Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new bioinformatics platform that predicts optimal treatment combinations for a given group of patients based on co-occurring tumor alterations. In retrospective validation studies, the tool selected combinations that...
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells from patients whose cancers did not respond to CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy had gene regulation signatures that could potentially facilitate treatment resistance, according to results presented at the American Association for...
Klaus Pantel, MD, of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, discusses liquid biopsy technologies and biomarkers, with a focus on circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA; clinical applications such as early detection of cancer, improved staging, and surveillance of measurable...
A variant of the CTLA-4 gene associated with autoimmune disease was found to be more frequent in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who experienced an exceptionally high response to anti–PD-1 immunotherapy and a higher rate of immune-related side effects than in a comparable cohort of ...
More than 10% of cases of recurrent ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast were de novo tumors that occurred independently of the primary lesion and had distinct genetic alterations, according to data presented by Kader et al during the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual...
The National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) announced the launch of its new flagship research initiative, the DNA Damage Response Consortium, in partnership with Yale Cancer Center. The consortium will bring together a diverse team of adult and pediatric researchers to advance a new class of potential...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Maron et al, a retrospective study found that use of EGFR inhibitor therapy was associated with benefit in patients with unresectable or metastatic EGFR-amplified gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. As stated by the investigators, “Subset analyses...
Two studies presented at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium explored the role of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in urothelial cancer: ATLANTIS and BAYOU.1,2 Results suggest that PARP inhibitors may be useful in certain genetic subgroups and perhaps in combination with...
Despite advances in treatment for pediatric patients, cancer remains the primary cause of disease-related mortality in children and adolescents. Data from the international clinical trial MAPPYACTS, which aims to define tumor molecular profiles in pediatric patients with recurrent/refractory...
Rona Yaeger, MD, Assistant Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, offered her thoughts on the findings of Morris et al for the combination regimen of encorafenib, cetuximab, and nivolumab in microsatellite-stable BRAF V600E–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer...
Samuel J. Klempner, MD, Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, commented on the NEONIPIGA study for The ASCO Post. “This study was the first prospective data set to show what many have suspected—that neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade would lead to a...
The phase II GERCOR NIPICOL study evaluated 1 year of treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with chemotherapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors were microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR). With this shortened treatment duration,...
Invited discussant of the two studies, Elena Élez, MD, PhD, of the Colon Cancer Program, Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain, discussed the challenge of treating BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer and what the new data bring to that effort. Dr. Élez noted: “BRAF V600E–mutant...
The phase II ANCHOR CRC study, the largest prospective study of BRAF inhibitor–based therapy as first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, has met its primary endpoint, with 47.8% of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer responding to first-line treatment with encorafenib,...
The past year has seen unprecedented progress across the spectrum of gastrointestinal malignances, including the advancement of immunotherapy and targeted molecular agents and the refinement of adjuvant therapy using novel as well as existing therapies. Three themes emerging from these reports are: ...
Reflecting recent significant classification changes and new data on the use of biomarkers to inform treatment for central nervous system tumors, a new guideline offers oncologists up-to-date recommendations for managing gliomas in adults with neurologic cancer.1 “Over the past decade, there have...
According to Quynh-Thu Le, MD, FACR, FASTRO, Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at Stanford, these results suggest that monitoring circulating human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA may lead to the detection of relapse prior to imaging. In an interview with The ASCO Post, Dr. Le also noted that...
A blood-basedliquid biopsy may accurately predict recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma following treatment, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Results of the large, multi-institutional study...
The PARP inhibitor olaparib in combination with abiraterone demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in radiographic progression-free survival vs current standard-of-care abiraterone as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant...
Scientists from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified variants in two genes that may be associated with accelerated aging in childhood cancer survivors. Their research looked at the difference between the survivors’ biologic age and chronologic age. The study, published by Dong et...
Results of a biomarker analysis of the NRG Oncology NRG-GY004 trial were presented during the Society for Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. The analysis, which occurred as part of a preplanned translational endpoint for the study, concluded that homologous recombination ...
In patients with breast cancer tumors harboring BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, inhibitors of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) have emerged as essential therapeutic agents. What more needs to be done to obtain even more benefit from these targeted agents? This question was tackled at the 2022 Miami...
In an Italian phase II study (MAYA) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Morano et al found that patients with microsatellite-stable (MSS) and O6-methylguanine–DNA methyltransferase (MGMT)-silenced metastatic colorectal cancer without disease progression on temozolomide derived benefit...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Delahunty et al, an Australian pilot study of a genetic testing program (TRACEBACK) for deceased patients with tubo-ovarian cancer was successful in identifying pathogenic variants in samples from the patients, informing family, and engaging family ...
