Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, oncology providers from around the world had to forgo their annual trip to McCormick Place—but the show did go on. We all realized important research can still be presented, clinicians and fellow researchers will still listen, and ASCO presentations will still...
Patients who have breast cancers with double PIK3CA mutations seem to have a more robust response to PI3Kα inhibitors than those with a single PIK3CA mutation, based on an analysis of the phase III SANDPIPER trial, which tested taselisib plus fulvestrant, according to a presentation during the 2020 ...
The neoadjuvant combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab yielded a continued benefit in relapse-free survival vs adjuvant use of the same combination therapy in 20 patients with stage III macroscopic melanoma. This finding is based on 3-year follow-up results of the phase Ib OpACIN trial, presented...
Discussant of the TATTON study presentation, Alexander Drilon, MD, Chief of Early Drug Development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, finds the idea of combination therapy with a MET inhibitor and an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor attractive for the treatment of EGFR...
Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors has made great strides in the treatment of many cancers, but only between 25% and 50% of patients respond with clinical benefit, and these agents come with adverse events and high price tags. Thus, preselection of patients who are likely to respond to ...
Some monuments are difficult to topple. At least that was the case dating back to 1976, when investigators from the Southwest Oncology Group demonstrated the importance of doxorubicin in the treatment of patients with a group of lymphoid malignancies then referred to as diffuse aggressive...
The rapid outbreak of COVID-19 disease on a global scale found the community of clinicians and scientists largely unprepared to face the devastating effects of the pandemic. The stress on health-care systems revealed their weaknesses and brought about associated financial crises. Defining the...
The combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab was at least as effective as chemotherapy in front-line therapy for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and brain metastases at baseline, according to the results of a post hoc analysis from part 1 of the phase III CheckMate 227...
An exploratory subgroup analysis of the KAMILLA trial represents the largest reported cohort of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases treated with the anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine, or T-DM1, in a prospective setting. Researchers observed...
Adam C. Palmer, PhD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discusses combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with other cancer therapies to provide patients with more chances of a response. In principle, similar benefits may result from sequential or biomarker-stratified treatments,...
Findings from the first international prostate cancer quality-of-life study showed that significant numbers of men treated for the disease are struggling with continence and sexual problems after treatment. Results suggest that any treatment apart from active surveillance may negatively affect...
According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Native American or Alaska Native and non-Hispanic Black people have the highest rates of hospitalization or death from COVID-19, followed by Hispanics and Latinos. A large population-based study using a smartphone app ...
As reported in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology by Simron Singh, MD, MPH, and colleagues, the Commonwealth Neuroendocrine Tumour Research Collaboration (CommNETs) and North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) have collaborated to produce a best practice guideline for the diagnosis and...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) have announced a new collaboration to foster participation in oncology clinical trials to more fully reflect the diversity of people at risk for or living with cancer. The joint ASCO-ACCC initiative...
Kicking off the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer earlier this week, Anthony Fauci, MD, gave the keynote lecture, “Coronavirus Infections: More Than Just the Common Cold.” As Dr. Fauci told listeners, “[COVID-19]—and other infectious...
People of any age with serious underlying health conditions are at greater risk for contracting the coronavirus, and cancer survivors are particularly vulnerable to becoming infected with COVID-19, since many cancer therapies can lead to immunosuppression. To reduce exposure to the virus, the...
In a Dutch population-based observational cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Rovers et al found that adjuvant systemic chemotherapy was associated with improved overall survival vs active surveillance after upfront resection of isolated synchronous colorectal peritoneal metastases. Study...
Eric Zhou, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses an existing online program called SHUTi (Sleep Healthy Using the Internet), that he and his team adapted to the needs of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. After six online cognitive behavior therapy sessions delivered over 8...
Alice Mims, MD, Associate Professor of Hematology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–The James, shared her insights on the VIALE-A study. “The results of the VIALE-A study have been highly anticipated and are exciting, given the improvement seen in both overall survival and...
