“In line with the emergence of targeted therapies, molecular biomarker testing in metastatic colorectal cancer has evolved over the past decade,” noted Jeanne Tie, MD, MBChB, FRACP, who acknowledged there is confusion about the best ways to use molecular testing in the clinic. Dr. Tie, who is...
Nineteen of the 20 nations with the highest cervical cancer death rates are in sub-Saharan Africa. Now an international team has published the first comprehensive genomic study of cervical cancers in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on tumors from 212 Ugandan patients with cervical cancer. Their...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, and colleagues, a second prespecified interim analysis of the pivotal phase III ALTA-1L trial has shown maintained progression-free survival benefit with brigatinib vs crizotinib in ALK inhibitor–naive patients with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Knörr et al, a trial of risk-stratified treatment for relapsed pediatric anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) showed that allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) was effective in patients with high-risk relapse, whereas autologous SCT was not...
Novel targeted therapies have increased the likelihood of cure and prolonged survival in many patients with advanced breast cancer (Table 1), but these new agents also carry toxicity profiles that vary greatly from those of traditional chemotherapy. During the ASCO20 Virtual Education Program,...
Results from a recent clinical trial indicated that for older adults with advanced cancer, initiating aspirin treatment may increase their risk of disease progression and mortality. These findings were published by McNeil et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Study Background and...
A study by Wilson et al investigating the impact of radiation therapy on adult survivors of pediatric abdominal and pelvic tumors has found that these survivors were significantly more likely to have insulin resistance, high levels of triglycerides, and low levels of high-density lipoproteins...
Amit Mahipal, MBBS, MPH, Consultant, Associate Professor of Oncology, Mayo College of Medicine, Rochester, put the findings for tremelimumab/durvalumab into context regarding other studies evaluating checkpoint inhibitors in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. In the current study by Kelly et al, he ...
A single priming dose of tremelimumab and durvalumab, followed by monthly durvalumab, showed clinical activity in a predominantly second-line advanced hepatocellular carcinoma population, in a study reported at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer Virtual 2020.1 In a study of 332...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first liquid biopsy companion diagnostic that also uses next-generation sequencing technology to identify patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and specific types of EGFR mutations. The FDA also granted Fast Track...
The explosion of 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate near the port of Beirut, Lebanon, on August 4 leveled whole sections of the city. The blast killed at least 200 people, injured more than 6,000, and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The blast also severely damaged Beirut’s already fragile...
Updated clinical practice guidelines for managing mucositis—a common and often debilitating complication of cancer therapy—were recently published by Elad et al in the journal Cancer. The new guidelines summary, which will provide health-care professionals with better tools to deliver care for...
Androgen-deprivation therapy has been, and remains, the standard of care for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Patients are often surprised to learn that was all we would do to control their disease and sometimes asked why they would not receive chemotherapy, as for other cancers. I would...
At the Genitourinary Highlights session of the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Toni K. Choueiri, MD, Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, put the findings from KEYNOTE-426 into perspective. “This is an important update. The initial...
Extended analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-426 study upholds pembrolizumab plus axitinib as a preferred front-line regimen over sunitinib in patients with advanced sporadic renal cell carcinoma.1 These updated results were presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program by Elizabeth R....
Philip J. Saylor, MD, Attending Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, Boston, commented on this study. “The results presented are clearly exciting and cause us to look forward to a likely phase III study of this strategy. The high response...
It may be possible to use a platinum-free combination as first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in cisplatin-ineligible patients, if the results of the phase Ib/II EV-103 trial hold up. The combination of the newly approved antibody-drug conjugate (enfortumab vedotin)...
Based on the recently published ENZAMET, ARCHES, and TITAN trials,1-3 we now have several choices of systemic combination therapies for men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Today, men are faced with decisions of androgen-deprivation therapy alone or combinations with abiraterone,...
Maintenance therapy with avelumab and best supportive care significantly prolonged overall survival vs best supportive care alone in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma that did not progress on first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, according to an interim analysis of the phase III JAVELIN ...
As reported inThe New England Journal of Medicine by Ian D. Davis, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FAChPM, of Monash University and Eastern Health in Melbourne, and colleagues, the phase III ENZAMET trial has shown that the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide improved progression-free and overall survival...
Nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer arises in the subset of men with biochemically recurrent disease (ie, rising prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level after definitive therapy in the absence of metastases) who develop PSA progression after chronic exposure to androgen-deprivation...
Discussant Scott T. Tagawa, MD, MS, of Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, congratulated Dr. Hofman and coauthors on this first randomized trial of any PSMA-targeted therapy and was cautiously optimistic about the targeted radioligand treatment being adopted as post-docetaxel therapy in men with...
Initial results of the randomized phase II TheraP trial showed that therapy directed to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) with lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) significantly improved prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response compared with cabazitaxel in men with metastatic...
