“The IKEMA trial is based on the interest of adding a CD38 naked antibody to a carfilzomib-plus-dexamethasone skeleton, a protocol nearly identical to the recently presented CANDOR trial,” said Craig Hofmeister MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Hematology and Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute...
The addition of the CD38 antibody isatuximab-irfc to carfilzomib and dexamethasone nearly halved the risk of disease progression or death in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, the interim analysis of the phase III IKEMA trial has shown.1 “Isatuximab plus carfilzomib and...
Compared with younger patients, older patients with cancer face unique challenges because many of them have age-related decreases in health-related quality of life. This can be a result of many factors, such as comorbidities, mental health, physical impairment, and financial stressors. A diagnosis...
In an Italian phase IIb/III study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Mazzaferro et al found evidence that liver transplantation after tumor downstaging was associated with improved event-free and overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The study was closed early due to changes in...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its guideline for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, adapting a 2019 update from the Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The ACS first issued a guideline for routine use of the HPV vaccine in 2007, with an update issued in...
In a study reported as a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Scovell et al identified a potential association between the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors and impaired spermatogenesis using autopsy tissue findings in men with a history of metastatic melanoma. Study Details The study involved...
In the phase I/II TRAXHER2 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Cortés et al found that the combination of capecitabine and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) did not improve overall response rate vs T-DM1 alone in previously treated patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Study Details In ...
In a single-center phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Andrea Apolo, MD, and colleagues found that the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib showed activity in a cohort of patients with platinum-refractory metastatic urothelial carcinoma. As noted by the investigators, in addition to...
This week, we’ll review two influential breast cancer studies presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program: MINDACT and HER2CLIMB.
I have had to come to terms with my own mortality three times in my life and I’m only 46. When I was 17, I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease and experienced renal failure 2 years later. I underwent my first kidney transplant at 21, just before starting medical school. Finally, I thought my ...
Women with early-stage cervical cancer treated with minimally invasive radical hysterectomy had a 71% increased risk of recurrence and a 56% increased risk of death compared with those treated with open radical hysterectomy, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 studies involving ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is honoring Christopher I. Amos, PhD, with the 2020 AACR–American Cancer Society (ACS) Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention. Dr. Amos, the Selzman Endowed Professor, Director of the Institute for Clinical and...
Neil Spector, MD, a physician-scientist, translational research leader, and oncology mentor died on June 14, 2020. He was 63. Dr. Spector was the Sandra Coates Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, and a member of the Duke Cancer ...
Beth Levine, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine and Microbiology, Director of the Center for Autophagy Research, and Charles Cameron Sprague Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Sciences at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern), and an investigator at the Howard Hughes ...
Oscar Colegio, MD, PhD, the Lawrence P. & Joan Castellani Family Endowed Chair in Dermatology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, died unexpectedly on June 13, 2020, at a family residence in Connecticut. He was 47. Dr. Colegio had relocated to Buffalo when he was...
On May 18, 2020, atezolizumab was approved for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression and no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations. High PD-L1 expression is defined as PD-L1 staining of at least 50% of...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology, as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
From his early days, David Fajgenbaum, MD, was an overachiever in academics and sports, funneling his relentless drive and laser-like focus into everything he did. He dreamed of becoming a quarterback at a division I school, which he achieved, garnering a full scholarship to Georgetown University,...
Bjørn Henning Gronberg, MD, PhD, presented a paper at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program reporting astounding positive results favoring higher-dose, twice-daily radiation therapy in limited-stage small cell lung cancer.1 This was a phase II study (large for phase II but small for phase III)...
An international panel of experts led by researchers and thought leaders at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health (SKCC) and the Department of Urology at Jefferson have published the first multidisciplinary, consensus-driven, prostate cancer genetic implementation framework for the...
It was ambitious and it was controversial, but the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) made it through both houses of Congress and was signed into law in December 2016. Sponsored by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI), the landmark legislation funded new medical...
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...
Palliative care’s road to acceptance as standard-of-care practice has been a remarkably unsmooth one, given its core mission: improving the quality of life of patients and their families by relieving the pain, symptoms, and stress of a serious or life-limiting illness. A person’s relationship with...
Patients with heavily pretreated metastatic melanoma treated with adoptive cell therapy based on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes achieved a response rate of 36%, a disease control rate of 80%, and a median duration of response that had not been reached by 18 months in the global open-label phase II...
