On July 21, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with lenvatinib (Lenvima) for patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR). These patients must have ...
A screening tool used to evaluate the need for endometrial cancer biopsies in women frequently misses the signs of this cancer in Black women, according to a new study published by Kemi M. Doll, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology. Dr. Doll, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington...
A report published by Oba et al in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer shares new data on combining standard treatment for breast cancer with a particular form of cancer immunotherapy—dendritic cell vaccines. The study is reportedly the first to demonstrate that in situ dendritic cell vaccines...
A study published by D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, and colleagues in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology has helped to define MET amplification as a rare but potentially actionable driver for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Dr. Camidge said many of the major developments in the treatment of NSCLC have ...
A phase II study published by Kanwal Raghav, MBBS, MD, and colleagues in Cancer Discovery found that combination treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab and the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab was well tolerated and resulted in a 40% objective response rate in patients with advanced malignant...
A study from the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) estimates that annual costs associated with metastatic breast cancer treatment among women in the United States will total $152.4 billion in 2030—nearly two and a half times the estimate for 2015 costs—due to an increase ...
On July 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved belumosudil (Rezurock), a kinase inhibitor, for adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with chronic graft-vs-host disease after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy. KD025-213 Efficacy was evaluated in ...
Terry P. Mamounas, MD, MPH, of the University of Florida Health Cancer Center, discusses results from the NRG Oncology/NSABP B-42 study, which examined the Breast Cancer Index and its ability to predict whether extended treatment with letrozole benefits patients with hormone receptor–positive...
Researchers have found that specific intestinal microbiota signatures may correlate with high-grade adverse events and response to combined CTLA-4 and PD-1 blockade treatment. The study, published by Andrews et al in Nature Medicine, also identified a potential new strategy to treat toxicity—while...
Melinda L. Telli, MD, of Stanford University, discusses results of a phase II study on neoadjuvant talazoparib in germline BRCA1/2 mutation–positive, early HER2-negative breast cancer. In this setting, talazoparib monotherapy was active and yielded pathologic complete response rates comparable to...
In a U.S. and Swiss study, nearly all patients with cancer developed an immune response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines 3 to 4 weeks after receiving their second dose. However, a small group of the patients exhibited no response, raising questions about how their protection against the virus will be...
More research into the efficacy of a modified ketogenic diet may be beneficial for people with brain tumors, according to a new study published by Schreck et al in the journal Neurology. The diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, led to changes in the metabolism in the body and the...
Paul G. Richardson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses challenges patients with multiple myeloma have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the research he and his international colleagues are conducting to better understand these difficulties and improve patient care.
Obese patients with colorectal cancer receive lower cumulative doses of adjuvant chemotherapy relative to their body surface area than nonobese patients, according to results from a large meta-analysis reported by Slawinski et al at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2021 (Abstract...
Today, ASCO and the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) jointly released new Oncology Medical Home (OMH) standards, which provide a comprehensive roadmap for oncology practices to deliver high-quality, evidence-based cancer care. These standards, which were published by Woofter et al in JCO Oncology...
Trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki demonstrated clinically meaningful benefit across specific subgroups of patients with HER2-positive and HER2-low advanced gastric cancer, according to findings from a post hoc exploratory biomarker analysis presented by Kohei Shitara, MD, and colleagues at the ESMO World ...
Mount Sinai Health System has recruited an internationally recognized expert in the management of breast cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated malignancies, Joseph A. Sparano, MD, FACP, as Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Deputy Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute...
Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, has been named Executive Director of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. An internationally renowned thoracic oncologist and physician-scientist, Dr. Ramalingam has served as Winship’s Deputy Director since 2016. He began his new post on July 1. Dr. Ramalingam...
Martin H. Dreyling, MD, PhD, of University Hospital Munich Grosshadern Klinikum, discusses phase II results from the ELARA trial, which suggests tisagenlecleucel may be a promising immunotherapy for adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (Abstract S210).
Pediatric melanoma is a rare disease, with only around 400 cases diagnosed in the United States every year. To better understand this disease and how best to treat it, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists created a registry called Molecular Analysis of Childhood MELanocytic Tumors...
Black men most likely to benefit from advanced prostate cancer therapies are 11% less likely to receive them than non-Black men. This happens despite apparent equal opportunities in obtaining health-care services, a new study focused on American veterans has shown. Disparities Exposed Published by...
On July 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj (Darzalex Faspro) in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy including lenalidomide and a...
Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare, announced that Navneet Majhail, MD, MS, FASTCT, has been named Deputy Physician-in-Chief of Blood Cancers for the Sarah Cannon Transplant and Cellular Therapy Network (formerly the Sarah Cannon Blood Cancer Network). In his role, Dr. Majhail...
Heather Wakelee, MD, will assume the role of President of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) at the upcoming IASLC 2021 World Conference on Lung Cancer Denver, Worldwide Virtual Event (WCLC 2021) on September 8 to 14, 2021. Dr. Wakelee has been President-Elect of...
