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...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Swaminath et al, the Canadian phase III LUSTRE trial has shown no significant benefit in local tumor control with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) vs hypofractionated conventional radiotherapy (CRT) in patients with inoperable stage I non–small cell lung cancer...
ASCO has issued a rapid update to its guideline on the management of stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on the results of the phase III LAURA trial, which was presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting and published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine.1,2 The...
In the multiarm phase II NeoCOAST-2 trial, neoadjuvant treatment with datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) plus the monoclonal antibody durvalumab and single-agent platinum chemotherapy led to promising rates of pathologic complete and major pathologic responses in patients with early-stage non–small...
Total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) followed by rectal surgery is the standard of care in proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) locally advanced rectal cancer, but studies are finding that patients with clinical complete response may often avoid surgery and be followed “nonoperatively.” In the first...
Spiritual beliefs and a historically based distrust of clinical research may influence Black patients’ decisions about whether to participate in cancer trials, according to new findings presented by Gomez et al at the 2024 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting (Abstract...
On October 3, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nivolumab (Opdivo) with platinum-doublet chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, followed by single-agent nivolumab after surgery as adjuvant treatment, for adults with resectable (tumors ≥ 4 cm and/or node-positive) non–small cell...
OCE Insights is an occasional department developed for The ASCO Post by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this installment, the OCE’s Steven Clark Cunningham, MD, MLA, FACS, Clinical Reviewer on the Gastrointestinal Cancers Team, ...
Distinguished Service Awards were presented to Kwun Fong, MBBS, PhD, FRACP; Claudia Henschke, MD, PhD; Erik Thunnissen, MD, PhD; and Julie Brahmer, MD, MSc, FASCO, during the 2024 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer. Adi F. Gazdar IASLC...
As reported in The Lancet by Choueiri et al, the phase III TiNivo-2 trial has shown that immune checkpoint inhibitor rechallenge with nivolumab plus tivozanib did not improve progression-free survival vs tivozanib alone in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma following immune checkpoint...
As reported in The Lancet by Spicer et al, overall survival results of the phase III KEYNOTE-671 trial indicate benefit of the addition of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab to chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab in patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). At the first...
Adding the immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab, with or without the monoclonal antibody oleclumab, to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) significantly improved pathologic complete response rates in patients with high-risk hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast ...
The combination of the EGFR-MET bispecific antibody amivantamab-vmjw and the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor lazertinib continues to demonstrate superior efficacy compared with the kinase inhibitor osimertinib alone in the first-line treatment of EGFR-mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ahn et al, the phase III TROPION-Lung01 trial showed significantly improved progression-free survival—but not overall survival—with the TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) vs docetaxel in patients with...
A study conducted by Kaitlyn Lapen, MD, a radiation oncologist resident at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues evaluated the financial challenges adolescent and young adults (AYA) survivors experience during and after treatment. They found that more than half (54%) of these...
On September 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved osimertinib (Tagrisso) for adults with locally advanced, unresectable (stage III) non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has not progressed during or after concurrent or sequential platinum-based chemoradiation therapy. These ...
In the phase III ENGOT-cx11/GOG-3047/KEYNOTE-A18 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus chemoradiotherapy, with pembrolizumab continued as monotherapy, improved overall survival in previously untreated, high-risk...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased guideline-concordant care for colorectal cancer among non-White patients, those from rural areas, and those from the most deprived neighborhoods in Pennsylvania, according to new findings presented by Kudaravalli et al at the 2024 American Association for ...
The results from a phase Ib/II study of a five-drug targeted therapy regimen—venetoclax, ibrutinib, prednisone, obinutuzumab, and lenalidomide (ViPOR)—in the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) showed the treatment produced durable remissions and potential...
On September 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved amivantamab-vmjw (Rybrevant) with carboplatin and pemetrexed for adults with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R...
The second planned interim analysis of the global phase III AEGEAN trial—reported by John V. Heymach, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer...
Based on the first results of the single-center phase II NURE-Combo trial, which were reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) by Mercinelli et al, the combination of neoadjuvant nivolumab plus nab-paclitaxel followed by postsurgical adjuvant nivolumab appeared to be safe and active in...
Positive results from the phase III NIAGARA trial showed perioperative treatment with the PD-L1 blocker durvalumab in combination with neoadjuvant chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the primary endpoint of event-free survival and the key...
Studies reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 reveal new groups of women with early-stage cervical1 and endometrial cancers2 who gain clinically meaningful benefit from adding immunotherapy to current standard treatments, and a first-in-human study found...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab and hyaluronidase-tqjs (Tecentriq Hybreza) for subcutaneous injection for all the adult indications as the intravenous formulation of atezolizumab (Tecentriq), including non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer...
