In the German phase II FIRE-4.5 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stintzing et al found that the addition of cetuximab vs bevacizumab to FOLFOXIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan) did not improve objective response rate in the first-line treatment of...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ling et al found that conditioning with busulfan/fludarabine resulted in reduced transplantation-related mortality vs busulfan/cyclophosphamide in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) undergoing human leukocyte antigen ...
Researchers have identified a new potential therapeutic target—the cell-surface tumor antigen CUB domain–containing protein 1 (CDCP1)—for patients with all subtypes of metastatic bladder cancer, according to findings presented by Chopra et al at the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular...
Patients with polycystic ovary syndrome may not have a higher risk of ovarian cancer than those without the condition; however, postmenopausal patients with polycystic ovary syndrome may have twofold the risk of developing ovarian cancer, according to recent findings presented by Frandsen et al at...
A report from the German OCUM study published by Ruppert et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology details long-term locoregional recurrence outcomes with risk-adapted neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy plus total mesorectal excision and total mesorectal excision alone in patients with rectal cancer....
Interim results of a phase II study (EQOL-MDS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Oliva et al showed that eltrombopag, an orally bioavailable small molecule acting as a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, significantly increased the rate of platelet response vs placebo in patients with...
Women of African descent may have an elevated risk of being diagnosed with advanced endometrial cancer and developing aggressive tumors compared with White women, according to a recent study published by Medina et al in Cancer. Background Endometrial cancer is classified as endometrioid or the more ...
A genetic marker involving the EGFR and ERBB2 genes may be predictive of which patients with hepatocellular carcinoma are most likely to develop resistance to lenvatinib, according to a study published by Lim et al in Gastroenterology. The new findings could help researchers develop alternative...
Cervical cancer is a serious problem in many low- and middle-income countries such as the African country of Rwanda. Although the cervical cancer rate in Rwanda remains more than twice the U.S. rate, there has been improvement in recent years that cancer research organizations can learn from to...
Many patients with early-stage, low-risk cervical cancer may be spared the side effects associated with radical hysterectomy and undergo simple hysterectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection instead, according to results of the international phase III SHAPE study presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual...
Formal discussant of this late-breaking presentation, Roisin E. O’Cearbhaill, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented: “MIRASOL is confirmatory of SORAYA, the trial that led to FDA accelerated approval. The impressive data of MIRASOL show an overall survival advantage in ...
Mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx, a novel antibody-drug conjugate, significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with platinum-resistant, recurrent ovarian cancers that express high levels of folate receptor–alpha (FR-alpha), according to the results of the phase III...
The addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib to endocrine therapy significantly improved invasive disease–free survival in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, early-stage breast cancer. These results of the phase III NATALEE trial were reported by lead author Dennis J. Slamon,...
The oral IDH1/2 inhibitor vorasidenib significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with grade 2 gliomas expressing IDH1/2 mutations in the phase III INDIGO trial. These results, which were reported by lead author Ingo K. Mellinghoff, MD, FACP, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer...
On June 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved talazoparib (Talzenna) with enzalutamide for homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene–mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. TALAPRO-2 Efficacy was evaluated in TALAPRO-2 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Liu et al found that adjuvant cisplatin/gemcitabine improved progression-free survival vs cisplatin/fluorouracil following chemoradiotherapy in previously untreated patients with N2 or N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Study Details In the...
Medicare beneficiaries could save between $228.1 million and $2.15 billion per year if insurers operating the U.S. government's Medicare Part D plans purchased seven generic oncology drugs at the same prices obtained by the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC), according to a new study...
In a case-control study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Reulen et al found that an increased risk of primary bone cancer was associated with increasing radiation dose to bone tissue and increasing alkylating agent dose among survivors of childhood cancer. As noted by the...
Investigators have found that federal cancer research funding tends to be allocated more heavily toward cancers that occur more often in non-Hispanic White patients than those that occur more frequently in other racial and ethnic groups, according to a new study published by Haghighat et al in the...
In a single-institution phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rashidi et al found that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) did not reduce the risk of infection in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) or patients with acute myeloid...
Devraj Basu, MD, PhD, FACS, of the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, an expert in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal cancer, commented on this study: “This abstract shows lack of awareness of multiple types of HPV-associated cancer and a reduced awareness of...
Findings from a phase III, randomized trial highlight the benefit derived from perioperative immunotherapy in patients with early-stage resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented during the ASCO Plenary Series: April 2023 Session.1 Interim analysis of the Neotorch...
Prior authorization of medical procedures, services, and medications has been a standard requirement of health-care providers for decades. Rising health-care costs, specifically the escalating prices of cancer drug therapies, have led to a new focus by payers, providers, and policymakers on prior...
In a Korean cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, An et al found that men with prescriptions for 5α-reductase inhibitors prior to diagnosis of urothelial bladder cancer had better outcomes than those with no prior prescriptions. Study Details The study analyzed patient claims data from the...
Results of a new survey from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) have shed light on the widespread impact of the current carboplatin and cisplatin shortages. In a separate statement, the NCCN called on the whole oncology community to work together on solutions. Background Carboplatin...
