Over the past 20 years, increased understanding of the biological mechanism of disease has led to improved treatment options for all malignancies. Within each disease subtype, we have molecularly characterized tumors and developed specific treatment algorithms to optimize patient outcomes. Among...
Children born by planned cesarean section (C-section) may have an increased risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) later in life, according to a recent study published by Kampitsi et al in the International Journal of Cancer. Alhough the researchers did find an association, they...
Weight-associated risk for developing breast cancer after menopause may be higher among women with cardiovascular disease compared with those without cardiovascular disease and women with or without type 2 diabetes, according to the results of two prospective European cohort studies, which were...
Mammograms can detect breast cancer early before symptoms appear, and regular screening decreases the risk of dying from breast cancer. But a recent survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania shows that some Americans appear to be confused about...
In an Australian phase II trial (COALITION) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Minson et al investigated the addition of glofitamab to R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) or Pola-R-CHP (polatuzumab vedotin, rituximab, cyclophosphamide,...
Patients with ovarian clear cell carcinoma harboring PPP2R1A mutations showed significantly improved survival when treated with immunotherapy compared with those without PPP2R1A mutations, according to study findings published in Nature. Preclinical findings from the study also suggested that...
Investigators have found that two common types of hormone therapy may alter breast cancer risk in women before age 55. Women treated with unopposed estrogen hormone therapy (E-HT) were less likely to develop the disease than those who did not use this type of hormone therapy. Additionally, women...
The 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting has officially concluded. Our sincere thanks to the global oncology community and ASCO for creating such a remarkable forum advancing cancer care. Here we highlight the most impactful updates in genitourinary tumors from this year’s meeting. Kidney Cancer: Long-Term...
Injection with botulinum toxin (BTX) type A (IncoA) plus transdermal scopolamine led to the reduction in radiation-induced salivary gland toxicity without compromising PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen) tumor uptake in patients with metastatic prostate cancer who were receiving...
A novel immuno–positron-emission tomography (immunoPET) imaging agent targeting GPC3 demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in detecting GPC3-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors, including those under 1 cm, according to the results of a pilot clinical study presented at the...
In patients with polycythemia vera requiring frequent phlebotomies, the investigational hepcidin mimetic rusfertide, given as a weekly subcutaneous injection, more than doubled the clinical response rate and significantly improved quality of life in the global phase III VERIFY study.1 These...
Mail-in self-collection tests for human papillomavirus (HPV) more than doubled cervical cancer screening participation among never- and under-screened U.S. women, according to a first-of-its-kind study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. In the real-world,...
In 2022, I had a computed tomography (CT) coronary calcium scan to see whether there were any signs of narrowing or blockage in my heart arteries. Heart disease runs in my family. My father died of a heart attack the year before, and I worried that I was at risk for the same fate. It was a complete ...
The number of people living with a history of cancer in the United States is estimated at 18.6 million as of January 1, 2025, and projected to exceed 22 million by 2035, according to a new report, Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Statistics, 2025, led by the American Cancer Society (ACS). The...
Besides relapse of the malignant disease, graft-vs-host disease is still one of the greatest concerns, in terms of adverse effects, following a hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in a patient with a hematologic malignancy. To mitigate these concerns, investigators are continually analyzing ...
Based on the findings of the VERITAC-2 trial, treatment with the selective PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimera) estrogen receptor degrader vepdegestrant yielded statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival in patients with ESR1-mutant, estrogen...
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is actively engaged in advocacy to protect Medicaid access for millions of Americans. Members can support ASCO’s Medicaid advocacy efforts through the ACT Network. In 2025, ASCO has partnered with other health-care organizations and engaged with...
ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in early-stage breast cancer.1 The update includes recommendations based on findings from trials released after the published guideline in 2017, including data from nine randomized trials...
In the phase III DESTINY-Gastric04 trial, use of the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) was compared head to head with the monoclonal antibody ramucirumab and paclitaxel in patients with previously treated, HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction...
Patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer who receive the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 (modified leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) vs the current standard of care (chemotherapy ± bevacizumab) may live...
For the adjuvant treatment of stage III colon cancer with DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) tumors, the addition of the checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab to standard chemotherapy significantly improved disease-free survival in the phase III ATOMIC trial. The results position this approach as a...
In the phase III DESTINY-Breast09 trial, first-line treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) plus the monoclonal antibody pertuzumab significantly delayed disease progression by more than 1 year—nearly doubling the time of disease control—over standard...
The most aggressive melanomas may hyperactivate two key processes in mitochondria, according to a novel study, and blocking these pathways with currently available drugs may eliminate melanoma cells, explained investigators. These findings were published by Kim et al in the journal Cancer....
On June 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to datopotamab deruxtecan-dlnk (Datroway), an antibody-drug conjugate that targets trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2), for adults with locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer...
The relationship between genetic variants and the risk of late-onset cardiomyopathy remains poorly understood in survivors of childhood cancer despite being otherwise well established. Scientists from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have helped address this gap, assessing whether variant...
The first individualized risk prediction model for adults with early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) has been developed and validated. According to a report published in NEJM Evidence, the Early-Stage cHL International Prognostic Index (E-HIPI) model estimates 2-year progression-free...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announced that it will recognize 11 hematologists who have made notable contributions to the field with several honorific awards and prestigious lectures at the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, Florida, from December 6–9, 2025. The...
A common germline variant in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) (rs562556, V474I) gene rather than a mutation in a breast cancer tumor may be the driving force in significantly increasing the risk of breast cancer metastasis and reducing survival in women with the disease....
I’ve been a physician for several decades, seeing patients and functioning as a medical teacher; clinical, translational, and bench researcher; and administrator. Adapting to medical practice in three nations and several U.S. states has been quite challenging at different times, but I really think...
Ropeginterferon alfa-2b demonstrated superior efficacy and safety compared with anagrelide as second-line therapy for patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) who were intolerant or resistant to hydroxyurea, according to data from the phase III SURPASS-ET trial presented at the European...
Prevention of graft-vs-host disease was far superior with a cyclophosphamide/cyclosporin-based regimen than with standard prophylaxis in patients receiving a matched-sibling donor stem cell transplant in a large Australian randomized trial, investigators reported at the European Hematology...
Adding tafasitamab-cxix, an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody, to lenalidomide and rituximab significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, according to data presented at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2025 Congress (Abstract...
Combining the CD79b-directed antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq with rituximab, gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin (R-GemOx) significantly improved survival outcomes in patients with transplant-ineligible, relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), over standard rituximab ...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Neupane et al explored the question of whether cancer treatment and genetic predisposition are primary contributors to the risk of subsequent neoplasms (SNs) in long-term survivors of childhood cancers. Study Details The study involved data from the St....
On June 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved tafasitamab-cxix (Monjuvi), a CD19-directed cytolytic antibody, with lenalidomide and rituximab for adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. inMIND Trial Efficacy was evaluated in inMIND (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier...
Higher baseline levels of certain cardiac biomarkers were associated with an increased risk of future incidence of cancer, according to findings from a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Advances. Higher incidence rates for all cancers were associated with higher ...
A single dose of psilocybin may provide sustained reductions in depression and anxiety among patients with cancer and major depressive disorder, according to a recent study published by Agrawal et al in Cancer. Patients with cancer often experience depression. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring...
In a phase II trial (EBIN) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Robert et al investigated the survival benefit of adding induction encorafenib/binimetinib to nivolumab/ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma with BRAF V600E or BRAF V600K mutation. Study Details In the open-label trial, 271...
A new combination of azacitidine, venetoclax, and revumenib demonstrated high rates of complete response and clinical activity in older adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and an NPM1 mutation or KMT2A rearrangement. The regimen was also shown to be safe in updated results from ...
Initial early results were seen for the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis in the NEXICART-2 trial. This was the first U.S. trial of CAR T-cell therapy for patients with AL amyloidosis, demonstrating...
Patients with gastrointestinal cancer treated with fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy benefit from an almost eightfold reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality, despite a slight increase in the risk for cardiovascular toxicity, according to recent findings published by Abiodun et al in JACC:...
On June 12, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mitomycin intravesical solution (Zusduri) for adult patients with recurrent low-grade intermediate-risk non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Mitomycin intravesical solution is a reverse thermal hydrogel formulation of mitomycin...
In a Chinese study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yin et al attempted to develop a cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentomics–based model for early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Study Details The study consisted of training and validation cohorts from several Chinese...
In a French-Belgian phase III trial (MIDAS) reported at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine, Perrot et al examined the outcomes of treatments guided by measurable residual disease (MRD) status in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Study Details In...
“The [National Cancer Institute (NCI)] is a national treasure. If funding is diminished, it will be catastrophic to millions of patients and families who will experience the devastation of cancer in the coming years,” Richard J. Boxer, MD, wrote in an editorial Viewpoint published in JAMA Oncology ...
Recent national survey data from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have shown that further cuts to Medicare reimbursement for radiation therapy would increase patient wait times for cancer treatment and force clinic downsizing. Nearly all (96%) of the 675 physicians responding to...
The management of metastatic (CRPC) has rapidly accelerated in the past decade, giving oncologists a wider range of tools to work with and patients new opportunities for improving survival and maintaining quality of life. These significant advancements have prompted ASCO to release a guideline...
Within hours of the start of his second administration, on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order proclaiming that the country would now recognize only two sexes, male and female, essentially rejecting transgender identity, and directing all federal agencies to use the...
Experts and patients alike would agree that navigating the current fragmented U.S. health-care system is not an easy task. One component of that disconnection may center on the relationship between oncology and primary care. The benefits of collaboration between oncologists and primary care...
With the approval of HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate options for treating patients with breast cancer across different HER2 expression levels, accurate assessment of HER2 expression has become more important than ever. And a recent study may provide a solution to the challenge of accurate...