The world is grappling with a pandemic and we are all adjusting to a new reality. Fewer handshakes, more masks. Fewer hugs, more fear. COVID-19 has tested us, challenged us, changed us. It’s changed the way we look, the way we work, the way we socialize. It’s changed us, but it can’t stop us. It...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently announced the publication of “NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Immunotherapy Side Effects—Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.” These new guidelines are designed to educate patients and to help them recognize immune side effects so effective...
Efstathios Kastritis, MD, of the University of Athens, discusses phase III findings of the Andromeda study. Adding daratumumab to cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone resulted in deeper and more rapid hematologic responses and improved clinical outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed...
Combining the HER2-targeted therapy trastuzumab with carboplatin and paclitaxel improved survival rates for women with a rare, aggressive type of endometrial cancer, according to findings published by Fader et al in Clinical Cancer Research. Each year, more than 65,650 women in the United States...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Xie et al found that event-free survival including prostate-specific antigen biochemical failure as an event is not an adequate surrogate for overall survival in men receiving radiotherapy as primary therapy for localized prostate cancer....
Discussant of the DESKTOP III and SOC1 trials, Robert L. Coleman, MD, of U.S. Oncology Research in Woodlands, Texas, congratulated the authors of both trials. He put these results in perspective with the GOG-0213 study, which did not show a survival benefit for secondary surgery. “There are general ...
Two phase III trials provide support for secondary cytoreductive surgery in women with recurrent ovarian cancer, with the caveats that patient selection is key and the surgery should be performed at sites of excellence. The results of the DESKTOP III and SOC1 trials, both presented during the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kreissl et al, a post hoc analysis of outcomes in the pivotal phase III ZETA trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with the multikinase inhibitor vandetanib vs placebo in a subgroup of patients with progressive and...
Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging with the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiotracer fluorine F-18 DCFPyL (PyL) successfully identified areas of occult metastasis in men with biochemically recurrent metastatic castration-resistant prostate...
Targeting MET alterations with savolitinib appears to be a better strategy than sunitinib for patients with MET-driven papillary renal cell carcinoma, according to results of the open-label, randomized, phase III SAVOIR trial.1 Patients with MET-driven metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma...
In a poster presentation at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, of the the Department of Oncology, Rigshopitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, and colleagues reported the final analysis of the phase II NSGO-AVANOVA2/ENGOT-OV24 trial comparing the...
In the final, preplanned, overall survival analysis in the randomized phase III SOLO2/ENGOT-ov211 trial, maintenance treatment with the PARP inhibitor olaparib extended overall survival by an unprecedented 12.9 months, compared with placebo. This marks the first time that overall survival has been...
Two gynecologic oncologists and ASCO’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, commented on the findings of the TROPHIMMUN trial for The ASCO Post. “The authors demonstrate efficacy of a new treatment approach for gestational trophoblastic...
Almost 50% of patients resistant to single-agent chemotherapy responded in the first trial of immunotherapy for gestational trophoblastic tumors, reported French investigators in an abstract presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program.1 Benoit You, MD, PhD, of Lyon University Hospital,...
The phase II BYLieve trial indicates the effectiveness of the PIK3CA inhibitor alpelisib in patients with PIK3CA-positive, hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer previously treated with a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor plus an aromatase inhibitor. These results...
Tucatinib, a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is highly selective for HER2, plus trastuzumab/capecitabine significantly improved central nervous system (CNS) progression-free survival, overall survival, and intracranial response rate vs placebo plus trastuzumab/capecitabine, as shown...
Discussant for the CheckMate 227 and CheckMate 9LA trials, Scott N. Gettinger, MD, of Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut, said: “There is tremendous interest in lung cancer to combine nivolumab plus ipilimumab, driven by the melanoma experience. However, combinations of immunotherapy come ...
Advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors have no EGFR or ALK alterations poses a particular challenge in terms of first-line therapy. The use of nivolumab plus ipilimumab as well as nivolumab/ipilimumab plus two cycles of chemotherapy, respectively, as first-line therapy ...
When added to bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with multiple myeloma, selinexor significantly improved progression-free survival and response rates, with a lower incidence of peripheral neuropathy, compared with bortezomib/dexamethasone alone, according to results from the global phase III...
Treatment with the anti–PD-1 agent pembrolizumab significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma compared with standard brentuximab vedotin, according to results of the phase III KEYNOTE-204.1 The study results were presented during the ASCO20 Virtual...
Treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma yielded responses with the antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin, both as a single agent and in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone. Two reports from the DREAMM team expanded on these findings at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific...
Results of the phase III E2108 study indicate that surgery and radiotherapy given after systemic treatment afforded no additional survival benefit among women with newly diagnosed metastatic breast cancer. The practice may, however, reduce locoregional progression of disease, according to a report...
No superior efficacy was shown with the combination of carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) in newly treated patients with standard- and intermediate-risk multiple myeloma who are not slated for immediate autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), compared with the standard of care: ...
Upfront treatment with immunotherapy not only improved results in a subset of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, it doubled the rates of median progression-free survival. These findings—the first of their kind—arose from the interim analysis of the randomized open-label phase III...
