing instead states to determine abortion access, are starting to be felt in the cancer care community. The ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Panattoni et al found that patients dying from cancer located in Washington State who were insured by Medicaid were more likely to die at home without hospice services during the COVID-19 pandemic than those with commercial insurance. Study...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, a physician-scientist who currently serves as President of the City of Hope National Medical Center and the Deana and Steve Campbell Physician-in-Chief...
On June 22, 2022, dabrafenib in combination with trametinib was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adult and pediatric patients (aged 6 and older) with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with BRAF V600E mutation whose disease progressed following prior treatment and who have no...
In addition to, or instead of, receiving therapies that are the standard of care, patients with cancer sometimes request to receive complementary (therapies used in conjunction with standard cancer treatment) and alternative (nonstandard treatments used in place of standard cancer treatment)...
From November 11 to 15, delegates from ASCO participated in the 2022 Interim Meeting of the American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD). The AMA HOD is the principal policy-making body of AMA and meets twice a year to discuss pressing issues and establish policies the AMA uses...
The use of circulating tumor cell counts to guide the choice between chemotherapy and endocrine therapy as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic, estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer provided overall survival benefits compared with physician’s choice of treatment,...
The next-generation selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) camizestrant improved progression-free survival compared to fulvestrant in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to results from the phase II SERENA-2 trial presented by Mafalda Oliveira, MD,...
Patients with breast cancer who paused their endocrine therapy while attempting to conceive experienced short-term rates of breast cancer recurrence similar to patients with breast cancer who did not pause their therapy for pregnancy—and many of them went on to conceive and deliver healthy babies,...
In patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who are resistant to aromatase inhibitors, the addition of the investigational AKT inhibitor capivasertib to fulvestrant doubled the median progression-free survival compared with placebo plus fulvestrant, according to results...
Chemotherapy-induced hair loss affects 65% of patients with cancer,1 and the psychosocial impact on these patients can be profound; it may include anxiety, depression, a negative body image, lowered self-esteem, and a reduced sense of well-being.2 In some instances, the fear of hair loss from...
Invited discussant Erica Michelle Stringer-Reasor, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, said the exploratory analysis of KEYNOTE-522 established the value of using residual...
An exploratory analysis of KEYNOTE-522, which established the benefit of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer, has now provided data to further describe prognosis and possibly guide treatment.1 In the study, presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting,...
Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses phase II results from the TRIO-US B-12 TALENT study, which showed that patients with localized, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-low breast cancer who are treated with fam-trastuzumab...
The HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) showed activity in patients with heavily pretreated HER3-expressing metastatic breast cancer in a phase I/II study. Ian E. Krop, MD, PhD, Associate Director, Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, presented these...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Patrick M. Forde, MB, BCh, of Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 816 trial has shown improved pathologic complete response rate and event-free survival with the addition of nivolumab to platinum-based...
On September 21, 2022, selpercatinib was granted accelerated approval for adults with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors with RET gene fusion whose disease has progressed on or following prior systemic treatment or who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.1 On the same day,...
Molecular testing and genomic testing are now considered standard of care in breast cancer, guiding treatment decisions in early breast cancer and targeted therapies in the metastatic setting. “But tumors evolve,” Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc, reminded participants at the 2022 Lynn Sage Breast...
Discussant of the abstract on electronic symptom management, Therese M. Mulvey, MD, FASCO, Director of Breast Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital North Shore Cancer Center, Boston, said the SIMPRO study showed that electronic patient-reported outcomes can be implemented into real-world...
Routine monitoring in the real world may help to identify patients with cancer who are experiencing challenging symptoms, without significantly disrupting clinical workload, according to data presented during the 2022 ASCO Quality Care Symposium.1,2 The analysis of nearly 40,000 patient-reported...
