A STUDY OF local recurrence rates following lumpectomy has shown significant improvement in patients receiving modern, multimodal therapies, suggesting breast-conserving surgery may be an option for more patients with breast cancer, according to data presented at the 2018 American Society of Breast ...
A FEDERALLY FUNDED randomized study demonstrated that use of geriatric assessment in the routine care of older adults with advanced cancer significantly improved doctor-patient communication about age-related concerns as well as patient satisfaction with the communication. The study was presented...
A RANDOMIZED clinical trial evaluating the use of mobile and sensor technology to remotely monitor symptoms in patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck cancer found that use of this technology reduced the severity of symptoms related to cancer and its treatment compared with usual...
Dr. Hayes, ASCO President 2016–2017, is Professor of Internal Medicine; Stuart B. Padnos Professor in Breast Cancer; and Clinical Director of the Breast Oncology Program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor. AS I COMPLETE my 3-year term as ASCO President, I am...
THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED results of the phase III TAILORx study are in—and they indicate that the vast majority of patients with “intermediate-risk” early-stage breast cancer can forgo chemotherapy. “Our study shows that chemotherapy may be avoided in about 70% of women with hormone...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
Ulixertinib (BVD-523) is an ERK1/2 kinase inhibitor with potent preclinical activity in BRAF- and RAS-mutant cell lines. Now, a multicenter phase I study investigating its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors has found that ulixertinib has an acceptable...
Colon cancer survivors who followed guidelines for healthy eating, maintaining a healthy weight, and staying physically active had higher 5-year survival rates than those who did not adhere to those guidelines, according to a study among 992 patients treated with stage III colon cancer.1 The 5-year ...
Following guidelines for proper nutrition, maintaining a healthy weight, and staying physically active may improve survival among patients treated for colon cancer, according to the results of a study with nearly 1,000 patients followed for a median of 7 years.1 “The study suggests that if...
BOOKMARK Title: The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine LifeAuthors: Donald L. Rosenstein, MD, and Justin M. Yopp, PhDPublisher: Oxford University PressPublication Date: January 2018Price: $28.95; hardcover, 192 pages Looking back, the cancer advocacy movement took shape in two waves: the first ...
The Henry Ford Health System announced the receipt of a $20 million gift (from an individual donor who wishes to remain anonymous) to launch the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center, which will focus on global collaborations to develop new methods for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. David ...
Many patients with follicular lymphoma relapse within 2 years of initial therapy, and for a number of these individuals, hematopoietic cell transplantation is a good treatment option. Transplant, however, both autologous and allogeneic, is vastly underutilized in these patients, according to Mehdi ...
For over a decade, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been the standard first-line agents in the management of patients with advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.1-3 Historically, phase III trials of first-line VEGF therapies included...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, and colleagues, a high proportion of patients with metastatic melanoma achieving a complete response on pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-001 trial maintained...
For patients with multiple myeloma who have been treated with lenalidome (Revlimid) but have relapsed and not responded to other therapy, a three-drug combination can significantly extend the time in which the disease is held in check. The findings of the phase III OPTIMISMM trial were presented by ...
Michael Gnant, MD, of the Medical University of Vienna, discusses study findings on adjuvant denosumab in early breast cancer––a disease-free survival analysis of postmenopausal patients.
In a small phase II study of early-stage breast cancer patients with BRCA1/2 mutations, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that more than half of the women who took the PARP inhibitor talazoparib once daily prior to surgery had no evidence of disease at the time...
Premenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and a high risk of recurrence who are treated with an aromatase inhibitor plus ovarian function suppression may gain a 10% to 15% improvement in freedom from distant recurrence at 8 years, according to a ...
David M. O’Malley, MD, of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, discusses phase Ib study findings on mirvetuximab soravtansine, a folate receptor alpha-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, in combination with bevacizumab in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (Abstract 5549).
Helena Margaret Earl, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Cambridge, discusses phase III study findings on 6 vs 12 months of adjuvant trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer (Abstract 506).
A randomized, phase III trial found that patients who received chemoradiotherapy before pancreatic cancer surgery had better disease-free survival than those who started their treatment with surgery, which is the current standard of care. In addition, the 2-year survival rate was higher for those...
The federally funded, phase III TAILORx clinical trial showed that most women with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative, axillary node–negative early-stage breast cancer and a mid-range score on a 21-tumor gene expression assay (Oncotype DX® Breast Recurrence Score) do not...
Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses genome-wide sequencing for early-stage lung cancer detection from plasma cell–free DNA (Abstract LBA8501).
In a phase III clinical trial, the investigational PI3K inhibitor taselisib combined with standard hormone therapy fulvestrant (Faslodex) halted the growth of advanced breast cancer growth by 2 months longer than hormone therapy alone. In addition, the novel combination decreased the chance of...
An initial report from the large, ongoing Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study provides preliminary evidence that a blood test may be able to detect early-stage lung cancer. This is one of the first studies to explore blood tests analyzing free-floating or cell-free DNA as a tool for the ...
Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of consecutive, prospectively molecularly profiled patients with advanced cancer who participated in a large, personalized medicine trial. They found that using molecular tests of tumors to select targeted therapy resulted in slower cancer growth and...
