In a Swedish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lei et al found that patients with invasive cervical cancer and undetectable human papillomavirus (HPV) or infection with low-risk HPV types alone have poorer survival vs those with disease associated with high-risk HPV types. Study...
The 2021 Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) was held on November 4–5. Although participants could not join the conference in person, attendees could still stay informed about the latest developments in geriatric oncology through the virtual platform. The...
In a single-center phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chi et al found that the combination of the MET inhibitor binimetinib and the KIT inhibitor imatinib produced a high response rate in patients with previously untreated advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor. As stated ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Casasnovas et al, final results of the phase III AHL2011 Lymphoma Association Study showed continued similarity of progression-free and overall survival over long-term follow-up with positron-emission tomography (PET)-based de-escalation of...
David Cescon, MD, PhD, Clinician Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada, was the invited discussant of the two MONALEESA analyses.1,2 He noted that the most recent overall survival analysis, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2021,...
Further analyses of the MONALEESA metastatic breast cancer trials have shown that the benefit of ribociclib plus endocrine therapy in the first-line setting extends to most intrinsic molecular subtypes and is consistent across multiple subgroups. The studies were presented at the 2021 San Antonio...
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States. In 2020, approximately 148,000 people were diagnosed with the disease, and 53,200 people died from it, including 17,930 cases and 3,640 deaths in individuals younger than age 50. According to the American Cancer...
As reported in the Journal of Oncology by Reinhard Dummer, MD, and colleagues, the phase III COMBI-i trial has shown no significant progression-free survival benefit with the addition of the anti–PD-1 antibody spartalizumab to dabrafenib and trametinib in patients with no prior systemic treatment...
People who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation have an increased risk of pancreatic, stomach, and prostate cancers, as well as the previously well-known risk of breast and ovarian cancers, according to new research calling for increased testing in male carriers to detect the cancers early. The...
In the INTRIGUE trial, the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ripretinib was not superior to sunitinib in the second-line treatment of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST); however, the agent was better tolerated. These findings were presented by Michael C. Heinrich, MD, FACP, and...
Black women with breast cancer had significantly higher rates of lymphedema after axillary lymph node dissection compared with Hispanic, White, and Asian women in a prospective study of breast cancer–related lymphedema presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). In fact,...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Vicky Makker, MD, and colleagues, the phase III Study 309-KEYNOTE-775 trial has shown prolonged progression-free and overall survival with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy among previously treated patients with ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pasqual et al found that patients younger than 45 years who received radioactive iodine treatment for nonmetastatic differentiated thyroid cancer had an increased risk for the subsequent development of primary solid tumors. As stated by the...
In the case-control Pathways Heart Study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kwan et al found that breast cancer survivors had an elevated risk for incident diabetes overall and according to treatment as well as an elevated risk of incident hypertension according to treatment vs controls...
In 2017, I was caring for my brother, who was suffering from respiratory failure due to complications from cerebral palsy, and working full-time as a registered nurse. I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted all the time. I was also losing weight at an alarming rate—more than 70 pounds in just a...
Geraldine Jacobson, MD, MPH, MBA, FACR, FASTRO, founding Chair of the West Virginia University (WVU) Department of Radiation Oncology, was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Her father was a military officer, and his various duty posts offered an adventurous childhood for Dr. Jacobson. “One of my...
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor, Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Quynh-Thu Le, MD, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Co-Director of the Radiation Biology Program of the Stanford Cancer Institute, and one of the Group Chairs of the NRG Oncology...
OCE Insights is written by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) and the Office of Oncology Diseases (OOD) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In this installment, Jeff Summers, MD, OOD Acting Associate Director for Translational Sciences, and Marc R. Theoret, MD, OCE Deputy...
On December 3, 2021, pembrolizumab was approved for adjuvant treatment of adult and pediatric (≥ 12 years of age) patients with stage IIB or IIC melanoma following complete resection.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the phase III, double-blind KEYNOTE-716 trial...
On November 30, 2021, daratumumab/hyaluronidase-fihj and carfilzomib were approved for use in combination with dexamethasone for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who had one to three prior lines of therapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in a cohort...
Adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is currently almost an afterthought and is taken for granted as a standard of care for patients with stage II to IIIA NSCLC after resection. The earliest meta-analysis, published in 1995,1 gave the first hint of ...
As reported in The Lancet by Enriqueta Felip, MD, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, and colleagues, the phase III IMpower010 trial has shown improved disease-free survival with adjuvant atezolizumab vs best supportive care in the predefined population of patients with resected stage ...
A greater understanding of the mutational landscape in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has identified key oncogenes, such as EGFR, ALK, ROS, RET, and BRAF, among others. These discoveries, coupled with the availability of specific targeted small-molecule inhibitors, have transformed the...
“Fifty years ago, just a few days before the new year, former President Richard Nixon signed into law the National Cancer Act (NCA), setting a clear national priority to conquer cancer. “At the time the bill was signed into law, pioneers in our field had already made substantial discoveries, but we ...
Multiple comparisons of traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy combinations that began decades ago led to the adoption of the platinum plus fluorouracil doublet as the standard of care for treatment of recurrent or metastatic esophageal cancer.1 Other combinations created by the addition and/or...
Jane N. Winter, MD, moderator of the press conference on late-breaking abstracts at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exhibition, commented on the BELINDA study in the context of two investigations that had been previously reported at the same meeting, showing...
The autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel failed to improve event-free survival vs standard-of-care treatment strategies in patients with aggressive, relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to results of the phase III BELINDA trial,...
After almost a century of limited efficacy of cancer immunotherapy,1 the breakthrough happened in 2012 with the discovery of immune checkpoint inhibitors,2,3 leading to the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo. Yet about 40% of patients on immune...
New research underscores the need for aggressive support of patients hospitalized with blood cancer and COVID-19, according to data presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. Two studies of one of the largest data sets of patients with blood cancer...
In a single-institution study reported in The Lancet Oncology, David C. Qian, MD, PhD, and Zachary S. Buchwald, MD, PhD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, and colleagues found that patients with metastatic melanoma who received at least 20% of immune checkpoint inhibitor...
For the first-line treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, the percentage of patients achieving measurable residual disease (MRD, previously called minimal residual disease) negativity was significantly greater when the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody isatuximab was added to a standard...
The bispecific antibody mosunetuzumab achieved deep and durable remissions as monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, according to the results of a pivotal phase II trial presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 In ...
As a first-line treatment of inter-mediate- or high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the addition of the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq to standard-of-care therapy resulted in a 27% reduction in the relative risk of disease progression, relapse, or death, with a similar safety...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy with lisocabtagene maraleucel could prove to be the new standard-of-care treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma in the second-line setting, according to data presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
Amy Tiersten, MD, Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, Director of the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and Associate Dean of Oncology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas,...
Switching from an aromatase inhibitor to fulvestrant upon early identification of the ESR1 mutation in plasma—before disease progression—doubled progression-free survival in the phase III PADA-1 trial, presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 “PADA-1 is the first trial to...
In the primary analysis of the phase III ZUMA-7 trial, examining second-line therapy for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma, the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel led to a fourfold increase in event-free survival over the standard of care. These findings were presented at the...
Precursors to multiple myeloma were identified by population screening in two studies reported at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. The prevalence of monoclonal gammopathies was determined in the PROMISE trial using cutting-edge technology in a high-risk ...
In the phase II DESTINY-Lung01 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Bob T. Li, MD, PhD, MPH, and colleagues found that fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) showed durable activity in patients with metastatic HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) refractory to standard...
In a single-institution phase II trial reported in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Marron et al found that neoadjuvant treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab-rwlc in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma produced a high level of pathologic tumor necrosis at resection ...
In an analysis from the phase II CALGB 40603/Alliance trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shepherd et al found that the addition of carboplatin or bevacizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was not associated with improved long-term outcomes in patients with stage II or III...
Thousands of schools transitioned to online learning in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time many children with cancer faced significant challenges with their schooling. An opinion paper by Johns Hopkins experts, published by Thornton et al in JAMA Pediatrics, highlights some of the ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by David M. O’Malley, MD, and colleagues, pembrolizumab showed durable activity in a cohort of patients with microsatellite instability–high or mismatch repair–deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) advanced endometrial cancer enrolled in the multicohort KEYNOTE-158...
In a Danish single-institution study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Søndergaard et al found a high rate of undetected or inadequately treated preexisting cardiovascular disease prior to the receipt of chemoradiation and a high rate of cardiovascular events during follow-up in patients undergoing ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Arlene O. Siefker-Radtke, MD, and colleagues, the final analysis of the phase II BLC2001 trial has shown maintained activity of the pan-fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor erdafitinib in patients with locally advanced unresectable ...
The phase III PANTHER trial, which evaluated pevonedistat plus azacitidine vs azacitidine alone in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and low–blast count acute myeloid leukemia (AML), failed to meet its primary endpoint of event-free survival, though lessons...
In the phase III ECOG-ACRIN E2108 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Seema A. Khan, MD, MPH, and colleagues found no difference in overall survival with early locoregional therapy vs continued systemic therapy among women with newly diagnosed stage IV breast cancer and an intact...
Invited discussant Anne Blaes, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, commented on Dr. Braybrooke’s study. “In 18,000 patients in randomized trials initiated before 2012, there was a 15% improvement in recurrence with the use of anthracyclines plus taxanes...
In a large patient-level meta-analysis of 16 trials, presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS),1 the combination of an anthracycline plus a taxane achieved a substantial 15% reduction in breast cancer recurrence at 10 years vs taxane chemotherapy alone, representing an...
Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with lutetium-177 (Lu-177) dotatate is a treatment for well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in 2018, but clinicians have lacked a metric for predicting its benefit on an individual patient basis....