In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yang et al found that adding neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy to surgery improved survival in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Study Details In the open-label trial, 451 patients with potentially...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Geoffrois et al, the European phase III GORTEC (Groupe Oncologie Radiothèrapie Tête et Cou) 2007-02 trial has shown no improvement in progression-free survival with induction chemotherapy followed by cetuximab and radiotherapy (RT) vs...
An interim analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial of patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer found that treatment with radiation therapy and cetuximab (Erbitux) is associated with worse overall and progression-free survival compared to the current standard...
In a phase III Children’s Oncology Group study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hawkins et al found that substituting vincristine and irinotecan (VI) for half of vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) courses did not improve event-free survival in pediatric...
In a phase II trial funded by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer and reported in The Lancet Oncology, van den Bent et al found no evidence of a survival benefit with the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to temozolomide in patients with a first recurrence of World Health ...
Space is limited for this year’s Research Community Forum Annual Meeting. Physician investigators and research staff are invited to attend this one-of-a-kind meeting taking place September 23–24 at ASCO headquarters in the DC metro area. The meeting offers a unique platform to physician researchers ...
In May 2018, daratumumab (Darzalex) was approved for use in combination with VMP (bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone) in the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On July 13, 2018, enzalutamide (Xtandi) was approved for...
For patients with cancer, marijuana may be valuable in controlling pain and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Furthermore, it may have efficacy as an appetite stimulant. No randomized clinical trial has investigated the utility of whole-plant medical marijuana to alleviate these symptoms in ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to VB4-845 for the treatment of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)–unresponsive, high-grade, non–muscle invasive bladder cancer. VB4-845 is currently being evaluated in a phase III registration...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for encorafenib (Braftovi) in combination with binimetinib (Mektovi) and cetuximab (Erbitux) for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), as detected by...
In a Chinese single-center phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Lan et al found a high response rate with oral apatinib plus oral etoposide in patients with platinum-resistant or refractory ovarian cancer. Study Details The study included 35 patients with progression within 6 months...
In a planned subgroup analysis of the phase III AURA3 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wu et al found that the third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib (Tagrisso) produced higher central nervous system (CNS) response rates vs platinum plus pemetrexed (Alimta)...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Sparano et al found that a single circulating tumor cell (CTC) assessment was predictive of late recurrence in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The study involved patients from a phase III trial of doxorubicin and...
The Conquer Cancer Merit Awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at an ASCO scientific meeting, including the ASCO Annual Meeting and thematic symposia. Conquer Cancer recognized 127 recipients with Merit Awards at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting,...
IN A STUDY reported in JAMA Oncology, Erin L. Van Blarigan, ScD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues found that adherence to American Cancer Society (ACS) nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors was associated with improved survival among patients ...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies focused on neurotoxicities of cancer treatment. These studies focus on the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function, changes in resting state brain networks after stem cell...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. This past June, encorafenib (Braftovi) and binimetinib...
In an analysis of pooled safety data from the PALOMA trials of palbociclib (Ibrance) plus endocrine therapy in hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Diéras et al found no evidence of specific cumulative...
Early in 2018, durvalumab (Imfinzi) was approved for the treatment of unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has not progressed following concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on a planned interim...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has released a new resource to help patients with liver, gallbladder, and bile duct cancers better understand their diagnosis and treatment options. This new edition of the NCCN Guidelines for Patients® takes the evidence-based, expert consensus...
COMMENTING ON the results of this trial of GC4419, Rajesh V. Lalla, DDS, PhD, President of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, said, “This study demonstrated this agent’s strong potential for the management of oral mucositis in patients receiving head and neck radiation...
GC4419, A SMALL molecule superoxide dismutase mimetic, reduced the duration, incidence, and severity of chemoradiotherapy-induced mucositis in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer, with a safety profile comparable to that of placebo. This finding comes from a randomized phase IIb...
FOR THE TREATMENT of lymphoma, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are becoming an important class of drugs, as described at the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference by Brad Kahl, MD, Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.1 “We have one ADC—brentuximab vedotin...
BEFORE TOO LONG, oncologists can expect to have an entirely new arsenal in the fight against multiple myeloma. Cutting-edge therapies on the near horizon were described in a presentation by Kenneth Anderson, MD, at the 2018 American Association of Cancer Research’s (AACR’s) inaugural conference on...
