A bacterial toxin may accelerate the spread of colorectal cancer to other parts of the body, according to a recent study published by He et al in Cell Host & Microbiome. The findings could pave the way for novel tools to detect metastatic colorectal cancer early and determine which patients may ...
The antibody loncastuximab tesirine may offer a benefit in patients with high-risk follicular lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma, according to the findings of two clinical trials presented by Alderuccio et al and Lossos et al at the 2024 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting &...
The experimental drug rilzabrutinib was well tolerated and generated an increase in platelet counts among some adults with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) who had not experienced lasting improvements with other available ITP treatments, according to the results of a phase III trial. These findings...
Intense pain on the right side of my lower rib cage, in 2020, sent me first to my chiropractor for relief and then to my primary care provider for tests. Because of the location of the pain, the chiropractor thought I might be having a gallbladder attack, but the results from a urine test showed a ...
The Lindy effect (also known as Lindy’s Law) is a theorized phenomenon by which the future life expectancy of some nonperishable thing, such as a technology or an idea, is proportional to its current age. Thus, the Lindy effect proposes the longer a period something has survived to exist or be used ...
Candace S. Johnson, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, recently announced the appointment of Michael Wong, MD, PhD, FRPC, as the cancer center’s first Physician-in-Chief. Dr. Wong is a medical oncologist and skin cancer expert, who joined...
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 Cameroon. The aim of this special feature is to highlight the global cancer burden for various countries of the...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Sendaydiego et al identified the risks associated with use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in U.S. patients with rheumatoid arthritis. As noted by the investigators, a previous study has shown increased risk of cancer with use of...
Over the past decade, ASCO has focused its resources on advancing health equity for sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals with cancer. In 2017, the Society published a position statement “Strategies for Reducing Cancer Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations,” which...
Improvements in cancer prevention and screening have averted more deaths from five cancer types combined over the past 45 years than treatment advances, according to a modeling study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study, published by Goddard et al in JAMA...
Durvalumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, has shown activity in treating a wide range of cancers and has been proposed as a potentially safer and more effective option than cetuximab, according to Loren K. Mell, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Research at University of ...
Two weeks after the 2024 election, the Presidency and 119th Congress are coming into focus, with nearly all races called. Republican Donald Trump was elected President, and Republicans regained control of the U.S. Senate (53–47) and maintained control in the House of Representatives (218–212 at...
ASCO is calling for pediatric clinical trials to prioritize health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH) data in future trials to improve cancer treatment and survivorship in patients. In a recent position statement, ASCO addresses the need to include SDOH data collection and intervention ...
The soaring number of cancer survivors since the National Cancer Act of 1971 was enacted into law provides a snapshot of the profound progress made against cancer over the past half-century: 3 million survivors in the 1970s,1 compared to more than 18 million today, and that number is expected to...
Researchers from Cleveland Clinic recently presented updated findings from a novel study of a vaccine aimed at preventing triple-negative breast cancer. The findings were presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Annual Meeting.1 According to researchers, including principal...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) honored Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health scientist Mary Hulihan, DrPH, for their leadership on issues of importance to hematology research and practice at the 2024 ASH Annual Meeting &...
At the 2024 JADPRO Live event, which is held annually for advanced practitioners in oncology, high-risk myelofibrosis was a featured topic. “The treatment landscape has developed so much that JADPRO asked us to present our talks on the main stage this year,” said Julie Huynh-Lu, PA-C, Supervisor...
Targeting certain bacterial strains linked to cancer with treatments or vaccines may help to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, urothelial carcinoma, and prostate cancer, according to a novel study published by Mäklin et al in The Lancet Microbiome. Background The bacterium Escherichia coli is...
A recent nationwide survey has confirmed that prior authorization may cause treatment delays, abandoned treatments, hospitalizations, and deaths among patients with cancer, according to an executive summary published by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The findings may reinforce ...
Based on the phase III E3F05 trial, conducted by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), the combination of radiation therapy and temozolomide appeared to be more effective than radiotherapy alone in the treatment of low-grade gliomas. The trial followed 172 patients for more than 10...
Here are some highlights of clinical trials presented at the 2024 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. They include breakthroughs in cancer care, updates in clinical research, and efforts in cancer...
“Artificial intelligence [AI] will be used in all aspects of [lung cancer] screening…, and it continues to get better,” commented topic overview speaker David F. Yankelevitz, MD, Professor of Radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, at the Quantitative Imaging Workshop...
The 2024 Alexander R. Margulis Award for Scientific Excellence honored the authors of a 20-year follow-up study on the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP). The Margulis Award was presented recently during the 2024 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Scientific Assembly ...
Worldwide, more than a billion people have obesity—including 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children1—a rate that has nearly doubled since 1980.2 In the United States alone, about two out of three adults are overweight or have obesity, and one out of three have...
In the phase III IMROZ trial, the addition of the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody isatuximab-irfc to bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (VRd) was more effective than VRd alone as initial therapy in patients ≤ 80 years with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma ineligible for transplant,...