On May 15, 2020, rucaparib was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with deleterious BRCA mutation–associated (germline or somatic) metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have been treated with androgen receptor–directed therapy and taxane-based chemotherapy.1,2...
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...
Two myeloma specialists weighed in on the disappointing findings of SWOG S1211: Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and Director of the Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service, and Joshua Richter, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at...
The addition of elotuzumab to a standard three-drug induction regimen did not improve outcomes in patients with high-risk multiple myeloma enrolled in the randomized phase II SWOG S1211 trial, according to findings reported during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program by Saad Zafar Usmani, MD,...
Clinicians interested in breast cancer who logged into the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program were greeted with an abundance of high-impact presentations. The ASCO Post has reported on several studies in depth elsewhere, but here we offer our readers a roundup of several important studies in early...
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–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) plus...
The antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin yielded responses as a single agent and in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone in the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to two reports from the DREAMM team at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program.1,2 In the...
The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in two different regimens: On May 15, 2020, the two-drug combination was approved for first-line treatment in...
On May 1, 2020, the combination of daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj was approved for adult patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. This new product allows for subcutaneous (SC) dosing of daratumumab.1,2 Daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj is for SC use only. The...
Although the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with cancer is still being evaluated, data from several studies show that in comparison with people who do not have cancer, those who do generally experience a higher risk of severe events including admittance to the intensive care unit, ...
A visiting away elective is a resident’s designated time to visit another academic program to foster the growth of medical knowledge through patient care from the perspective of another health-care system and educational experience. The time dedicated to make this dream happen is grueling. First...
Pain is among the most difficult medical issues for oncologists to confront, said Tony L. Yaksh, PhD, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, during his keynote address at the 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. Failure to adequately manage...
In 2019, the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer was born from the merger of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and the Lung Cancer Alliance. The marriage of two lung cancer advocacy groups raises the profile of each group’s work and combines considerable resources to combat lung cancer. The...
Adolescents and young adults (AYA) who have survived cancer may continue to suffer from insomnia long after treatment ends, interfering with a range of daily activities. In Pediatric Blood & Cancer, Eric S. Zhou, PhD, and Christopher J. Recklitis, PhD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,...
“As a medical student, I often felt marginalized from my medical community. I have been told that my name is ‘not American,’ fallen prey to being confused for support staff such as a janitor (even while wearing my white coat), and been asked questions like, ‘Where are you really from?’ or ‘How old...
Combining the HER2-targeted therapy trastuzumab with carboplatin and paclitaxel improved survival rates for women with a rare, aggressive type of endometrial cancer, according to findings published by Fader et al in Clinical Cancer Research. Each year, more than 65,650 women in the United States...
The early initiation—at age 25 to 30—of annual breast cancer screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with or without mammography may reduce breast cancer mortality by more than half in survivors of childhood cancer who had been previously exposed to chest radiation, according to a study by...
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 provide 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...
On July 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an oral combination of decitabine and cedazuridine (Inqovi) for adult patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), including the following: Previously treated and untreated de novo and secondary MDS with the following...
On July 7, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) posted a draft recommendation statement, draft evidence review, and draft modeling study on screening for lung cancer in people who do not have signs or symptoms. Based on the evidence, the USPSTF recommends annual screening using a...
Commenting on the SOLO2 trial for The ASCO Post was Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP, FASCO, Director of Women’s Cancers at Lifespan Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. “It’s great to get an overall survival advantage from a PARP inhibitor study. Coming...
Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging with the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiotracer fluorine F-18 DCFPyL (PyL) successfully identified areas of occult metastasis in men with biochemically recurrent metastatic castration-resistant prostate...
In a poster presentation at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, of the the Department of Oncology, Rigshopitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, and colleagues reported the final analysis of the phase II NSGO-AVANOVA2/ENGOT-OV24 trial comparing the...
In the final, preplanned, overall survival analysis in the randomized phase III SOLO2/ENGOT-ov211 trial, maintenance treatment with the PARP inhibitor olaparib extended overall survival by an unprecedented 12.9 months, compared with placebo. This marks the first time that overall survival has been...
Two gynecologic oncologists and ASCO’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, commented on the findings of the TROPHIMMUN trial for The ASCO Post. “The authors demonstrate efficacy of a new treatment approach for gestational trophoblastic...