Survivors of childhood cancer who become pregnant in adulthood are as likely to have healthy babies as those without a history of cancer, according to a new study published by Zgardau et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Their children also don’t have higher risks of birth defects ...
"One of the great advocates for the poorest and sickest of our planet.” —Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu “Our mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. By establishing long-term relationships with sister organizations ...
In a Canadian population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gupta et al found that survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers were not at a greater risk of COVID-19 infection or severe complications of infection compared with matched controls without cancer....
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Janna A. Hol, MD, and colleagues found that (epi)genetic predisposing factors could be identified in one-third of children diagnosed with Wilms tumor. As stated by the investigators, “Wilms tumor is associated with (epi)genetic...
Partners In Health announced that its founder, Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, unexpectedly passed away on February 21 in Rwanda from an acute cardiac event. He was 62 years old. Dr. Farmer was the Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard...
Nearly 200 years ago, Thomas Hodgkin for the first time described a peculiar disease with undulating fever, enlarged lymph nodes, and a big spleen. Its nature was obscure. It was a fatal illness, affecting mainly young adults and children. In 1865, Samuel Wilks named this illness Hodgkin’s...
A new study published by Zhou et al in JAMA Network Open independently verified the value of a system that assesses hepatoblastoma risk in children. The researchers also discovered the potential for tumor histology to predict a patient’s hepatoblastoma prognosis. Hepatoblastoma is a rare childhood ...
Patients with cancer undergoing active treatment were more likely to believe misinformation related to COVID-19 than those without a history of cancer, according to a new study published by Guidry et al in Patient Education and Counseling. “These findings help us better understand the threat of...
Guest Editor’s Note: Mindfulness has gained immense popularity in recent years. Growing evidence suggests the benefits of mindfulness-based practices, which include concentration meditation and guided imagery, for managing symptoms associated with cancer and its treatments. In this article,...
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are studying the impact of genetic ancestry on childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The scientists assembled an international cohort to determine how genetic ancestry affects leukemia biology and outcomes for modern therapy; they found...
Thousands of schools transitioned to online learning in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time many children with cancer faced significant challenges with their schooling. An opinion paper by Johns Hopkins experts, published by Thornton et al in JAMA Pediatrics, highlights some of the ...
In a phase II trial (Children’s Oncology Group AALL1621) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, O’Brien et al found that inotuzumab ozogamicin produced a high response rate in children and adolescents with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Study Details In the ...
In a Danish nationwide cohort study reported in JAMA, Hargreave et al found no association between maternal hormonal contraception use and risk of central nervous system (CNS) tumors in children. As stated by the investigators, “The incidence of CNS tumors in children appears to be increasing, yet...
In analyses from the European EuroNet-PHL-C1 study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Mauz-Körholz et al found that radiotherapy could be omitted in pediatric patients with intermediate- or advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma who had adequate response to induction with OEPA (vincristine,...
In an analysis from the Pediatric Real-World Chimeric Antigen Receptor Consortium reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schultz et al found that pretreatment high disease burden was associated with poorer outcomes in pediatric and young adult patients who received commercial...
Today, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) published significant updates to the expert consensus recommendations on vaccination and preexposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 for people with cancer. The NCCN Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination and Preexposure Prophylaxis meets...
On January 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to expand the use of a single booster dose to include use in individuals aged 12 to 15 years; shorten the time between the completion of primary...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized three Choosing Wisely Champions—individuals working to tackle the overuse of hematology tests and treatments—at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition, held December 11–14 in Atlanta. Choosing Wisely is an initiative that seeks to advance a...
In an analysis from the Children’s Oncology Group AAML1031 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lamble et al found that increased CD123 expression was associated with high-risk genetic alterations and poorer treatment outcomes in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid...
The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed some aspects of health care forever. At the 2021 JADPRO Live Virtual event, a panel discussion focused on how several cancer centers faced challenges, and what changes the participants view as positive.1 JADPRO Live is an annual educational conference for...
A review article by Pfister et al published in Cancer Discovery summarizes the inaugural classification of pediatric tumors soon to be published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as part of the new World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumors series, including an online ...
In a single-institution phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Furman et al found that the addition of the humanized antidisialoganglioside monoclonal antibody hu14.18K322A to chemotherapy produced high rates of early and end-of-induction response and event-free survival in...
A study of nearly 25,000 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) aged up to 30 years old revealed significant gaps in survival rates between White, Hispanic, and Black patients, as well as worse outcomes among those of lower socioeconomic status. Biologic or genetic factors accounted for...
“Good evening, doc; I wanted to check on you and update you on my mom” read the text message on a late Thursday afternoon. I recognized the sender; it was not uncommon for me to share my cell phone number with patients and their families. Having been a caretaker of my own parents’ medical needs, I...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is proud to announce three recipients of this year’s Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research. The prize recognizes a new generation of leaders in cancer research who are making significant contributions to the understanding of cancer or are improving the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Myers et al found that lack of response to prior blinatumomab treatment was associated with poorer outcomes with CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (CD19-CAR) in children and young adults with relapsed or refractory...
