In a European phase II trial (BREACH) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fornecker et al found that brentuximab vedotin (BV) plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (BV-AVD) improved the rate of positron-emission tomography (PET)-negative status after two cycles of treatment vs...
For newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma participating in the international phase III ATLAS trial, use of carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) as maintenance therapy after induction and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) significantly reduced the risk of disease...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Houillier et al, 8-year follow-up in the French phase II PRECIS trial has shown a maintained event-free survival benefit with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) vs whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) as consolidation in patients aged ≤ 60...
The final overall survival analysis of the phase III PALOMA-2 trial has shown no significant benefit for palbociclib given with letrozole, vs letrozole and placebo, as a first-line treatment in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.1 The results were reported at the 2022 ...
On June 27, 2022, ASCO released a statement on the recent ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. “ASCO is committed to the delivery of medically appropriate, equitable, evidence-based cancer care. For patients of child-bearing age, a cancer diagnosis raises medical considerations...
A new Survivor Views survey from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) showed that a majority of respondents (83%) who had applied to a copay assistance program and were accepted said the assistance enables them to get the medication they otherwise couldn’t afford. However,...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mishra et al found that maintenance treatment with the first-in-class small-molecule p53 reactivator eprenetapopt plus azacitidine following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was associated with “encouraging”...
In the French phase III LMS-04 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Pautier et al found that the addition of trabectedin to doxorubicin significantly prolonged progression-free survival as first-line treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic leiomyosarcoma. Study Details In the...
In the Korean phase II Neo-PATH trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Ahn et al found that neoadjuvant treatment with atezolizumab, pertuzumab/trastuzumab, and docetaxel produced a pathologic complete response in 61% of patients with HER2-positive stage II/III breast cancer treated with the regimen....
In an analysis from the Human Papillomavirus Cancer Cohort Consortium (HPVC3) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Robbins et al found substantial risks of oropharyngeal cancer over time among persons, particularly males, with positive results on human papillomavirus (HPV) 16-E6 serologic...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, L. Elizabeth Budde, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that mosunetuzumab—a CD20 × CD3 T-cell–engaging bispecific antibody that redirects T cells to eliminate malignant B cells—produced a high rate of complete response in patients with relapsed or...
After nearly 5 years as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), interrupted by 7 months as Acting Commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, left his position on April 29 to concentrate on his family and contemplate his next career choice....
Moffitt Cancer Center and the global research community have lost a great leader, scientist, and collaborator. Robert J. Gillies, PhD, died on June 7 after an extended illness. He was 69 years old. His recruitment in 2008 elevated Moffitt’s scientific stature, and his vision and work over the past...
In an analysis from the retrospective OnCovid registry study reported in The Lancet Oncology, David J. Pinato, PhD, and colleagues detailed outcomes of the SARS–CoV-2 omicron variant outbreak among European patients with cancer. Study Details The analysis included 3,473 patients with cancer from...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Copeland et al, the phase III Gynecologic Oncology Group 0212/NRG Oncology study has shown no improvement in overall survival with maintenance paclitaxel or paclitaxel poliglumex vs surveillance in patients with advanced ovarian, tubal, or...
The all-oral combination of dabrafenib plus trametinib—two targeted therapies—significantly improved the overall response rate vs standard-of-care chemotherapy with carboplatin plus vincristine in pediatric patients with BRAF V600 mutation–positive low-grade gliomas. The clinical benefit rate...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Merli et al, the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi phase II BArT study has shown that primary treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas with direct-acting antivirals resulted in sustained virologic response in all...
In the German phase II PETRARCA trial of the AIO EGA Study Group, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hofheinz et al found that the addition of trastuzumab and pertuzumab to perioperative FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) improved both the pathologic complete...
On June 27, the Biden Administration, through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced a new model aimed at improving cancer care for Medicare patients and lowering health-care costs. CMS’ Center for Medicare and...
On June 27, ASCO released a statement on the recent ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health. ASCO is committed to the delivery of medically appropriate, equitable, evidence-based cancer care. For patients of child-bearing age, a cancer diagnosis raises medical considerations around pregnancy and...
On June 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel (Breyanzi) for adult patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) who have disease refractory to first-line chemoimmunotherapy or relapse within 12 months of...
On May 27, 2022, nivolumab was approved for use in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based chemotherapy and in combination with ipilimumab for the first-line treatment of advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Robert J. Motzer, MD, and colleagues, the protocol-defined final overall survival analysis of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial showed a significant benefit with nivolumab/cabozantinib vs sunitinib in previously untreated patients with advanced renal cell...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Neeraj Agarwal, MD, and colleagues, findings in the expansion cohort of the phase Ib COSMIC-021 trial indicate activity of the combination of cabozantinib and atezolizumab in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer whose disease progressed ...
Most men with low-risk prostate tumors now opt for active surveillance, but overtreatment remains a problem, according to data presented during the 2022 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting.1 A retrospective analysis of more than 20,000 patients with low-risk prostate cancer showed...