Albert Einstein Cancer Center (AECC), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Montefiore Health System have announced that cancer biologist Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, PhD, has been named founding Director of the Cancer Dormancy and Tumor Microenvironment Institute (CDTMI), Director of the Gruss-Lipper...
The University of California (UC) Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Edward Kim, MD, PhD, as Medical Director for the Office of Clinical Research. Dr. Kim is a UC Davis Health oncologist and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine who specializes in treating gastrointestinal...
The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases, recently announced the appointment of Noam Auslander, PhD, as Assistant Professor in the Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program of The Wistar Institute Cancer Center. Dr....
Caryn Lerman, PhD, is the new President of the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI). Dr. Lerman is Director of the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles and Associate Dean for Cancer Programs and the H. Leslie and Elaine S. Hoffman...
On July 9, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev), a Nectin-4–directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate, for adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor and...
Patients with multiple myeloma had a wide variety of responses to COVID-19 vaccines—in some cases, no detectable response at all—pointing to the need for antibody testing and precautions for these patients after vaccination, according to a study published by Van Oekelen et al in Cancer Cell. Mount...
Study findings presented by Perrott et al at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (Abstract SO-25) showed that the use of antibiotics may be linked to colon tumor formation across all patient age groups, especially in those younger than 50 years. These results raise fresh concerns...
Overall cancer death rates continue to decline in men and women for all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. During 2001 to 2018, declines in lung cancer death rates accelerated, and death rates for melanoma...
A team of investigators in Japan used a personalized assay for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels in plasma to monitor molecular residual disease following surgery in patients with resectable colorectal cancer. Their subgroup analysis found statistically significant associations between ctDNA...
For patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, molecular imaging may improve staging and clinical management of the disease, according to research published by Röhrich et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. In a retrospective study of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas, the...
New research published in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network assessed the quality of cancer care delivered through extended sites coordinated by some of the country’s largest cancer centers. The study was developed to implement strategies for disseminating discoveries and...
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Human Reproduction Programme (HRP)—the main instrument within the United Nations system for research in human reproduction—have launched a new guideline to help countries make faster progress, more equitably, in the screening and treatment of cervical...
Research published by Pratt et al in Annals of Surgical Oncology showed an increase in survival rates when treatment options—surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation—are completed within 38 weeks from the time of diagnosis for patients with breast cancer. Optimal Treatment Duration The observational...
Among 506 hospitalized patients with cancer at risk of malnutrition, individualized nutritional support reduced the risk of mortality compared to consumption of standard hospital food. The findings from a preplanned secondary analysis of the prospective, randomized, multicenter EFFORT trial,...
On July 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an expanded label for pembrolizumab, an anti–PD-1 agent, as monotherapy for patients with locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma that is not curable by surgery or radiation. This approval is based on data from the second...
Mutations in a gene related to HER2, a gene frequently implicated in breast cancers and a variety of other malignancies, can amplify activity that spurs tumor growth, according to a new study. The findings, published by Hanker et al in Cancer Cell, could explain why many patients with HER2...
A new study has found evidence of the adverse effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on cancer detection and surgical treatments. The study, published by Robin Yabroff, PhD, MBA, and colleagues in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found a 10.2% decline in real-time electronic pathology ...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued regulatory decisions related to treatments for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), acute leukemia, and mantle cell lymphoma. Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Adagrasib in Advanced NSCLC With KRAS G12C Mutation On June 24, 2021, the...
On June 30, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn (Rylaze) as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric...
The link between obesity and the risk of endometrial cancer has been well documented. A recent study, however, showed that an even lower body mass index (BMI) than previously thought may be associated with an increased risk in Asian women with postmenopausal bleeding. The findings by Liu et al were ...
The total number of cancer screening tests received by women through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (Early Detection Program) declined by 87% for breast cancer and 84% for cervical cancer during April 2020 as...
About 80% of breast cancer cases are hormone receptor–positive, according to the American Cancer Society. Patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer generally are treated using therapy that inhibits both estrogen levels and cell-cycle activity, but about 90% of patients with metastatic...
In recent years, cancer immunotherapy has been effective in treating patients with immunogenic—or “hot”—tumors with increased levels of inflammation and the presence of immune cells in and around the tumors. Prostate cancer, however, is considered a “cold” tumor, with few immune cells recognizing...
Patients with primary lung cancer detected using low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening may be at reduced risk for developing brain metastases after diagnosis, according to a study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. The researchers, led by Summer Han, PhD, of Stanford University...
On June 24, 2021, Richard Pazdur, MD, Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Center of Excellence and Acting Director of the Office of Oncologic Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, made the following statement: “Today, the FDA issued a draft...
Andrew E. Aplin, PhD, has been appointed Deputy Director for Scientific Strategy of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC)–Jefferson Health. Dr. Aplin, who is Associate Director for Basic Research at SKCC and the Kalbach-Newton Professor in Cancer Research, assumed the role on June 1, 2021. As...