Transgender women receiving hormone therapy may skew artificially low on prostate cancer screening tests, thereby providing false reassurance and potentially delaying diagnosis and treatment, according to a recent study published by Nik-Ahd et al in JAMA. The findings indicated that transgender...
Researchers have uncovered the long-term effects of cisplatin-based chemotherapy on the hearing of cancer survivors, according to a recent study published by Sanchez et al in JAMA Oncology. Background Cisplatin is commonly used in chemotherapy to treat a variety of cancer types, including...
Patients with treatment-refractory tumors who received eligibility and testing waivers to participate in a large basket/umbrella oncology trial demonstrated similar rates of clinical benefit and adverse events compared with patients who participated in the trial without waivers, according to recent ...
In patients with advanced HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer and disease control after oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, “switch” maintenance with paclitaxel plus ramucirumab in the phase III ARMANI trial significantly improved both progression-free and overall survival,...
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has serious concerns about the impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings in Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v Department of Commerce on cancer care. These decisions overturned the “Chevron deference” or “Chevron doctrine,” a legal...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) published new results from its latest survey on cancer drug shortages in the United States. This follows data published 1 year ago and 6 months ago illustrating how up to 93% of centers surveyed were experiencing shortages of the crucial...
Initiating surveillance soon after recognizing a pediatric patient has a genetic predisposition for cancer may improve the identification of early-stage asymptomatic tumors, according to a recent study published by Blake et al in JAMA Oncology. The findings may inform clinical practice following...
ASCO has released “Principles for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Oncology,” to guide the Society’s consideration of all aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). With this manuscript, ASCO joins colleagues across medicine in offering principles that should be applied in...
Many Americans, including patients with cancer, use cannabis and cannabinoids. In response to this reality, ASCO has issued a guideline for clinicians, adults with cancer, caregivers, and researchers on their medical use.1 The recommendations cover all cancer types and address products ranging from ...
Early palliative care can be integrated into the course of treatment for patients with advanced lung cancer via delivery by telehealth with outcomes similar to when palliative care is delivered via in-person visits, according to results of the REACH PC trial presented by Joseph Greer, PhD, of...
Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who undergo frequent immunoglobulin G testing may be less likely to experience severe infections than those who don’t undergo frequent testing, according to a recent study published by Soumerai et al in Blood Advances....
Administering chemotherapy prior to and following surgery may extend survival in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma compared with postoperative administration alone, according to a recent study published by Cecchini et al in JAMA Oncology. The findings may be encouraging for the 15% to...
Suppression of the estrogen receptor has proven to be an effective treatment for hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, but standard endocrine therapies have liabilities that are not limited to their pharmacokinetics or toxicity profiles, which allow for ligand-independent estrogen receptor...
A novel “armored” chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell appears to be feasible for retreatment of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who fail to respond to standard CAR T-cell therapy, according to preliminary results of a phase I trial presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 The unique...
A combination of alpha- and beta-radionuclide therapy may be feasible, tolerable, and effective in colorectal cancer, according to preclinical findings presented by Rinne et al at the 2024 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Annual Meeting (Abstract 241498). The new approach...
Measuring ethylene oxide levels using mobile optical instruments in Louisiana’s southeastern corridor may help to improve cancer risk assessments, according to a recent study published by Robinson et al in Environmental Science & Technology. Background Louisiana’s southeastern corridor is...
Craig Jordan, CMG, OBE, PhD, DSc, FMedSci, a pioneering scientist whose innovative work in breast cancer research has saved countless lives and will continue to impact the field for generations to come, died on June 9, according to a news release from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer...
A novel positive psychology approach may help improve stress, fatigue, physical function, and quality of life in patients with hematologic malignancies who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, according to a new study published by Amonoo et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National...
Researchers uncovered potential mechanisms driving drug resistance in patients with melanoma and leptomeningeal disease, according to a recent study published by Alhaddad et al in Cell Reports Medicine. Background Leptomeningeal disease is a rare and often lethal complication experienced by about...
Many patients with cancer encounter significant barriers to the receipt of care, according to a recent study published by Chen et al in JAMA Network Open. Background When attempting to access cancer care, patients often must go through several different levels of communication both before their...
An integrated palliative care rotation for hematology-oncology fellows may improve their palliative care knowledge and skill confidence, according to findings presented by Bauman et al at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 9007). “Despite national guidelines advocating that patients with...
I read with interest the excellent article by Anant Madabhushi, PhD, and Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, in the May 10, 2024, issue of The ASCO Post, entitled “AI in Cancer Care: Embrace the Change.” I wanted to add information on how an available AI Cancer Mentor application (app) has become a beneficial...
An ASCO guideline update offers new recommendations on systemic treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), based on promising findings from several recent randomized controlled trials as well as the approval of new first- and second-line immunotherapy combinations.1 “This guideline...
Despite urgings from my primary care physician to get a colonoscopy screening after I turned 50, I resisted. As a health-care provider, and someone who is tuned into changes in my body, I thought I would instinctively know if I had a serious illness. I was wrong. Even after finally relenting to at...
When Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, FASCO, graduated from high school in 1970 and enrolled at the University of Illinois in Champaign, she was determined to seek a career in special education, because she wanted to “help people through difficult situations.” Although Dr. Von Roenn ultimately decided to...
Facing mortality can be a paralyzing experience for some people, but for others, it may ignite a passion to accelerate life. One such person is Kathy Giusti, cofounder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), where she served as Chief Executive Officer and President for nearly 20 years....