In a phase II trial (HOVON141/VISION) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Arnon P. Kater, MD, PhD, and colleagues found a high rate of 12-month progression-free survival among patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who stopped venetoclax/ibrutinib after achieving...
In an Italian phase II trial (AtezoTRIBE) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Antoniotti et al found that the addition of atezolizumab to FOLFOXIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, irinotecan) and bevacizumab improved progression-free survival in the first-line treatment of patients with...
In a post hoc analysis from the phase III CROWN trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Benjamin J. Solomon, MBBS, PhD, and colleagues found that progression-free survival and the risk of central nervous system (CNS) progression were improved with lorlatinib vs crizotinib in previously...
A new ASCO guideline update provides further recommendations on the use of biomarkers to guide decision-making on adjuvant endocrine therapy and chemotherapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer.1 The update includes clarification of the use of certain genomic tests, based on age or...
Preliminary results of the basket BEGONIA trial showed that the antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), paired with the immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab, has strong activity in advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer among patients not biomarker-selected for...
In an analysis presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 8028) and simultaneously reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Thomas Martin, MD, and colleagues provided data from the 2-year follow-up of the pivotal CARTITUDE-1 trial of the anti–B-cell maturation agent (BCMA) chimeric...
In an analysis presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 7518) and simultaneously reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Michael Wang, MD, and colleagues provided data from the 3-year follow-up of the pivotal ZUMA-2 trial of the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy...
Researchers from the SWOG Cancer Research Network, a clinical trials group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), found that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expansion of Medicaid insurance in 2014 was followed by a significant increase in the proportion of patients enrolling in SWOG trials...
The combination of two targeted therapies, the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib, significantly increased the overall response rate compared to the standard-of-care chemotherapy combination of carboplatin plus vincristine in pediatric patients with BRAF V600...
The use of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki doubled progression-free survival compared with the standard-of-care treatment plus conventional chemotherapy. It also significantly improved overall survival for patients with metastatic breast cancers expressing low levels of the HER2 receptor,...
Colonoscopies performed with computer-aided detection, or artificial intelligence (AI), saw an increase in the overall rate of detection of adenoma, or cancerous and precancerous polyps, by 27% in average-risk patients, according to new data presented by Shaukat et al at Digestive Disease Week 2022 ...
Over the past year (May 2021–May 2022), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved and expanded indications for many drugs related to the treatment of different types of cancers and adverse events. The new approvals and accelerated approvals are listed below. FAM-TRASTUZUMAB...
On a cool, gray November morning, I took the call from a walk-in doctor about Carla, a 26-year-old woman with progressive lymphadenopathy who was refusing investigations because of severe needle phobia. Carla was willing to meet with me to discuss treatment options for a suspected diagnosis of...
In the summer of 2017, while visiting Normandy, 64-year-old Mark’s right testis became enlarged and tender. His initial workup identified a large testicular Leydig cell tumor with adverse pathologic features; computed tomography showed no evidence of metastasis.1,2 His medical history was otherwise ...
On May 27, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the following for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Nivolumab (Opdivo) in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based chemotherapy Nivolumab in...
Several recent studies examining the global burden of cancer on adolescents and young adults (AYAs) show the growing magnitude of the disease’s impact on the lives of individuals between the ages of 15 and 39. Although considered a rare occurrence, cancer in this age group has risen by...
A sizable proportion of patients with advanced melanoma will experience disease progression on anti–PD-1 therapy, and the optimal treatment of such patients represents an unmet need. Two studies presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022 explored separate...
In an ancillary study of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group E4112 study reported in JAMA Network Open, Fazeli et al found that patient preference of type of surgery and type of surgery received for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were influenced by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Garcia-Aguilar et al found that total neoadjuvant therapy followed by a watch-and-wait strategy vs total mesorectal excision based on response allowed for organ preservation in approximately half of patients with rectal...
In a study reported as a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Alexander M. Menzies, MD, and colleagues found that patients with metastatic melanoma who had progressive disease while receiving relatlimab/nivolumab had poor responses to anti–CTLA-4–based treatment. As noted...
The human epidermal growth factor (HER) family of receptors are a well-established therapeutic target. Indeed, seminal studies conducted nearly 2 decades ago identified a key association between activating mutations in the kinase domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR, also known as...
Poor outcomes are observed in patients with myeloma who are refractory to multiple classes of therapies, with the average patient experiencing disease progression in up to 6 months and living no longer than 6 to 15 months. Patients often rapidly cycle through regimens that use less effective or...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Thierry Facon, MD, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, and colleagues, a prespecified interim analysis of overall survival in the pivotal phase III MAIA trial has shown a significant benefit with the addition of daratumumab to...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Philippe Moreau, MD, of the University Hospital Hôtel-Dieu, Nantes, and colleagues, an interim analysis of part 2 of the phase III CASSIOPEIA trial has showed significantly prolonged progression-free survival with maintenance daratumumab vs observation...
As a first-line treatment of inter-mediate- or high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the addition of the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq to standard-of-care therapy resulted in a 27% reduction in the relative risk of disease progression, relapse, or death, with a similar safety...