“OlympiA is clearly a practice-changing trial, and olaparib should be offered to patients meeting the entry criteria for the study,” said Mark E. Robson, MD, Chief of the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Dr. Robson was invited to discuss the findings of...
Sandra L. Wong, MD, of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, discusses her study findings showing that when patients with cancer who have had surgery reported severe symptoms via an electronic patient-reported outcomes questionnaire at six cancer centers, it appeared to be beneficial without...
After my first breast cancer diagnosis, in 2010, the odds for a cure were seemingly all weighted in my favor. A routine mammogram screening had picked up a small—less than 1 cm—mass in my right breast, and a tissue biopsy confirmed it was stage I estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. I had no...
1980–1995, Villejeuf: Claud Jasmin, MD, advocates for the elimination of chronologic age from the eligibility criteria for clinical trials of cancer treatment. In 1995, Dr. Jasmin published a book entitled La Planète Blanche [The White Planet], where he foresaw challenges in a world crowded with...
In the more than 7 months since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, cancer care for Ukrainian citizens has changed dramatically. Ukraine was once a country able to provide its approximately 160,000 newly diagnosed patients with cancer each year with modern diagnostic methods, including...
Young women who are cancer survivors may be at a much higher risk of sexual problems, including loss of libido and discomfort, according to research published by Wettergren et al in the journal Acta Oncologica. The study also suggests that cancer type and intensity of treatment may influence the...
An advanced software tool for analyzing DNA sequences from tumor samples has uncovered new, likely cancer-driving genes. In a study, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers designed the software, known as CSVDriver, to map and analyze the locations of large mutations, known as structural variants, in...
Over the past few years, we have seen rapid and dramatic transformation in the therapeutic landscape of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We have had multiple new targeted therapies for newer targets (previously undruggable targets) and better diagnostic strategies to workup patients to realize...
Patients with rare desmoid tumors may finally have an effective treatment. A first-in-class gamma secretase inhibitor, nirogacestat, led to an improvement in progression-free survival in the phase III DeFi trial. The results were presented during the Presidential Symposium at the European Society...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Brittany L. Bychkovsky, MD, MSc, and colleagues analyzed the spectrum of cancer phenotypes associated with germline CHEK2 variants. They found that CHEK2 pathogenic variants apart from p.I157T, p.S428F, and p.T476M were associated with...
Black patients of African descent tend to be diagnosed more frequently with prostate cancer and have higher mortality rates than patients of other races and ethnicities. Despite this substantial disparity, few prospective studies focused on maximizing the recruitment of African American patients...
The incorporation of blood-based measurements—ie, “liquid biopsies”—into imaging assessment may refine the accuracy of prognosis in aggressive lymphomas, as described by David Kurtz, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, in a talk at the 2022...
Germline testing may be warranted for all patients with lung cancer, according to research presented during the August 2022 ASCO Plenary Series by Renato G. Martins, MD, MPH, Chair of Hematology Oncology and Palliative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, Richmond.1 The...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Childers et al found that only one-third of hospitals with National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center status were fully compliant with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) price transparency requirements instituted in January 2021....
Physicians, care providers, and payers may be preparing for a major shift in early cancer detection that will affect almost every stage of cancer diagnosis and treatment. New data supporting the accuracy of multicancer early detection blood testing, presented by Deb Schrag, MD, FASCO, MPH, at the...
I was just 31 and about to give birth to my fourth child, Yitzchok, when I received a diagnosis of primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma. The news was terrifying and crippling. For months, I had been experiencing shortness of breath, coughing, and a pain in my left shoulder, all of which were...
In 2019, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed V. Craig Jordan, CMG, OBE, PhD, DSc, FMedSci, Companion of the Most Distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG), honoring his extraordinary scientific work in the development of selective estrogen receptor modulators, most notably...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) provides recommendations on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutant grade 2 and grade 3 diffuse glioma. Evidence-based recommendations outline the multidisciplinary...
A new study published by Birhiray et al in Blood Advances outlines practical strategies for promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in cancer clinical research. The study highlights significant racial disparities in cancer research, citing that between 2008 and 2018, only 7.8% of...
In our continuing effort to connect and learn more about our international oncology colleagues, The ASCO Post recently spoke with Rossana Berardi, MD, Professor in Medical Oncology and Director of the Postgraduate School of Oncology at the Università Politecnica Marche, Ancona, Italy, where she is...
Pilar Garrido, MD, PhD, is Head of the Medical Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid. She is also Co-Director of the Cancer Research Group at Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRYCIS). Her main areas of research and clinical interest are thoracic tumors,...
African Americans have been underrepresented in tobacco treatment research, including the clinical trials that led to the 2006 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of varenicline (Chantix), the leading pharmacologic treatment for smoking cessation. Meanwhile, African Americans suffer higher...
My diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer 3 years ago was filled with irony. As an interventional radiologist, I have treated hundreds of patients with advanced prostate cancer, and I knew my prognosis wasn’t good. After experiencing some of the common symptoms of the cancer, including voiding...
Radiotherapy to the prostate in addition to standard treatment may improve survival for some men with advanced prostate cancer without detriment to quality of life, long-term study results from the STAMPEDE trial confirmed. These findings were published by Chris C. Parker, MD, and colleagues in...
