In studies reported at the ESMO Congress 2019, immunotherapy yielded encouraging outcomes in two gynecologic cancer populations in need of new treatments, including patients with advanced cervical cancer that is microsatellite-stable and patients previously treated for advanced endometrial cancer....
An updated analysis of the phase III VELIA/GOG-3005 trial, presented during the 2020 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer Webinar Series,1 suggested synergy between the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor veliparib and platinum chemotherapy in the...
Results of the NRG Oncology phase III clinical trial NRG-GY004 indicated that the addition of the investigational agent cediranib to olaparib and standard platinum-based chemotherapy did not improve progression-free survival outcomes for women with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer; however,...
Lipophilic statin use was associated with reduced mortality in women with epithelial ovarian cancer and all subtypes in a large observational study compared with never users. These findings were presented at the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting II. Lead...
the final results of the phase II KEYNOTE-100 study of pembrolizumab in women with advanced and recurrent ovarian cancer showed that pembrolizumab monotherapy produced modest clinical activity. Ursula Matulonis, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, reported the data at the...
For the first time, overall survival has been improved with maintenance therapy involving a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer associated with BRCA1/2 mutations. In the final, preplanned, overall survival analysis in the...
Discussant of the DESKTOP III and SOC1 trials, Robert L. Coleman, MD, of U.S. Oncology Research in Woodlands, Texas, congratulated the authors of both trials. He put these results in perspective with the GOG-0213 study, which did not show a survival benefit for secondary surgery. “There are general ...
Two phase III trials provided support for secondary cytoreductive surgery in women with recurrent ovarian cancer, with the caveats that patient selection is key and the surgery should be performed at sites of excellence. The results of the DESKTOP III and SOC1 trials, both presented during the...
In the phase III VELIA/GOG-3005 trial—reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 20191 and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine2—Robert L. Coleman, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues found that the ...
Ana Oaknin, MD, PhD, Head of the Gynecologic Cancer Program at Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, discussed the PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012 trial along with the results of the phase III PAOLA-1/ENGOT-ov25 trial of olaparib plus bevacizumab maintenance. All three trials—PRIMA, PAOLA-1,...
In women with advanced ovarian cancer responding to first-line chemotherapy, maintenance therapy with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor niraparib significantly reduced the risk of disease progression by 38% overall and by 60% in women with BRCA mutations. Even patients without a...
A number of new drugs and novel indications were added to the treatment armamentarium for gynecologic cancers over the past year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals are noted here. Olaparib, PARP Inhibitor On May 8, 2020, the FDA expanded the indication of olaparib (Lynparza) to...
Thomas J. Herzog, MD, Deputy Director, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, who presented a distillation of the PRIMA trial data along with updated results of the phase III PAOLA-1 trial of olaparib plus bevacizumab maintenance, called the data “practice-changing.” “We’ve suspected for a while...
Making sense of maintenance therapy in advanced ovarian cancer has been a tall order since the publication of impressive data for not one but three poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2019 Congress.1 The picture became a little clearer...
As reported inThe New England Journal of Medicine by Isabelle Ray-Coquard, MD, PhD, of the Céntre Léon Berard, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and Groupe d’Investigateurs Nationaux pour l’Etude des Cancers Ovariens (GINECO), Paris, and colleagues, the phase III PAOLA-1 trial has shown a...
A study published by Gaba et al in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has found that risk‐reducing early salpingectomy and delayed oophorectomy is highly acceptable among premenopausal women at increased risk for developing ovarian cancer—particularly among patients...
Doxorubicin is a standard of care in patients with advanced inoperable soft-tissue sarcoma. In the EPAZ study, German researchers tested whether pazopanib showed comparable efficacy to doxorubicin in the first-line treatment of elderly patients with soft-tissue sarcoma. Grünwald et al reported in...
On September 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved oral azacitidine (Onureg; also known as CC-486) for the continued treatment of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who achieved first complete remission or complete remission with incomplete blood count recovery...
A new study from the American Cancer Society has found health insurance coverage disruptions in the prior year led to issues with health-care access and affordability for currently insured cancer survivors. The study was published by Zhao et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention....
A new study from the UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project (UKCCMP) has found that, compared with patients who have other malignancies, patients with blood cancers are more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 infection. These results were published by Lee et al in The Lancet Oncology. As...
On August 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved FoundationOne Liquid CDx, a comprehensive pan-tumor liquid biopsy test for patients with solid tumors. FoundationOne Liquid CDx is a comprehensive genomic-profiling test that analyzes more than 300 cancer-related genes and multiple...
Marina C. Garassino, MD, of the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano, discusses the global registry she and her colleagues created to track and address the 35% higher mortality risk from COVID-19 among patients with lung cancer who are treated with chemotherapy.
For patients with non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) marked by RET gene fusions, the targeted therapy selpercatinib was well tolerated and achieved durable objective responses in the majority of participants in the phase I/II LIBRETTO-001 trial, according to researchers from The University of...
Leora Horn, MD, of Vanderbilt University, discusses phase III results from the eXalt3 trial, which suggest that ensartinib, a novel, next-generation ALK inhibitor, is superior to crizotinib in terms of progression-free survival as well as efficacy in central nervous system metastases for patients...
Misako Nagasaka, MD, of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, discusses results of the ORIENT-11 trial, which showed that, although sintilimab plus pemetrexed and platinum significantly improved progression-free survival, the combination only nominally improved overall survival in patients...
Public momentum for efforts to address structural and systemic racism has led many health-care institutions to consider how they can work to bring about positive change. In this column, drawing on important recent work by Kimani Paul-Emile, JD, PhD, Professor of Law at Fordham University School of ...
Robotic surgery for patients with early-stage oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer may be associated with improved health outcomes, including better long-term survival, according to a study published by Nguyen et al in JAMA Oncology. Transoral robotic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure in...
In a study published by Gao et al in The American Journal of Pathology, scientists reported the discovery of an increased level of the neuroprotein sortilin in pancreatic cancer cells. The investigators speculated that this finding may lead to the development of more effective treatment for...
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Oneida Health announced the appointment of Maya Mathew, MD, as Medical Director of the Dorothy G. Griffin Radiation Oncology Center in Oneida, New York, part of the Roswell Park Care Network. In her new position, Dr. Mathew will lead a team that includes ...
The Cancer Research Institute and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research have launched an innovative clinical trial that aims to demonstrate the utility of liquid biopsy in assessing responses of patients with lung cancer to immunotherapy (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04093167). If the trial...
Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Radiology at the Stanford School of Medicine and an internationally recognized pioneer in molecular imaging, died on July 18, 2020, of cancer. He was 57. The Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research, Dr. Gambhir dedicated his career...
The Society of Gynecologic Oncology announced with sadness the death of Wendy Noelle Ericsson, an advocate and champion of the Foundation for Women’s Cancer, an advocacy group supporting research, education, and public awareness of gynecologic cancers. Ms. Ericsson’s death was due to complications...
Cornelius O. “Skip” Granai, MD, Founder of the Program in Women’s Oncology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, died on June 28, 2020, after a long bout with cancer. Dr. Granai strongly believed that cancer care for women should encompass both breast and gynecologic cancers, according...
The text and photograph here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Anesthesia Era 1845–1875 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns...
Of the tens of thousands of genes in cellular DNA, one group of genes is tasked with ensuring that every cell reproduces itself exactly when it divides to make new cells. Perhaps the best known of these genes are the BRCA genes, which if inherited with a significant alteration, confer a markedly...
The ASCO Post is pleased to continue this occasional special focus on the worldwide cancer burden. In this issue, we feature a close look at the cancer incidence and mortality rates in Cambodia. The aim of this special feature is to highlight the global cancer burden for various countries of the...
Although extensive research has suggested ways to ensure that patients receive evidence-based cancer care, putting these solutions into widespread practice can be a complex, challenging, and inefficient process. Now, a new grant awarded to the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of...
The GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer presented Charles Swanton, MD, PhD, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS, Senior Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, with the 2020 Bonnie J. Addario Lectureship Award at the Physicians’ Education Resource 21st Annual International Lung Cancer Congress. GO2 is recognizing...
Mary-Claire King, PhD, will receive the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), to be held virtually from December 8 to 12, 2020. The William L. McGuire Memorial Lectureship was established in 1992 to commemorate Dr. McGuire’s significant...
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) announced the winning programs for its 10th annual ACCC Innovator Awards, highlighting the year’s leading-edge strategies to challenges faced by oncology programs and practices across the country. The eight ACCC Innovator Award winners feature...
Three years ago, former Chief Executive Officer of ASCO, Allen S. Lichter, MD, Laurence H. Baker, DO, Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor; Leonard Saltz, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Memorial Sloan...
The Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors have been one of the most exciting advances in the tre atment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and have led to the development of chemotherapy-free treatments for both treatment-naive as well as relapsed or refractory CLL based on studies where...
Cleveland Clinic has appointed Jae Jung, PhD, as Chair of Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Cancer Biology. Dr. Jung will also serve as Director of the new Center for Global and Emerging Pathogens Research, which will focus on public health threats ranging from the Zika virus to...
A consensus statement published in JAMA Dermatology by an international group of melanoma researchers evaluated the use of prognostic gene-expression profile testing to guide clinical management of melanoma.1 The group cautioned against the routine use of currently available gene-expression...
The University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Keck Medicine of USC have announced the appointment of oncologist and cancer researcher Steven Grossman, MD, PhD, as the center’s Cancer Physician in Chief. In this inaugural position, Dr. Grossman will provide...
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) President David J. Cole, MD, FACS, has announced the appointment of MUSC College of Medicine Dean Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD, to the additional role as Director of the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Dr. DuBois has headed the College of Medicine for more ...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has appointed Heather Brandt, PhD, a behavioral scientist with expertise in cancer prevention and control, to lead community outreach and research programs focused on the prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers through vaccination. In...
William G. Kaelin, Jr, MD, will receive a Distinguished Scientist Award from the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) on October 12, during the 2020 AACI/Cancer Center Administrators Forum Annual Meeting. Due to COVID-19–related restrictions on travel and gatherings, the meeting will...
Following an extensive national search, Bert W. O’Malley, Jr, MD, has been appointed as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the flagship academic hospital for the University of Maryland Medical System and an anchor institution in...
At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2020 Virtual, Milind Javle, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues reported that third- and later-line treatment with the selective fibroblast growth factor...