In the age of big data, cancer researchers are discovering new ways to monitor the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatments. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy developed a new way to use bioinformatics as a gathering tool to determine how a...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has selected Nancy Berliner, MD, the H. Franklin Bunn Professor of Medicine and Chief of Hematology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, as the next Editor-in-Chief of its journal Blood. Dr. Berliner was...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On April 16, 2018, nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab...
Novel agents such as ibrutinib (Imbruvica), idelalisib (Zydelig), and venetoclax (Venclexta) have transformed the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and are increasingly used to treat the disease. The optimal sequencing of these agents is not clear in relapsed or refractory disease,...
The global burden of cancer is huge and growing. In 2018, there will be > 18 million new cancer cases and 9.6 million deaths.1,2 Although several recent articles have reviewed cancer in developing countries, few have focused on the Palestinian territories. There are several reasons for that,...
Even before James P. Allison, PhD, made an appearance at the Fourth International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science Into Survival in New York City, the excitement among attendees was palpable. Earlier that day, October 1, 2018, Dr. Allison and Tasuku Honjo, MD, PhD, of Kyoto...
Formal discussant, Hossein Borghaei, MS, DO, of Fox Chase Cancer Center, was guardedly optimistic about the IMpower132 trial results. “The study met its primary endpoint, and investigator-assessed progression-free survival was superior in the investigational arm. Overall survival was not mature,...
The combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq), a programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor, plus carboplatin or cisplatin and pemetrexed (Alimta) as first-line therapy followed by pemetrexed plus atezolizumab maintenance therapy improved progression-free survival in patients with stage IV...
Some European countries take more than twice as long as others to reach health technology assessment (HTA) decisions to reimburse new cancer treatments following their approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The average decision time is longer than 1 year in some countries, according to a...
According to a new American Cancer Society report published by Gapstur et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the highest priority in a national cancer control plan is the expansion of tobacco control—the intervention with the largest potential health benefits. This report is the...
Mayo Clinic researchers have identified estradiol as a potential new treatment for a subset of women with triple-negative breast cancer. Their findings were published by Reese et al in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. “Triple-negative...
Doximity has released a new study detailing a concerning trend that could potentially impact cancer care in the United States. Doximity researchers examined retirement trends, percentage of state-trained specialists, and prevalence of breast cancer on a city-by-city basis. The report is the...
A study from the Thoracic Oncology Research Group (TORG), Division of Pulmonary Critical Care, Medical University of South Carolina, aimed to examine the adherence to annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening after baseline LDCT within the Veteran Health Administration Lung Cancer...
There is a lot of breast cancer in my family history. My mother was diagnosed with the disease at 44, and my paternal grandmother died of breast cancer when she was just 33, so I’ve always been diligent about performing breast self-exams— often weekly—to ensure that if I did get breast cancer, it...
THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY CANCER CENTERS (ACCC) has chosen seven cancer centers nationwide to receive 2018 ACCC Innovator Awards. Now in its 8th year, the Innovator Awards recognize ACCC member programs that have created solutions to challenges commonly faced by cancer programs and practices as...
Only a few centuries ago, the major source of moral and scientific authority in Western culture was religion, which requires trusting one of numerous supernatural deities. However, the presumption that medicine is based on evidence-based and peer-reviewed science is what gives it authority in...
CHARLES SWANTON, PhD, FRCP, of The Francis Crick Institute, London, was recognized by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) at the 2018 IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer with the Paul A. Bunn, Jr, Scientific Award, honoring his lifetime achievements in scientific...
Thirteen years ago, Stephanie Koraleski, PhD, an oncology psychologist, and Kay Ryan, PhD, RN, a cardiac nurse and breast cancer survivor, in Omaha, brought together colleagues in the fields of clinical research, nursing, nutrition, mental health, physical therapy, pharmacy, and spirituality to...
JAMES ALLISON, PHD, Chair of Immunology and Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Tasuku Honjo, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study and Professor of Immunology and Genomic Medicine ...
ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved dacomitinib tablets (Vizimpro) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R substitution...
Primary treatment of most solid tumors includes surgical excision or radiation therapy, both of which require precise anatomic localization of the tumor as well as surrounding tissue and organs. If the targeting is too broad, unnecessary morbidity may occur to nearby structures, along with the...
THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has recognized Tony S. Mok, MD, FRCPC, FASCO, with the ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions in lung cancer. Dr. Mok, who is a Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation Endowed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Oncology at the ...
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) recently released the results of its first national public awareness report about risks, actions, and attitudes toward prostate cancer in the PCF 3P Report 2018: Public Perception of Prostate Cancer. Each year, even though more than three million men in...
The phase III ECHELON-2 clinical trial has met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) with brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in combination with CHP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone) vs CHOP (cyclophosphamide,...
As reported in JAMA Dermatology, Wu and Wood found that the widely available nonprescription topical antimicrobial agent gentian violet has potent activity against cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in studies in vitro and ex vivo. The study involved high-throughput small molecule screening of 1,710...
