The World Health Organization’s (WHO) cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has released updated findings of the current global burden of cancer alongside World Cancer Day on February 4, 2023. The WHO indicated that a majority of countries do not adequately finance...
In January 2021, two of us wrote in these pages about our field’s pressing need to pivot away from identifying and deploying the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) when it comes to targeted oncology therapies.1 We argued that, instead, one should be looking for the “optimal dose”—the dose that best...
Investigators discovered that overweight and obesity may be contributing to rising rates of colon cancer mortality in younger patients, according to a recent study published by Santucci et al in the Annals of Oncology. The findings represent the first time colon cancer mortality rates among younger ...
Decisions regarding the rationing of chemotherapy are commonplace in many countries around the world—including those where patients must pay for chemotherapy out of pocket—and increasingly so in cancer settings that treat both well-off and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. However, these...
Patients with multiple myeloma treated in the “real world” had worse outcomes than patients who received the same treatment on clinical trials, according to research presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 In a pooled analysis of clinical trial...
The combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax has led to an improved progression-free survival rate in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to findings presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 Interim analysis...
The addition of the CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab to a standard regimen for patients with newly diagnosed transplant-eligible multiple myeloma significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs standard treatment in the phase III PERSEUS trial. The study was reported as a late-breaking...
In this installment of The ASCO Post ’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Naoto T. Ueno, MD, PhD, FACP, Director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. Along with his duties leading the cancer center, Dr. Ueno leads translational breast cancer research...
The Prevent Cancer Foundation has honored Matthijs Oudkerk, PhD, MD, MSc, with the prestigious James L. Mulshine, MD, International Leadership Award. Dr. Oudkerk is Professor of Radiology at the University of Groningen and Chief Scientific Officer of the Institute for Diagnostic Accuracy in the...
A recent study underscored the need for integrating cost-of-care conversations in cancer treatment. Results of the population-based analysis, presented at the 2023 ASCO Quality Care Symposium,1 showed that only about 25% of patients with newly diagnosed advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...
Investigators have discovered that individuals who view climate change as a health threat may be more likely to undergo cancer screening, according to a recent study published by Qian et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The recent findings supported the development of public...
It may be possible for some patients with breast cancer to avoid adjuvant regional nodal irradiation safely, according to the results of the NRG Oncology/NSABP B-51/RTOG 1304 clinical trial presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 These findings particularly apply to patients...
Investigators have found that involving patients as partners in the treatment decision-making process may be a critical aspect of patient-centered care, according to a recent study published by Aggarwal et al in Cancer. Study Methods and Results In the study, the investigators used 2016 to 2018...
Investigators have found that providing prophylactic treatment with the biological agent tocilizumab prior to immunotherapy may reduce the incidence of cytokine-release syndrome in patients with multiple myeloma, according to a study published by Kowalski et al in Blood Cancer Discovery. ...
A rare subset of T cells called V-delta 1 gamma-delta (Vd1-gd) T cells could help predict which patients with advanced skin cancer may be responsive to immunotherapy, according to a novel study published by Davies et al in Nature Cancer. The new findings may lead to the development of new and more...
The antibody-drug conjugate ifinatamab deruxtecan has demonstrated “robust and durable efficacy” in patients with heavily pretreated small cell lung cancer, according to a subset analysis of the DS7300-A-J101 trial presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World...
Next-generation sequencing may help better identify patients with cancer and mismatch repair deficiency who may benefit from immunotherapy, according to a recent study published by Farhat et al in Cancer Cell. The new findings indicated that treating more patients with immunotherapy may require...
The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel may be a cost-effective second-line treatment option in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to a recent study published by Choe et al in Blood Advances. Background In cases...
This past year, President Joe Biden announced the appointment of six members to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB; see related article). This board plays a crucial role in advising and assisting the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in setting the activities of the national...
A newly published guideline update from ASCO and Ontario Health provides evidence-based recommendations on the use of systemic therapy for small cell lung cancer (SCLC).1 Recommendations cover where novel agents fit in the treatment landscape, the management of disease in older patients with...
The use of lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) improved radiographic progression–free survival by 57% in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who experienced disease progression on an androgen receptor (AR) pathway inhibitor compared with changing to a new AR pathway...
Investigators have found that implementing the updated World Health Organization (WHO) screening guidelines may effectively reduce the cervical cancer mortality rate in patients residing in low- and middle-income countries, according to two recent studies published by Simms et al and Hall et al in...
Invited discussant Bonny Morris, PhD, RN, MSPH, of the American Cancer Society, underscored the use of precision medicine education, literacy, and language-concordant educational tools, as well as effective interventions for food insecurity, to improve cancer health equity in underserved rural...
The data developed over the past few years have overwhelmingly favored geriatric assessment as part of the routine care for older patients with cancer. It has become the standard of care. ASCO has recently published a Practical Geriatric Assessment to aid in the implementation of this vital...
