Today, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced its decision to award the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr, MD; Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, FRS; and Gregg L. Semenza, MD, PhD, for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen...
Recurrent high-grade glioblastoma has a poor prognosis, with a median overall survival of 6 to 9 months. Treatment is limited, partly because immunotherapy has not yet been shown to be effective in the immunosuppressive microenvironment of this tumor. A novel treatment approach involving...
Patients with advanced lung cancer might soon be offered a blood test that could help decide the best treatment for them, instead of relying on tumor biopsy analysis. New data from the BFAST trial presented by Gadgeel et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019 (Abstract ...
In the past few weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued regulatory decisions in prostate cancer, urothelial cancer, myelofibrosis, breast cancer, pediatric brain cancer, leukemia, and skin cancer. Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Niraparib in Metastatic...
Selpercatinib (LOXO-292), a RET kinase inhibitor, demonstrated antitumor activity in the lungs and brain and durable responses with acceptable tolerability in patients with RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to an updated analysis of the LIBRETTO-001 registration...
The term “sexual and gender minorities” encompasses people whose sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or reproductive development varies from traditional, societal, cultural, or physiologic norms1 and includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. More than 3 ...
Formal discussant Myung-Ju Ahn, MD, of Samsung Medical Center Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea, said that the CASPIAN results were similar to those of IMpower133, which found that the addition of the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab to etoposide/carboplatin significantly...
In late August, experts from around the globe convened in Basel, Switzerland, at the 2019 Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) to discuss controversial areas related to the management of advanced prostate cancer. Although the full proceedings of the conference will be published in...
Alex A. Adjei, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, also commented on this phase I study of AMG 510. “Although it is a little bit early to tell and the number of patients with non–small cell lung cancer treated is still small, AMG 510 is the first potential true breakthrough in the...
The investigational KRAS inhibitor AMG 510 yielded clinical activity in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to updated results of a small ongoing phase I trial reported at the 2019 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on...
Recurrent high-grade glioblastoma has a poor prognosis, with a median overall survival of 6 to 9 months. Treatment is limited, partly because immunotherapy has not yet been shown to be effective in the immunosuppressive microenvironment of this tumor. A novel treatment approach involving...
GUEST EDITOR Addressing the evolving needs of cancer survivors at various stages of their illness and care, Palliative Care in Oncology is guest edited by Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, FASCO. Dr. Von Roenn is ASCO’s Vice President of Education, Science, and Professional Development. It has been well...
Mansoor R. Mirza, MD, of Copenhagen University Hospital, and Robert L. Coleman, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discuss phase III study findings, which showed that by adding veliparib to front-line carboplatin and paclitaxel and continuing it as monotherapy maintenance,...
The novel FLT3 inhibitor gilteritinib prolonged survival in patients with FLT3-mutated relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) across all mutation cohorts, including NPM1, DNMT3A, DNMT3A/NPM1, and WT1, with the greatest benefit seen in patients with NPM1 and DNMT3A co-mutations,...
After 6 years of follow-up, extended treatment with ibrutinib showed sustained progression-free survival benefit and depth of response in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), including those with high-risk genomic features,...
New data have shown a trend toward clinically meaningful improvements in survival and response rates and a favorable safety profile with first-line immunotherapy compared to current standard treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The data, reported by Yau et al at the European...
Men with prostate cancer may be spared radiotherapy after surgery, according to late-breaking results of the RADICALS-RT trial presented by Parker et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019 (Abstract LBA49_PR). The study answers a long-standing question about whether...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted health-care professionals and patients of a voluntary recall of 14 lots of prescription ranitidine capsules distributed by Sandoz Inc, used to decrease the amount of acid created by the stomach. This recall is due to a nitrosamine...
Earlier this week, Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Ned Sharpless, MD, testified before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the FDA’s planned regulation of electronic nicotine delivery systems and investigation of vaping illnesses. His remarks are...
White men older than age 65 will have the greatest burden of oropharyngeal cancer by the year 2030, according to Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, Professor and Endowed Chair at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But there is some good news, she said at the 2019 Winship Cancer Institute of Emory...
Hyperglycemia may induce DNA damage and inhibit DNA repair, which may explain why individuals with diabetes may have an increased risk for developing cancer, according to a researcher from City of Hope, Duarte, California, who presented these findings at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall...
ASCO’s global vision is, “A world where cancer is prevented or cured, and every survivor is healthy.” In its work toward achieving this vision, the Society offers a robust portfolio of programs that are continually expanding around the world that improve access to quality cancer care, support...
Physicians and nurses in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have fewer training opportunities, limited medical and educational resources, and insufficient palliative care options for their patients,1 all while these regions are leading the world in new cases of cancer diagnosis.2 An emerging...
As our aging population increases, so does the demand for oncology services; however, as ASCO and other organizations have pointed out, a workforce shortage of oncology care specialists looms in the not-so-distant future. Given the growing need for care models that meet this demand, a better...
The ASCO Post has offered comprehensive coverage of the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting. To complement this news coverage, here are featured clinical trials of several treatments in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). They focus on the monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab in combination therapy in the CLL14...
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001*, on the World Trade Center in New York City resulted in the deaths of more than 2,700 people.1 Nearly 2 decades later, that number may soon be exceeded by the more than 2,000 deaths—and climbing—of first responders to the attack, including firefighters,...
The finding that women have a higher incidence of lung cancer than men of the same age and with the same smoking history was unexpected when it first emerged from studies in the 1990s. Just as unexpected was a subsequent finding. Even with their higher risk, women have a lower mortality and higher...
This past June, the University of Pennsylvania established the Mark Foundation Center for Immunotherapy, Immune Signaling, and Radiation to study the role interferon and pattern recognition receptor signaling transduction pathways play in modulating the immune system’s ability to recognize and...
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhumane….” —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Progress has been made in expanding access to health care for low-income populations, but the quality of care still lags behind and can result in less successful outcomes...
Concurrent temozolomide treatment during radiotherapy did not increase overall survival in patients with anaplastic gliomas without 1p/19q co-deletion, according to data from the second interim and first molecular analysis of the EORTC randomized phase III intergroup CATNON trial.1 However, benefit ...
Earlier this year, avelumab was approved for use in combination with axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label phase III -JAVELIN Renal 101 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier...
In the early fall of 2015, my daughter and I were on our way to our favorite nail salon to get picture-perfect ready for a gala later that evening at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, when I got a call from my gynecologist saying I had “flunked my Pap test.” The Pap smear showed...
Earlier this year, ramucirumab was approved as a single agent for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level ≥ 400 ng/mL and have been previously treated with sorafenib.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the double-blind phase III...
Through its community grants program, the Prevent Cancer Foundation is supporting 10 projects that are focused on increasing cancer prevention and early detection in communities across the United States, from Honolulu to Baltimore. The projects were selected through a competitive grants process,...
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,...
Medicare patients from lower socioeconomic groups and several ethnic minority groups were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer following an emergency department visit, according to results of a study presented at the 12th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of...
An international study has revealed the origin of mucinous ovarian cancer, confirming that unlike other types of ovarian cancer, this cancer arises from benign and borderline precursors at the ovaries and are not extraovarian metastases. These findings were published by Cheasley et al in Nature...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Zhang et al found that the addition of gemcitabine/cisplatin induction chemotherapy to standard platinum-based chemoradiotherapy improved recurrence-free survival vs chemoradiotherapy alone in locoregionally advanced...
According to the American Cancer Society, excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women in the United States and the second most common cause of cancer deaths. This year, it is expected that more than 51,000 people will die of the malignancy....
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test Cologuard for eligible average-risk individuals aged 45 years and older, expanding on its previous indication for those aged 50 years and older. Cologuard is a stool DNA-based colorectal...
The monoclonal antibody daratumumab has been widely embraced for the treatment of multiple myeloma, but for newly diagnosed patients, its benefit has been proved only in some patients, according to Craig Hofmeister, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory...
Two recent studies showed varying degrees of the effectiveness of mammography in different populations. In a report published in Radiology, Gao et al showed that in men at high risk for breast cancer, screening mammography may be able to increase the rate of detection of early-stage disease....
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, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on flaxseed because...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has revealed the 2019 winners of its annual awards. The four distinguished clinicians and scientists will be presented during the ESMO 2019 Congress in Barcelona: Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD; Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD; Cristiana Sessa, MD; and Charles...
Two early-career scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center—Alexandra Corella and Sander Frank, PhD—have received grants to further their prostate cancer research. Ms. Corella, a graduate research assistant, won a $25,000, 1-year fellowship from the Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs,...
Earlier this month, The Lasker Foundation announced the recipients of its 2019 Lasker Awards for clinical and basic research and public service. Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award H. Michael Shepard, PhD,formerly of Genentech, Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, of the University of California,...
OCE Insights is a periodic column developed for The ASCO Post by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this first installment, Vishal Bhatnagar, MD, Acting Associate Director of Patient Outcomes; Bellinda King-Kallimanis, PhD, Senior...
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. Earlier this year, ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) was...
At a press conference at McGill University, Stand Up To Cancer Canada (SU2C Canada), the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) announced the launch of the SU2C Canada Metastatic Breast Cancer Dream Team to pursue the development of a new drug...
Two topics that hematologists are currently grappling with were addressed at the 2019 Debates and Didactics Conference in Sea Island, Georgia, sponsored by Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, by Editor-in-Chief of The ASCO Post, James O. Armitage, MD, FASCO.1 They focus on the emerging role ...