Marking World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (taking place November 18 to 24), the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) emphasized the danger that drug resistance poses to individuals who are particularly vulnerable to infection, such as people living with cancer. There has been substantial...
A 3-week course of radiation therapy including a concomitant boost of radiation to the surgical site appears to be as safe and effective as 4 to 6 weeks of radiation therapy given with a sequential boost of radiation for patients with early-stage breast cancer who have a high risk of recurrence....
Colorectal cancer ranks third among cancer deaths in both men and women in the United States, with an estimated 150,000 new cases and 52,000 deaths anticipated in 2022.1 Colorectal cancer rates have declined by approximately 2% per year from 2014 to 2018 in people older than age 50, which is...
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion and returning the power to regulate reproductive health for women to the states, ASCO, the American Cancer Society Action...
In a phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Eric Bouffet, MD, and colleagues found that trametinib alone or in combination with dabrafenib was safe and showed activity in pediatric patients with BRAF V600–mutant low-grade glioma. Study Details In the international four-part ...
Formal discussant Jonathan Ledermann, MD, of UCL Cancer Institute University College London, commented on both phase III trials. He was enthusiastic about the SOLO-1 results: “Perhaps, we really are seeing a cure in some of these patients.” He noted that overall survival is still not fully mature, ...
First-line maintenance therapy with olaparib extended survival beyond historical expectations in some women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer, according to long-term follow-up of two phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022.1,2 Paul...
In a phase II trial (SALV-ENZA) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Phuoc T. Tran, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of enzalutamide to salvage radiotherapy improved freedom from prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate...
In an analysis from a Canadian/U.S. phase III trial (Alliance N107C/CEC.3) reported in JAMA Oncology, Palmer et al found that use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) vs whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) among patients who had undergone resection of one brain metastasis was associated with better...
Researchers have found changes in the levels of particular proteins in patients’ blood up to 2 years before they were diagnosed with breast cancer, according to a novel study published by Hagenaars et al in the European Journal of Cancer. The study, also presented at the 13th European Breast Cancer ...
Patients and survivors of breast cancer may have better mental health, physical health, and quality of life when taking part in a “behavioral graded activity” in combination with psychological therapies, according to a new study published by Lahousse et al in the European Journal of Cancer. The new ...
In a Canadian phase III trial (MITNEC-A1) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bénard et al found that fluorine-18–sodium fluoride (F-18–NaF) positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) was more accurate in detecting skeletal metastases vs technetium-99m–methylene diphosphonate...
In a registry-based retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ziad Bakouny, MD, and colleagues in the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19 registry) found that patients receiving cancer immunotherapy who had baseline immunosuppression, but not those without baseline immunosuppression,...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vijenthira et al found that front-line polatuzumab vedotin-piiq plus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (R-CHP), second-line chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, or the combination would not be likely to be...
On November 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new Monday/Wednesday/Friday dosing regimen for asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn (Rylaze). Under the new regimen, patients should receive 25 mg/m2 intramuscularly on Monday and Wednesday mornings and 50 mg/m2...
On this episode, we’re hearing from three authors of high-impact research that was presented at the recent Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, or SITC. Their studies focused on immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients living with HIV and cancer, T-cell receptor T-cell...
In a Chinese phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al found that the coadministration of CD19- and CD22-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells produced promising initial outcomes in pediatric patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with...
In a European phase III trial (AGO-OVAR 17 BOOST/GINECO OV118/ENGOT Ov-15) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jacobus Pfisterer, MD, PhD, and colleagues found no significant progression-free survival benefit with the extension of bevacizumab treatment from 15 to 30 months in patients...
Researchers have discovered the factors that may make breast and ovarian cancers associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations more likely to recur, according to new findings published by Shah et al in Nature Communications. These mutations are known to strongly predispose women to breast and...
Although socioeconomic status often influences survival outcomes, pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who were living in poverty and were treated with CAR T-cell therapy achieved similar overall survival and were equally likely to achieve a complete...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lannes et al found that single-cell genomics could identify the presence of high-risk copy number abnormalities (CNAs) in small subclonal populations at diagnosis of multiple myeloma in many patients. The investigators stated, “Multiple...
In a single-institution phase I study reported in JAMA Oncology, Disis et al found that a plasmid DNA vaccine encoding the HER2 intracellular domain (ICD) was associated with primarily low-grade toxicity and induced HER2-specific type 1 T-cell responses in patients with advanced HER2-positive...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Melissa L. Johnson, MD, and colleagues, the pivotal phase III POSEIDON trial has shown significantly improved progression-free and overall survival with the addition of tremelimumab and durvalumab to platinum-based chemotherapy in the first-line...
On June 22, 2022, dabrafenib in combination with trametinib was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adult and pediatric patients (aged 6 and older) with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with BRAF V600E mutation whose disease progressed following prior treatment and who have no...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, and colleagues, the final overall survival results of the pivotal phase III SOPHIA trial have shown no significant difference between margetuximab-cmkb plus chemotherapy vs trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in previously...
