In this video, Drs. Justin F. Gainor, Ibiayi Dagogo-Jack, and Jyoti D. Patel discuss the management of NTRK fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Dr. Gainor presents the case of a 44-year-old man with a 5 pack-year history of tobacco exposure who was diagnosed with metastatic NSCLC;...
In this video, Drs. Justin F. Gainor, Ibiayi Dagogo-Jack, and Jyoti D. Patel discuss the management of RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The case presented is a 65-year-old never-smoker patient with metastatic NSCLC who was found to have an EGFR A118V mutation and a KIF5B-RET...
On August 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals aged 16 years and older. The vaccine also...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reminding patients and health-care providers that the safety and effectiveness of robotically assisted surgical devices for use in mastectomy procedures or in the prevention or treatment of breast cancer have not been established. In addition, the FDA...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cutter et al, an analysis from the UK NCRI RAPID trial of positron-emission tomography (PET)-directed therapy in patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma indicated that the use of involved-field radiotherapy in PET-negative patients who had...
In the phase I/II ITCC-050 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gaspar et al found that the combination of lenvatinib with etoposide/ifosfamide showed antitumor activity, including good progression-free survival outcomes, in patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma. Study Details...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Elizabeth A. Salerno, PhD, MPH, and colleagues found that higher levels of physical activity before and during chemotherapy in women with early-stage breast cancer was associated with better cognitive function outcomes at up to 6 months...
On August 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the anti–PD-1 therapy nivolumab (Opdivo) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with urothelial carcinoma who are at high risk of disease recurrence after undergoing radical resection. This is the first FDA approval for adjuvant...
Outcomes in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are almost rivaling those in pediatric ALL, thanks to the benefits achieved by incorporating blinatumomab and inotuzumab into chemotherapy regimens. New ways of administering the chemotherapy component are also increasing tolerability and...
Levorphanol was associated with improved pain and symptom control in patients with advanced cancer, according to data from an early phase I trial, reported by Akhila Reddy, MD, at the 2021 Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO)...
In a study published by Magnum et al in JAMA Oncology, researchers reported on how two separate DNA changes appear to predict aggressive childhood leukemias when they occur in combination. The team evaluated tumor characteristics of more than 1,300 pediatric patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic ...
In an Italian phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Martinelli et al found that cetuximab rechallenge plus avelumab showed activity and was well tolerated in patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer who had responded to first-line chemotherapy plus an anti-EGFR agent and then...
Eric Deutsch, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, commended the speakers for conducting trials whose results he found “very interesting.” The Averectal trial involved a short course of radiation with modified FOLFOX-6 (oxaliplatin, fluorouracil...
Prediction models based on clinical characteristics and imaging findings may help reduce the false-positive rate in women with dense breasts who undergo supplemental breast cancer screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), according to a study published by den Dekker et al in the journal...
In a study published by Do et al in the journal Cancer, researchers analyzed data from nearly 20,000 people over a span of 4 years. They found that reports of cannabis use peaked at 9% for those with a cancer history, compared to 14% among people with no cancer history. “Even when we looked at...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Hong et al, the final overall survival analysis of the Chinese phase III GEM20110714 trial showed a significant benefit with gemcitabine/cisplatin vs fluorouracil/cisplatin as first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal...
In a Chinese single-institution phase I study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pan et al found that donor-derived CD7 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy produced a high complete remission rate in patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia...
In recent years, the gut microbiome has garnered considerable attention as a scientific field, with far-reaching potential for clinical good. The trillions of microorganisms that inhabit the digestive tract form an incredibly complex community, which participates in countless interactions with its...
In the phase II TALAPRO-1 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Johann S. de Bono, PhD, and colleagues found that monotherapy with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor talazoparib produced durable responses in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and DNA...
Too many “exhausted” T cells left in the wake of aggressive chemotherapy regimens for patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) make it more challenging for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to do its job. Now, a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of...
On August 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli), an anti–PD-1 antibody, for adult patients with mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) recurrent or advanced solid tumors, as determined by an FDA-approved test, who have had disease...
Researchers have determined how a highly aggressive type of breast cancer may evade treatment with the compound sacituzumab govitecan-hziy, according to findings published by Coates et al in Cancer Discovery. Their results could help improve therapy and ultimately prolong survival for patients with ...
In a small study of 16 patients with angiosarcoma published by Michael Wagner, MD, and colleagues in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 4 patients experienced a partial or complete response to treatment with a combination of the immunotherapies ipilimumab and nivolumab, and another 2 patients ...
In a phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Puneeth Iyengar, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that accelerated hypofractionated image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) did not improve 1-year overall survival vs conventional radiotherapy in patients with stage II/III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who ...
Although poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors interfere with DNA repair processes, leading to warnings in terms of risk for developing second primary malignancies, findings from a systematic review and safety meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomized studies are reassuring for...
