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Showing 4901 - 4950Health-Care Fraud and Abuse: Implications for Oncology
Health-care fraud is a long-standing problem in the United States, accounting for $75 billion in government expenses per year,1 while total spending on government health-care programs is over $1 trillion. Two decades ago, the Department of Justice increased its efforts to combat health-care fraud....
Remembering Neurosurgeon and Writer Paul Kalanithi, MD
What initially drew me to read the eloquent essay by Paul Kalanithi, MD, in The New York Times—“How Long Have I Got Left?”—was its provocative title.1 What kept me there was the moving description of his quick transition from healthy physician with a brilliant career in neurosurgery to terminally...
Radiotherapy in Good-Prognosis DLBCL
I was disturbed by the article on “Radiotherapy in Good-Prognosis DLBCL” published recently in The ASCO Post.1 As a practicing radiation oncologist for 30 years, I have seen the evolution of radiation techniques (and philosophy) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma progress from regional—or even...
I Refuse to Capitulate to Cancer
Editor’s note: We regret to announce that Paul Kalanithi, MD, passed away on March 9, 2015. Dr. Kalanithi was Chief Resident in Neurological Surgery at Stanford University when he shared his story, reprinted here, with The ASCO Post just over 1 year ago, in March 2014. We extend our deepest...
Nivolumab in Metastatic Squamous Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer After Platinum Therapy
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On March 4, 2015, the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) ...
FDA Approves Nivolumab to Treat Metastatic Squamous NSCLC
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to the...
Results of RTOG 0617 Reconsidered
Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0617 was a study initially designed to address an important issue in radiation oncology regarding the treatment of stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Are outcomes improved with high-dose as opposed to standard-dose thoracic radiation therapy? The...
Calculating H-Score
Immunohistochemistry results can be further evaluated by a semiquantitative approach used to assign an H-score (or “histo” score) to tumor samples.1,2 First, membrane staining intensity (0, 1+, 2+, or 3+) is determined for each cell in a fixed field. The H-score may simply be based on a predominant ...
No Benefit of High- vs Standard-Dose Radiotherapy or Addition of Cetuximab to Chemoradiation in Stage IIIA/IIIB NSCLC
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Jeffrey D. Bradley, MD, of Washington University, and colleagues, the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0617 trial showed no survival benefit of high- vs standard-dose radiotherapy or addition of cetuximab (Erbitux) to concurrent...
No Survival Benefit From Adjuvant Sorafenib or Sunitinib in Kidney Cancer
Adjuvant therapy with sorafenib (Nexavar) or sunitinib (Sutent) failed to make any inroads in improving disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced kidney cancer in the randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter, phase III Adjuvant Sorafenib and Sunitinib for Unfavorable Renal...
The ASCO Post Replies
Nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of lung cancer on March 4, 2015, before clinical data from the pivotal trials (CheckMate 017 and CheckMate 063) were presented at a major oncology conference or published in a peer-reviewed journal....
Nivolumab in Lung Cancer
I find The ASCO Post to be a good way to hear about new ideas that I might otherwise have missed. I read an article recently about the approval of nivolumab (Opdivo) for treating metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (The ASCO Post, April 10, 2015). I thought it would have been much more...
Objective Response Rate of 44% Among Patients With Relapsed/Refractory DLBCL Receiving Brentuximab Vedotin
A phase II, open-label study evaluating the efficacy of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), an anti-CD antibody-drug conjugate, found that among 48 evaluable patients with CD30-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), 21 (44%) had objective responses. These responses included 8 patients (17%)...
Widespread Use of Docetaxel Preceded Phase III Evidence of Usefulness in Patients With Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Docetaxel was being widely used by patients with metastatic prostate cancer before phase III evidence that it was more effective than the standard of care for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to an analysis of Medicare claims from before and after the trial results and...
PRIME II and the Omission of Radiation Therapy in Low-Risk, Elderly Patients Undergoing Breast Conservation: The Time Has Come
Despite the high prevalence of breast cancer worldwide, it is important to recognize that > 40% of all cases occur in women aged 65 years or older in both the United States and the United Kingdom.1,2 Breast cancers in older patients are more often associated with indolent features and with...
Escalation of Oncology Services at End of Life May Be Moderated by Coordinated Care
“Use of oncology-related services is increasingly scrutinized, yet precisely which services are actually rendered to patients, particularly at the end of life, is unknown,” noted an article in the Journal of Oncology Practice. To address this knowledge gap, Eijean Wu, MD, of the Los Angeles County...
Chemotherapy Trial Results Overestimate Survival for Elderly Medicare Patients With Lung and Pancreatic Cancers
Results of clinical trials evaluating chemotherapy regimens for advanced pancreatic and lung cancers “tended to correctly estimate survival for Medicare patients aged 65 to 74 years but to overestimate survival for older Medicare patients by 6 to 8 weeks,” Elizabeth B. Lamont, MD, MS, of...