Updated data from the global, multicenter, single-arm phase II TRUST-II trial, which were reported by Liu et al during the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC; Abstract MA06.03), continued to demonstrate robust overall and...
Researchers have demonstrated that the combination of durvalumab with the TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan may yield high pathologic complete response rates in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to findings presented by Cascone et al...
Researchers have uncovered that TROP2 expression as measured by quantitative continuous scoring may be a predictor of clinical outcomes in patients with advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with the TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan,...
Adjuvant nivolumab following neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy and surgery may be effective at reducing the risk of disease recurrence or mortality in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy alone, according to new...
Researchers may have uncovered a metabolic pathway that could lead to the development of predictive biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to new findings presented by Kulasinghe et al at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2024 World Conference on...
In a phase III study conducted in China, the bispecific antibody ivonescimab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival compared with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment of PD-L1–positive advanced non–small...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Yang et al, the phase III KEYNOTE-789 trial has shown no significant improvement in progression-free or overall survival with the addition of pembrolizumab to pemetrexed/platinum in EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-resistant, EGFR-mutant...
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an aggressive malignant head and neck cancer that is highly prevalent in the southern and southwestern provinces of China. Although the incidence of the cancer is less than 1 per 100,000 in Europe, the United States, and the Pacific,1 data from the International Agency...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the in vitro diagnostic TruSight Oncology (TSO) Comprehensive test and its first two companion diagnostic indications. This targeted sequencing panel interrogates over 500 genes to profile a patient's solid tumor, helping to increase the...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Zhao et al, meta-analyses of trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with advanced EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progressing on EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment indicate that the optimal treatment strategy is...
In a subgroup analysis of the EVEREST trial reported in JAMA Network Open, Gulati et al found that adjuvant everolimus did not improve recurrence-free survival vs placebo in patients with localized papillary or chromophobe non–clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Study Details In the trial,...
Based on a descriptive, U.S. population–based cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open by Alvarez et al, over the past 2 decades, the incidence of gastrointestinal stromal tumors in major organ sites has increased among several patient populations. The findings may assist in directing future...
In a French phase II study (RTEP7–IFCT-1402) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Vera et al found that adaptive radiotherapy based on fluorine F-18–labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)–positron-emission tomography (PET) residual uptake appeared to improve local disease control compared with standard...
Despite advances in targeted therapies for hematologic malignancies, drug resistance and persistent side effects continue to challenge clinicians and limit patient outcomes, underscoring the urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches. At the 2024 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference, Marc S. Hoffmann, ...
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may be used to better understand the risk of specific cardiac arrhythmias when various parts of the heart are exposed to different thresholds of radiation as part of a treatment plan for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent study published by...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the EGFR inhibitor lazertinib (Lazcluze) in combination with the EGFR/MET-targeting bispecific antibody amivantamab-vmjw (Rybrevant) for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer...
Combining Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibition with chemoimmunotherapy induction significantly extended progression-free survival for older patients with mantle cell lymphoma, and there was also a trend toward improvement on the overall survival benefit, according to data presented during the...
Growing awareness of the benefits of palliative care in patients with cancer has prompted ASCO to update its recommendations for clinicians, patients, caregivers, and health-care organizations on integrating palliative care in oncology.1 The updated guideline reinforces prior recommendations in the ...
A subgroup analysis of data from the LIBRETTO-431 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04194944) showed that the selective RET inhibitor selpercatinib safely improved progression-free survival compared to chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab in East Asian patients diagnosed with RET fusion–positive...
Endometrial cancer is most frequently diagnosed among women aged 55 to 65, with a median age at diagnosis of 64 years.1 In epidemiologic studies, women diagnosed with endometrial cancer at an older age are more likely to have high-grade disease, aggressive histology, deep myometrial invasion, lower ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) with platinum-containing chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment followed by single-agent durvalumab as adjuvant treatment after surgery for adults with resectable (tumors ≥ 4 cm and/or node positive)...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Verheijden et al found that higher peak corticosteroid doses for patients with immune-related adverse events were associated with poorer outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for solid tumors. Study Details...
In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Gallagher et al found that individuals with cannabis-related disorder were at an increased risk of head and neck cancer vs those without cannabis-related disorder. Cannabis-related disorders are defined by the excessive use of...
Immune checkpoint inhibitors, including atezolizumab, have been evaluated in several phase II trials for neoadjuvant therapy in resectable lung cancer, both with and without chemotherapy, such as the LCMC3 trial and CheckMate 816. Ongoing studies, including the IMpower030 trial, are further...
In an analysis from the CALGB 140503 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Nasser Altorki, MD, and colleagues found that pathologically identified visceral pleural invasion was associated with poorer outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details The trial ...