AS REPORTED in The New England Journal of Medicine by Maha Hussain, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, and colleagues, the phase III PROSPER trial has shown a 71% reduction in the risk of metastasis or death with enzalutamide (Xtandi) vs placebo in men ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to quizartinib, an investigational FLT3 inhibitor, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed/refractory FLT3-ITD acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Breakthrough Therapy designation is designed to...
In an interim analysis of the French phase III noninferiority Carmena trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Méjean et al found that sunitinib alone was not inferior in overall survival vs nephrectomy followed by sunitinib in patients with intermediate- or poor-risk...
Results were recently announced from the ASTRAL-1 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of guadecitabine in adults with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are not eligible for intensive induction chemotherapy. The study did not meet its co-primary endpoints: complete...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for lenvatinib (Lenvima) in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the potential treatment of patients with advanced and/or metastatic non–microsatellite instability high (MSI-H)/proficient...
In an article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Miller et al reported final results of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group phase III E5103 trial, initiated in 2007, which showed no benefit of adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to adjuvant therapy in patients with HER2-negative, node-positive or...
Gini Fleming, MD, had a peripatetic path to her destination as a gynecologic and breast cancer expert. As a child, she moved around a lot, living in about 10 or 12 different places, so she had no real sense of being born and reared in any particular place. “My parents married young, when my father ...
Early in 2018, abemaciclib (Verzenio) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor was approved as initial endocrine-based therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in ...
Two phase III studies—KX-AK-003 and KX-AK-004—achieved their primary endpoint of 100% clearance of actinic keratosis lesions at day 57 within the face or scalp treatment areas, with each study achieving statistical significance (P < .0001). Statistical significance (P < .001) ...
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) in combination with trametinib (Mekinist) for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with stage III melanoma...
The phase III KEYNOTE-048 trial, which is investigating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), met a primary endpoint of overall survival (OS) as monotherapy in patients whose tumors expressed programmed cell death ...
In a prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Merritt et al found evidence that recent use of aspirin or nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) after diagnosis appears to improve ovarian cancer–specific survival. Study Details The study involved...
The global, randomized, phase III ALTA-1L (ALK in Lung Cancer Trial of AP26113 in 1st Line) trial met its primary endpoint at the first prespecified interim analysis, with brigatinib (Alunbrig) demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in progression-free...
In a pivotal phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet et al found that cytarabine and daunorubicin liposome (CPX-351, Vyxeos) significantly improved overall survival vs standard cytarabine plus daunorubicin (7+3 regimen) in older patients with newly diagnosed secondary...
Patients with colorectal cancer tumors on the right side may have poorer 5-year survival rates than those whose tumors are located on the left side. However, a new large-scale retrospective study is the first to demonstrate a potential improvement of these outcomes. Study results show that nearly...
A joint analysis of parallel phase III trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Gridelli et al found no overall survival benefit of adding cisplatin to first-line treatment of elderly patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without an EGFR mutation. Study...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Oza et al found that quality of life (QOL) based on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) was not worsened with niraparib (Zejula) maintenance vs placebo in the phase III ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial in women with recurrent ovarian cancer who were in response to...
In an Australian phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Coughlin et al found similar functional outcomes at 2 years with robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy and open radical retropubic prostatectomy in men with newly diagnosed clinically localized prostate cancer. Study Details In ...
The phase III IMpower132 study met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival and demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin plus pemetrexed [Alimta]) reduced the risk of disease worsening or death compared to chemotherapy...
In the phase III SOLO2 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Friedlander et al found that olaparib maintenance therapy did not worsen health-related quality of life vs placebo in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. In the study, maintenance...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology by Chelain R. Goodman, MD, PhD, of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues, adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with better outcome in patients with early breast cancer who had detectable...
ON JUNE 13, 2018, bevacizumab (Avastin) was granted approval for treatment of epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel, followed by single-agent bevacizumab, for stage III or IV disease after initial surgical resection1,2. The...
ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation presented more than $7.3 million in grants and awards to exceptional oncology researchers at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. ASCO and Conquer Cancer congratulate the recipients and offer their profound thanks to those who generously supported these awards. Visit...
As reported in The Lancet by Thomas Powles, MD, of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues, the phase III IMvigor211 trial showed no survival benefit for atezolizumab vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy in platinum-treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) as a first-line treatment for people with advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver...