Shaji K. Kumar, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, discusses the latest data on treating patients with multiple myeloma, including standard-of-care induction before stem cell transplant; the role of quadruplet induction; long-term results with the combination of daratumumab, lenalidomide, and...
Sumanta Pal, MD, of City of Hope, Duarte, California, praised the authors for the conduct of the study, but stopped short of endorsing nivolumab as standard of care. “The phase III CheckMate 274 trial evaluated adjuvant nivolumab vs placebo in patients with high-risk, resected, muscle-invasive...
Adjuvant therapy with nivolumab, an anti–PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, after radical surgery improved disease-free survival in high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial cancer regardless of PD-L1 status, according to the results of the CheckMate 274 randomized phase III trial presented at the 2021...
Updated findings from a cohort of patients with cancer infected with COVID-19 included in the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) were published by Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, and colleagues in Annals of Oncology. Authors identified factors associated with a more severe viral infection among...
Patients whose procedures for gastrointestinal malignancies were performed by a surgical team at a hospital ranked as one of America’s “best” by U.S. News & World Report were nearly two and half times more likely to survive the operation than those who had the same procedure done at a nonranked ...
On March 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with platinum and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for patients with metastatic or locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (tumors with epicenter 1–5 cm above the...
Gabrielle A. Zecha, PA-C, MHA, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and Aaron Begue, MS, RN, NP-C, OCN, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discuss how advanced practice providers are recruited and trained, ways to retain these valuable health-care...
Susan M. Swetter, MD, of Stanford Cancer Institute, discusses molecular prognostic tests for cutaneous melanoma, which may improve staging accuracy, reduce unnecessary sentinel lymph node biopsies, and inform decisions on surveillance imaging and/or adjuvant therapy.
Supriya Chopra, MD, of Tata Memorial Centre, discusses a final analysis of the phase III PARCER trial, which showed that image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy is superior to conventional radiotherapy in reducing bowel toxicity in women with cervical cancer. Acute diarrhea was also reduced,...
Lauren Thomaier, MD, of the University of Minnesota, discusses the genetic variants found to be associated with an increase in chemotherapy-induced neuropathy symptoms in a cohort of gynecologic cancer survivors. Combining these variants with clinical characteristics may provide an important...
Emily Hinchcliff, MD, MPH, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase II results of durvalumab (anti–PD-L1) and tremelimumab (anti–CTLA-4) administered in combination vs sequentially for the treatment of recurrent platinum-resistant non–clear cell ovarian cancer (ID...
Sandro Pignata, MD, PhD, of the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, discusses results from the ORZORA trial, which showed the efficacy of olaparib in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer is similar, whether they have a germline or somatic BRCA mutation. This information could prove...
Alice P. Barr, MD, of the Carolinas Medical Center and Levine Cancer Institute, discusses results from a retrospective study, which showed that progression-free and overall survival appeared to be no different with open surgery and minimally invasive surgery for interval debulking after neoadjuvant ...
KRAS mutational status in patients with unresectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer predicts a worse response to hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) pump chemotherapy, according to research presented by Kolbeinsson et al at the Society of Surgical Oncology 2021 International Conference on...
The combination of lenalidomide plus the steroid dexamethasone (together called Rd) is considered standard treatment for elderly patients with multiple myeloma. However, prolonged steroid use can be harmful for some older adults. A new study published by Larocca et al in the journal Blood found...
Charles N. Landen, MD, of the University of Virginia, discusses results from the first clinical trial in ovarian cancer to demonstrate that neither a BRCA1/2 mutation nor a homologous recombination deficiency improves sensitivity to a therapeutic PD-L1 blockade in patients receiving atezolizumab vs ...
Hyun C. Chung, MD, of Yonsei Cancer Center and Yonsei University College of Medicine, discusses phase II findings from the KEYNOTE-158 study, which support the use of pembrolizumab for patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer that has progressed on or after chemotherapy and whose...
An intrauterine device, or IUD, that releases the hormone levonorgestrel appears to be an effective treatment for endometrial precancer and early-stage endometrial cancer, according to new study results presented by Andreas Obermair, MD, at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2021 Virtual...
Shannon N. Westin, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase II results from the ENPAC trial, which showed the combination of enzalutamide, paclitaxel, and carboplatin yielded promising clinical outcomes in chemotherapy-naive advanced or recurrent endometrioid cancer ...
Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase III results from the ENGOT-OV16/NOVA study on the long-term safety and efficacy of niraparib as maintenance therapy in patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer with either a BRCA mutation or a tumor with high-grade...
Morcos N. Nakhla, MS, a second-year student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, discusses data showing that a higher surgical volume is associated with better outcomes for frail patients undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer. Over the 12-year study period, mortality decreased for all...
Brian M. Slomovitz, MD, of Florida International University, describes how emphasizing diversity and shifting away from clinical trials at universities helped The GOG Foundation, Inc., increase patient accrual by 50% in 2020 (ID # 10215).
Edward L. Trimble, MD, MPH, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses the World Health Organization’s global strategy to speed the elimination of cervical cancer through vaccination, screening, treatment, and training for multidisciplinary teams in gynecologic oncology care. This marks the first...
William H. Bradley, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses results from the SOLO-1 trial on maintenance olaparib after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation. Almost half of the patients treated with olaparib...