In a phase I trial (MajesTEC-1) reported in The Lancet, Saad Z. Usmani, MD, FACP, and colleagues found that the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-CD3 bispecific antibody teclistamab produced a high rate of durable responses at the recommended phase II dose in patients with relapsed or refractory...
A simple, wearable temperature sensor was able to detect dangerous complications in hospitalized patients with cancer hours earlier than routine monitoring. The device, which takes readings every 2 minutes and wirelessly transmits them to the cloud, was able to quickly detect adverse events that...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Scott et al found that application of the genomic-adjusted radiation dose (GARD) model to cohorts of patients with different types of cancer showed a significant association of GARD with benefit of radiotherapy. As stated by the investigators, “We...
In a single-institution retrospective study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Ollila et al found a low rate of seroconversion after COVID-19 vaccination among adult patients with hematologic malignancies. Study Details The study included 160 patients at Rhode Island Hospital receiving ...
Pancreatic cancer remains an incorrigible foe, but recent advances in genomic profiling and targeted drug development are slowly improving the outlook for patients, according to Eileen M. O’Reilly, MD, Winthrop Rockefeller Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology and Section Head,...
On August 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved belzutifan (Welireg), a hypoxia-inducible factor inhibitor, for adult patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease who require therapy for associated renal cell carcinoma (RCC), central nervous system (CNS) hemangioblastomas, or...
In a retrospective cohort study using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data reported in JAMA Network Open, Elmehrath et al found that a substantial proportion of men diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer between 2000 and 2016 in the United States died from causes unrelated to...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted applications for agents aiming to treat non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), differentiated thyroid cancer, renal cell carcinoma (RCC), hypersensitive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), mucosal melanoma, and endometrial carcinoma....
Regular muscle-strengthening exercises associated with aerobic activities can reduce cancer mortality, according to a systematic review of epidemiologic studies published by Nascimento et al in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Workouts with activities like...
On August 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the combination of lenvatinib (Lenvima) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). CLEAR Trial The efficacy of this combination was investigated in CLEAR...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Keunchil Park, MD, PhD, and colleagues, amivantamab-vmjw given at the selected phase II dose in a phase I trial (CHRYSALIS) produced durable responses in patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion–mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease...
In a French single-center retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Duléry et al found that posttransplantation cyclophosphamide was associated with a significantly increased risk of early cardiac events among patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation...
A recent study examined patient-reported outcomes and risk-management behaviors of women choosing to receive or decline their breast cancer polygenic risk scores (PRS). The findings were published by Tatiane Yanes, PhD, and colleagues in Genetics in Medicine. The research aimed to look at how the...
Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer have not seen the same improvements in survival over the years as their pediatric and older adult counterparts. Some evidence has suggested that this may in part be a result of low AYA participation in clinical trials, limiting advances in...
Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD, FAACR, will receive the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), to be held December 7–10. The McGuire Award was established in 1992 to commemorate the significant contributions to breast oncology by Dr. McGuire...
Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, is pleased to announce Shlomit Strulov Shachar, MD, of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, is the recipient of the 2021 Conquer Cancer–Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) Career Development Award. Dr. Shachar’s proposed study, entitled “Identifying Molecular...
ASCO and the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) recently announced that 75 research sites applied and have been invited to participate in a pilot project testing a research site self-assessment tool and an implicit bias training program focused on increasing racial and ethnic diversity...
On June 30, 2021, asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn was approved as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients 1 month or older who have developed...
A middle-aged patient was referred to our clinic with a mass in his liver. It had been detected the preceding year, and the patient underwent a battery of investigations with scans and biopsies to reach a diagnosis of metastatic lesion of the liver. After appropriate consultations with oncologists, ...
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch), University of Washington (UW) Medicine, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA), and Seattle Children’s have announced plans to explore restructuring their longtime relationship to accelerate a shared mission of advancing diagnosis, treatment, and...
Data from KEYNOTE-048 showed that the combination of the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab with platinum-containing therapy improved overall survival vs cetuximab plus chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).1 The findings provided hope...
In the storied English fable “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” a child enters a home and tastes three bowls of porridge. She prefers a bowl that is not too cold and not too hot but one that has just the right temperature. This “Goldilocks principle” of “just the right amount” can be applied to the...
The tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib appears to be an effective new option for treatment-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, according to the phase III COSMIC-311 trial, which was stopped early for efficacy.1 COSMIC-311 is the first randomized placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the...
The invited discussant of GeparNuevo,1 Melinda L. Telli, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Stanford Cancer Institute, and Associate Director of the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center, welcomed the additional data...
“Naratuximab emtansine plus rituximab appears to be an effective and well tolerated combination in a heavily pretreated population. The results of the study are very promising,” said Leslie Popplewell, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell...