Guest Editor’s Note: Advances in cancer treatments have led to an increase in survival rates, but the quality of life is often diminished during survivorship. Because modifiable personal behavior contributes to health-care outcomes, interventions that support healthy behaviors may improve health...
Investigators have highlighted a critical connection between heart failure and cancer, demonstrating how shared mechanisms may contribute to the incidence and progression of both diseases, according to a recent scientific statement published by Bloom et al in the Journal of Cardiac Failure....
My dad agreed to receive hospice on a technicality. It happened after weeks of trying to get him home oxygen. My brother drove him to the oncologist’s office, and I helped him get into the wheelchair. He did not complain, but just asked me to hold his coffee mug, smiling because I snuck him a...
Investigators have found that one-third of adult survivors of childhood cancers may experience a severe fear of cancer recurrence that impacts their daily lives, according to a recent study published by Pizzo et al in JAMA Network Open. Background Although the number of survivors of childhood...
Despite considerable progress in the discovery and development of new cancer drugs between 1990 and 2022, there may be disparities in both the availability and timeliness of these treatment options globally, particularly among lower-income countries, according to a recent study published by Li et...
The ASCO Annual Meeting brings together oncologists, researchers, and health-care professionals to share the latest advancements in cancer care. The 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (ASCO24) was particularly momentous for those of who received the international development and education award (IDEA). As...
Initial analysis from the PEACE-3 trial suggests that the addition of radium-223 dichloride to enzalutamide could offer a promising new first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to data presented by lead study author, Silke Gillessen,...
An accelerated course of postmastectomy radiation therapy may not increase complications in patients with breast cancer undergoing breast reconstruction, according to recent findings presented by Poppe et al at the 2024 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 1) and ...
Researchers have found that about 50% of patients with metastatic melanoma treated with a combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab experienced cancer-free survival of 10 years or longer, according to a recent study published by Wolchok et al in The New England Journal of Medicine. Background In...
Medical oncology had a turbulent beginning, as we explained in part 1 of this commentary published in the September 25, 2024, issue of The ASCO Post. And although no other specialty we know of struggled as much, with perseverance and time, it had become a stable specialty of internal medicine by...
Medical oncology had a turbulent beginning. No other specialty we know of struggled as much. But by 1980, it had become a stable specialty of internal medicine and was off and running—with the major problem of how to marshal available resources to freely test the myriad opportunities presented by ...
Researchers have found that 80% of patients with previously treated or relapsed/refractory advanced-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)—including both accelerated or myeloid blast phases of the disease—or Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may have achieved a bone marrow ...
Retifanlimab plus platinum-based chemotherapy may benefit patients with squamous cell anal carcinoma, according to new findings presented by Rao et al at a presidential symposium at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 (Abstract LBA2). Background The incidence of squamous...
Studies reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 reveal new groups of women with early-stage cervical1 and endometrial cancers2 who gain clinically meaningful benefit from adding immunotherapy to current standard treatments, and a first-in-human study found...
The results of numerous large international studies reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 showed that immunotherapy improves long-term overall survival in patients with a variety of cancer types, including advanced melanoma,1,2 triple-negative breast cancer,3...
Imagine walking into a fancy restaurant only to find a menu consisting mostly of kids’ dishes. It would make no sense. Just 25% of restaurant diners are younger than age 12, and they rarely write Yelp reviews. But when it comes to cancer treatment, this is not very far from what we do. The median...
Despite the fact that there is no history of breast cancer in my family, I didn’t take that good fortune for granted and was diligent about getting my regularly scheduled mammograms and clinical breast exams, which never found any hint of disease. So, it was especially frightening when, while on a...
It happened! We received the International Development and Education Award (IDEA) from Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, and it was a journey of growth, global collaboration, leadership, mentorship, and more. We have much to share after this breakthrough in our careers. The ASCO Annual Meeting...
In certain regions of the world, cancer claims more lives than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, yet surgery has been relegated to the sidelines of global health initiatives. This critical need to address global inequities in access to safe, timely, and affordable cancer surgery led to the...
I was a track and field athlete throughout college, and my goal was to try out for the Olympics, but cancer had other plans for me. In 2010, while in my senior year in college, I began having sharp, shooting pains in my shoulders, which I initially attributed to overzealous training. But the pain...
Growing awareness of the benefits of palliative care in patients with cancer has prompted ASCO to update its recommendations for clinicians, patients, caregivers, and health-care organizations on integrating palliative care in oncology.1 The updated guideline reinforces prior recommendations in the ...
At the 2024 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Conference, sponsored by Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute, cardiologist-by-training Anant Mandawat, MD, FACC, briefly reviewed how the emerging field of cardio-oncology is blazing a path toward “bigger and bolder cancer care” and offered...
It was a hot and humid Tuesday in July, and I distinctly remember being grateful for the air conditioning in the pastel-shaded waiting room of the oncology outpatient clinic. My father sat silently beside me. We knew this room well, as we did the doctor we had arrived to see. He had been my...
The risk of developing mental health issues may be higher among patients who have rare cancers compared with those who have common cancers, according to a recent study published by Low et al in eClinicalMedicine. Background Rare cancers—those affecting fewer than 6 out of 100,000 individuals per...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Verheijden et al found that higher peak corticosteroid doses for patients with immune-related adverse events were associated with poorer outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for solid tumors. Study Details...
With the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has become a chronic disease for most patients. Furthermore, we now know that some patients can successfully stop treatment and remain in remission. “Stopping tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy is something we get a...
Women whose fallopian tubes are removed during sterilization via laparoscopy may have only marginally more surgical complications compared with those whose tubes are cut during tubal occlusion, according to a recent study published by Strandell et al in The Lancet Regional Health–Europe. The...
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Detecting this disease in its early stages significantly improves survival rates, making low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening an essential component in the fight against lung cancer. Recent studies, particularly from...
Researchers may have uncovered the mechanisms behind fungal bloodstream infections in patients who receive bone marrow transplants, according to a recent study published by Zhai et al in Nature Medicine. Background A phenomenon known as heteroresistance occurs when a tiny fraction of bacteria...
Most patients with extranodal marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) are overtreated, according to Emanuele Zucca, MD, of the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland and Institute of Oncology Research in Bellinzona and the Università della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano. “Aggressive therapy is not needed in...
Investigators examined whether nonstatin cholesterol-lowering drugs may affect the risk of hepatic cancer, according to a recent study published by Zamani et al in Cancer. Background Hepatic cancer is the sixth most common cancer type across the world and the third leading cause of cancer-related...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, I interviewed Dario Trapani, MD, a medical oncologist at the European Institute of Oncology, Milan and Assistant Professor at the Department of Oncology and Haemato-Oncology of the University of Milan, in Italy. Dr. Trapani is a...
The oral KRAS G12C inhibitor glecirasib has emerged as a therapeutic option for previously treated KRAS G12C–mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It may potentially improve efficacy and tolerability compared with current U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved agents, according to data...
When health-care providers, including oncologists, fail to promptly diagnose a medical condition or communicate their diagnosis to their patients, it can have devastating consequences for those patients. In such cases, patients may seek legal recourse through medical malpractice lawsuits, creating...
Two hallmark toxicities of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may be rare after 2 weeks following infusion in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), supporting a shorter, more flexible toxicity monitoring period., according to a recent study published by Ahmed et al in...
Eliminating racial disparities in colorectal cancer testing may reduce the rate of colorectal cancer incidence and mortality among Black patients in the United States, according to a recent study published by Alagoz et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Background Although both the ...
In a U.S. study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Steven J. Katz, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that many women with early breast cancer and indications for genetic testing do not undergo said testing. Study Details The study involved data from 1,412 women aged 20 to 79 years...
Researchers have found that many eligible breast cancer survivors may not be receiving genetic counseling and testing, according to a recent study published by Katz et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Background A growing proportion of cancer treatment and survivorship care relies on...
Research has consistently shown that Native American and Alaska Native individuals are among the most underserved minority populations in the United States and are disproportionately affected by cancer. The results from a 50-year report by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s Alaska Native...
A recent study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society has found that 4 in 10 cancer cases and about half of all cancer deaths in adults aged 30 and older in the United States (or 713,340 cancer cases and 262,120 cancer deaths in 2019) may be attributed to modifiable risk factors,...
Initiating surveillance soon after recognizing a pediatric patient has a genetic predisposition for cancer may improve the identification of early-stage asymptomatic tumors, according to a recent study published by Blake et al in JAMA Oncology. The findings may inform clinical practice following...
The Melanoma Research Alliance is on a mission to cure and prevent melanoma, a skin cancer that is diagnosed in more than 100,000 people each year and is expected to take the lives of more than 8,000 individuals in 2024.1 We invite stakeholders across all fields, including medicine, science, and...
Air pollution may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, mortality, and health disparities in patients with cancer, according to a recent study published by Zhu et al in JACC: CardioOncology. Background Although modern therapies may help extend the lives of patients with cancer, cancer...
Measuring ethylene oxide levels using mobile optical instruments in Louisiana’s southeastern corridor may help to improve cancer risk assessments, according to a recent study published by Robinson et al in Environmental Science & Technology. Background Louisiana’s southeastern corridor is...
Facing mortality can be a paralyzing experience for some people, but for others, it may ignite a passion to accelerate life. One such person is Kathy Giusti, cofounder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), where she served as Chief Executive Officer and President for nearly 20 years....
Several years ago, a visit to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, so fascinated and inspired Mace L. Rothenberg, MD, FASCO, about the history of flight, he wondered why there was not a similar museum showcasing the past and present achievements in science and medicine. The result...
Intensity-modulated proton therapy may achieve similar clinical outcomes and offer significant benefits compared with traditional intensity-modulated radiation therapy in patients with oropharyngeal cancer, according to preliminary data from a multi-institutional phase III trial presented by Frank...
A novel ultrasensitive liquid biopsy may be predictive of breast cancer recurrence up to years prior to relapse in high-risk patients with early breast cancer, according to recent findings presented by Garcia-Murillas et al at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 1010). Background Circulating...
Miriam Mutebi, MD, MSc, FACS, was born and reared in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. “The suburb I grew up in (Langata), has seen a lot of development over the past couple of decades. When I was a child, it was a smaller community, where you would go and play at somebody else’s house and have...
Deputy Editor of The ASCO Post, Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, recently spoke with gynecologic cancer expert Sharmila K. Makhija, MD, MBA, about her journey to her current position as Founding Dean and Chief Executive Officer of the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, Bentonville, Arkansas. Raised by...