Sarcoma Alliance for Research Through Collaboration (SARC) recently announced the appointment of Jonathan Fletcher, MD, as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). This is a new role at the nonprofit cancer research organization, a leader in collaborative discovery, translational research, and clinical...
Tools that make it easier for patients to access care and for their physicians to monitor their health status have also emerged with the advent of digital resources. In the closing panel of the NCCN Policy Summit, participants described tools developed by their own organizations to improve quality...
Although cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs), defined by the National Cancer Institute as those between the ages of 15 and 39, is relatively rare—in 2020 nearly 90,000 AYAs were diagnosed with cancer and about 9,300 died of the disease1—and 5-year relative survival rates are high, between ...
When I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of my left femur nearly 20 years ago, I remember telling my parents that I didn’t want to die. The diagnosis was terrifying because all the people I knew who had cancer had passed away, and I thought this cancer would kill me, too. That evening, my dad went...
A clinical trial recently published by Kutny et al in JAMA Oncology found that the combination of all-trans retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide was highly effective in children with standard- and high-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Nearly all patients in the trial survived for 2 years...
Most children and adolescents with cancer have mild COVID-19 disease and make a full recovery, a new study by Haeusler et al in the European Journal of Cancer has found. But pediatric patients with cancer and underlying health conditions, severe infections, and low white blood cell counts were...
Patients with two out of the three most common types of advanced breast cancer now have an average survival time of at least 5 years, according to a panel of experts at the Advanced Breast Cancer Sixth International Consensus Conference (ABC6), which was held virtually this year. The Advanced...
The AACR Cancer Progress Report 2021, published on October 13, celebrates the gains made in cancer research since President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law on December 23, 1971, especially against such life-threatening cancers as metastatic melanoma and lung cancer.1 The...
About 10 years ago, on a flight to Detroit, while returning from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, I had a conversation with Lori Pierce, MD, FASTRO, FASCO, radiation oncologist at the University of Michigan, who went on to become ASCO President for the 2020–2021 term. I recall inviting her...
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, MD, honored the late Henrietta Lacks with a WHO Director-General’s award, recognizing her world-changing legacy. Ms. Lacks, a Black American woman, died of cervical cancer 70 years ago, on October 4, 1951. While she...
“A lot of times, younger bright physicians are afraid to say what they really think, out of fear of challenging the dogma. One of the things I do when mentoring is to ask why we are doing a particular therapy or intervention. I tell my mentees not to let the data interfere with your knowledge,”...
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Aleix Prat, MD, PhD, Head of the Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Dr. Prat, a breast cancer researcher, is currently working to identify strategies to tailor treatment for...
On October 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include children aged 5 through 11 years. The authorization was based on the FDA’s thorough and transparent evaluation of the data that...
Although overall cancer cases are declining, they are on the rise in older adolescents and young adults (AYAs). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) recently announced the establishment of the Lisa and Scott Stuart Center for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers (the Stuart Center), expanding ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
The number of deaths related to breast cancer are increasing at an alarming pace worldwide. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) 2020 report, approximately 2,088,849 new cases and 627,000 deaths related to breast cancer occurred in 2018.1 More than 55% of these deaths occurred in low- to ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sabnis et al analyzed characteristics of genomically targeted single-patient use requests for investigational agents for the treatment of pediatric cancers. These requests were made from pediatric cancer programs over a 5-year period. As...
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, MD, honored the late Henrietta Lacks with a WHO Director-General’s award, recognizing her world-changing legacy. Ms. Lacks, a Black American woman, died of cervical cancer 70 years ago, on October 4, 1951. While she...
The AACR Cancer Progress Report 2021 celebrates the gains made in cancer research since the National Cancer Act was signed into law on December 23, 1971. The report also recognizes the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on cancer research and patient care, the disproportionate toll both...
In a German nationwide register-based cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dutzmann et al found that risk of developing cancer by age 18 exceeded 10% in children with Fanconi anemia or ataxia-telangiectasia. Study Details The study involved data on 421 patients with Fanconi...
A study that tracked parental opinion about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine showed that after hesitancy decreased for several years, hesitancy has now either stabilized or increased in some ethnic and age groups, according to results presented by Adjei Boakye et al at the 14th AACR...
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently examining pembrolizumab for the adjuvant treatment of stage IIB and IIC melanoma; if approved, we would be introducing immunotherapy earlier in the patient journey,” commented invited discussant Omid Hamid, MD (@OmidHamidMD), who was an...
Adjuvant pembrolizumab reduced the risk of recurrence in adults and children older than age 12 with high-risk stage II (AJCC 8th edition, stage IIB/IIC) melanoma vs placebo, according to a late-breaking interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-716 trial, presented during the European Society for...
The resurging COVID-19 pandemic has reawakened challenges for patients and physicians—ones we all hoped were over—and presented stressful situations for patients and providers. Hospitals in some states, particularly those with lower vaccination rates, have faced levels of urgent illness that have...