Over the past year, we have seen significant advances in the treatment of prostate, kidney, and urothelial cancers that will benefit patients now and in the future. We have learned about the final results of important clinical trials across multiple genitourinary cancers disease states leading to...
Robert A. Winn, MD, of Virginia Commonwealth University and the Massey Cancer Center, discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is exacerbating disparities in cancer care among racial and ethnic minorities and the medically underserved who are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus...
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) lauded the adoption of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global strategy toward eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem. WHO Member States adopted the strategy alongside other health resolutions as part of the silence procedure...
Neuroendocrine tumors are rare malignancies that arise in neuroendocrine cells, which can occur throughout the body but are most commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and pancreas. Although most neuroendocrine tumors are indolent and take years to grow, some are aggressive and grow...
A cancer diagnosis is often overwhelming in and of itself, and adding financial burdens to the mix can sometimes feel unmanageable. Provide your patients with practical guidelines with the Managing the Cost of Cancer Care booklet from ASCO Answers. It covers health insurance benefits, information...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced flexibilities for clinicians participating in the 2020 Quality Payment Program (QPP) Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) who have been impacted by the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). Affected clinicians may...
I’m very pleased to be joined by Piyush Srivastava, MD, Past Chair of ASCO’s Clinical Practice Committee. Dr. Srivastava is a practicing gastrointestinal oncologist, Regional Medical Director of the End of Life Options Program, and Director of Outpatient Palliative Care at Kaiser Permanente Walnut...
I have witnessed much sickness and death over my 35-year career as a medical oncologist. During the early years of my career, I had difficulty dealing with the sickness and death I witnessed on a regular basis. As a result, with help from the Hindu scripture of Bhagavad Gita, I have trained my...
Great strides in research and clinical practice have decreased breast cancer mortality rates by more than 35% since 1990, yet about 40,000 American women die of the disease each year. In Radical: The Science, Culture, and History of Breast Cancer in America, health-care journalist Kate Pickert...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have approved record numbers of new cancer drugs recently. This is extraordinarily good news for physicians, patients, and drug companies, but it raises important questions as to how effective these drugs are, whether...
On June 24, 2020, pembrolizumab was approved for treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma that is not curable by surgery or radiation.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the multicenter, multicohort, open-label KEYNOTE-629 trial ...
On June 29, 2020, pembrolizumab was approved for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the randomized,...
The origin of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been traced back to Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, around 1920, when the virus crossed species from chimpanzees to humans. It wasn’t until the 1980s that epidemiologic data began to sum up the number of people who were...
For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with noted neurosurgeon Keith L. Black, MD, Chair of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Department of Neurosurgery and Director of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute. During his career, Dr. Black has...
On June 16, 2020, the indication of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) for newly diagnosed CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was extended to include pediatric patients aged 1 month and older.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was supported by findings from the phase III AAML0531 trial...
After years of development, engineering, and enhancement, researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis have made available a software system that enables better detection of gene fusions. The system, called CICERO, offers additional insights into cancers as well as new targets...
On June 22, 2020, the oral nuclear export inhibitor selinexor was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), not otherwise specified, including DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma, after at least two lines of systemic...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) recently announced that the NCCN Distress Thermometer has been translated into 46 languages. This free resource helps providers worldwide identify and address the multifactorial aspects of distress patients with cancer can experience. The NCCN...
On June 29, 2020, a new fixed-dose combination of pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and hyaluronidase-zzxf (PHESGO) for subcutaneous injection was approved for the following indications1,2: Use in combination with chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive, locally advanced,...
Jimmie C. Holland, MD, who served as the inaugural Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, died on December 24, 2017, at the age of 89. The ASCO Post paid tribute to Dr. Holland in its January 25, 2018, issue. Here, as part of our ...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued coverage of the virtual edition of the 25th European Hematology Association Annual Congress (EHA25 Virtual), here are a few abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on clinical research in Hodgkin and marginal zone lymphomas. Omission of...
On June 18, 2020, the EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) whose tumors are positive for an EZH2 mutation, as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test, and who have...
In 1996, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) published its first set of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology®, covering eight tumor types. Guidelines are now published for more than 60 tumor types and topics. During the NCCN’s 25th Annual Conference, which was held virtually during ...
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,...
It was February 1996, and the first annual meeting of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) was drawing to a close, when Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bruce R. Ross, MD, invited comments from the floor. An oncologist who had attended at the urging of a friend—somewhat reluctantly—stood ...
Living in the era of COVID-19 has heightened fear and anxiety among patients with cancer. On the one hand, they are at higher risk of serious COVID-related illness. On the other hand, delaying cancer-focused treatment raises concerns of disease progression. This pandemic has led to dramatic...
A new study has found that a higher-than-expected proportion of young adults with cancer harbor genetic germline mutations that have implications for treatment, surveillance, and other family members who may be at risk. Patients with “early-onset cancers”—cancers that typically do not occur in...