ASCO has issued a new update to its living guideline on treatment of stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with driver alterations based on two recent studies.1 The update, which amends the most recent version published in February 2025, includes a discussion of osimertinib therapy options in ...
The addition of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab to ICE (ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide) chemotherapy appeared to significantly improve the complete remission rate and showed a trend toward improved progression-free survival in second-line classical Hodgkin lymphoma, according to Yuankai Shi,...
The results of a cohort study published in JAMA Network Open revealed an epidemiologic association between postmastectomy implant-based breast reconstruction for any breast tumor and both B- and T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas of the breast. According to Kinslow et al, this includes diffuse large...
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 2025 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress.1 Results...
The main symptom that eventually led to my diagnosis of stage IV adenocarcinoma non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) started in the fall of 2009. I was just 17 and in my freshman year at college when I began experiencing a persistent cough. The coughing became so unrelenting over the next month, I...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will recognize 11 hematologists who have made significant contributions to the field with several honorific awards and prestigious lectures at the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, Florida, on December 6–9. Rainer Storb, MD, of Fred...
In an early-phase study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Liu et al evaluated the safety and preliminary efficacy of DEP-SN38, a polylysine-based dendrimer-nanoparticle delivery platform for the topoisomerase 1 inhibitor SN38, in patients with advanced solid tumors. SN38 is the active...
The combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab plus radiation therapy did not lead to an improvement in progression-free survival compared with radiation therapy and temozolomide for patients with newly diagnosed MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma, according to phase II results of the NRG-BN007 trial...
Optimal continued care for patients with cancer may require greater involvement from primary care clinicians, according to the results of an observational study published in Current Oncology. The study highlighted certain challenges in cancer care, including patient-centered coordination and...
A new drug-releasing system, TAR-200, eliminated tumors in 82% of patients in the phase II SunRISe-1 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04640623) for individuals with high-risk non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer whose disease had previously resisted treatment. In the majority of cases, the...
The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist colonoscopies may be linked to a reduction in the ability of endoscopists to detect adenomas in the colon without AI assistance, according to a paper published by Budzyń et al in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Colonoscopy...
Various artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms submitted as part of a challenge demonstrated the ability to identify different breast cancers during screening mammography, according to the results of a study published in Radiology. Ensemble models of the top submitted algorithms indicated that the ...
In a Korean retrospective study reported in JAMA Network Open, Bong et al found that the addition of oxaliplatin to fluoropyrimidine-based adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with an overall survival benefit in patients with stage III colorectal cancer aged ≤ 70 years but not in those aged > 70 ...
For the 20th year in a row, major advances in cancer research and practice-changing clinical trials from the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (ASCO25) were presented at the ASCO-licensed Best of ASCO meeting, held on July 18–19, 2025, in Beirut, Lebanon. It was indeed a great celebration and commitment to...
In a substudy of the Australian phase II ENZA-p trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Emmett et al found that baseline prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)–positron-emission tomography (PET) total tumor volume (TTV) was prognostic for overall survival and predictive for a beneficial effect on ...
In a French-Belgian phase III trial (ASTER 70s) reported in The Lancet, Brain et al examined the survival benefit of adding adjuvant chemotherapy to hormone therapy in women aged ≥ 70 years with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer with high-risk disease on the basis of genomic...
Some survivors of childhood cancers face a continued elevated risk of premature mortality, new cancers, chronic conditions, and other adverse health conditions as they grow older, according to new findings published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. An increased risk for cancer and other...
In patients with newly diagnosed, PD-L1–positive, advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who tested negative for driver mutations, implementation of plasma-guided treatment intensification—from monotherapy with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab to platinum doublet chemotherapy plus...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to zongertinib (Hernexeos), a kinase inhibitor, for adults with unresectable or metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have HER2 tyrosine kinase domain (TKD)–activating mutations, as...
A retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Network Open found glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists to be associated with lower all-cause mortality than dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, with no significant difference from sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors, ...
Based on the results of a cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, smoking worsened both cancer symptom burden and severity. However, Rieth et al noted that oncologic surgery may present a unique teachable moment for smoking cessation, as patients appeared to be highly motivated to quit. The...
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a blood test that may alter the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple myeloma and its precursor conditions. The new method, known as SWIFT-seq, uses single-cell sequencing to profile circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood, offering a...
Researchers have identified age-, sex-, and race-related disparities around treatment with hypomethylating agents for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes in the United States. The receipt of hypomethylating agents was found to favor younger, male, White patients, according to findings published ...
In a phase III trial (EPIK-O/ENGOT-ov61) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Konstantinopoulos et al compared the survival outcomes of alpelisib plus olaparib vs single-agent chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant or -refractory high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) with no...
In patients with small cell lung cancer, second-line treatment with the bispecific T-cell engager tarlatamab-dlle (which targets the delta-like ligand 3 [DLL3]) vs standard-of-care chemotherapy appeared to significantly improve overall survival, progression-free survival, and patient-reported...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval to dordaviprone (Modeyso) a protease activator, for adult and pediatric patients aged 1 year and older with diffuse midline glioma harboring an H3 K27M mutation who have progressive disease after prior therapy. This...
