Multicancer early detection (MCED) tests are beginning to enter clinical practice, but how useful will they be? “This is an exciting field, with many competing technologies. MCED assays will be coming across your desk in the near future if they haven’t already. But they are not a panacea. They are ...
Clinical trials are now demonstrating the value of immune checkpoint inhibitors as neoadjuvant therapy in certain subsets of patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, described this newer approach—specifically, which subsets of patients may...
Medical oncology had a turbulent beginning, as we explained in part 1 of this commentary published in the September 25, 2024, issue of The ASCO Post. And although no other specialty we know of struggled as much, with perseverance and time, it had become a stable specialty of internal medicine by...
Medical oncology had a turbulent beginning. No other specialty we know of struggled as much. But by 1980, it had become a stable specialty of internal medicine and was off and running—with the major problem of how to marshal available resources to freely test the myriad opportunities presented by ...
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...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Laura A. Dawson, MD, of the University Health Network–Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, and colleagues, the Canadian phase III CCRG HE1 trial showed that the addition of a single fraction of palliative radiotherapy to best supportive care...
On September 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy as first-line treatment of unresectable advanced or metastatic malignant pleural mesothelioma. Efficacy and Safety Efficacy was investigated in KEYNOTE-483...
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...
Retifanlimab plus platinum-based chemotherapy may benefit patients with squamous cell anal carcinoma, according to new findings presented by Rao et al at a presidential symposium at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 (Abstract LBA2). Background The incidence of squamous...
The novel antibody-drug conjugate puxitatug samrotecan may have a manageable safety profile consistent with similar antibody-drug conjugates and demonstrated initial efficacy in patients with heavily pretreated advanced or metastatic solid tumors, according to new findings presented by...
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 results of numerous large international studies reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 showed that immunotherapy improves long-term overall survival in patients with a variety of cancer types, including advanced melanoma,1,2 triple-negative breast cancer,3...
An updated overall survival analysis of the phase III HIMALAYA study, now at 5 years, has confirmed the robust benefit for the STRIDE regimen of durvalumab plus tremelimumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.1 At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 (Abstract...
According to results of the first interim analysis of the phase III LEAP-012 trial, the anti–PD-1 therapy pembrolizumab plus the tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib, in combination with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), significantly improved progression-free survival compared with TACE...
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,...
As reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dahl et al, a phase II trial (NRG Oncology/RTOG 0926) has shown good outcomes with bladder-preserving trimodality the�rapy for recurrent high-grade T1 bladder cancer among patients in whom bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy failed. Study Details In the...
In long-term follow-up of the French phase III GETUG-13 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fizazi et al reported that intensified chemotherapy was associated with significantly better progression-free survival among patients with poor-prognosis nonseminomatous germ cell tumors with ...
As reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Lu et al, the Chinese phase III RELARC trial showed no significant improvement in disease-free survival with complete mesocolic excision vs D2 lymph node dissection in patients with right-sided colon cancer. As stated by the investigators, “…[complete...
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...
The antibody-drug conjugate ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd) showed clinically meaningful responses in pretreated patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in an interim analysis of the phase II IDeate-Lung01 study. The findings were presented at the International Association for...
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...
Staging may be inaccurate in up to 80% of patients with early pancreatic cancer, according to a recent study published by Perrotta et al in JAMA. The findings underscored the need for advancements in diagnostic technology and staging, which may help to improve early pancreatic cancer treatment and...
Imagine walking into a fancy restaurant only to find a menu consisting mostly of kids’ dishes. It would make no sense. Just 25% of restaurant diners are younger than age 12, and they rarely write Yelp reviews. But when it comes to cancer treatment, this is not very far from what we do. The median...
In two studies recently reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Upshaw and colleagues1 examined the impact of preexisting heart failure on mortality in older patients in the United States with newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma, and Gon and colleagues2 analyzed the incidence and impact of arterial...
It happened! We received the International Development and Education Award (IDEA) from Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, and it was a journey of growth, global collaboration, leadership, mentorship, and more. We have much to share after this breakthrough in our careers. The ASCO Annual Meeting...
In patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, the addition of atezolizumab to standard adjuvant chemotherapy provided no benefit over chemotherapy alone in the final analysis of the phase III ALEXANDRA/IMpassion030 trial. The results were presented at the 2024 European Breast Cancer...
In a Japanese phase III trial (JCOG1018) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Takashima et al found that adding oxaliplatin to fluoropyrimidine/bevacizumab did not improve progression-free survival in the initial treatment of older patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer....
In cohort 2 of the phase II TROPHY-U-01 study, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Petrylak et al found that sacituzumab govitecan-hziy was active in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer progressing after immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)...
On April 5, 2024, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) was granted accelerated approval for adults with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive (immunohistochemistry 3+) solid tumors who received prior systemic treatment and have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.1 Supporting...
Nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved for use in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for first-line treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the open-label CheckMate 901 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier...
A joint guideline from the International Society of Oral Oncology–Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer and ASCO seeks to fill a gap in the clinical guidance for patients with head and neck cancers who develop osteoradionecrosis following their head and neck radiation therapy.1...
The combination of nivolumab plus gemcitabine/cisplatin chemotherapy achieved high response rates and durable responses and improved overall survival and progression-free survival compared with gemcitabine/cisplatin chemotherapy alone in patients with urothelial carcinoma and clinical evidence of...
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...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Choueiri and colleagues, the phase III LITESPARK-005 trial has shown improved progression-free survival with the hypoxia-inducible factor–2α inhibitor belzutifan vs everolimus in previously treated patients with advanced clear-cell renal cell...
Clinical trials are now demonstrating the value of immune checkpoint inhibitors as neoadjuvant therapy in certain subsets of patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, described this newer approach—specifically, which subsets of patients may...
In certain regions of the world, cancer claims more lives than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, yet surgery has been relegated to the sidelines of global health initiatives. This critical need to address global inequities in access to safe, timely, and affordable cancer surgery led to the...
In patients with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancers with HER2-low or HER2-ultralow expression, treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) was found to be superior to chemotherapy after one or more lines of endocrine therapy. In...
In an analysis from the phase III EORTC 1325-MG/KEYNOTE-054 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bührer et al found that adjuvant pembrolizumab was not associated with significant differences in long-term health-related quality of life (HRQOL) compared with placebo in patients with stage III...
For relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, there are three available bispecific antibodies—two that target B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and one that targets G protein–coupled receptor class C group 5 member D (GPRC5D). Which is the preferred target? This question was addressed at the 2024...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vijaya Raj Bhatt, MS, MBBS, and colleagues found that ruxolitinib produced responses in patients with corticosteroid-refractory sclerotic chronic graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) after transplantation for hematologic malignancies. Study ...
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 Chinese single-center trial (Fudan CUP-001) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Liu et al found that site-specific therapy guided by a 90-gene expression assay improved progression-free survival vs empirical chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) who...
Just 28% of U.S. women may be aware that a healthful diet can lower the risk of developing breast cancer, according to a recent survey conducted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Morning Consult. Background The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a national...
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,...
I was a track and field athlete throughout college, and my goal was to try out for the Olympics, but cancer had other plans for me. In 2010, while in my senior year in college, I began having sharp, shooting pains in my shoulders, which I initially attributed to overzealous training. But the pain...
Olaparib may be effective in treating men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer without accompanying hormone therapy, according to a novel study published by Marshall et al in JAMA Oncology. Background Although most men with localized prostate cancer can be cured with surgery or primary...