ASCO has issued a new update to its living guideline regarding therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without driver alterations, based on results of three studies published recently.1 The update (the first since a previous version in February 2025) includes discussion of...
I’ve been blessed to have remained healthy for most of my life. In fact, I can’t remember ever spending a night in the hospital until I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, at age 86, in the summer of 2024. And even then, the symptoms that drove me to seek care in the emergency room of my local...
The risk of death does not appear to increase with the use of menopausal hormone therapy in women with early-onset, BRCA-mutated breast cancer who began hormone supplementation after diagnosis, based on preliminary data presented during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “Management of early surgical...
Nothing about us without us is a centuries-old value that is a cornerstone of meaningful patient engagement in clinical research. Such engagement has not been automatic and is still largely absent in geriatric oncology research, where older patients traditionally have been excluded from clinical...
A large prospective cohort study conducted by Ye and Kang et al and published in JAMA Network Open found that, after adjusting for familial and other cancer-related factors, interstitial lung disease (ILD) was associated with an increased risk of developing most histologic subtypes of lung cancer....
Higher ambient exposure to a type of inhalable, fine particulate matter was found to be associated with an increased risk of cancer-related death for patients who were diagnosed with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) while living in California—a state where wildfires are becoming more prevalent,...
The members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently elected four new officers to ASTRO’s Board of Directors: Catheryn M. Yashar, MD, FASTRO, President-Elect Jonathan Strauss, MD, MBA, Secretary/Treasurer-Elect Anita Mahajan, MD, FASTRO, Health Policy Council Vice Chair...
The 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting included the presentation of data from more than 7,000 abstracts and clinical trials set to advance research, uncover findings, and in some cases change the standard of practice across multiple tumor types, moving science forward and improving care for the more than 2...
In patients with resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, perioperative treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab in combination with standard chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 29% in the phase III MATTERHORN trial. The...
The addition of radiation may be able to surmount resistance to immunotherapy for some more immunologically “cold” tumors, as suggested by the findings of a study focused on the immunomodulatory effects of radiation in non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). The research was recently published in...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) and its advocacy affiliate the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) have announced Shane Jacobson as their Chief Executive Officer, effective August 12, 2025. He steps into the role following Wayne A.I. Frederick, MD, MBA, FACS, who has served as ...
How ER-positive, HER2-positive breast cancer tumors respond to a short course of hormonal treatment may help to determine whether more aggressive treatment options are necessary for each patient or not, according to translational findings published in eBioMedicine. Tumor subtype changes after 2...
A new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found that proposed cuts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could lower the number of new drugs that come to market in the next 3 decades. The report comes as Congress considers President Trump’s proposed budget for...
A retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open revealed that biomarker testing rates among patients with advanced cancer have increased over time but remain suboptimal, despite established guideline recommendations and growing insurance coverage for testing. DaCosta Byfield et al noted...
Researchers have discovered that most cancer survivors do not make significant improvements to their diet or eating habits after their cancer diagnosis, according to findings published in Public Health Nutrition. Despite their cancer diagnosis, there was no significant difference in diet-related...
COVID-19 vaccine boosters for adult patients with cancer helped to keep these patients from being hospitalized or admitted to intensive care units due to severe COVID-19 infections, according to the results of a retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Oncology. “Cancer patients are a...
As reported in JAMA Network Open by Mamtani et al, a retrospective cohort study of patients with metastatic urothelial cancer showed population-level increases in survival after the introduction of novel cancer therapeutics—immune checkpoint inhibitors (ie, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab) and...
In a proof-of-concept study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, researchers investigated whether artificial intelligence (AI) models such as ChatGPT-4 can be used to accurately extract and classify diagnostic data from radiologic imaging reports of pancreatic cysts. The...
Living near Coldwater Creek in St. Louis, Missouri, during childhood was found to be associated with an increased risk of overall cancer, according to the findings of a study published in JAMA Network Open. “Our research indicates that the communities around North St. Louis appear to have had...
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly impacted treatment options for a wide range of cancers given their efficacy, especially among cancer types that are considered immunologically “hot.” With this broad benefit across many tumor types, researchers continue to look for ways to...
New survey findings highlight that the anxiety caused by a cancer diagnosis extends far beyond just the patient diagnosed. The emotional impact is shared by caregivers and loved ones, with stress, grief, and worry over treatments, pain, and life expectancy weighing heavily on these individuals,...
Aprepitant, a commonly used antiemetic, led to improvements in patient outcomes when given during chemotherapy treatment for patients with non-luminal early breast cancer. Patients showed better prognoses and survival advantages, particularly among those with triple-negative breast cancer. Study...
Researchers have developed a novel AI-powered online platform for diagnosing endocrine cancers with speed and accuracy. The AI models achieved diagnostic accuracy of 99% or more in recognizing multiple endocrine tumors. Reports of the development and validation of the models were presented at ENDO...
A new study presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society (ENDO 2025) found that individuals with acromegaly—an endocrine disorder caused by excessive growth hormone secretion—are at a significantly heightened risk of developing various types of cancer, often at younger ages...
Teclistamab-cqyv is the first bispecific T-cell engager antibody that targets both B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) proteins on myeloma cells and CD3 proteins on T cells. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2022 for treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple...
Patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that has metastasized to the brain were safely and successfully treated with targeted stereotactic radiation (SRT) rather than whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) in a phase II trial, demonstrating the practicality of a less-invasive approach for...
The TRUST trial is the first phase III randomized study to show improved progression-free survival for primary cytoreductive surgery compared with interval surgery without compromising short-term or long-term quality of life, although the study failed to meet its primary endpoint of overall...
A neoadjuvant and adjuvant regimen of anti–PD-1 therapy with nivolumab and anti–LAG-3 therapy with relatlimab led to a 4-year event-free survival rate of 80% in patients with advanced, resectable melanoma, according to long-term findings from a phase II study published in the Journal of Clinical...
A recent study out of Sweden found that people diagnosed with nonmetastatic low-risk prostate cancer later in life were 90% more likely to survive their cancer for their remaining life expectancy if they were treated according to NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines). Of...
Corticosteroids, which are commonly prescribed to alleviate cancer-related symptoms in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immunotherapy, may be the reason certain immunotherapies fail in treating the disease, according to new research published by Polyakov et al in Cancer ...
Over the past 20 years, increased understanding of the biological mechanism of disease has led to improved treatment options for all malignancies. Within each disease subtype, we have molecularly characterized tumors and developed specific treatment algorithms to optimize patient outcomes. Among...
Treating drinking water for multiple contaminants, especially arsenic and chromium-6, could prevent more than 50,000 cancer cases in the United States, according to the results of a study by the Environmental Working Group that was published in Environmental Research. Study findings highlighted...
People who have survived cancer as children may be at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection—even decades after their cancer diagnosis, according to results published by Louro et al in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. Thanks to medical advances, more and more children are...
Mammograms can detect breast cancer early before symptoms appear, and regular screening decreases the risk of dying from breast cancer. But a recent survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania shows that some Americans appear to be confused about...
Patients with ovarian clear cell carcinoma harboring PPP2R1A mutations showed significantly improved survival when treated with immunotherapy compared with those without PPP2R1A mutations, according to study findings published in Nature. Preclinical findings from the study also suggested that...
Investigators have found that two common types of hormone therapy may alter breast cancer risk in women before age 55. Women treated with unopposed estrogen hormone therapy (E-HT) were less likely to develop the disease than those who did not use this type of hormone therapy. Additionally, women...
The 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting has officially concluded. Our sincere thanks to the global oncology community and ASCO for creating such a remarkable forum advancing cancer care. Here we highlight the most impactful updates in genitourinary tumors from this year’s meeting. Kidney Cancer: Long-Term...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) focuses on the use of radiation therapy for adults with World Health Organization (WHO) grade 4 diffuse gliomas, a category that includes some of the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumors. The...
Injection with botulinum toxin (BTX) type A (IncoA) plus transdermal scopolamine led to the reduction in radiation-induced salivary gland toxicity without compromising PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen) tumor uptake in patients with metastatic prostate cancer who were receiving...
Researchers have uncovered a biomarker that may determine response to cytokine-induced killer-cell therapy and survival in patients with colorectal cancer, according to a recent study published by Li et al in The Journal of Immunology. Background Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of...
The Association for Molecular Pathology has introduced best practice recommendations for clinical laboratories developing and performing homologous recombination deficiency testing, according to new guidelines published by Hsiao et al in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. Background Homologous...
Breast cancer survivors may have a slightly lower risk of developing Alzheimer dementia compared with cancer-free individuals, according to the results of a study published by Jeong et al in JAMA Network Open. “The risk of Alzheimer dementia is a crucial aspect of overall well-being among breast...
A combination of menin inhibition and KAT6A/7 inhibition significantly improved survival for NUP98-rearranged pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in AML model systems, even in menin inhibitor–resistant cells, according to findings published in Cancer Discovery. The MYST gene family histone...
New reporting in The Cancer Atlas, Fourth Edition, showed that an estimated 50% of all cancer deaths worldwide are attributed to modifiable risk factors, including tobacco and alcohol use, infections, excess body weight, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, ultraviolet radiation, environmental...
A novel immuno–positron-emission tomography (immunoPET) imaging agent targeting GPC3 demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in detecting GPC3-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors, including those under 1 cm, according to the results of a pilot clinical study presented at the...
In patients with polycythemia vera requiring frequent phlebotomies, the investigational hepcidin mimetic rusfertide, given as a weekly subcutaneous injection, more than doubled the clinical response rate and significantly improved quality of life in the global phase III VERIFY study.1 These...
In 2022, I had a computed tomography (CT) coronary calcium scan to see whether there were any signs of narrowing or blockage in my heart arteries. Heart disease runs in my family. My father died of a heart attack the year before, and I worried that I was at risk for the same fate. It was a complete ...
The number of people living with a history of cancer in the United States is estimated at 18.6 million as of January 1, 2025, and projected to exceed 22 million by 2035, according to a new report, Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Statistics, 2025, led by the American Cancer Society (ACS). The...
Guest Editor’s Note: Although guidelines recommend adjuvant combination chemotherapy for patients with stage II and III colon cancer who are at high risk of disease recurrence, fewer than 50% complete treatment because of fear of adverse effects or symptom burden. The herbal formula Jianpi Bushen ...
Besides relapse of the malignant disease, graft-vs-host disease is still one of the greatest concerns, in terms of adverse effects, following a hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in a patient with a hematologic malignancy. To mitigate these concerns, investigators are continually analyzing ...