The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in 2017 to treat children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Over the past decade, other CAR T-cell therapies have been FDA-approved to treat adults with blood cancers, including...
Researchers may have identified the bacterial toxin colibactin as a potential factor contributing to the concerning rise in early-onset colorectal cancer, according to a novel study published by Díaz-Gay et al in Nature. The findings demonstrated a substantial enrichment of colibactin-related...
In late January 2013, while playing with my young son, I noticed my left breast seemed slightly larger than my right breast. Although, at the time, I had no idea this type of swelling is a hallmark of inflammatory breast cancer, a rare and aggressive disease, I immediately made an appointment with...
ASCO has released an update to the guideline for fertility preservation in people with cancer. The update, recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 provides recommendations regarding evaluation and counseling for fertility preservation; methods and timing of fertility preservation;...
Overall deaths from cancer over the past 2 decades have steadily declined in both men and women in the United States, according to the 2024 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published today by Sherman et al in Cancer. The report also found that although the incidence of cancer...
Perinatal and early-life exposure to ambient fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) and outdoor artificial light at night (O-ALAN) may be associated with a statistically significant increased risk of papillary thyroid cancer in children and young adults up to 19 years old, according to the...
At current use and radiation dose levels, computed tomography (CT) scans may eventually account for 5% of all cancers annually, according to a recent modeling study published by Smith-Bindman et al in JAMA Internal Medicine. The danger is greatest for infants, followed by children and...
Almost 60% of all deaths from pediatric cancers occur in regions of armed conflict, according to the results of a study published in The Lancet Oncology. Investigators from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Duke University, and other institutions sought to reveal the relationship between...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) youth e-cigarette prevention campaign, known as The Real Cost, may have successfully reduced e-cigarette use among youth, according to a recent study published by MacMonegle et al in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Background The Real Cost...
Newborns with congenital heart defects may have a higher risk of developing childhood cancer compared to children born without a heart abnormality. Further, congenital heart defects in newborns may also signal an elevated cancer risk for their mothers. These findings were published recently by Huh...
Recent findings from the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Impact Monitoring Project (HPV-IMPACT), which were published by Gargano et al in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, revealed decreased incidences of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)2+ and CIN3+ lesions among young women....
Over the past 20 years, the investment in research and development of cancer therapies has been unprecedented, and the pace of new drug development has been accelerating. To illustrate this trajectory, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 71 treatments for solid cancers in adults...
I’ve learned a lot about medicine over the years, but one thing I wasn’t taught was how to guide someone through the existential weight of dying. My education centered on diagnosing, curing, or at least managing disease—not on the delicate art of helping people and their loved ones cope with what...
The findings in the American Cancer Society (ACS) annual report, Cancer Statistics, 2025,1 showed a mixed trend in cancer incidence and mortality rates. Although cancer mortality declined by 34% from 1991 to 2022 in the United States—largely because of smoking reductions, earlier detection, and...
Although there’s no history of breast cancer in my family, when I was 10, my pediatrician introduced me to breast self-exams, so I would become familiar with my breasts and learn to spot any unusual changes as I got older. I remember her telling me this was an especially important exercise to do...
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 World Health Organization (WHO) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have begun distributing critical cancer drugs to pediatric patients in two of six pilot countries through the new Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines. Background Every year, about 400,000 children...
Each year in the United States, approximately 90,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs), defined as those between the ages of 15 and 39, are diagnosed with cancer, and about 9,300 die of the disease.1 Worldwide, the number of new cases of cancer in this age population tops 1,300,200—an increase of ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Mascarenhas et al, follow-up of a cohort of pediatric patients with TRK fusion sarcomas and related mesenchymal tumors treated with larotrectinib showed that discontinuation of treatment—with resumption for progressive disease—was associated with...
A novel bicistronic CD19/CD22-directed CAR T-cell therapy (B019) has demonstrated high remission rates, durable responses, and a favorable safety profile among children with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including those with isolated or combined extramedullary...
Fallopian tube removal performed during other abdominal surgeries could reduce the risk of ovarian cancer incidence among women who have already completed their families, according to a recent study published by Kather et al in PLOS Medicine. Background Ovarian cancer is the third most common...
For more than a year before my diagnosis of stage IA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in 2020, I had been self-treating a relentless chronic cough and a slight feeling of tightness in my chest. The symptoms were similar to asthma, so I began using albuterol inhalers. When they stopped working, I ...
Results of a phase III study suggest that the addition of the immunotherapy agent blinatumomab—a bispecific T-cell engager targeting CD19—to standard chemotherapy may help to prevent relapse in more children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common pediatric cancer,...
The risk of having children who experience preterm birth and low birth weight—but not birth defects—may be increased among male adolescents and young adults with cancer, according to a recent study published by Murphy et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Background Prior research...
The findings in the American Cancer Society’s annual report, Cancer Statistics, 2025, show a mixed trend in cancer incidence and mortality rates. While cancer mortality declined by 34% from 1991 to 2022 in the United States—largely due to smoking reductions, earlier detection, and improved...
In a cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Negm et al found that primary mismatch repair deficiency (MMRD) was associated with poor outcomes in children, adolescents, and young adults with gliomas. Study Details In the study, clinical and molecular data were collected from children,...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Daw et al, findings in a cohort of the phase II CheckMate 744 trial indicated good outcomes with a response-adapted, transplantation-free treatment approach in children and adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with low-risk relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)....
Patients with early-onset breast cancer (aged 40 or younger at diagnosis) who have BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants had improved overall survival by undergoing risk-reducing surgeries, including bilateral mastectomy and/or salpingo-oophorectomy, according to data...
Researchers have received a $3.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to examine the impact of social networks on the decision-making process among older patients with cancer. Background Many individuals have social networks, which includes those who offer a connection and have similar...
In a Children’s Oncology Group study (ADVL1823) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Laetsch et al found that larotrectinib was highly active in patients with newly diagnosed infantile fibrosarcoma and other pediatric NTRK fusion–positive solid tumors. Study Details The U.S. multicenter trial...
The addition of blinatumomab to chemotherapy may improve disease-free survival in pediatric patients newly diagnosed with National Cancer Institute (NCI) standard-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at average or high risk of relapse, according to new findings presented by Rau et al at...
A follow-up study investigating the coadministration of CD19- and CD22-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in children with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) found the therapy is safe and effective and achieved durable remissions in these patients, ...
Rachel E. Rau, MD, of Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD, of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, review results from Children’s Oncology Group Study AALL1731, which assessed the addition of blinatumomab to chemotherapy in newly diagnosed childhood standard-risk B-cell...
The experimental drug rilzabrutinib was well tolerated and generated an increase in platelet counts among some adults with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) who had not experienced lasting improvements with other available ITP treatments, according to the results of a phase III trial. These findings...
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 a phase IIb trial (ReNeu) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Moertel et al found that the CNS-penetrant small molecule MEK1/2 inhibitor mirdametinib showed activity in adults and children with symptomatic neurofibromatosis type 1-associated plexiform neurofibroma (NF1-PN). Study...
My twin brother and I were adopted at 18 months old, so I don’t know the medical history of our biological parents and family. But for certain, cancer has played an integral—and heartbreaking—role in my life. Both of my adoptive parents were diagnosed with genitourinary cancers at relatively early ...
Beyond the physical toll of the disease and its treatments, cancer often presents a host of legal and social issues that can significantly worsen a patient’s well-being and treatment outcomes. This column explains how medical-legal partnerships can offer a powerful tool to address these challenges ...
In a phase II study (OLIE) reported in JAMA Oncology, Gaspar et al found that the addition of lenvatinib to ifosfamide/etoposide did not significantly improve progression-free survival in children or young adults with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma. Study Details In the global open-label...
I have many of the risk factors for melanoma. I’m fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and have a family history of melanoma, as well as other skin cancers, so I’ve always been diligent about practicing sun safety and maintaining annual full-body skin exams to catch any suspicious moles or lesions that could...
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...
Although improving cancer screening participation in the United States is central to the country’s national goals for reducing disability and death, currently, participation is lagging behind the Healthy People 2030 targets set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A study by the...
The Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) 2024 Annual Meeting showcased several groundbreaking studies in the field of hematologic oncology, including key findings in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The ASCO...
A novel cell therapy targeting CD7 on leukemia cells may provide an effective treatment option for patients with refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to a recent study published by Oh et al in Nature Medicine. The findings highlighted the effectiveness of a new chimeric...
Three years ago, it had become clear that I needed to be tested for the BRCA1/2 mutation. I knew my family history of cancer was not good. My paternal grandmother died of breast cancer when she was just 41, and her mother had likely died of cervical cancer when she was in her 50s. More recently,...
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 ...
The AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024, released on September 18, showcases the extraordinary progress being made against cancer. The report highlights continuing reductions in mortality, which has fallen by 33% between 1991 and 2021, translating into more than 4 million deaths averted from cancer,...
A preliminary report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) revealed that, in 2020, 5.5 million men worldwide died from cancer, leading to 1.41 million new paternal orphans. The average age of the children at paternal death was 12 years old. The study by Guida et al is being...
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...