Although some studies show that patients with cancer have a greater risk of health complications from COVID-19, a new study has found that recent chemotherapy or immunotherapy for gynecologic cancer does not raise the risk of hospitalization or death due to COVID-19. The study results were...
Rebecca S. Kristeleit, MD, PhD, of the University College London and UCL Cancer Institute, discusses efficacy and safety results from the phase III ARIEL4 study, which showed that rucaparib improved progression-free survival vs standard-of-care chemotherapy in patients with BRCA-mutated,...
Arlene O. Siefker-Radtke, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the changing therapeutic landscape in which atezolizumab, avelumab, and pembrolizumab have either been approved or are under review for treating urothelial bladder cancer in the metastatic, superficial,...
Vicky Makker, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses phase III findings showing that lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab may improve overall and progression-free survival, as well as overall response rate, compared with treatment of physician’s choice for advanced endometrial cancer....
Robert Winn, MD, of the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, discusses the creation of a health equity report card to track how institutions are dealing with disparities in oncology care, ways to recognize bias in care, and adding health equity experts to guideline panels and...
William J. Gradishar, MD, of Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, discusses the latest recommendations from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network for treating patients with triple-negative breast cancer; data on early-stage and advanced disease; and the role...
Women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and elevated decision scores had a significantly higher risk of ipsilateral breast events and a greater relative benefit from radiation therapy compared to women with lower decision scores, according to research presented by Mann et al at the Society of...
An examination of the online nomogram Sarculator demonstrated it is as effective at predicting overall survival of certain patients with sarcoma in the United States as it is in Europe, according to research presented by Voss et al at the Society of Surgical Oncology 2021 International Conference...
An observational study of 10,592 patients from the National Cancer Database with stage IIB/IIC melanoma who had undergone surgical resection demonstrated a significant survival advantage with immunotherapy. The research was presented by Wong et al at the Society of Surgical Oncology 2021...
Shivan J. Mehta, MD, MBA, of Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses how insights from behavioral economics could be harnessed to improve HPV vaccination rates, thus lowering the rate of cervical, genital, and head/neck cancers, all of which are linked to HPV.
Sandy Srinivas, MD, of Stanford Cancer Institute, discusses the increasing number of ways to deliver life-prolonging therapy to patients with advanced prostate cancer, including more accurate imaging techniques; PET tracers to help better detect, diagnose, and treat disease; PARP inhibitors for...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved TheraSphere Y-90 Glass Microspheres, developed for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The approval expands access to this therapy, which, to date, has been utilized under a humanitarian device exemption—an FDA...
An analysis of 546 patients with breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy demonstrated that residual cancer burden is prognostic for overall survival, recurrence-free survival, and distant relapse–free survival, according to research presented by White et al at the Society of Surgical...
An analysis of 58 peripheral blood specimens from patients with rectal and esophageal cancers demonstrated that circulating hybrid cells may be a novel, noninvasive biomarker with potential for monitoring treatment response and disease progression to help guide decisions for further therapy,...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to the HIF-2α inhibitor belzutifan for the treatment of patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease–associated renal cell carcinoma. The agency also granted Fast Track designation to poziotinib for the treatment of...
According to a report published by Pickhardt et al in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), compared with multitarget stool DNA and fecal immunochemical tests, computed tomography (CT) colonography using a polyp size threshold ≥ 10 mm most effectively targeted advanced neoplasia—preserving...
One in six men being treated for advanced prostate cancer reported experiencing a reduced sense of smell and taste, according to a study published by Alonzi et al in the journal Supportive Care in Cancer. The study authors noted that a reduced sense of smell and taste among some patients with...
High tumor mutational burden (TMB) was useful for predicting clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors only in a subset of cancer types, according to a study published by McGrail et al in Annals of Oncology. The findings suggest that TMB status may not be reliably used as a universal...
Starting chemotherapy several days before the first lumbar puncture for diagnosis and treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may reduce the risk of central nervous system (CNS) relapse in children, according to a study published by Tang et al in the journal Blood. The research focused on...
Vaccinating adults aged 26 and older against the human papillomavirus (HPV) may not be cost-effective, according to a new study published by Kim et al in PLOS Medicine. “Our study found that the added health benefit of increasing the vaccination age limit beyond 26 years is minimal, and that the...
If clinicians could stop mutations of the KRAS gene—which are present in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases and drastically reduce the response to immunotherapy—the chances of improving treatment for the disease would be increased. A collaborative study published by Ischenko et al in Nature...
New research published by Koyratty et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention suggests that patients with breast cancer who drink sugar-sweetened beverages regularly are at increased risk for death from any cause, and from breast cancer in particular. Compared to women who never or...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the agency will hold a public meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee on April 27 to 29 to discuss six indications granted accelerated approval that have since reported results from confirmatory trials that have not...
Consensus guidelines recommending that routine surveillance mammography be discontinued for older breast cancer survivors with a limited life expectancy1 may raise questions among patients concerned about undetected cancer recurrence. Informing older survivors about the new recommendations and the...
Newly issued mammography screening guidelines for breast cancer survivors aged 75 and older recommend discontinuing routine mammography for those with a life expectancy of less than 5 years and considering discontinuation of routine screening for those with a life expectancy between 5 and 10 years. ...
A survey of more than 6,500 U.S. patients with blood cancer and survivors revealed that only half are very likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine, while one in three is either unlikely or unsure about it. The nationwide survey was a collaboration between The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), Boston...