An updated American Cancer Society guideline now says colorectal cancer screening should begin at age 45 for people at average risk, based in part on data showing rates of colorectal cancer are increasing in young and middle-aged populations. The updated recommendations were published by Wolf et al ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted, with Priority Review, a new drug application (NDA) for gilteritinib for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and a mutation in the FLT3 gene, as detected by an FDA-approved test....
India, with the world’s second-largest population and more than 2,000 ethnic groups, is a vastly complex nation, noted for its rich history and boundless intellectual capital, but also for its poverty and inequities in areas such as access to health care. The State of Kerala, situated in the...
Over the past year (June 2017–May 2018), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to a number of new oncology drug products, including several biosimilar products. Here we provide the labeling approved for these novel drugs and new indications. EPOETIN ALFA-EPBX (RETACRIT)...
Arti Hurria, MD, FASCO, who is Director of City of Hope’s Center for Cancer and Aging, is a first generation of immigrant parents from India. “My parents left India and moved from England to Canarsie, Brooklyn, where I was born. When I was 8, my family moved to Southern California, partly due to...
“At the age of 6, my mother threw me into the arms of Hippocrates’ discipline, giving me as a special gift a toy suitcase full of medical equipment and a little puppet to train my skills with a stethoscope, syringe, thermometer, small reflex hammer, and torch to explore the oropharyngeal airways....
The remarkable careers of Jimmie C. Holland, MD, and James F. Holland, MD, spanned collectively for more than a century, leaving an indelible footprint in oncology clinical care and research. Synonymous with cancer care itself, the Hollands were a living documentary of the rich and dramatic history ...
Internationally renowned expert on the early detection, prevention, and treatment of younger women with breast cancer, Nagi S. El Saghir, MD, FACP, FASCO, was born on January 5, 1953, in Bint Jbeil, a village in southern Lebanon. His parents moved to Beirut in 1948, at the height of the...
Volker S. Diehl, MD, the internationally renowned hematologist and researcher, was born in Berlin, Germany, on February 28, 1938—arguably one of the most tumultuous periods in world history. Germany had just invaded Austria, signaling the dark intentions of the Third Reich. In 1943, the air raids...
A multicenter study that validated the clinical performance of IsoPSA—a new blood test that has proven to be more accurate in predicting overall risk of prostate cancer than standard prostate-specific antigen (PSA)—was presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Urological...
In a study in the PETACC-8 trial population reported in JAMA Oncology, Julien Taieb, MD, PhD, of the Université Paris Descartes, and colleagues found that the risk of recurrence in patients with stage III colon cancer differed for the primary tumor location according to RAS- and BRAF-mutation...
A study using National Cancer Database data has shown that the number of metastatic nodes is a primary independent factor associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers. The study was reported in JAMA Oncology by Allen S. Ho, MD, of the Samuel...
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for Cancer Research (AACR) honors the following cancer researchers and clinicians who were recognized for their scientific achievements during the AACR Annual Meeting 2018: Isaiah J. Fidler, DVM, PhD, FAACR, AACR President (1984-1985), Fellow of the AACR Academy and...
THE AMERICAN CANCER Society has approved funding for 110 grants totaling $47,624,000 to researchers and health professionals across 72 institutions nationwide in the first of 2 grant cycles for 2018. Of these grants, 101 are new and 9 are renewals of previous grants. Two individuals have been...
On May 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted health-care professionals, oncology clinical investigators, and the public about decreased survival associated with the use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) or atezolizumab (Tecentriq) as monotherapy in clinical trials to treat patients with ...
As reported by Hedy L. Kindler, MD, of the University of Chicago, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.1 The guideline was based on a systematic literature search and expert panel...
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) announced a $10 million award to a Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team focused on revolutionizing the treatment of multiple myeloma through the early detection of precursor conditions. In the hope of developing therapies to prevent myeloma in high-risk populations, the project...
With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah)1 and axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta),2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has moved into real-world practice, offering new potentially curative options for incurable hematologic malignancies. Its ...
For this installment in the Living a Full Life series of articles, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, interviewed immunology pioneer James Allison, PhD, Chair of the Department of Immunology, the Vivian L. Smith Distinguished Chair in Immunology, Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research,...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, and Alison Jefferies, BA, MEd, summarize research...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Goodman et al found that adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with better outcome in patients with early breast cancer who had detectable circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Study Details The analysis included data from patients with stage pT1 to pT2 and pN0 to...
Sir Murray F. Brennan, MD, FACS, was born on April 2, 1940, in Auckland, New Zealand, which lies on and around an isthmus surrounded by the sparkling azure waters of the Hauraki Gulf. “I was born at the beginning of World War II. Fortunately, my father was too old to be drafted into the army. I...
Applications for the session of ASCO’s Quality Training Program (QTP) being held at ASCO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, are being accepted now. The deadline for submission is June 4, but applicants are encouraged to submit early to prepare for Session 1. Once applicants are accepted, they...
Nationally recognized oncologist Nancy L. Bartlett, MD, had an early love for mathematics and a swooning aversion to the sight of blood. “I was born and reared in Kansas City, Missouri and am a Midwesterner at heart. No one in the family was involved in medicine. My mom was an elementary school...