In a single-institution study conducted in New Zealand reported in JAMA Surgery, Goh et al found that microdoses of incisional antibiotics may reduce the risk of surgical site infections during surgery for skin cancer, as well as reduce the risk of infections requiring postoperative systemic...
Researchers have found that exercise may be effective at strengthening the immune system in patients with multiple myeloma, providing them with a nonpharmaceutical method of managing the disease, according to new findings presented by Joseph et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 8060)....
On May 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved olaparib (Lynparza) in combination with abiraterone and prednisone (or prednisolone) for adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, as determined by an...
In a population-based cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Abdel-Qadir et al found that receipt of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors was associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization for heart failure—but not risk for heart failure—among patients aged ≥ 65 years with...
Researchers have identified 116 genes as key molecular vulnerabilities for multiple myeloma, according to a novel study published by de Matos Simoes et al in Nature Cancer. The findings demonstrated the potential for these genes to act as leads and help researchers discover new therapeutic options...
Researchers have found that patients with cancer-related fatigue who practiced qigong may have demonstrated clinically significant improvements in their fatigue burden after 10 weeks, according to a new study published by Zimmerman et al in Integrative Cancer Therapies. The findings revealed that...
In an interim analysis of a Chinese phase III trial (DAWNA-2) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zhang et al found that the addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor dalpiciclib to letrozole or anastrozole improved progression-free survival as first-line treatment in patients with advanced hormone...
In a single-institution study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Stephanie Feldman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues found that somatic KRAS and STK11 alterations were associated with increased risk of arterial thromboembolism in patients with solid tumors,...
As discussed in Part I of this special feature on cancer survivorship, there are now more than 18 million cancer survivors in the United States, and that number is expected to grow to 26 million by 2040.1 However, most of those survivors—at least two-thirds—either cured or in remission or living...
The improvement in cancer survival rates since President Richard M. Nixon signed the National Cancer Act of 1971 into law is staggering. The legislation further committed the United States to greater investments in cancer-focused research to drive down the rates of cancer diagnoses, boost patient...
A new analysis of the U.S. radiation oncology workforce projects a relative balance between the supply of radiation oncologists and the demand for radiation therapy services through 2030.1 The report was produced by Health Management Associates (HMA), a consulting firm commissioned by the American...
On March 22, 2023, the anti–PD-1 antibody retifanlimab-dlwr was granted accelerated approval for adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in POD1UM-201 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03599713), a...
Two studies presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2023 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer underscore the importance of enrolling patients with gynecologic cancer on clinical trials and of assuring trial access to racial minorities. One study found a statistically significant...
Whole-exome sequencing of a large database identified carriers of mutations associated with hereditary cancer syndromes (ie, hereditary breast and ovarian cancers and Lynch syndrome). What was surprising was that among those carriers, about 40% did not satisfy the existing National Comprehensive...
Adjuvant treatment with the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab achieved a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in recurrence-free survival compared with active surveillance alone in patients with high-risk hepatocellular carcinoma following curative-intent...
Researchers have found that patients treated with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine may have a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, according to a novel study published by Weinberg et al in JAMA Network Open. Background The BCG vaccine has been known to offer multiple ...
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Dieffenbach et al found that childhood cancer survivors had a heavy cumulative burden of late major surgical interventions. Study Details The study involved data from the CCSS on 5-year survivors of...
Specialized exercise and wellness programs significantly elevated physical well-being and quality of life among patients with breast cancer while reducing the use of health-care resources in new research presented at the 2023 American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting. In one multicenter...
In a small single-institution phase I trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sonabend et al found that an implantable device for low-intensity pulsed ultrasound with concomitant administration of intravenous microbubbles (LIPU-MB) may be safely used to open the blood-brain barrier to permit...
Immigrant adult patients who have hepatocellular carcinoma and reside in the United States may have higher rates of survival compared with those who have the disease and were born in the United States, according to a new study published by Zhou et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...
Researchers have found that azacitidine may be capable of increasing the effectiveness of chemotherapy and aiding nearly 90% of patients who had peripheral T-cell lymphoma with the T follicular helper cell phenotype (PTCL-TFH) achieve remission, according to a novel study published by Ruan et al in ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Peter Hillmen, MBChB, PhD, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the UK phase III FLAIR trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with ibrutinib and rituximab vs fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) in previously untreated...
In an analysis of the final results of two STAMPEDE platform phase III trials reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gerhardt Attard, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of enzalutamide to abiraterone plus prednisolone did not appear to improve survival outcomes and was associated with worse...
Two studies presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2023 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer underscore the importance of enrolling patients with gynecologic cancer on clinical trials and of assuring trial access to racial minorities. One study found a statistically significant...
Screening that reduces cancer mortality serves as a foundational element of impactful care for certain cancers. That said, harms related to screening deserve our attention—overdiagnoses; diagnostic odysseys that may be invasive, expensive, or even unintentionally harmful; overtreatment of diagnosed ...