According to an interim analysis of the phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial, rates of survival among patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma who did not progress on first-line platinum-based chemotherapy were significantly prolonged by maintenance therapy with avelumab and best supportive care...
The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many cancer societies, including ASCO, to cancel their in-person meetings this year and instead present the latest advancements and new approaches in oncology care via a virtual platform. For the first time in its 56-year history, the ASCO Annual...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to relugolix for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer; Fast Track designation to a radioimmunotherapeutic treatment for marginal zone lymphoma; and Orphan Drug designation to a novel monoclonal antibody for...
At the Genitourinary Highlights session of the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Toni K. Choueiri, MD, Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, put these findings into perspective. “This is an important update. The initial publication was with ...
Extended analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-426 study upholds pembrolizumab plus axitinib as a preferred front-line regimen over sunitinib in patients with advanced sporadic renal cell carcinoma.1 These updated results were presented at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program by Elizabeth R. Plimack,...
According to an additional analysis from the POLO trial, safety of maintenance olaparib in patients with a germline BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 mutation and metastatic pancreatic cancer is consistent, irrespective of age. Patients aged ≥ 65 years derived long-term progression-free survival benefit and...
A new study published by Savitch et al in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery found that black patients are less likely to receive surgery for resectable esophageal cancer, which may contribute to higher rates of death. “National guidelines suggest that early-stage esophageal cancer should be...
As reported in The Lancet by Gutzmer et al, the phase III IMspire150 trial has shown that the addition of atezolizumab to BRAF and MEK inhibitor therapy with vemurafenib and cobimetinib improved progression-free survival in first-line treatment of patients with unresectable BRAF V600–mutant...
Men with prostate cancer on androgen-deprivation therapy are usually treated with leuprolide, a long-acting injectable luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist requiring an every-3-month injection, but it may be possible for ADT to be delivered by a daily oral treatment, pending...
In a European Intergroup for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma/Children’s Oncology Group phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Minard‑Colin et al found that the addition of rituximab to standard Lymphomes Malin B (also known as Lymphome Malin de Burkitt, or LMB) chemotherapy ...
In a 10-year follow-up of the phase III SSGXVIII/AIO trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Heikki Joensuu, MD, and colleagues found that 3 years vs 1 year of adjuvant treatment with imatinib was associated with superior overall survival among patients with high-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumors. The ...
In an analysis from the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) ANBL0532 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Liu et al found that a radiotherapy boost to the gross residual tumor in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma did not appear to improve outcomes compared with patients in another...
The first symptoms I had of colorectal cancer—blood in my stool and abdominal pain—coincided with surgery I had to remove my appendix in the spring of 2017. My surgeon attributed the symptoms to the appendectomy and to the medications I received both before and after the surgery. In addition to...
ASCO is pleased to welcome the 2020–2021 Board of Directors and introduce the newly installed leaders who began their terms at the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting on June 1, 2020. ASCO and the Board of Directors extend their sincere gratitude to the outgoing Board members whose terms...
The PIK3CA inhibitor alpelisib appears to be effective in patients with PIK3CA-positive, hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer previously treated with a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor plus an aromatase inhibitor, according to the phase II BYLieve trial.1 More...
On May 22, 2020, brigatinib was approved for the treatment of adult patients with ALK-positive, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test.1,2 The FDA also approved the Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit as a companion...
In the phase III REACH2 trial reported in TheNew England Journal of Medicine, Robert Zeiser, MD, of the Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany, and colleagues found that the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib improved response rate...
As reported inThe Lancet by Jeff P. Sharman, MD, of Willamette Valley Cancer Institute/US Oncology, Eugene, Oregon, and colleagues, the phase III ELEVATE-TN trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with both acalabrutinib/obinutuzumab and acalabrutinib monotherapy vs...
On May 29, 2020, ramucirumab was approved for use in combination with erlotinib for first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 19 deletion or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutation.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings from the...
As reported in The Lancet by Matthew D. Galsky, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Tisch Cancer Institute, New York, and colleagues, the phase III IMvigor130 trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival with first-line atezolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy vs...
The global toll of breast cancer on women is staggering. In 2018, nearly two million new breast cancer cases were diagnosed, an increase of more than 20% since 2008,1 and mortality rates have increased by 14%, bringing the annual number of deaths worldwide from the cancer to more than 611,625.2...
On May 19, 2020, olaparib was approved for the treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who experienced disease progression after treatment with...
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 May 15, 2020, the receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor...
Commenting on the final overall survival analysis of the LOTUS trial, the study’s invited discussant, Suzette Delaloge, MD, MSc, Chair of the Breast Cancer Group at the Institut Gustave Roussy, Paris, said: “We see there might also be an overall survival effect with ipatasertib and paclitaxel…....
In the phase II LOTUS trial, the addition of the AKT inhibitor ipatasertib to paclitaxel in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer yielded a strong numerical improvement—a median gain of 9 months—in overall survival, in the final survival analysis reported...
First- and second-line treatments of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer have become the standard of care based on solid gains in overall survival, but the prevalence of resistance to these agents is increasing; up to 55% of patients will ultimately develop brain metastases. According to a pair...