At the 2023 Global Cardio-Oncology Summit in Madrid, in a joint session with ASCO and the International Cardio-Oncology Society, Anita Arnold, DO, FACC, MBA, Director, Noninvasive Cardiology, and Director of Cardio-Oncology, Lee Memorial Health Systems, Fort Myers, Florida, discussed the...
Adding the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) to the HER2-targeted agent tucatinib extended progression-free survival by about 2 months vs treatment with T-DM1 alone among patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, according to...
Researchers have found that adopting a Lung Nodule Program may increase early lung cancer detection in patients who are not eligible for lung cancer screening under existing age-eligibility criteria, according to a recent study published by Liao et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. ...
On December 18, W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, began her work as the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Rathmell was selected by President Biden to succeed Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, who left NCI to become the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on...
Patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma who received ibrutinib in combination with venetoclax experienced significantly better rates of progression-free survival compared with patients who received ibrutinib and placebo, according to findings from the international phase III...
Early results from a new study have demonstrated that the novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy AT101 resulted in favorable complete response rates at higher dose levels in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to new findings simultaneously...
Data presented at the 2023 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition suggest that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy remains a viable option for patients who have lymphoma that goes into remission before the cell therapy begins (Abstract 615). While the findings do not answer the...
Researchers identified a 75% higher rate of mortality among patients treated for multiple myeloma in real-world hospital settings compared with rates reported in clinical trials involving common therapies. The new findings were presented by Visram et al at the 2023 American Society of Hematology...
Researchers may have uncovered a close link between genetic factors and racial disparities in pediatric patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to new findings presented by Lamba et al at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition (Abstract 386)....
Syed Ali Abutalib, MD, is taking his talents to the recently affiliated Aurora Health Care, now part of Advocate Health, one of the largest integrated health systems in the United States. He accepted a new position at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, where he is now Director of the...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Nina Shah, MD, Global Head of Multiple Myeloma Clinical Development and Strategy, Hematology, Oncology Research and Development at AstraZeneca. She is a hematologist who specializes in...
ASCO and the oncology community are deeply saddened by the death of medical oncologist Worta J. McCaskill-Stevens, MD, MS, on November 15, 2023. Dr. McCaskill-Stevens served as Chief of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology and Prevention Trials Research Group and Director of the...
Women aged 50 or older who had less-frequent mammography 3 years after curative surgery for early-stage breast cancer had similar outcomes as women who had annual mammography, according to results from the Mammo-50 trial presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract GS03-02)....
For the treatment of advanced melanoma that is refractory to anti–PD-1 antibodies, there is no standard approach. The various options, with a look to the future, were discussed by Melinda L. Yushak, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Hematology and Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, at...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2023 held in Madrid reported out several eagerly awaited and potentially practice-changing trials, bringing forward promising new combination strategies in the targeted and immunotherapy space, and put to the test selective agents against...
Two phase III trials presented at a Presidential Symposium during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2023 showed an overall survival benefit for patients with advanced urothelial cancer. The results from both studies were hailed as practice-changing. The EV-302/KEYNOTE-A39...
An artificial intelligence (AI) model may be capable of using routine chest x-ray images to identify nonsmokers who may be at high risk for lung cancer, according to new findings presented by Walia et al at the Radiological Society of North American (RSNA) 2023 Scientific Assembly and Annual...
Treatment with the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor alectinib significantly reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 76% (P < .0001) in patients with completely resected stage IB to IIIA ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with platinum-based chemotherapy. This...
Zofia Piotrowska, MD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, noted that MARIPOSA and MARIPOSA-2 are “two well-designed, randomized phase III trials, each meeting its primary endpoints and representing important advances for patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancer.”...
Widely anticipated findings from the MARIPOSA1 and MARIPOSA-22 trials were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2023, showing potentially improved outcomes with regimens incorporating the bispecific antibody amivantamab-vmjw for patients with advanced non–small...
A high proportion of patients with colorectal cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa may receive no treatment or inadequate treatment, regardless of the disease’s curability, according to a recent study published by Hämmerl et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The new findings ...
The antibody-drug conjugate ifinatamab deruxtecan has demonstrated “robust and durable efficacy” in patients with heavily pretreated small cell lung cancer, according to a subset analysis of the DS7300-A-J101 trial presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World...
Gerard A. Silvestri, MD, MS, the Hillenbrand Professor of Thoracic Oncology at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, praised the investigators of the Taiwan National Lung Cancer Screening Program for their accomplishment. “It’s incredible that they screened almost 50,000...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, one of the principals in the discovery and development of trastuzumab—the first monoclonal antibody used against an oncogene that altered our entire approach...
Greater understanding of biological disease factors in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has led to more effective and personalized treatment options. At the 2023 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies,1 Rebecca Olin, MD, MSCE, of UCSF Helen Diller Family...
Discussant of the abstract on the ASTRUM-004 trial, Justin F. Gainor, MD, emphasized the significant, positive improvements in survival among patients randomly assigned to receive the PD-1 inhibitor serplulimab vs placebo. Dr. Gainor is Director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers Program, Director ...