“At Microphone 1” is an occasional column written by Steven E. Vogl, MD, of Bronx, New York. When he’s not in his clinic, Dr. Vogl can generally be found at major oncology meetings and often at the microphone, where he stands ready with critical questions for presenters of new data. Here Dr. Vogl...
In a St. Jude Adrenocortical Tumor Registry and Children’s Oncology Group study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pinto et al found that a positive Ki67 labeling index was associated with a poorer outcome in children with adrenocortical tumors independent of germline TP53 mutation ...
Low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer has become standard practice, mostly due to the results of the National Lung Screening Trial. Related evidence continues to evolve, informing the benefits and risks of low-dose CT in clinical practice. Mazzone et al presented new ...
IN PATIENTS with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the use of expression of BRCA1 failed as an approach to customize chemotherapy, investigators from the Spanish Lung Cancer Cooperative Group reported at the 2017 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World...
In a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Soni et al reported reductions in the proportion of nonelderly adult cancer patients who were uninsured between 2010 and 2013 vs 2014, after institution of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Study Details The study used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology,...
Results of the Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer (PanCan) study, reported in The Lancet Oncology by Tammemagi et al, indicate that the PanCan risk model is effective in identifying persons found to have early-stage lung cancer on low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening. Study Details ...
A new study presented at The Liver Meeting, held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, found that daily aspirin therapy was significantly associated with a reduced risk in hepatitis B virus (HBV)–related liver cancer (Abstract 223). According to AASLD’s...
The results of a national cancer survey reveal a significant number of childhood cancer survivors are worried about keeping their health insurance, to the point of letting it affect their career decisions. The findings were published by Kirchhoff et al in JAMA Oncology. Anne Kirchhoff, PhD,...
Rare variants combined with background genetic risk factors may account for many unexplained cases of familial breast cancer, and knowing the specific genes involved could inform choice of prevention and treatment strategies, according to findings presented in a plenary session at the American...
An investigational test that screens for colorectal cancer could detect genetic mutations that are indicative of the disease with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, according to results of a study presented by Powell et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Haider et al found that the median morphine equivalent daily dose decreased significantly among cancer patients seen at MD Anderson Cancer Center’s outpatient palliative care clinic between 2010 and 2015. Use of hydrocodone decreased...
In a feasibility trial of people with advanced lung cancer receiving radiation therapy and their caregivers, yoga was beneficial to both parties. These findings will be presented by Milbury et al at the upcoming 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium in San Diego (Abstract 125). ...
A study of 100 people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving chemotherapy found that patient and physician perceptions of treatment risk and the likelihood of a cure varied widely. Overall, patients tended to overestimate both the risk of dying due to treatment and the likelihood of a cure....
In the September 25, 2017, issue of The ASCO Post, page 1, the date of approval was cited incorrectly for the genetically engineered T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved tisagenlecleucel on August 30, 2017. The T-cell therapeutic is approved for...
“Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage lags behind coverage for the other vaccines recommended for preteens,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 A recent report about vaccination coverage in the United States among adolescents aged 13 to 17 found that...
Although a cancer diagnosis is daunting at any age, adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with the disease often face unique challenges and are at risk for poor psychosocial outcomes than older patients. A randomized study investigating whether a brief, age-appropriate, skills-based intervention...
Although the use of electronic health records in oncology care has led to improved care for patients, results from a new study show that oncologists need to be cautious about using computers during exam room visits, especially for patients with advanced cancer. The randomized study compared...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ho et al found that tumor-based enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) gene or protein expression was independently predictive of prognosis in localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma. EZH2 is a chromatin remodeler implicated in the pathogenesis of...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al have developed a model for predicting risk of subsequent central nervous system (CNS) tumors in survivors of childhood cancer. Study Details In the study, matched childhood cancer survivors with (n = 82) and without (n = 228) subsequent...
WITH THE INCLUSION of proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory agents first into salvage and then as components of first-line, consolidation, and maintenance regimens, response rates, depth of response, and median progression-free and overall survival have all improved for patients suffering...
AT A PRESPECIFIED interim analysis, the phase III ENDEAVOR trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit for carfilzomib (Kyprolis) vs bortezomib (Velcade) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, as reported by Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD, of the National and Kapodistrian...
IN A LARGE single-institution study reported in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Tobin Strom, MD, and colleagues found that regional radiotherapy was associated with a reduced risk of regional recurrence in patients with node-positive cutaneous melanoma, including those...
Honoring National Cancer Institute researchers Douglas R. Lowy, MD, and John T. Schiller, PhD, with the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for advances in technology that enabled the development of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to prevent cervical cancer and other tumors caused by ...
IN A PHASE III trial reported by Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the addition of first-line ipilimumab (Yervoy) to paclitaxel/carboplatin did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced squamous...
In a retrospective analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Georgina V. Long, MBBS, PhD, of the Melanoma Institute Australia, North Sydney, and colleagues found that a substantial proportion of patients with advanced melanoma derived benefit from continued nivolumab (Opdivo) treatment after Response...