It has been widely reported that colorectal cancer incidence has been increasing among younger adults under age 50 since the mid-1990s, with a consistent annual increase of 2% among adults aged 20 to 39. This increase prompted the American Cancer Society (ACS), in 2018, and the United States...
The aging population is rapidly growing, with the number of older adults rising steadily each year. In the 1980s, experts predicted a rise in the number of older patients with cancer, yet we were unprepared. The shortage of oncologists, along with many experienced clinicians retiring early, has...
Immunoglobulin replacement therapy did not lead to a reduction in the risk for serious infections leading to hospitalizations for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to the results of a real-world Australian cohort study published in Blood Advances. This finding is at odds...
A recent study published by Menta et al in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology found that many people misunderstand how common skin, hair, and nail side effects are during cancer treatment—and those fears may lead some to avoid or delay care. Conducted by researchers at the George Washington...
Guest Editor’s Note: Ayurveda, the traditional medical system that originated in India, focuses on improving overall well-being through self-care, diet, and herbal formulations. There is a growing patient interest in using Ayurveda for symptom control and to improve quality of life. In this...
Greater consumption of ultraprocessed food is associated with an increased risk of developing either small cell or non–small cell lung cancer, according to findings published in Thorax. "Over the past 2 decades, the consumption of ultraprocessed food has significantly increased worldwide,...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Rini et al, the National Cancer Institute COVID-19 in Cancer Patients Study (NCCAPS) has identified outcomes associated with COVID-19 in patients with cancer. Study Details Between May 2020 and February 2022, the study enrolled adult patients from sites participating ...
Patients classified with "grade group 1" prostate cancer face a wide range of long-term outcomes, according to findings from a study published in JAMA Oncology. Investigators revealed that as many as one in six men with grade group 1 prostate cancers have intermediate- or high-risk disease when...
New research out of Spain has shown that patients with cancer who had lower levels of the biomarker CD69 (receptor on T cells) before starting treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) had a more negative immune response and were at higher risk of cardiovascular damage and myocarditis.1...
The randomized phase III C-POST trial attempted to learn whether the standard-of-care treatment in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma—cemiplimab-rwlc, which blocks the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway—could reduce recurrence after definitive local therapy for patients who had high-risk features....
Based on the results of an analysis reported in JAMA Network Open by Zhang et al, preexisting depression is associated with an increased risk of mortality from prostate cancer. The investigators commented, “Approximately one in six patients with prostate cancer experience major depression, a...
In a phase II study (ENGOT-OV60/GOG-3052/RAMP 201) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Banerjee et al evaluated the efficacy and safety of the RAF/MEK clamp avutometinib in combination with the FAK inhibitor defactinib in patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer. Study...
Earlier this year, the first interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-689 trial showed that the use of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as part of a perioperative treatment regimen with standard-of-care surgery plus adjuvant radiotherapy (with or without cisplatin alone) improved event-free...
A cross-sectional study of cancer drug indications granted accelerated approval, which was published in JAMA Network Open, found that prescribing increased more after accelerated approval than after conversion to regular approval. Parikh et al also noted that off-label prescribing after accelerated ...
Large language models (LLMs) can be trained to understand how each patient’s somatic mutations impact their cancer prognosis and possible response to therapy, according to a presentation at the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. John-William...
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–cleared artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm was able to detect and correctly localize almost one-third of interval breast cancers in a retrospective evaluation of screening digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), findings published in Radiology showed. The...
As reported in The Lancet by Fizazi et al, the final overall survival analysis in the homologous recombination repair (HRR)-deficient metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cohort of the phase III TALAPRO-2 trial showed a significant benefit with the addition of talazoparib to...
In an analysis from the German phase III ESOPEC trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hoeppner et al found that perioperative chemotherapy reduced distant recurrence vs preoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with nonmetastatic esophageal adenocarcinoma. The primary analysis of the ...
When a NUT carcinoma is detected, standard-of-care DNA next-generation sequencing (NGS) may be unable to detect upward of 75% of incidences of the disease, according to findings published in Clinical Cancer Research. The study authors suggested that to correctly detect and diagnosis NUT carcinomas, ...
In August 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a negotiated price for the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib that is 38% lower than the manufacturer’s list price. This new price will go into effect in January 2026. Negotiations began following passage...
ASCO has issued a new update to its living guideline regarding therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without driver alterations, based on results of three studies published recently.1 The update (the first since a previous version in February 2025) includes discussion of...
ASCO has issued a new update to its living guideline on treatment of stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with driver alterations based on two recent studies.1 The update, which amends the most recent version published in February 2025, includes a discussion of osimertinib therapy options in ...
I’ve been blessed to have remained healthy for most of my life. In fact, I can’t remember ever spending a night in the hospital until I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, at age 86, in the summer of 2024. And even then, the symptoms that drove me to seek care in the emergency room of my local...
The risk of death does not appear to increase with the use of menopausal hormone therapy in women with early-onset, BRCA-mutated breast cancer who began hormone supplementation after diagnosis, based on preliminary data presented during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “Management of early surgical...