Immunotherapy has changed the treatment paradigms for melanoma, lung cancer, bladder cancer, and renal cancer. Now, checkpoint inhibitor therapy is making inroads in triple-negative breast cancer—one of the most difficult-to-treat aggressive types of breast cancer. Late-breaking results of the...
CDK4/6 inhibitors improve overall survival in advanced breast cancer, according to results of two important phase III trials reported at the ESMO Congress 2019. Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles Women’s Cancer Research Program, presented the findings from the...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019, held September 27 to October 1 in Barcelona, welcomed clinicians, researchers, journalists, and exhibitors from around the world to hear advances across the oncology spectrum, in both clinical medicine and basic research. For this...
Results from a preliminary research study showed the majority of patients aged 85 years and older were still alive in the short-term after undergoing segmental colectomy for stage II and III colon cancer. Kaur et al presented these findings at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress...
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. According to Dr. Oaknin, the...
In women with advanced ovarian cancer responding to first-line chemotherapy, maintenance therapy with the 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 homologous recombination...
In September 2019, Dr. Claire Harrison and colleagues, myself among them, presented two new analyses regarding the use of the JAK2 and FLT3 inhibitor fedratinib in myelofibrosis at the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) Annual Meeting, with resulting publication in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma...
On May 15, 2019, venetoclax was approved for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings from the open-label phase III CLL14 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov...
Advances in systemic therapy and supportive care, as well as ongoing improvements in surgical techniques, have led to improved survival for many patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. We have observed increased survival with FOLFIRINOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan,...
Third-line treatment with cabazitaxel extended progression-free survival and overall survival in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in the CARD trial. These results provide the first evidence from a randomized phase III trial for a survival benefit with third-line therapy, and ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Ken Kato, MD, and colleagues, the phase III ATTRACTION-3 trial conducted in predominantly Asian patients has shown a survival benefit with nivolumab vs paclitaxel or docetaxel in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who were refractory to...
In an analysis of the phase III TITAN trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Neeraj Agarwal, MD, and colleagues found that that treatment with apalatuamide was associated with preserved health-related quality of life, including pain and fatigue outcomes, in patients with metastatic...
In an analysis from the phase III PACE-B trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Nicholas van As, MD, and colleagues found that shortened treatment courses with stereotactic body radiotherapy did not increase gastrointestinal or genitourinary acute toxicity vs intensity-modulated fractionated...
2020–2021: Lori J. Pierce, MD, FASTRO 2019–2020: Howard “Skip” Burris, III, MD, FACP 2018–2019: Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD 2017–2018: Bruce E. Johnson, MD 2016–2017: Daniel F. Hayes, MD 2015–2016: Julie Vose, MD, MBA 2014–2015: Peter P. Yu, MD 2013–2014: Clifford A. Hudis, MD 2012–2013: Sandra M....
The time has come to offer all patients a PARP [poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase] inhibitor,” said Mansoor R. Mirza, MD, Chief Oncologist at Copenhagen University Hospital and the invited discussant of the VELIA trial at the ESMO Presidential Symposium. He noted, however, that he wasn’t sure veliparib...
As first-line treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer, the addition of veliparib during induction followed by veliparib maintenance therapy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death in the phase III VELIA/GOG-3005 trial reported at the European Society for Medical...
On September 26, 2019, daratumu-mab (Darzalex) was approved in combination with bortezomib, thalidomide, and dexamethasone for the treatment of multiple myeloma in newly diagnosed adult patients eligible for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based ...
A study by Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, and colleagues using bisulfite sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA to identify methylomic signatures for multicancer detection and tissue-of-origin determination found the assay achieved accurate detection of multiple cancers across stages and tissue-of-origin...
The treatment landscape for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma has changed drastically over the past several years with the introduction of many new therapeutic options for patients. The revolution began with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of nivolumab and ipilimumab...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Robert J. Motzer, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues, extended follow-up of the phase III CheckMate 214 trial has shown maintained survival benefit of first-line nivolumab/ipilimumab vs sunitinib among patients with...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Perl et al, the phase III ADMIRAL trial showed improved overall survival with the oral FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) inhibitor gilteritinib vs salvage chemotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia...
“The main goal in ovarian cancer is to avoid relapse after first-line therapy because otherwise, the probability of cure is quite low,” said European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) discussant of the PAOLA-1 trial, Ana Oaknin, MD, PhD, of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona....
In women with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer, front-line maintenance therapy with olaparib plus bevacizumab reduced the risk of disease progression by 41% overall and by 69% in the subset of patients with BRCA-mutated disease, vs bevacizumab and placebo, in the phase III PAOLA-1/ENGOT-ov25 trial...
Women with early-stage breast cancer treated with lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy rated the cosmetic results for whole-breast and partial-breast irradiation to be equivalent, according to a new analysis of results from the phase III NRG Oncology/NSABP B39-RTOG 0413 clinical trial. Results...
In a secondary analysis of the phase III TAILORx trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Joseph Sparano, MD, and colleagues found that adjuvant chemotherapy plus endocrine therapy produced good 5-year outcomes among women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, axillary node–negative breast cancer...