New research has shown that postmenopausal women with low-risk tumors have a long-term benefit for at least 20 years, whereas the benefit was more short-term for younger women with similar tumor characteristics who had not yet gone through menopause. The results were reported in the Journal of the ...
It’s not news that some viruses, including human papillomavirus, human immunodeficiency virus, Epstein-Barr, and hepatitis B, can cause or accelerate the development of cancer. But a recent story in The Washington Post about rare cancers being diagnosed in individuals who had previously been...
In the phase III CEPHEUS trial,1 the achievement of undetectable measurable residual disease (or MRD negativity)—the primary endpoint—was met by 61% of patients with transplant-ineligible or deferred newly diagnosed multiple myeloma treated with the monoclonal antibody daratumumab plus bortezomib, ...
A second-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may offer a new option for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive blood cancer with few treatment options. Results from the phase Ib/II FELIX trial, published by Roddie et al in ...
A recent report highlighted evidence-based recommendations for the prevention, detection, and management of cancer therapy–related cardiovascular toxicity and cardiovascular events in patients with cancer, as well as knowledge gaps. Select considerations are summarized herein. “The European Society ...
Researchers may have uncovered the factors contributing to an increased susceptibility to common infections among patients with cancer receiving checkpoint inhibitors, according to a recent study published by Ogishi et al in Immunity. The findings may provide new insights into immune responses and...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with medical oncologist Yüksel Ürün, MD, about his clinical and research career in oncology. Dr. Ürün is Professor of Medicine at the Ankara University School of Medicine in Turkey. After...
The final overall survival analysis of the phase III PRIMA trial found no survival benefit for maintenance niraparib over placebo in advanced ovarian cancer. However, the PARP inhibitor continued to exert a sustained progression-free survival benefit, investigators reported at the European Society...
Researchers have demonstrated that a targeted intervention may increase screening rates in patients who do not adhere to current colorectal cancer screening recommendations, according to a recent study published by Reuland et al in JAMA Network Open. Background Colorectal cancer screening is often...
Both radiation and temozolomide may have meaningful single-modality antitumor activity against slow-growing, low-grade gliomas, according to recent findings presented by Schiff et al at the 2024 Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting (Abstract LTBK-07) and simultaneously published in...
In the final per-protocol analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-811 trial, an overall survival benefit was shown by adding the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab to trastuzumab and chemotherapy in treatment-naive, unresectable, HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.1...
Neoadjuvant therapy for patients with resectable stage III melanoma has recently emerged as a better approach than resection plus adjuvant therapy. At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024, updates of pivotal neoadjuvant studies demonstrated the long-standing benefit of...
Initial analysis from the PEACE-3 trial suggests that the addition of radium-223 dichloride to enzalutamide could offer a promising new first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to data presented by lead study author, Silke Gillessen,...
An updated overall survival analysis of the phase III HIMALAYA study, now at 5 years, confirms the benefit for the STRIDE regimen of the monoclonal antibodies durvalumab plus tremelimumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.1 [The STRIDE regimen consists of a single priming dose of...
The combination of the VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared with TACE alone, according to...
Late-breaking findings from the phase IIIb/IV, open-label DESTINY-Breast12 trial support the use of the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer and brain metastases who have experienced disease progression on at least...
For women with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, KEYNOTE-522 changed the treatment paradigm several years ago. Support for neoadjuvant use of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab, was bolstered by the positive overall survival analysis...
A 3-week moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy regimen has been found to be noninferior to the 5-week fractionation when irradiating nodal areas in patients with breast cancer, according to data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024.1 The 5-year results of...
In the neoadjuvant I-SPY2.2 trial, a treatment strategy including the antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), partnered with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab, yielded a high pathologic complete response rate, especially in immune-positive and ‘all-negative’ subtypes.1...
My twin brother and I were adopted at 18 months old, so I don’t know the medical history of our biological parents and family. But for certain, cancer has played an integral—and heartbreaking—role in my life. Both of my adoptive parents were diagnosed with genitourinary cancers at relatively early ...
In earlier issues of The ASCO Post, we shared unique insights from recipients of the International Development and Education Award (IDEA), whose experiences at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (ASCO24) had a profound impact on their professional and personal growth. Here are more reflections from...
At the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, Rebecca D. Kehm, PhD, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, and colleagues presented some of the ...
Functional precision medicine—in which information is obtained from direct perturbations of tumor-derived living cells that enable immediate translatable, personalized data to guide patient therapy—has its roots dating back more than 50 years.1 However, advances in two- and three-dimensional...
The multicenter phase III -CARMEN-LC03 trial did not meet its dual primary endpoints of progression-free and overall survival with the CEACAM5-directed antibody-drug conjugate tusamitamab ravtansine vs standard chemotherapy with docetaxel in previously treated patients with advanced nonsquamous...
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) submitted comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in response to the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability (HTI-2) proposed...