On November 8, 2022, cemiplimab-rwlc was approved for use in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy for first-line treatment of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no EGFR, ALK, or ROS1aberrations.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was supported by findings in the...
On October 25, 2022, the bispecific B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CD3 T-cell engager teclistamab-cqyv was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome...
After examining the impact of exercise on the gut microbiome of patients with cancer and reporting a positive association, researchers discovered that regular physical activity may extend the survival of patients with colorectal cancer, according to a new study published by Himbert et al in the...
For many patients who have smoldering myeloma, early treatment can slow or delay the disease’s progression to multiple myeloma, according to a new study published by Sklavenitis-Pistofidis et al in Cancer Cell. Investigators demonstrated that changes in immune system cells may indicate which cases...
Benjamin Movsas, MD, who was not involved in the phase II trial of prophylactic radiation for bone metastases, commented: “I thought this was a very important study. We will need to see the details in the final paper, but this approach could make a meaningfuldifference in the quality of life for...
The use of prophylactic radiation therapy for patients with metastatic cancer who had asymptomatic, high-risk bone metastases reduced the incidence of skeletal-related events, reduced pain and the number of hospitalizations, and was associated with significantly longer overall survival compared...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Reid et al found that undergoing prophylactic bilateral mastectomy was as common in women with breast cancer with pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in ATM and CHEK2 (moderate-penetrance genes) as in those with variants in BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2...
Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses a phase I study that used CRISPR gene editing to simultaneously “knock out” endogenous T-cell receptors and replace them with personalized neoantigen T-cell receptors in patients with solid tumors. The edited TCR T-cell...
Michael A. Postow, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses new findings on the correlation between CD8 cell PET imaging with zirconium-89–crefmirlimab berdoxam and CD8 cell immunohistochemistry in patients with advanced cancer receiving immunotherapy. Noninvasive CD8 PET scanning...
David Reardon, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase I/II results from the EOGBM1-18/ROSALIE study, which showed the EO2401 vaccine plus nivolumab generated systemic immune responses correlating with efficacy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. Adding bevacizumab to this...
Wade T. Iams, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses phase II efficacy results from the first-line non–small cell lung cancer cohort of the TACTI-002 study. The results suggest that when combined with pembrolizumab, eftilagimod alpha yielded encouraging efficacy across all PD-L1...
On September 30, 2022, futibatinib was granted accelerated approval for adults with previously treated, unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma harboring fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) gene fusions or other rearrangements.1 Supporting Efficacy ...
On September 20, 2022, sodium thiosulfate was approved to reduce the risk of ototoxicity associated with cisplatin in pediatric patients (aged ≥ 1 month) with localized, nonmetastatic solid tumors.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the multicenter open-label SIOPEL 6...
On September 21, 2022, selpercatinib was granted accelerated approval for adults with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors with RET gene fusion whose disease has progressed on or following prior systemic treatment or who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.1 On the same day,...
The 2022 State of Lung Cancer report by the American Lung Association revealed that only 5.8% of eligible Americans had been screened for lung cancer in 2021, and some states had screening rates as low as 1%. The 5th annual report highlighted how the toll of lung cancer varied by state and examined ...
MicroRNA may be used as a biomarker to predict which patients are likely to face breast cancer recurrence and mortality, according to a new study published by Davey et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. While long-term outcomes have improved for patients with breast cancer, 20%...
On September 2, 2022, durvalumab was approved for use in combination with gemcitabine/cisplatin for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancer.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the double-blind TOPAZ-1 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov...
Talal El Zarif, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Abdul Rafeh Naqash, MD, of Stephenson Cancer Center at The University of Oklahoma, discuss the results of their cohort study of patients living with HIV and metastatic non–small cell lung cancer, who are often underrepresented in clinical...
In a Dutch single-institution retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Kaptein et al identified the prevalence of venous tumor thrombus at diagnosis in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and the associated risk of venous thromboembolism. Study Details The study included...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Lucia Del Mastro, MD, and colleagues, end-of-study findings from the Italian phase III GIM2 trial after a median follow-up of 15 years indicate that the addition of fluorouracil to adjuvant epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel did not improve outcomes...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Rees-Punia et al found that the risk of frailty-related bone fractures among older cancer survivors was significantly greater vs that among older adults without a history of cancer. Study Details The longitudinal cohort study used data from 92,431 older adults...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jelinek et al provided evidence that a threshold of ≥ 2% circulating tumor plasma cells (CTCs) defines the presence of plasma cell leukemia (PCL)-like multiple myeloma. As stated by the investigators, “Primary PCL is the most aggressive...
New research examining whether patients with ovarian cancer were receiving care concordant with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) found clear disparities based on patients’ race, ability to pay, and access to specialists and...
New findings revealed that overall cancer mortality among American Indian and Alaska Native patients was 18% higher than among White patients despite similar cancer incidence, according to a new study published by Kratzer et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The findings included the first ...
Researchers identified a subset of patients who had early-stage melanoma with almost no melanoma-related deaths, potentially representing cases contributing to overdiagnosis, according to a new study published by Eguchi et al in Cancer. The findings may help clinicians determine which patients have ...