The past year has witnessed tremendous advances in genitourinary oncology. I am pleased to review these findings in this year’s Genitourinary Oncology Almanac from The ASCO Post. I hope that you will find this roadmap helpful in highlighting a selection of these exciting developments. Checkpoint...
The PARP inhibitor olaparib in combination with abiraterone demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in radiographic progression-free survival vs current standard-of-care abiraterone as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant...
Glenn J. Hanna, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, discusses findings that show human papillomavirus circulating tumor DNA (HPV ctDNA) may be useful as part of surveillance monitoring of patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Dr. Hanna reports that 93% of...
American Society of Hematology (ASH) session co-moderator Matthew Genyeh Mei, MD, Associate Professor, Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute of City of Hope in Southern California, said the studies of checkpoint inhibitors in newly diagnosed and previously treated Hodgkin ...
Pembrolizumab monotherapy is an established treatment strategy for relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. In combination with chemotherapy, the checkpoint inhibitor is also showing value in the front-line setting and further boosting outcomes in the relapsed setting, according to...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Gerardo Colón-Otero, MD, Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Past Chair of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Florida, and Vice Dean at Mayo Clinic Alix School of...
Artificial intelligence (AI) has captured society’s imagination and generated enthusiasm for its potential to improve our quality of life, especially in the health-care arena. The availability of high-dimensionality data sets along with innovations in high-performance computing and deep-learning...
Samuel J. Klempner, MD, Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, commented on the NEONIPIGA study for The ASCO Post. “This study was the first prospective data set to show what many have suspected—that neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade would lead to a...
The phase II GERCOR NIPICOL study evaluated 1 year of treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with chemotherapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors were microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR). With this shortened treatment duration,...
Mihir Gupta, MD, a neurosurgery resident at the University of California San Diego and postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Neurosurgery, and Ganesh M. Shankar, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School,...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is readily detectable in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma and is a strong prognostic biomarker for outcomes, a team of researchers from Germany and Stanford University reported at the 2021 American Society of...
Scientists have determined that first responders to the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have increased levels of mutations that may escalate their risk for blood cancers or cardiovascular disease, according to a study published by Jasra et al in Nature Medicine....
Researchers at City of Hope published data pointing to the limitations of a popular liquid biopsy that is used to detect the recurrence of colorectal cancer in patients who who have undergone surgical resection. The findings were published in JAMA Network Open by Marwan Fakih, MD, and colleagues....
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Janna A. Hol, MD, and colleagues found that (epi)genetic predisposing factors could be identified in one-third of children diagnosed with Wilms tumor. As stated by the investigators, “Wilms tumor is associated with (epi)genetic...
Simon J. Crabb, PhD, MBBS, of the Southampton Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, discusses data from the ATLANTIS trial, in which the authors hypothesized that switch maintenance therapy with the PARP inhibitor rucaparib, in patients who have derived clinical benefit from first-line chemotherapy, ...
A large, multi-institutional study demonstrated that a blood test to detect circulating tumor DNA may accurately predict recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven oropharyngeal cancer following treatment. Results also indicated that the biomarker test may detect recurrent disease earlier than ...
Amy Tiersten, MD, Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, Director of the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and Associate Dean of Oncology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas,...
Switching from an aromatase inhibitor to fulvestrant upon early identification of the ESR1 mutation in plasma—before disease progression—doubled progression-free survival in the phase III PADA-1 trial, presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 “PADA-1 is the first trial to...
Charles Shapiro, MD, Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, commented on the study findings. “MA.32 is a large, randomized placebo-controlled trial of metformin in over 3,600 women with invasive breast cancer. The rationale for...
The final protocol-defined analysis of the phase III PALLAS trial confirmed the negative results of the second interim analysis, showing no benefit of palbociclib plus endocrine therapy in the adjuvant breast cancer setting. Michael Gnant, MD, of the Medical University of Vienna, reported these...
In its first return to a hybrid model since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) brought together researchers, clinicians, industry experts, patients, and advocates from across the globe to present and grapple with new data and important topics in breast ...
A new mutation was identified in 9% of relapsed cases of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that may define a new subtype of the disease, according to a study published by Umeda et al in Blood Cancer Discovery. The mutation is a tandem duplication (a series of adjacent repeats of a DNA...
On February 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved FoundationOne CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic to identify patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) status solid tumors who may be appropriate candidates for treatment with pembrolizumab. FoundationOne CDx is...
In December 2021, Nobel laureates, cancer center directors, physicians, scientists, politicians, public health officials, and patient advocates gathered at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the National...
Rona Yaeger, MD, Associate Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, discussed the results of the GALAXY trial,1 first putting them into context with previous studies. As she pointed out, the finding of an 11-fold increase in risk of recurrence in patients who...
The use of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assays in early-stage colorectal cancer is highly prognostic for recurrence and may help identify patients who could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, according to findings from the GALAXY trial, presented at the 2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers...