Prostate carcinoma is the most common type of cancer among men in the United States, accounting for more than 299,000 estimated new cases and approximately 35,000 new deaths in 2024.1 A new ASCO guideline based on findings from a systematic review indicates that in metastatic cases of prostate...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has evolved from an experimental biomarker to an increasingly actionable tool, informing treatment decisions throughout colorectal cancer care. Whether guiding adjuvant therapy intensification or de-escalation, refining organ-preservation strategies in rectal cancer,...
The phase III DUO-E study evaluated the addition of the monoclonal antibody durvalumab to chemotherapy, and the benefit of maintenance durvalumab, with and without the PARP inhibitor olaparib, in advanced endometrial cancer. As reported this past year,1 the inclusion of durvalumab reduced the risk...
The 2025 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium once again delivered a slate of high-impact studies spanning esophageal, gastric, hepatocellular, pancreatic, biliary tract, and colorectal malignancies. Experts in the field offered fresh perspectives on evolving standards of care, and investigators ...
The ADAURA trial findings showed a significant benefit in disease-free survival with the EGFR inhibitor osimertinib, compared to placebo, making it the recommended standard of adjuvant treatment in patients with EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for up to 3 years after surgery. In a...
A novel treatment approach may improve outcomes in patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, according to new findings presented by Choi et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2025 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. Recurrent cervical cancer remains a significant challenge,...
Two novel studies may provide insights into advancements in the detection and treatment of endometrial cancer, according to new findings presented by Moore et al and Nolin et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2025 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. Together, the two studies...
The consumption of alcohol has been associated with increased cancer risk, but red wine has been perceived by some as a healthier choice compared to white wine and other types of alcohol. Investigators evaluated whether the anticancer properties of red wine were greater in a recent study published...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Podany et al identified differences in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiles, targeted therapy use, and survival outcomes in Black vs White patients with metastatic breast cancer. Study Details The U.S. multicenter study involved 1,327 ...
The use of a circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) liquid biopsy to guide colorectal cancer treatment in the adjuvant setting may not compromise outcomes despite allowing many patients to avoid chemotherapy, according to a recent study published by Tie et al in Nature Medicine. Background A liquid biopsy...
In a retrospective study reported in JAMA Network Open, Lim et al found that complete response to immunotherapy as first-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma was associated with good outcomes. Study Details The study involved analysis of 228 patients who received atezolizumab and...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in The Oncologist, Leite da Silva et al found plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) kinetics to be predictive of survival outcomes in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were undergoing targeted therapy and immune checkpoint ...
In a Chinese phase II trial (HORIZON-Lung) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Li et al found that trastuzumab rezetecan, a novel antibody-drug conjugate, showed activity in patients with advanced HER2-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Trastuzumab rezetecan consists of a HER2-directed...
A study evaluating the genetic landscape of candidate primary resistance alterations relevant to KRAS targeting in KRAS G12C–mutant colorectal cancers and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) has found that putative resistance alterations are prevalent in these cancers. The finding may explain...
Investigators may have uncovered how radiotherapy affects survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme and low-grade glioma, according to a recent study published by Veviorskiy et al in Aging. The findings highlighted key biological differences between these cancer types. Background...
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, announced in a statement his retirement as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), effective February 28, 2025. Dr. Collins is the longest-serving presidentially appointed NIH Director, having served three U.S. presidents over more than 12 years—Barack...
Investigators have found that the risk of colorectal cancer may vary among steatotic liver disease subgroups and could be higher in patients with alcoholic liver disease, according to a recent study published by Kimura et al in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Background Lifestyle-related...
Among the high-quality abstract presentations at the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), a few always stand out as particularly meritorious. Each year, The ASCO Post asks our Deputy Editor, breast cancer specialist Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, to give us his picks. Dr. Abraham is Chairman...
Germline or somatic mutations in the BRCA1 gene might not be key to the initiation of prostate cancer, as previously thought, suggests the first study of its kind, published in BMJ Oncology. If confirmed in further studies, the findings suggest that it may be time to reassess current treatment...
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a novel antibody-toxin conjugate (ATC) designed to stimulate immune-mediated eradication of tumors. According to preclinical results published in Nature Cancer, the new approach combined the benefits of antibody-drug...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Taieb et al, a combined analysis of two phase III adjuvant trials (IDEA-France and IDEA-Greece) in stage III colon cancer showed that the presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after surgery was prognostic for poorer outcomes and that...
Long-term yogurt intake may protect against the development of colorectal cancer through changes in the gut microbiome, according to a recent study published by Ugai et al in Gut Microbes. Background Yogurt—which contains live strains of bacteria—is thought to protect against many types of...
The final overall survival results from cohort 1 of the phase III TALAPRO-2 trial showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement with the PARP inhibitor talazoparib plus the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide vs standard-of-care enzalutamide in treatment-naive...
Studies show that about one-quarter of advanced prostate cancers have alterations in DNA damage response genes involved directly or indirectly in homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene alterations, including BRCA1/BRCA2 genes, which can sensitize them to treatment with PARP inhibitors. Final...
NRG Oncology, the RTOG Foundation, and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), announced the death of Felix Feng, MD, from cancer at age 48 on December 10, 2024. Dr. Feng was a George and Judy Marcus Distinguished Professor; Professor of Radiation Oncology, Urology and Medicine; Vice...
The results from the phase III FIRE-4 randomized clinical trial show that liquid biopsy accurately identified patients with RAS/BRAF V600E wild type–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer. The findings confirm the high clinical relevance of liquid biopsy performed at baseline before the start of...
Researchers have uncovered new heredity genes that may contribute to an increased risk of developing high-grade serous ovarian cancer, according to a recent study published by Subramanian et al in npj Genomic Medicine. Background High-grade serous ovarian cancer is one of the most prevalent and...
Previous research has shown that nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin and COX-2 inhibitors, may reduce the risk of developing colon cancer. A recent CALGB/SWOG study revealed that adding celecoxib to FOLFOX chemotherapy improved disease-free survival in patients with...
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States, but high recurrence rates persist for patients with early-stage disease. A recent study published by Black et al in Nature Medicine has found that even very low traces of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may be linked to increased...
The RAD51 biomarker may help to tailor treatment strategies in patients with early breast cancer, according to a recent study published by Villacampa et al in Clinical Cancer Research. Background “A key objective of research focused on early-stage breast cancer is to identify biomarkers that can...
The ORACLE test may be capable of predicting lung cancer survival at the point of diagnosis more effectively than currently used clinical risk factors, according to a recent study published by Biswas et al in Nature Cancer. The findings could help physicians make more informed treatment decisions...
Researchers may have advanced the understanding of genetic alterations in the BRCA2 gene, according to a recent study published by Huang et al in Nature. The findings could improve the accuracy of genetic testing and allow health-care professionals to offer more precise risk assessments and...
Researchers have discovered of a new type of stem cell in the brain that could lead to the development of more effective treatments in adult patients with glioblastoma, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Nature. The finding could help explain how adult brain cells take advantage ...
Researchers have found a possible source of the variability in patterns of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common kidney cancer diagnosed in adults. Katherine Alexander, PhD, Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Shelley Berger, PhD, Professor at the University...
In the IDENTIFY study, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Turriff et al found a high incidence of maternal occult cancer associated with unusual or nonreportable prenatal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) findings in fetal aneuploidy screening. Study Details In the ongoing study, performed at the ...
The phase III ZEST clinical trial, designed to evaluate the PARP inhibitor niraparib for the prevention of breast cancer recurrence in patients with circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), failed to accrue enough patients positive for ctDNA, according to results presented at the 2024 San Antonio Breast...
The soaring number of cancer survivors since the National Cancer Act of 1971 was enacted into law provides a snapshot of the profound progress made against cancer over the past half-century: 3 million survivors in the 1970s,1 compared to more than 18 million today, and that number is expected to...
Targeting certain bacterial strains linked to cancer with treatments or vaccines may help to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, urothelial carcinoma, and prostate cancer, according to a novel study published by Mäklin et al in The Lancet Microbiome. Background The bacterium Escherichia coli is...
Worldwide, more than a billion people have obesity—including 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children1—a rate that has nearly doubled since 1980.2 In the United States alone, about two out of three adults are overweight or have obesity, and one out of three have...
In the neoadjuvant I-SPY2.2 trial, a treatment strategy including the antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), partnered with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab, yielded a high pathologic complete response rate, especially in immune-positive and ‘all-negative’ subtypes.1...
Functional precision medicine—in which information is obtained from direct perturbations of tumor-derived living cells that enable immediate translatable, personalized data to guide patient therapy—has its roots dating back more than 50 years.1 However, advances in two- and three-dimensional...
The Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR) announced an agreement to evaluate AZD1390, an ataxia telangiectasia mutant (ATM) kinase inhibitor developed by AstraZeneca, in GCAR’s Glioblastoma Adaptive Global Innovative Learning Environment trial (GBM AGILE; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier...
Hai-Qiang Mai, MD, of the Department of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China, and colleagues reported their findings from a single-center phase II trial in The Lancet Oncology.1 They found that the addition of perioperative toripalimab to concurrent...
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with vs without the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab conferred a higher pathologic complete response rate and long-term event-free survival benefit in Asian patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the global phase III CheckMate 816 trial. At the...
Recent advances in urothelial carcinoma treatments may offer a path to curative care for more patients, including those with high-risk localized, muscle-invasive disease, according to an editorial published by Milowsky in The New England Journal of Medicine. The findings indicated that...
In addition to our in-depth analysis of important clinical trials presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024, there is always room for more coverage from The ASCO Post, including these brief summaries of other presentations of interest. They focus on a potential...
Caris Life Sciences announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved MI Cancer Seek for use as a companion diagnostic assay to identify patients with cancer who may benefit from targeted therapies. Caris Life Sciences is a next-generation artificial intelligence techbio...
Researchers have assessed the efficacy of targeting the CD47 protein combined with traditional immunotherapy drugs in patients with colorectal cancer, with a recent study published by Arai et al in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. The findings indicated that the combination approach could...
The combination of the EGFR-MET bispecific antibody amivantamab-vmjw and the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor lazertinib continues to demonstrate superior efficacy compared with the kinase inhibitor osimertinib alone in the first-line treatment of EGFR-mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer...
The studies summarized below were reported online over the past month in The ASCO Post, generating a high number of visitors. For comprehensive news of these studies and more, visit ASCOPost.com. Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Phase III KEYNOTE-522 The phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial has...