Suppression of the estrogen receptor has proven to be an effective treatment for hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, but standard endocrine therapies have liabilities that are not limited to their pharmacokinetics or toxicity profiles, which allow for ligand-independent estrogen receptor...
Over the past 20 years, Medicare reimbursements for 10 breast cancer surgical procedures rose by 22%, but inflation rose three times as much—by 69%. Compared with the financial picture had rates kept pace with inflation, the result is an estimated aggregate loss of more than $100 million for breast ...
The highly anticipated ENGOT-en9/LEAP-001 trial in endometrial cancer has missed both its primary endpoints. At the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2024 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, the study investigators reported no significant benefit in progression-free survival or overall survival...
Results of the phase III NADINA trial support a new standard of care for the treatment of resectable macroscopic stage III melanoma. Treatment with preoperative ipilimumab plus nivolumab followed by total lymph node dissection, with adjuvant therapy guided by depth of response, led to a highly...
“Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), once a rare entity, now comprises 20% to 30% of newly diagnosed breast cancers detected on mammography and is appreciated to be a widely heterogeneous disease,” said E. Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, the Mary and Deryl Hart Distinguished Professor at Duke University, who ...
For breast cancer that is estrogen receptor–positive, CDK4/6 inhibitors, given with endocrine therapy, have become the standard of care, especially in metastatic disease. However, resistance to both endocrine therapies and CDK4/6 inhibitors is common, and new approaches are needed to counteract...
In updated findings from the phase III KEYNOTE-756 trial, the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting improved the rates of pathologic complete response for patients with high-risk estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, regardless of their age or...
Two studies presented at the 2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium added support for the deintensification of radiotherapy in early-stage oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV), a subtype typically more responsive to therapy compared to...
In patients with ovarian cancer, second-look surgery may find a role again. The evaluation of measurable residual disease (MRD) using second-look laparoscopy identified more women who had detectable MRD after front-line treatment than did circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), according to a study...
The recent approval of mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx is a testament to the emerging benefit of antibody-drug conjugates in recurrent ovarian cancer. Other agents of this class are now eliciting excitement as they demonstrate high response rates in a population with unmet clinical needs, according...
Glenn J. Hanna, MD, Director, Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation (Early Drug Development Program), medical oncologist at the Center for Head & Neck Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, was interviewed for his...
Although so-called liquid biopsies are now helping to determine the need for adjuvant therapy for a number of malignancies, oropharyngeal carcinoma is not yet one of them, according to a prospective pilot study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The investigators evaluated the use of...
The session’s invited discussant at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2024 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer was Gini F. Fleming, MD, Professor of Medicine, and Medical Director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Chicago. She was elated with the findings of several studies showing...
The addition of a checkpoint inhibitor to standard chemotherapy as first-line treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer not only reduced the risk of disease progression but improved overall survival, particularly for the mismatch repair–deficient/microsatellite instability–high...
Artificial intelligence (AI)—computational analytics with routine imaging via radiology or pathology—can advance precision medicine in breast cancer, specifically by predicting response to therapy and calculating prognosis, according to a pioneer in the field, Anant Madabhushi, PhD, of Emory...
The findings from RATIONALE-315 were discussed at the ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) Virtual Plenary by Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, Head of the Medical Oncology Service at the Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid. He noted that inhibitors of PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1, as...
In patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), perioperative treatment involving the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab led to a statistically significant benefit in event-free survival and a favorable trend for overall survival, investigators for the phase III RATIONALE-315 trial...
The use of imaging midtreatment for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma may guide the use of deintensified chemoradiotherapy, according to a phase II study from the University of Michigan presented by Regan et al at the 2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck...
DREAMM-7, which evaluated belantamab mafodotin-blmf, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (BVd) in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, was discussed at the virtual session by Rachid Baz, MD, Myeloma Section Head and Co-Director of the Pentecost Family Myeloma Research Center at Moffitt Cancer Center, ...
Positive results with the use of belantamab mafodotin-blmf in the phase III DREAMM-7 study were presented during the ASCO Plenary Series: February 2024.1 In relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, DREAMM-7 evaluated the use of the regimen belantamab mafodotin, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (BVd)...
Long-term follow-up of the phase III KEYNOTE-590 trial confirms the benefit of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in advanced esophageal cancer. As compared with chemotherapy alone, after a median of follow-up of almost 59 months, patients treated with the chemoimmunotherapy...
Michael Crump, MD, of the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, expressed some concerns about the study presented by Shadman et al in patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). “These data should be interpreted with caution. The patient...
For patients with relapsed large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) in complete remission, outcomes were better after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) than with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in a retrospective analysis of a large database presented at the 2023 American Society of...
he latest findings for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in colorectal cancer were discussed at the 2024 ASCO Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers Symposium by Aparna R. Parikh, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has become an established biomarker of measurable or molecular residual disease (MRD) after curative-intent surgery in patients with colorectal cancer. The research focus is now on linking ctDNA to long-term outcomes and using it to guide treatment decisions—which was...
For perspective on CheckMate 8HW, The ASCO Post interviewed Alan P. Venook, MD, FASCO, the Madden Family Distinguished Professor of Medical Oncology and Translational Research at the University of California San Francisco and the Shorenstein Associate Director for Program Development at the Helen...
In the phase III CheckMate 8HW trial, previously untreated patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) nonresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer derived significant benefit from an immunotherapy doublet, with nivolumab plus ipilimumab reducing the...
For patients with treatment-naive, locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the addition of two checkpoint inhibitors to chemotherapy significantly improved not only progression-free survival but also overall survival, in the randomized, phase III SKYSCRAPER-08 trial...
Postoperative adjuvant therapy—both chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone—for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma may be safely de-escalated, according to results presented by Thorstad et al at the 2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium...
Although liquid biopsies are now helping determine the need for adjuvant therapy in a number of malignancies, they have yet to prove useful in the setting of oropharyngeal carcinoma, according to a prospective pilot study presented at the 2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium that...
Updates of two key phase III trials presented at the 2024 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium showed the benefit of adding a checkpoint inhibitor to standard perioperative chemotherapy with FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, docetaxel) in locally advanced, resectable gastric and...
Patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma derived significant benefit from the addition of the monoclonal antibody durvalumab and the angiogenesis inhibitor bevacizumab to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), which alone has been a standard of care for 20 years. Investigators of the...
Adding the radioligand lutetium-177 dotatate (Lu-177 dotatate) to standard therapy almost tripled the median progression-free survival in patients with untreated, high-grade, gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in the randomized phase III NETTER-2 study, researchers reported at the 2024...
Aaron T. Gerds, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Hematology and Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, served as a press briefing moderator at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. He was enthusiastic about the potential for an all-oral AAA...
An all-oral regimen for newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) was shown to be “highly effective and safe,” eliminating the need for chemotherapy altogether in many patients, Hong Kong researchers reported at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting &...
In patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), perioperative treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy led to a statistically significant benefit in event-free survival and a favorable trend for overall survival, investigators for the...
Two experts in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) discussed the findings on the combination of venetoclax plus azacitidine in the treatment of higher-risk MDS with The ASCO Post. David A. Sallman, MD, Assistant Member in the Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffit Cancer Center, Tampa, provided...
For the treatment of high-risk, treatment-naive myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the regimen of venetoclax plus azacitidine led to high response rates, durable responses, and encouraging overall survival, in a phase Ib study reported at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting...
Prithviraj Bose, MD, Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, shared his thoughts on MANIFEST-2 and TRANSFORM-1 with The ASCO Post. While both were international phase III trials that showed similar benefits with two different...
In two international phase III trials in myelofibrosis, drugs given in combination with the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor ruxolitinib in JAK inhibitor–naive patients significantly improved outcomes vs ruxolitinib alone. Both studies were presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual...
The ASCO Post obtained comments on the Smart Stop study from Dipenkumar Modi, MD, a medical oncologist and hematologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit. Dr. Modi applauded the investigators for...
A four-drug targeted therapy regimen proved safe and effective as the first-line treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), achieving a 100% response rate after four cycles, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, reported at the 2023 American Society...
Session co-moderator Carla Casulo, MD, offered her thoughts on the response-adapted use of ultra-low–dose radiotherapy in gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoma, as reported by the investigators from MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Casulo is Associate Professor of Medicine and...
For patients with gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoma, an “ultra-low dose” of radiotherapy was as effective as the higher, standard dose in providing local control and freedom from distant relapse, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at...
In a press briefing at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, Cynthia E. Dunbar, MD, ASH Secretary and Chief of the Translational Stem Cell Biology Branch, Intramural Research Program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, offered her thoughts on...
At the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, researchers from Emory University presented a real-world comparison of the largest cohort of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma consecutively treated with either bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone ...
Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, and Dan Vogl, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, shared their thoughts on the PERSEUS trial for The ASCO Post. Dr. Nooka noted that ...
Michael Crump, MD, of the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, expressed some concerns about the study presented by Shadman et al in patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). “These data should be interpreted with caution. The patient...
For patients with relapsed large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) in complete remission, outcomes were better after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) than with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in a retrospective analysis of a large database presented at the 2023 American Society of...
Peter Voorhees, MD, a multiple myeloma specialist at Levine Cancer Institute and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Durham, North Carolina, introduced the plenary presentation of the phase III IsKia trial by Gay et al and further commented on the study for The ASCO...