Expert Point of View: Louis Weiner, MD
In the past 10 years, we have begun to unlock the keys to the puzzle of the body’s immune system. The study presented here drives home the important point that we can elicit immune responses with unusual durability,” said Louis Weiner, MD, Director of the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center in...
Crizotinib Receives Breakthrough Therapy Designation for ROS1-Positive NSCLC
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to crizotinib (Xalkori) for the potential treatment of patients with ROS1-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Crizotinib currently is FDA-approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC...
Profile: Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, Making a Difference in Both Clinical Medicine and Research
At this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting, Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, will begin her term as the Society’s 51st President. It is fitting that the meeting will be held in Chicago, the city where the first seven visionaries met over lunch in 1964 to formulate a medical organization centered on cancer...
People Living With HIV in the United States Have a 50% Excess Cancer Risk
The nearly 900,000 people in the United States living with diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have an excess cancer risk of 50%, according to a joint analysis of data by the National Cancer Institute and the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention,...
Therapy for Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Patients With Cancer May Prevent Liver Disease Progression
“Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a neglected disease in patients with cancer,” Harrys A. Torres, MD, and colleagues from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston noted in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. To rectify that situation, the researchers...
EGFR L858R Mutation in Blood Sample May Serve as Surrogate for Biopsy in Determining EGFR-Mutation Status
Using a novel polymerase chain reaction assay “to efficiently assess” epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in circulating free DNA (cfDNA) from blood samples of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the Spanish Lung Cancer Group has “shown that the EGFR L858R...
Remembering Mark R. Green, MD, a Leader in Lung Cancer Research and Treatment
Few people have impacted cancer clinical research in the past quarter century as much as Mark Green. His expertise in lung cancer and clinical trial design led to the successful completion of seminal studies combining radiation and chemotherapy that forever changed the management of patients with...
FDA Accepts Supplemental Biologics License Application for Nivolumab in Patients With Previously Untreated Advanced Melanoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and review Bristol-Myers Squibb’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of previously untreated patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The FDA also granted Priority...
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Cutaneous Lymphoma
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed or refractory lymphoma of the skin. The studies include observational, phase I, and phase II trials investigating single-agent and...
Ramucirumab With FOLFIRI in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On April 24, the monoclonal antibody ramucirumab (Cyramza) was...
Pembrolizumab vs Ipilimumab: Good vs Better
The treatment landscape for metastatic melanoma has recently undergone a remarkable transformation. Prior to 2011, clinicians and patients were presented with difficult decisions between therapies without proven survival benefit. Now, similarly difficult but much more hopeful choices are posed...
Guidelines for the Treatment of Older Cancer Patients: Task Forces of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology
Geriatrics for the Oncologist is guest edited by Stuart Lichtman, MD, FACP, FASCO, and developed in collaboration with the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). Visit SIOG.org for more on geriatric oncology. The Task Forces of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) are ...
Large Improvement in Progression-Free Survival With Lenvatinib in Radioiodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Martin Schlumberger, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, and colleagues found that the multikinase inhibitor lenvatinib (Lenvima) produced a large improvement in progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with advanced...
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Diagnosis of Breast Cancer at Stage I and Subsequent Survival Reflect Biologic Differences
In a study reported in JAMA, Javaid Iqbal, MD, of Women’s College Research Institute, Toronto, and colleagues found racial/ethnic differences in the likelihood of breast cancer diagnosis at stage I and subsequent survival in U.S. breast cancer patients.1 These differences seemed largely to reflect...
Exploring the History and Psychology of Pain: Beyond the Clinical Setting
BOOKMARKTitle: The Story of Pain: From Prayer to PainkillersAuthor: Joanna BourkePublisher: Oxford University PressPublication date: 2014Price: $34.95: hardcover, 416 page “Pain may even kill. It may overwhelm the nervous system by its mere magnitude & duration.” —Peter Mere Latham, 1871...
Pembrolizumab Safe and Effective in Patients With NSCLC, Especially in Those With Tumors Showing High Levels of PD-L1 Expression
Add lung cancer to the growing list of cancers that may derive benefit from immunotherapy. The KEYNOTE-001 trial found that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) achieved durable responses in a proportion of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high levels of expression of the protein PD-L1...
Cancer Rates Significantly Increased Among Patients With Hepatitis C
Results presented at The International Liver CongressTM 2015 show that cancer rates in patients with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) were significantly increased compared to the non-HCV cohort. The researchers suggest an extrahepatic manifestation of HCV may be an increased risk of cancer. Study...
