As reported by Alexi A. Wright, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) have released a clinical practice guideline on neoadjuvant therapy for patients with newly diagnosed stage IIIC or IV...
Clodagh O’Shea, PhD, Associate Professor in the Salk Institute’s Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, is among the first recipients of a grant from the Faculty Scholars Program, a new partnership of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Simons...
In June 2016, the European Hematology Association Congress convened in Copenhagen, Denmark. The educational and scientific program highlighted state-of-the-art clinical practice and the latest findings in hematology research. The ASCO Post brings its readers brief summaries of some of the important ...
University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers, by tracking p16INK4a, a molecular marker that has been shown to increase in white blood cells as people age, have uncovered clues suggesting that stem cell transplant is linked to a marked increase in the...
As reported by Alexi A. Wright, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) have released a clinical practice guideline on neoadjuvant therapy for patients with newly diagnosed stage IIIC or IV...
Hair loss can be a devastating side effect of chemotherapy, but the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the DigniCap Cooling System and the growing acceptance of scalp-cooling methods in the United States may improve the quality of life for many patients receiving...
According to Susan M. O’Brien, MD, an expert in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), novel agents and new data on patient subsets have led to a new upfront treatment algorithm for this malignancy. Speaking at the 2016 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference in Koloa, Hawaii, Dr. O’Brien...
ASCO and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) today issued a joint clinical practice guideline on ovarian cancer treatment. The guideline provides evidence-based recommendations on whether to use neoadjuvant chemotherapy or surgery as the initial treatment for women with stage IIIC and IV...
In an updated recommendation statement, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) continues to strongly recommend screening for colorectal cancer for asymptomatic adults aged 50 through 75; but rather than emphasize specific screening strategies, it notes there are multiple screening...
At the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, studies presented at the Plenary Session gave attendees new treatment strategies to employ back home. But in the emerging push to contain the cost of new cancer treatments, do the four interventions fit within the new “value framework” for oncology? Deborah Schrag, ...
The National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academies of Sciences took up the issue of lung cancer screening at its mid-June workshop. Greta Massetti, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and chair of ...
The study statistics are alarming—and perplexing. According to an analysis of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) colorectal cancer registry, colon cancer incidence among young adults aged 20 to 34 is expected to increase 90% by 2030, and the incidence of rectosigmoid...
Significant progress has been made in the past 2 decades in the care of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Recently, the therapeutic armamentarium has expanded for such patients with the introduction of new targeted agents. CLL is predominantly a disease of the elderly, with a...
Although new gastrointestinal cancers are on the rise, advancements in their treatment, as well as the upcoming results of perioperative trials, could prove to be “clinical practice game-changers,” declared Thomas J. George, Jr, MD, FACP, at the 2016 Community Oncology Conference in Orlando,...
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued new recommendations for colorectal cancer screening. In brief, the USPSTF recommends colorectal cancer screening starting at age 50 years and continuing until age 75 years (grade A recommendation = “The USPSTF...
Last June, ASCO published its initial concept for a value framework in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).1 The framework, developed by ASCO’s Value in Cancer Care Task Force, is designed to provide a standardized approach to assist physicians and patients in assessing the “value” of a new...
“A book about the future must be written in advance. Later I won’t have the energy. So I will do it now.” So begins The Iceberg, a memoir set in Britain of a woman, Marion Coutts, whose husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which eventually killed him. Unfortunately, cancer memoirs flood the...
As reported in The Lancet by Nicholas D. James, BSc, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Warwick, and colleagues, survival results of the STAMPEDE trial, which used a multiarm, multistage seamless phase II/III design, provide little evidence of benefit of zoledronic acid and showed increased survival ...
Formal discussant of this trial Stuart A. Grossman, MD, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, commented that the trial did not include a best standard-of-care arm. The pivotal trial defined optimal radiotherapy as 60 Gy over 6 weeks, but this...
In a European phase III noninferiority trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Eichhorst et al found that progression-free survival was better with standard first-line fludarabine/cyclophosphamide/rituximab vs bendamustine/rituximab in fit patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)...
It is widely reported that the first use of sargramostim (Leukine) in humans (granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor; GM-CSF) was to treat victims of the Goiânia, Brazil, radiation accident in 1987. However, recently declassified documents show that sargramostim was first used a year...
ASCO President-Elect Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO, was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, a small city in the center of the state. “My dream was to become a high school basketball and track and field coach; my older brother wanted to be a doctor, and his ambitions also began in first grade,” revealed Dr....
With individuals aged 65 and older accounting for more than 50% of the U.S. population diagnosed with cancer,1 the demand for occupational and physical therapists to treat this population will increase in the years to come. Thus, it is essential for primary care providers to know that the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Matthew I. Milowsky, MD, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues,1 ASCO has endorsed the European Association of Urology clinical practice guideline on muscle-invasive and metastatic bladder...
Neratinib is an oral anti-HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has shown promising activity in the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.1 It differs from monoclonal antibodies such as trastuzumab (Herceptin) because, as a small molecule, neratinib blocks the ATP binding site on the...
Upfront autologous stem cell transplant remains the standard of care in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, even in the era of novel agents, according to a phase III study of the European Myeloma Network.1 “Our findings show that autologous stem cell transplant should remain the...
Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been working together for many years on an idea known as breakthrough therapy, and it has produced results beyond anyone’s hopes. Said Ellen Sigal, PhD, Friends Chair and Founder, “When we were first talking...
ASCO launched a new and improved website in early April, with a focus on improving the user experience. The Society’s redesigned online home makes it easier than ever for members and visitors to find the oncology-related information and resources they trust and value. The site’s redesign is the...
Women diagnosed with breast cancer who chose contralateral prophylactic mastectomy reported improvement in psychosocial well-being and breast satisfaction, but “the magnitude of the effect may be too small to be clinically meaningful,” according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1...
“In order to take advantage of today’s advancements in science, drug development, and patient treatment, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) structure needs reorganization to focus its resources and ensure the best outcomes for patients. Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) proposes...
For many, the word “radiation” conjures up images of mushroom clouds and the nightmarish nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. It also brings to mind those pesky dental x-rays and lifesaving cancer treatments. However, to most people, radiation is a mysterious invisible power to be feared and embraced...
Interest in quality measurement and improvement was once primarily a concern of regulators, insurers, and consumer advocates. Today, quality improvement is front and center in health care—a continuous mission requiring the efforts of everyone on the health-care team. At the recent ASCO Quality Care ...
I was the last one on the oncology team to meet Mel. He was 36 years old, and by then Mel had been living with metastatic colon cancer for several years. During that time, his clinicians had never referred him to our psycho-oncology team because of his strong attitude and outlook. Mel’s outward...
Session moderator Kathleen Moore, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, said that while the response rates are “not incredibly high,” trabectedin offers another line of therapy where there previously was none. “I think ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Matthew I. Milowsky, MD, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues, ASCO has endorsed the European Association of Urology clinical practice guideline on muscle-invasive and metastatic bladder cancer. ...
Use of comprehensive geriatric assessment to guide therapy in elderly patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not improve treatment failure–free or overall survival but was associated with slightly reduced toxicity, based on the results of the phase III...
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact treatment...
Myeloma is a disease of aging, with a median age at diagnosis in the United States of 69 years.1 As the population ages, forecasts estimate that, within 20 years, 3 of every 4 people diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the United States will be between the ages of 64 and 84 years.2 In anticipation...
As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Burger and colleagues recently reported findings of the RESONATE-2 trial of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) vs chlorambucil (Leukeran) as initial therapy for elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).1 The study met its primary endpoint of...
The general consensus of breast cancer experts of the initial findings of BCIRG-006 triggered a more judicious use of anthracyclines, and this trend continues. Kathy S. Albain, MD, FACP, FASCO, Professor of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Illinois, said...
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact treatment...
There is ample evidence to suggest that older adults with a good performance status (0 or 1) with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) should be treated with combination chemotherapy akin to younger patients.1,2 However, older adults comprise a heterogeneous group that has been...
On January 19, 2016, Vice President Joe Biden discussed big data as one of the “major undertakings” designed to advance the pace of progress in the fight against cancer as part of his new “moonshot” initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos Klosters, Switzerland. Mr. Biden presided over a...
As reported in The Lancet by James et al, results of the STAMPEDE trial, which used a multiarm, multistage seamless phase II/III design, showed increased survival and toxicity with docetaxel and little benefit of zoledronic acid when added to first-line long-term hormone therapy in patients with...
In 1956, the American College of Surgeons encouraged the development of hospital-based registries, but for the most part, these efforts were clumsy, inaccessible card files of data. Today, advanced microcomputer technology has increased the ability to not only collect and cull cancer data but also...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, Director of the Breast Oncology Program at the Taussig Cancer Institute of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said he believes neratinib is “an extremely active drug, once we learn how best to give it.” Dr. Abraham has been involved in some of the studies of neratinib. “In this...
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact...
Over the past several decades, progress in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the older population (generally considered to be older than 60 years) has been limited (Fig. 1). In particular, the outcome of patients over age 70 has been poor, with few long-term survivors. Although AML...
The outcome of treatment of older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains unsatisfactory, although certainly not a totally futile exercise. Patients satisfying the entry criteria for cooperative group clinical trials can be expected to have complete remission rates of 50% to 55%, with...