I’ve always had dense breasts and avoided doing breast self-exams because I couldn’t tell if the lumpiness I was feeling was something serious or merely normal fibrous tissue. Instead I relied on my yearly mammogram to spot any early signs of cancer. Four years ago, I was once again relieved to...
THE FIRST FORMAL comparison of two acceptable approaches to locally advanced cervical cancer has concluded that standard chemoradiotherapy is preferable to neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus surgery. The findings confirm what most specialists have believed to be the optimal treatment. The results came ...
No matter what a person does in life, for good and bad, his or her inherited genetic makeup follows along the way. Such was the case with British journalist Sarah Gabriel, who inherited the BRCA1 mutation from her mother, who died of ovarian cancer when Ms. Gabriel was in college. Much of her...
IN THE TREATMENT of malignant melanoma, immune checkpoint inhibitors are no longer just for metastatic disease, and the best type may be agents targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), according to results of CheckMate 238, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)...
AGGRESSIVE REDUCTION in radiation therapy appears to be a potential win-win situation for patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, according to the results of a phase II trial presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society for...
TWO STUDIES published this year examining the incidence of colorectal cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) show an undeniable and sobering trend: Colorectal cancer rates are increasing in this age group, and younger people are dying of the cancer at slightly higher rates than in previous...
PEMBROLIZUMAB (KEYTRUDA) extended survival by about 3 months in patients with advanced urothelial cancer whose disease progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy vs investigator’s choice of therapy, according to the mature results of the KEYNOTE-045 trial presented at the European Society for...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Klosky et al identified factors associated with sperm banking among adolescent males with newly diagnosed cancer who were at increased risk for treatment-related fertility loss. The study included 146 adolescents aged 13 to 22 years (mean...
Community-based interventions implemented in minority community sites resulted in changes in participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about cancer, as well as perceived benefits and self-efficacy measures regarding lung cancer screening. Lovoria Williams, PhD, APRN-BC, FAANP, of...
As non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survival rates have increased over time, new research sheds light on how NSCLC outcomes are significantly influenced by the type of treatment facility where patients undergo care. Bhagirathbhai Dholaria, MD, of the Moffitt Cancer Center, presented these...
Nationally regarded leukemia and lymphoma specialist Gwen L. Nichols, MD, was born in the Bronx, New York, and when she became of school age, her parents moved to the upstate suburb of Chappaqua, where she grew up. Asked if there were any physicians in her family who might have influenced her...
Cancer has been an intimate part of Nancy Borowick’s life since her mother, Laurel, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997, when Nancy was 12. She began photographing her mother’s journey with the disease after the cancer recurred in 2009 for her final project for the Documentary Photography and ...
Turning the Tide Against Cancer is an annual conference sponsored by the Personalized Medicine Coalition, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Feinstein Kean Healthcare, and CancerCare. Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), AACR Chief Executive Officer, introduced the proceedings for the 2017...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dreyling et al, the phase II CHRONOS-1 trial has shown a high response rate and durable responses with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor copanlisib (Aliqopa) in adults with relapsed or refractory indolent lymphoma who had received...
An Italian single-center prospective cohort study suggests that adjuvant treatment with the beta-blocker propranolol significantly reduces the risk of melanoma recurrence in patients with stage IB to IIIA cutaneous disease. The findings were reported in JAMA Oncology by De Giorgi et al. Preclinical ...
In a French phase III trial, maintenance rituximab (Rituxan) improved event-free survival vs observation after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in younger patints with mantle cell lymphoma. These findings were reported by Le Gouill et al in The New England Journal of Medicine. Study...
On October 12, ASCO President Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, issued the following statement: The Trump administration's move to expand the rights of employers to opt out of the requirement for contraceptive coverage would have unexpected and deleterious consequences for patients of childbearing age...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Balar et al, first-line pembrolizumab (Keytruda) produced durable responses in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced and unresectable or metastatic urothelial cancer in the phase II KEYNOTE-052 trial. The trial supported the accelerated approval...
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) therapy for breast cancers that express the HER2 protein does not increase the risk of complications at the surgical site in women who undergo immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy, according to findings published by Shammas et al in the Journal of the American...
In a propensity score–matched analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Mokdad et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy had a survival benefit vs observation after preoperative chemoradiotherapy and resection in patients with locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer. Study Details The study...
In a study in the Danish population reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Salz et al found that preexisting cardiovascular conditions were associated with an increased risk of heart failure in survivors of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The standard use of anthracycline chemotherapy ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Goetz et al, an interim analysis in the phase III MONARCH 3 trial has shown a significant progression-free survival benefit with the addition of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to a nonsteroidal aromatase...
In a Japanese analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Haratani et al found that development of immune-related adverse events was associated with improved survival among patients receiving nivolumab (Opdivo) for advanced or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details The study...
Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of 13 types of cancer—and these cancers account for about 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2014—according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Overall, the...
Breast cancer during pregnancy is relatively uncommon; however, it poses a significant clinical challenge to the patient and her multidisciplinary care team. To shed light on this difficult issue, The ASCO Post spoke with Carey K. Anders, MD, a medical oncologist and researcher at the University...