The overall survival benefit for PD-L1 CPS ≥ 5 tumors in CheckMate 649 is a game-changer. An oxaliplatin doublet plus chemotherapy should become a standard of care for these patients,” according to Elizabeth Smyth, MD, an oncology consultant at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in...
As first-line treatment for advanced gastric cancer, nivolumab plus chemotherapy leads to significantly improved progression-free and overall survival over chemotherapy alone, investigators reported during a Presidential Symposium of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress ...
Drawing on several lines of ongoing research, David A. Tuveson, MD, PhD, has created a theoretical framework to consider while developing clinical trials in pancreatic cancer. In his keynote lecture at the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer, ...
The advent of effective combination chemotherapies has changed the treatment landscape for metastatic pancreatic cancer, extending median survival and leading to durable responses in a subset of patients. However, perpetual chemotherapy is cumulatively toxic, leading to progressive bone marrow...
Marcus Noel, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, included SWOG S1505 in the presentation of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Highlights during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program. Susan Tsai, MD, MHS, a ...
The much-anticipated SWOG S1505 trial has failed to show that one preoperative regimen is better than another in resectable pancreatic cancer.1 “Perioperative modified FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel appear to have similar efficacy, with acceptable safety and resectability rates,”...
A large survey of patients with cholangiocarcinoma indicates the toll this cancer takes on patients, even those with early-stage disease, as reported at the 2021 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Kristen Bibeau, PhD, MSPH, Head of Global Health Outcomes and Real-World Evidence Generation at...
A novel inhibitor of casein kinase 2 (CK2) has shown preliminary evidence of efficacy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, according to a phase I/IIb study presented at the 2021 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 Silmitasertib (CX-4945) is an oral small-molecule...
With inhibitors of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) fusion and other genetic alterations now in clinical trials for cholangiocarcinoma, there is interest in better understanding what FGFR2 genetic alterations mean for patients. In particular, little is known about the effects of FGFR2...
Invited study discussant Rachna T. Shroff, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona, and Chief of GI Medical Oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, said the study presented by Dr. Javle showed the FGFR2 inhibitor infigratinib to be active in FGFR2 fusion–positive...
The novel targeted agent infigratinib (BGJ398) showed clinically meaningful activity against chemotherapy-refractory cholangiocarcinoma in patients with fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR2) fusions and rearrangements. The confirmed overall response rate was 23% (34% confirmed/unconfirmed), the ...
Invited discussant of the ClarIDHy trial, Rachna T. Shroff, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona, and Chief of GI Medical Oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, said positive findings for ivosidenib support the notion that “biliary cancer is a perfect example of...
Ivosidenib, an inhibitor of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1), improved overall survival by almost 3 months in previously treated patients with advanced IDH1-mutated cholangiocarcinoma, compared with placebo, researchers of the global phase III ClarIDHy trial reported at the 2021 Gastrointestinal...
Molecular profiling allows clinicians to identify the molecular and genetic signatures that help to deliver treatments that are highly specific to a tumor. This tool has made possible a number of advances in the past year that are improving care for patients with gastrointestinal cancers. In...
In 2007, sorafenib became the first approved systemic therapy for hepatocellular cancers and the first agent to improve overall survival in these patients.1 In a similar multikinase inhibitor strategy, lenvatinib was found to be noninferior to sorafenib in overall survival in the same patient...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Richard S. Finn, MD, of Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues, the phase III IMbrave150 trial has shown that anti–PD-L1 plus anti-VEGF therapy with...
Excluding skin cancer, colorectal cancer is the third most prevalent and lethal cancer among both men and women in the United States.1 Although the risk of developing colorectal cancer increases with age—more than 90% of cases occur in people aged 50 or older2—recent research shows that the...
The past year has witnessed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a number of novel drugs and new indications for treating patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. A summary of these approvals is provided herein. Nivolumab plus ipilimumab: On March 10, 2020, the FDA granted...
“In line with the emergence of targeted therapies, molecular biomarker testing in metastatic colorectal cancer has evolved over the past decade,” noted Jeanne Tie, MD, MBChB, FRACP, who acknowledged there is confusion about the best ways to use molecular testing in the clinic. Dr. Tie, who is...
The invited discussant for the RAPIDO and PRODIGE 23 trials, Christopher Leigh Hallemeier, MD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, noted the standard approach to locally advanced rectal cancer has been, for the past 2 decades, a long course of chemoradiotherapy ...
More than 1 in 10 patients with lung cancer do not know what type of tumor they have, according to data from a 17-country study carried out by the Global Lung Cancer Coalition (GLCC) presented by Beattie et al at the European Lung Cancer Virtual Congress 2021 (Abstract 209P_PR). Nearly one in five...
In the treatment of resectable, locally advanced rectal cancer, researchers are trying to identify the most effective chemotherapy regimens, the best radiotherapy approaches, and the optimal sequence of these modalities. Two phase III trials presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program...
DESTINY-CRC01 study discussant, Michael S. Lee, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, called the findings “most promising” for the subsequent anti-HER2 treatment of HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer. The...
Having recently gained approval in metastatic breast cancer, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) is now proving its worth in metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results of the phase II DESTINY-CRC01 study in patients with HER2-positive disease.1 T-DXd is an antibody-drug conjugate...
At the 2021 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, the KEYNOTE-177 investigators updated their previously reported findings by showing further data relating to subsequent lines of therapy after disease progression. Their conclusion was that patients who received pembrolizumab initially still achieved...