Ruth O’Regan, MD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center, discusses the Breast Cancer Index (BCI), a genomic assay that can assess the risk of late distant recurrence (5–10 years after diagnosis) of hormone receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer. Among premenopausal women with this...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, and colleagues, the second interim overall survival analysis of the phase III IMspire150 trial has shown a numeric but statistically nonsignificant improvement with the addition of first-line atezolizumab to vemurafenib and cobimetinib in ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Sonneveld et al, the final overall survival analysis of the phase III CASTOR trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit with daratumumab plus bortezomib/dexamethasone (D-Vd) vs bortezomib/dexamethasone alone (Vd) in patients with...
A silicone-based polyurethane film dressing (known as Mepitel® Film) appears to be beneficial in reducing skin toxicities caused by radiation treatment, according to data presented during the October 2022 ASCO Plenary Series.1 The results of a phase III trial showed that this film dressing may be...
Compared with capecitabine-based regimens, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) led to higher response rates and longer survival in the third-line setting for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer previously treated with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), according to results from ...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recognized the recipients of its 2022 Gold Medal awards and other high-profile honors during an awards ceremony at the 2022 ASTRO Annual Meeting in San Antonio. ASTRO Gold Medal Wendell R. Lutz, PhD, and Tim R. Williams, MD, FASTRO, were awarded...
Second-line treatment with fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) led to significantly longer overall survival compared with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to updated results from the DESTINY-Breast03 phase III clinical trial...
Iris C. Gibbs, MD, FACR, FASTRO, of Stanford Medicine in California and Chair of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Council on Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, was an invited discussant for this study on physician assessment of sexual dysfunction in women vs men receiving...
Many radiation oncologists tend to discuss the sexual side effects of radiation therapy, specifically brachytherapy, with men more often than with women, according to a two-part study reported at the 2022 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting.1 At a high-volume cancer...
Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) given prior to sorafenib improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and time to disease progression in patients with unresectable advanced hepatocellular cancer vs sorafenib alone, including those with macrovascular invasion, according to the...
According to a recent article published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, cancer care in the United States exceeded $208 billion in 2020 and is expected to surpass $240 billion by 2030.1 These estimates are driven largely by a growing and aging population. The expenditures...
The statistics are grim: Worldwide, pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer and the seventh leading cause of cancer mortality.1 In the United States, the malignancy has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. It is currently the third leading cause of cancer-related death after...
Formal discussant of the PCS5 trial, Sophia C. Kamran, MD, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, said the goal of trials like this one is to optimize...
In patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer—including patients with visceral crises—those treated with ribociclib plus endocrine therapy had fewer adverse events and significantly longer progression-free survival compared to those treated with combination...
The incidence of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) has surged in recent years—possibly because of the growing use of textured breast implants. Considering this trend, some patients with breast cancer who undergo mastectomy may wonder if the benefits of getting reconstructive implants are worth...
In a retrospective study reported in JAMA Oncology, Rakaee et al found that tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels ascertained via machine learning–based scoring on standard histologic images were associated with response in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for non–small...
Residual tumors from Black patients with estrogen receptor–positive/HER2-negative primary breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a higher risk score associated with a biomarker of distant metastatic recurrence compared with tumors from White patients, according to new findings...
Among premenopausal patients with hormone receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer enrolled in the SOFT trial, those with a high score on the Breast Cancer Index genomic assay had an increased risk of distant recurrence—and those with a low score on the Breast Cancer Index may have benefited...
Non-Hispanic Black patients with lymph node–positive, hormone receptor (HR)–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer experienced worse outcomes compared with the outcomes of non-Hispanic White, Asian, and Hispanic patients—despite similar 21-gene recurrence scores—according to new findings presented by ...
On December 5, Novartis announced the pivotal phase III PSMAfore study of lutetium (Lu-177) vipivotide tetraxetan, a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radioligand therapy, met its primary endpoint. The therapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Laetsch et al, the 3-year update of the phase II ELIANA trial showed durable responses and a manageable safety profile with tisagenlecleucel for the treatment of pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute...
In a cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Chen et al found that postmenopausal breast cancer survivors with exercise patterns categorized as active or moderately active had significantly reduced risk for all-cause mortality compared to those with patterns categorized as insufficiently...
On December 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved olutasidenib (Rezlidhia) capsules for adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible IDH1 mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA also approved the Abbott RealTime IDH1...