Several years ago, a visit to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, so fascinated and inspired Mace L. Rothenberg, MD, FASCO, about the history of flight, he wondered why there was not a similar museum showcasing the past and present achievements in science and medicine. The result...
Osimertinib significantly improved progression-free survival compared with placebo in patients with unresectable stage III EGFR-mutated non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following definitive chemoradiotherapy. These findings of the phase III LAURA trial suggest that osimertinib may become a new...
Researchers examined whether the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab given neoadjuvantly may improve outcomes in certain patients with stage II or III mismatch repair–deficient/microsatellite instability–high colorectal cancer. Interim findings from the phase II NEOPRISM-CRC clinical trial were presented...
A novel “armored” type of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy called huCART19-IL18 may prove to be effective in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma who do not respond to standard CAR T-cell therapy, according to recent findings from a phase I clinical trial presented by Svoboda et al at...
New findings suggest that docetaxel may be considered the preferred treatment over paclitaxel for Black patients with early-stage breast cancer. While the EAZ171 trial focused specifically on Black people, the results highlight the need to personalize therapy to minimize toxicity. Importantly, this ...
The antibody-drug conjugate M9140 exhibited activity in pretreated patients with advanced colorectal cancer, according to preliminary data from a phase I study presented by Kopetz et al at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 3000). Background M9140 is one of the first antibody-drug conjugates...
Ana C. Garrido-Castro, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses recent approvals of multiple novel therapies for metastatic breast cancer, weighing their potential benefits and risks, understanding the mechanisms that drive response and resistance, and exploring how to optimally sequence them ...
A novel treatment strategy using cyclophosphamide-based graft-vs-host disease prophylaxis may enable more patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies to receive stem cell transplantation from mismatched unrelated donors. These findings were presented by Al Malki et al at the 2024 ASCO Annual...
Miriam Mutebi, MD, MSc, FACS, was born and reared in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. “The suburb I grew up in (Langata), has seen a lot of development over the past couple of decades. When I was a child, it was a smaller community, where you would go and play at somebody else’s house and have...
Deputy Editor of The ASCO Post, Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, recently spoke with gynecologic cancer expert Sharmila K. Makhija, MD, MBA, about her journey to her current position as Founding Dean and Chief Executive Officer of the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, Bentonville, Arkansas. Raised by...
Like many young boys, David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, loved sports and dreamed about playing college football. He attained that dream, but along the way, family tragedy and a personal battle with a life-threatening disease reshaped his worldview and accelerated his ambitions as a...
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, was born and reared in Kerala, a tropical state in southwestern India. Situated on the Malabar Coast, Kerala was named as one of the ten paradises of the world by National Geographic Traveler. “Along with its natural beauty, Kerala is a true melting pot. Over centuries,...
Lymphoma expert Jane N. Winter, MD, grew up on the south shore of Long Island in New York. “My dad sold cars in my great uncle’s dealership after a failed foray into business after World War II. My mom graduated high school at 16 to go to work to help support her family. When my younger brother...
Leukemia expert Eunice S. Wang, MD, is the daughter of first-generation immigrants, whose work ethos inspired in her a world without boundaries. “My parents were born in China during the communist era, and they immigrated to Taiwan when the communists took over in the 1940s and then subsequently...
ASCO President-Elect Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, developed much of his multicultural world view during his childhood in Mexico City. “My parents were expatriates who moved to Mexico in the 1950s and settled there. I was born in Mexico City and grew up bilingually. I went to an English-Spanish...
I’m not prepared. It could be a few months, a few years, maybe longer. I don’t know how bad the verdict will be, but whatever it is, I’m not prepared. They always told us to be prepared. That was our motto. At age 7, I joined the Brownies, the beginning of 12 years of being molded by Girl Scout...
Tattoos may be a risk factor in the development of lymphoma, according to a recent study published by Nielsen et al in eClinicalMedicine. Background A majority of individuals receive their first tattoos at a young age, exposing them to tattoo ink for a larger portion of their lives. The long-term...
Sessions of moderate-to-vigorous exercise may improve the efficacy of antibody therapies, such as rituximab, used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to a recent study published by Collier-Bain et al in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. The findings may demonstrate the potential of...
The profound progress in cancer care since President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act of 1971 into law is evidenced by the soaring number of cancer survivors since the law went into effect. In the 1970s, there were 3 million cancer survivors1; today, there are more than 18 million, and...
Serving as ASCO’s 60th President over the past year has been an honor and a privilege, said Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, FASCO, who will end her Presidential term during ASCO’s Annual Meeting, being held from May 31 to June 4, 2024, in Chicago, and welcome incoming President Robin Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO,...
An ASCO volunteer for nearly 30 years, Robin T. Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, is humbled and honored to be elected ASCO’s 61st President, effective during the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 31 to June 4, 2024, in Chicago and online. Dr. Zon began her 4-year term in June 2023 as President-Elect and will...
On behalf of 2024 International Development and Education Award (IDEA) awardees, we received the decision of our acceptance in this outstanding training program offering mentorship and educational opportunities for early-career oncologists and cancer researchers with great interest. This will...
About 3 years ago, I woke up from a sound sleep and was having a hard time breathing. It felt like someone was sitting on my neck, constricting my airways. I could feel prominent swelling in my lymph nodes along my neck and clavicle, and I was scared. A trip to the emergency room proved fruitless, ...
Guest Editor’s Note: Children with cancer and their caregivers face physical and psychosocial challenges during and after treatment. Dance/movement therapy has been used to improve well-being, promote healthy coping, and mitigate the impact of illness, but limited knowledge exists regarding its...