Global Leader in Drug Development John L. Marshall, MD, Calls for a Smarter War on Cancer
John L. Marshall, MD, a global leader in the research and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, in a family that put high value on education. As a young boy, science was already on his mind; he enjoyed the explorative nature that chemistry and biology offered....
Lymphoma Expert and Industry Leader Sandra J. Horning, MD, Pushes the Frontiers of Drug Development and Oncology Research
Due to childhood health issues, Sandra J. Horning, MD, formed an opinion about doctors at a young age: They were good people who helped other people. By her early teens, Dr. Horning began to ponder a career in medicine, which offered the possibility of blending her love of science with a career...
Bruce A. Chabner, MD, and His Innovative Pharmacology Research Led to the Development of Practice-Changing Therapies
Numerous challenges and milestones mark the course of an oncology career. Community doctors remember special patients, often speaking about a singular bond that is unique among a profession that deals with life and death daily. Researchers recount long hours of seeming futility and then the...
ASCO Announces First-Ever Clinical Trial
ASCO announced its first-ever clinical trial, which will offer patients with advanced cancer access to molecularly targeted cancer drugs and collect “real-world” data on clinical outcomes, to help learn the best uses of these drugs outside of indications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug...
First National Data on Breast Cancer Subtypes Mark New Era in Biomarker Epidemiology
This year’s Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer contains the first national combined data set on the incidence of four major breast cancer subtypes by race/ethnicity, poverty level, geography, and other factors. The findings show that “there are unique racial/ethnic-specific incidence...
The Basket Trial: An Evolving Clinical Trial Design
The recently published results of the CUSTOM (Molecular Profiling and Targeted Therapies in Advanced Thoracic Malignancies) trial, reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, describe a basket trial focused on identifying molecular biomarkers in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small...
Outcomes of the CUSTOM ‘Basket’ Trial of Molecular Profiling and Targeted Therapy in Advanced Thoracic Malignancies
In the phase II CUSTOM trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ariel Lopez-Chavez, MD, Anish Thomas, MD, and colleagues performed molecular profiling of tumors in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), or thymic malignancies and...
Second-Line Nivolumab Therapy Improves Survival in Patients With Nonsquamous Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) immunotherapy with nivolumab (Opdivo) extended survival in patients with the most common form of lung cancer—nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients whose disease progressed on standard platinum doublet therapy who were treated with...
Expert Point of View: Neil Howard Segal, MD, PhD
Neil Howard Segal, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, who discussed the study at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, emphasized that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) exerted a “clear benefit in patients with mismatch repair deficiency,” based on the “very impressive response rate of...
Mismatch Repair Deficiency Predicts Benefit With Pembrolizumab in Colorectal Cancer
A genetic marker to predict response to anti–PD-1 (anti-programmed cell death protein 1) antibodies may have emerged in colorectal cancer, a tumor type that is a newcomer to the anti–PD-1 ballgame. In a phase II study of colorectal cancer patients treated with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), the presence ...
2015 ASCO Annual Meeting Planning Committees
The ASCO Annual Meeting highlights the latest research and treatment advances in oncology, with more than 28,000 oncology professionals attending each year. ASCO wishes to acknowledge the volunteers on this year’s Cancer Education and Scientific Program Committees, and thank them for their time and ...
ASCO Releases Updated, Expanded Set of Survivorship Care Planning Templates
ASCO has issued an updated and expanded set of treatment and survivorship care plan templates for oncology care professionals and patients with cancer. The templates serve to enhance ASCO’s existing suite of tools to help providers and patients fully plan a course of cancer treatment, from...
Ibrutinib Plus Bendamustine/Rituximab Called a New Standard in Patients With Previously Treated CLL
The addition of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) to standard therapy with bendamustine (Treanda)/rituximab (Rituxan) significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death and overall response rates compared with bendamustine/rituximab alone in previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia...
Date of Last Chemotherapy Is Not a Proxy for Deciding When to Stop Treating Metastatic NSCLC
“Patients, their families, and oncologists recognize the administration of chemotherapy near death as aggressive and poor-quality care,” William F. Pirl, MD, MPH, and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, wrote in the Journal of Oncology Practice. “However, rates have been slowly...
Significant Differences in Age at Diagnosis Between Blacks and Whites for Six Types of Cancer
Although blacks were diagnosed at a younger age than whites for nearly every cancer type, after adjustments for population structure shifted the comparisons toward older ages among blacks, only six statistically significant differences of 3 or more years remained, according to a study in the...
Pembrolizumab in Advanced NSCLC: The Promise of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
Drugs targeting the immune-checkpoint pathways have shown promising activity in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Garon and colleagues reported the results of the KEYNOTE-001 clinical trial evaluating single-agent pembrolizumab...