Children in Pennsylvania living near unconventional oil and gas developments at birth were two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with leukemia between the ages of 2 and 7 years than children who did not live near this oil and gas activity, after accounting for other factors that could...
An article in The New York Times earlier this year crystallized the dilemma facing health-care providers when they are presented with a patient in a life-threatening situation: Should they rely on advance care directives written years prior to the current medical situation to accurately determine...
Exposure to a synthetic chemical found widely in the environment may be linked to the development of nonviral hepatocellular carcinoma, according to a new study published by Goodrich et al in JHEP Reports. The chemical—called perfluorooctane sulfate, or PFOS—is one of a class of man-made chemicals...
Germline testing may be warranted for all patients with lung cancer, according to research presented by Sorscher et al during the August ASCO Plenary Series Program (Abstract 388570). The retrospective review of nearly 8,000 patients with lung cancer undergoing germline testing found that 14.9% had ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Offersen et al, the phase III Danish Breast Cancer Group Partial Breast Irradiation Trial showed that partial-breast irradiation was noninferior to whole-breast irradiation in terms of the risk for breast induration in women aged ≥ 60 years...
About 7 years ago, I had emergency hernia surgery and soon after began experiencing severe constipation and abdominal bloating. I had started to have minor symptoms leading up to the surgery, but now the pain and exhaustion of trying to have a bowel movement became unbearable. I met with a...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Manmeet S. Ahluwalia, MD, MBA, Deputy Director, Chief Scientific Officer, and Chief of Solid Tumor Medical Oncology at Miami Cancer Institute, where his research focuses on the development of new therapies for...
To shed some light on the importance of caring for the whole patient and his or her caregiver, as well as the role of cellular aging and oncogenesis, The ASCO Post recently spoke with Kaumudi Bhawe, PhD, a clinical scientist with Cancer Commons in Mountain View, California. Dr. Bhawe has more than ...
Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, FASCO, the David H. Johnson Endowed Chair in Surgical and Medical Oncology, Co-Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology, and Co-Leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, told The ASCO Post she finds the data from...
Despite data showing that cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for the development of lung cancer,1 and a leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States, an estimated 30.8 million American adults continue to smoke cigarettes.2 Globally, the number of...
A team of researchers believe they have identified a cell-signaling pathway responsible for the development of esophageal adenocarcinomas, an aggressive type of esophageal cancer that has gradually become more common, even in younger people. Research published by Venkitachalam et al in...
Daily exposure to a class of chemicals used in the production of many household items may lead to cancer, thyroid disease, and childhood obesity, a new study published by Obsekov et al in the journal Exposure and Health showed. The resulting economic burden is estimated to cost Americans a minimum...
ASCO has issued a new practice guideline update on the use of systemic therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer, just 4 years after the previous practice guideline update was released in 2018.1,2 This latest update reviews results from multiple clinical trials published between 2016 and 2021 that...
Caregivers for patients with multiple myeloma may suffer from higher rates of anxiety and depression than patients themselves, according to a new study published by O’Donnell in Blood Advances. Although medical professionals have long acknowledged the toll a serious or terminal diagnosis can have...
The effective treatment of patients with brain metastases is an unmet need because, until fairly recently, patients with brain metastases were excluded from clinical trials of systemic therapies. However, the emergence of molecular targeted therapies has allowed a new treatment approach in patients ...
A phase II clinical trial of poziotinib for patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 mutations found the drug had significant antitumor activity and the efficacy was highly dependent on the location of the exon 20 loop insertion, which may ...
After nearly 5 years as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), interrupted by 7 months as Acting Commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, left his position on April 29 to concentrate on his family and contemplate his next career choice....
Part 1 of this two-part report described the beginnings of radiation oncology in the United States, including many of the field’s early pioneers and the rise of associated professional societies. In part 2, we will consider the advances in technology and biology that are the foundation of modern...
Rapid developments over the past decade in the treatment of patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer may lead to better outcomes and improved quality of life for patients with brain metastases, according to findings incorporated into a new ASCO guideline update.1 “The difference this...
“If we have data, let’s look at it. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” —James Barksdale In this issue of The ASCO Post, Daniel Vorobiof, MD, and Irad Deutsch, principles at Belong.Life, a patient-oriented website whose self-described mission is to improve patient quality of life and ...
In 2021, more than 1.9 million people in the United States were estimated to be diagnosed with cancer, and that number continues to increase yearly. Medical research is critical in prolonging survival and improving the quantity and quality of life of patients. Cancer research is one of the most...
“Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow, we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.” —Albert Camus, The...
Lori Wilson, MD, FACS, Chief of Surgical Oncology, Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Diversity, and former Program Director of the General Surgical Residency at Howard University Hospital, is the first woman to hold the position of Division Chief as well as the first tenured Professor of...
New research published by Larkin et al in the journal Blood Advances has found that Black adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were five times more likely than comparable White patients to die within 30 days of beginning treatment—and were twice as likely to...
Our growing knowledge of the molecular and genomic drivers of cancer has translated into a robust pipeline of promising anticancer agents. However, bringing new drugs from the lab to the patient with cancer can be frustratingly slow. To that end, the accelerated approval system was created by the...
Investigators at the American Cancer Society presented results of several studies during poster sessions at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting. Summaries of a few of these studies are provided here. COVID-19 and Cancer Mortality According to a new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society,...