In a cohort biomarker study reported in JAMA Oncology, Tie et al showed that the circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)-positive status after surgery and chemotherapy was associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence in patients with stage III colon cancer. Study Details The Australian multicenter ...
In the phase III TEAMM trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Drayson et al found that prophylactic treatment with levofloxacin during the first 12 weeks of multiple myeloma treatment in newly diagnosed patients was associated with a significant reduction in first febrile episodes or death from any ...
Formal study discussant Eleni Efstathiou, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, was enthusiastic about the PROfound trial results. “This is the first phase III targeted therapy trial to deliver positive outcomes in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer,” she stated. “This is truly a ...
Treatment with olaparib delayed disease progression, and early survival data suggest a positive trend in favor of olaparib compared with newer hormonal agents in men with pretreated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and homologous recombinant repair genetic alterations—specifically...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Hui et al, no clinically important differences in patient-reported outcomes were observed among patients receiving durvalumab vs placebo after chemoradiation for stage III unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the phase III PACIFIC trial. The...
In a press release issued by the White House today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intention to nominate Stephen Hahn, MD, FASTRO, to be the Commissioner of Food and Drugs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Hahn has been Chief Medical Executive at The University of Texas...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Carrie et al, the 112-month follow-up of the French phase III GETUG-AFU 16 trial has confirmed the initial 5-year report of the trial, which reported improved progression-free survival with the addition of short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) to...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, and colleagues, an interim analysis of overall survival in the phase III MONARCH 2 trial has shown a significant advantage for abemaciclib plus fulvestrant vs fulvestrant alone in women with advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative...
One in four Americans say they incorporate cancer prevention into their daily lives, according to ASCO’s third annual National Cancer Opinion Survey, despite research showing that as many as half of all cancer cases are preventable. The survey found low levels of awareness of known cancer risk...
As reported in The Lancet by Luis Paz-Ares, MD, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CASPIAN trial has shown an overall survival benefit with the addition of durvalumab to platinum (either cisplatin or carboplatin)/etoposide chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of...
In a phase IIb trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Anderson et al found that the superoxide dismutase mimetic GC4419 was effective in reducing the duration, incidence, and severity of severe oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer receiving concurrent radiotherapy and...
In a phase IIb trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Anderson et al found that the superoxide dismutase mimetic GC4419 was effective in reducing duration, incidence, and severity of severe oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer receiving concurrent radiotherapy and...
In a subgroup analysis of the phase III TAGS trial (TAS-102 Gastric Study) reported in JAMA Oncology, David H. Ilson, MD, PhD, and colleagues found positive trends in survival benefit with trifluridine/tipiracil treatment vs placebo for patients with pretreated metastatic gastric cancer or...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Yuan Zhang, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of gemcitabine/cisplatin induction chemotherapy to standard platinum-based chemoradiotherapy improved recurrence-free survival vs chemoradiotherapy alone in...
On August 16, 2019, fedratinib was approved for the treatment of adults with intermediate-2 or high-risk primary or secondary (post-polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data The approval was based on findings from the phase III double-blind...
Patients who were being treated with chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer and who reported engaging in physical activity had a significantly longer progression-free survival and reduced risk for treatment-related adverse events than did those reporting less physical activity, according to...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Argiris et al, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG)-American College of Radiology Imaging Network Cancer Research Group–coordinated phase III E1305 trial has shown no overall survival benefit with the addition of bevacizumab to...
The American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) presented Peter Wiernik, MD, with the Nathaniel T. Kwit Memorial Distinguished Service Award at the ACCP’s Annual Meeting in September. Dr. Wiernik is Director of the Cancer Research Foundation of New York. The Nathaniel T. Kwit Memorial...
In a post hoc 5-year follow-up of the KEYNOTE-006 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Caroline Robert, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, Université Paris-Sud, and colleagues found that pembrolizumab maintained overall and progression-free survival benefits over ipilimumab in advanced melanoma.1 In ...
CDK4/6 inhibitors clearly improve overall survival in advanced breast cancer, as this prized endpoint was robustly demonstrated in two landmark phase III trials reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019. Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, of the University of California,...
The advent of new targeted agents for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has ushered in a golden age of treatment, leading to longer, more durable periods of disease control. Not all oncologists are convinced, however, that improvements in progression-free survival alone warrant dispensing with...
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.” –Robert Frost One of the first patients I encountered after residency was a 26-year-old woman with a single brain metastasis from melanoma. For anonymity, let’s call her Anna. Anna had just...
Ovarian cancer is typically a second-tier newsmaker at the world’s premier oncology conferences, but at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019, this tumor type generated universal buzz. Impressive findings were presented for three PARP inhibitors in front-line maintenance...
Formal discussant Sherene Loi, MD, PhD, Professor of Cancer Therapeutics at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia, characterized the results of KEYNOTE-522 as “exciting.” “This is the first phase III neoadjuvant study in triple-negative breast cancer. Despite breast cancer not...
Immunotherapy has changed the treatment paradigms for melanoma, lung cancer, bladder cancer, and renal cancer. Now, checkpoint inhibitor therapy is making inroads in triple-negative breast cancer—one of the most difficult-to-treat aggressive types of breast cancer. The addition of the checkpoint...