Cancer.Net is ASCO’s patient information website, hosting a wealth of information and resources for people diagnosed with cancer and their families and caregivers. With information on over 120 types of cancer, visitors to the site can find medical information, tips for treatment management,...
In the world of modern medicine, with its constant stream of new information, it can be hard to keep up—especially when you already have a packed schedule. With so much new information to learn and absorb, and the need to prioritize your time, how do you know what you don’t know? Without...
Germline mutations in the breast cancer–susceptibility genes 1 and 2 (BRCA1/2) increase the risk for cancer due to an inability to repair DNA double-strand breaks, and about 5% of patients with unselected breast cancer carry a germline BRCA mutation.1 These DNA repair–deficient tumors are...
In a secondary analysis of the UK phase III RATHL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Anderson et al found that ovarian function recovery was affected by age and type of response-adapted therapy in women receiving treatment for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. The analysis included 67 eligible...
The C-C chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) is predominantly expressed in type 2 helper T (Th2) cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells.1 Under physiologic conditions and in response to its ligands, CCL17 (TARC) and CCL22 (MDC), CCR4 promotes T-cell migration to the skin.2 Of note, CCR4 is highly expressed in...
Lisa Newman, MD, MPH, FACS, FASCO, breast surgeon and researcher, has been appointed Chief of the Section of Breast Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine. In her new role, which began at the end of August, Dr. Newman will lead multidisciplinary...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has released its annual Cancer Progress Report,1 highlighting how federally funded research discoveries are fueling the development of new and even more effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat cancer. Key advances outlined in the...
The Beat AML Master Clinical Trial seeks to change the treatment paradigm and outcomes in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by personalizing therapy and ultimately facilitating the approval of novel targeted agents. Co-investigator William Blum, MD, of the Winship Cancer Institute at the Emory...
These days it can be hard for physicians. Many in the physician workforce wonder whatever happened to the ideals and expectations that drew them to this noble profession. The genuine passion to heal the sick and infirm and in turn improve the health of the entire society The ability to touch human ...
As reported by Lin et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, cost-effectiveness modeling of treatment with the anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) in relapsed or refractory pediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) showed that price reduction...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to expand the prescribing information for carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to include a once-weekly dosing option in combination with dexamethasone (once-weekly Kd70) for patients with relapsed or...
A recent review of patient-caregiver communities focused on non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with genomic alterations showed that these groups are improving outcomes by supporting patients and caregivers, increasing awareness and education, and accelerating research. Patient advocate Janet...
A preclinical study showing that a vaccination with a recombinant adenovirus expressing a truncated ErbB-2 antigen can cure advanced established murine breast cancer as well as extensive established metastatic lung cancer led to the launch of a small phase I study investigating a therapeutic cancer ...
On September 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or locally advanced cutaneous SCC who are not candidates for curative surgery or...
James Allison, PhD, Chair of Immunology and Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Tasuku Honjo, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study and Professor of Immunology...
On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved dacomitinib tablets (Vizimpro) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R substitution...
Findings from a recent study demonstrate that female patients with lung cancer who have never smoked have significantly greater exposure rates to outdoor air pollution than female patients with lung cancer who have a history of smoking. Renelle L. Myers, MD, FRCPC, of the British Columbia Cancer...
Findings from the IMpower132 trial demonstrate that the use of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor atezolizumab in combination with carboplatin plus pemetrexed as first-line therapy and pemetrexed as maintenance therapy improved progression-free survival in patients with stage IV...
In the Chinese phase III TAILOR trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Qin et al found that adding the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab to FOLFOX4 (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin) improved progression-free survival in patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer. Study...
Findings from the IMpower 133 trial demonstrate that adding the anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 antibody atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to standard first-line therapy with carboplatin and etoposide prolonged overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with...
DAVID J. SUGARBAKER, MD, was an internationally recognized thoracic surgeon who specialized in the treatment of mesothelioma and complex thoracic cancers. To be recognized as first in a medical finding or procedure is a rare honor; Dr. Sugarbaker received that honor twice, being the first to...
USING MULTIGENE hereditary cancer panels to test for mutations in five genes can identify women at high risk for triple-negative breast cancer who may then benefit from more frequent screening, risk management, and potentially targeted therapies as well. A study that looked at multigene panel...
In the fall of 2009, I suddenly went from being a healthy, physically active 47-year-old to a patient with stage IV non–small lung cancer (NSCLC), with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. A never-smoker, I had attributed a persistent cough I’d been having to the change in the season. And why...
AT THE END OF 2017, pertuzumab (Perjeta) was granted regular approval for use in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2- positive early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data APPROVAL WAS BASED on...
THE BONNIE J. ADDARIO Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and the EGFR Resisters, a patient-driven community of people living with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive lung cancer, are working together to raise funds and increase awareness of projects that benefit the EGFR-positive cancer...