In an updated analysis of the pivotal phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial of pembrolizu-mab for microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer, the benefit of first-line pembrolizumab continued beyond disease progression on the subsequent line of treatment, despite a high crossover to ...
The treatment of colorectal cancer has always been something of an art—but never more so than during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spring of 2020, The ASCO Post asked three experts in this malignancy to share their concerns and their approaches to achieving good patient outcomes while minimizing...
Treatment with the KRAS G12C inhibitor adagrasib showed clinical activity in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring a KRAS G12C mutation, confirming its role as a therapeutic target. Results from the KRYSTAL-1 trial were reported at the European Lung Cancer Virtual...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted two breakthrough device designations covering new intended uses of the Signatera molecular residual disease (MRD) test. These new designations will support the development of Signatera through phase III clinical trials as a companion diagnostic to ...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) announced that its board of directors has voted to elect the University of California (UC) Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center as its newest member institution. UC Davis joins 30 other leading academic cancer centers from across the United States...
Andreas Obermair, MD, of the University of Queensland and Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer Research, discusses data on a hormonal IUD used to treat women with the precursor lesion endometrial hyperplasia with atypia (EHA) and those with stage I endometrial adenocarcinoma (EAC). At 6...
Amir A. Jazaeri, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses data on the safety and efficacy of adoptive cell transfer using autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (LN-145) to treat patients with recurrent, metastatic, or persistent cervical carcinoma whose tumors have...
Eric Pujade-Lauraine, MD, PhD, of Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, discusses results from the PAOLA-1ENGOT-ov25 trial on the use of homologous recombination–repair mutation gene panels and whether they can predict the efficacy of olaparib plus bevacizumab in first-line maintenance therapy for patients with...
Brittany A. Davidson, MD, of Duke University, discusses the development and validation of the GO-POP model (Gynecologic Oncology Predictor of Postoperative opioid use), an individualized patient-centered predictive tool designed to help avoid overprescribing pain medications (ID# 10253).
Dana M. Roque, MD, of the University of Maryland Medical Center, discusses phase II results showing that weekly ixabepilone plus biweekly bevacizumab may improve overall response rate as well as progression-free and overall survival for women with platinum-resistant or -refractory ovarian,...
Laura Chambers, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic, discusses data showing that combining paclitaxel and cisplatin vs cisplatin alone with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy at interval debulking surgery improved progression-free survival. There was no difference in postoperative complications,...
I’m a person who doesn’t like uncertainty. I’m also a worrier. So, when my hand kept going to the same spot on the upper part of my left breast near my chest wall, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right, which persisted even after a routine mammography failed to find any...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has compiled a selection of resources for radiation oncology professionals. The resources were developed by clinical teams and based on the best available information at the time they were posted. Physicians and their patients must make the...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) recently announced the establishment of The Tow Center for Developmental Oncology (TCDO). The new institution will bring together the unique expertise of researchers and physicians from across MSK and empower them to pursue translational research...
Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves, PhD, recently announced the appointment of biomedical scientist Ravi Bellamkonda, PhD, as the university’s next Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, effective July 1, 2021. Dr. Bellamkonda returns to Emory after serving as Dean of...
The Pezcoller Foundation–American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research will be presented to Hans Clevers, MD, PhD, FAACR, at the virtual AACR Annual Meeting 2021, to be held April 10–15 and May 17–21. Dr. Clevers, who is...
With the widespread use of multigene panels for germline genetic testing, understanding the cancer risks associated with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants (ie, mutations) has become increasingly necessary. To identify which genes are breast cancer susceptibility genes, population studies...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), and National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) recently presented new ideas for overcoming inequality in oncology. The recommendations—developed by a group of 17 national experts, representing...
Cancer ranks as a leading cause of death in every country in the world, and, for the first time, female breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, overtaking lung cancer, according to a collaborative report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the International Agency for Research...
The American Cancer Society recently launched the Diversity in Cancer Research program, a permanent umbrella that will support the American Cancer Society’s effort to foster a more diverse scientific workforce community. This has been made possible through an endowment contribution from Elizabeth...
The Prevent Cancer Foundation has announced funding for nine scientists who are researching cancer prevention and early detection. Each scientist is being awarded $100,000 for 2 years. Areas of focus include the pancreas, esophagus, liver, lungs, skin, prostate, colon-rectum, and blood/bone ...
United in their commitment to eliminate human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancer, the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) and the Foundation for Women’s Cancer (FWC) recently endorsed a series of vaccine recommendations. HPV vaccines are among the most effective vaccines available worldwide,...
A science-focused organization dedicated to ending gastric cancer, the Sara Schottenstein Foundation recently announced its launch and its new website, http://www.saraschottensteinfoundation.org. Founded by Jeff Schottenstein, MBA, a wealth management professional in San Francisco, the Sara...
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and University of Utah (U of U) Health announced the appointment of Sachin Apte, MD, MS, MBA, as Chief Clinical Officer of HCI and Physician-in-Chief of the cancer hospital. “Dr. Apte will lead HCI’s clinical efforts at a time when we are poised to dramatically...
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) have named James K. Aikins, Jr, MD, FACOG, FACS, Chief of Gynecologic Oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute and Chief of Gynecologic Oncology Services at RWJUH. He will also serve as Program Director for the...