For people with cancer who have a mental health disorder, getting mental health treatment may help them live longer, a new study published by Berchuck et al in JAMA Oncology suggests. In the retrospective study, of more than 50,000 veterans treated for lung cancer within the Veterans Affairs (VA)...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has proved to be a valuable treatment option for patients with lymphoma in whom other therapies have failed. In clinical trials, the cellular immunotherapy was shown to provide durable remissions for nearly 40% of patients with large B-cell lymphoma....
According to a press release from the National Institutes of Health, an investigational vaccine designed to protect against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19—mRNA-1273—was generally well tolerated and prompted neutralizing antibody activity in healthy adults. These interim results were...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Hayek et al found that exercise intolerance was more common among adult survivors of childhood cancer than among matched controls and that it was associated with a greater likelihood of emotional distress, poorer attainment of social roles, and poorer...
“The IKEMA trial is based on the interest of adding a CD38 naked antibody to a carfilzomib-plus-dexamethasone skeleton, a protocol nearly identical to the recently presented CANDOR trial,” said Craig Hofmeister MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Hematology and Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute...
Mark J. Ratain, MD, of the University of Chicago, talks about why ibrutinib—which can lead to cardiotoxicities—should be studied at a lower dose for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Data suggest a reduced dose may prevent dose interruption due to adverse events and may have a better...
Compared with younger patients, older patients with cancer face unique challenges because many of them have age-related decreases in health-related quality of life. This can be a result of many factors, such as comorbidities, mental health, physical impairment, and financial stressors. A diagnosis...
Medications commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure may also reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, according to new research published by Cheung et al in the journal Hypertension. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) are often prescribed...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Le Blanc et al found that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was associated with increased insurance coverage and reduction in rates of diagnosis of breast cancer at later stages. Study Details The study involved data from the National Cancer...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its guideline for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, adapting a 2019 update from the Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The ACS first issued a guideline for routine use of the HPV vaccine in 2007, with an update issued in...
I have had to come to terms with my own mortality three times in my life and I’m only 46. When I was 17, I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease and experienced renal failure 2 years later. I underwent my first kidney transplant at 21, just before starting medical school. Finally, I thought my ...
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that women with early-stage cervical cancer treated with minimally invasive radical hysterectomy had a 71% increased risk of disease recurrence and a 56% increased risk of death compared with those treated with open radical hysterectomy.1 “These...
Women with early-stage cervical cancer treated with minimally invasive radical hysterectomy had a 71% increased risk of recurrence and a 56% increased risk of death compared with those treated with open radical hysterectomy, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 studies involving ...
Neil Spector, MD, a physician-scientist, translational research leader, and oncology mentor died on June 14, 2020. He was 63. Dr. Spector was the Sandra Coates Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, and a member of the Duke Cancer ...
On May 18, 2020, atezolizumab was approved for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression and no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations. High PD-L1 expression is defined as PD-L1 staining of at least 50% of...
In a pooled analysis reported in Bone Marrow Transplantation,1 Luciano J. Costa, MD, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues found that autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation followed by reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic transplantation (auto-allo) was...
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, Yen Nien Hou, PharmD, DiplOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on...
According to the National Cancer Institute, each year, about 70,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs)—those between the ages of 15 and39—are diagnosed with cancer.1 Evidence suggests that some cancers found in AYAs may have unique genetic and biologic features. The findings of a recent study by...
An international panel of experts led by researchers and thought leaders at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health (SKCC) and the Department of Urology at Jefferson have published the first multidisciplinary, consensus-driven, prostate cancer genetic implementation framework for the...
It was ambitious and it was controversial, but the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) made it through both houses of Congress and was signed into law in December 2016. Sponsored by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI), the landmark legislation funded new medical...
On May 29, 2020, atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab was approved for treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma who have not received prior systemic therapy.1-3 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the international, open-label,...
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took an additional step in harnessing real-world data to help inform the agency’s overall response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The FDA announced its participation in the COVID-19 Diagnostics Evidence Accelerator, a...
The study’s invited discussant, Ryan J. Sullivan, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Assistant Professor in Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, welcomed the positive results from the updated analysis of lifileucel in treatment-refractory melanoma....
Patients with heavily pretreated metastatic melanoma treated with adoptive cell therapy based on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes achieved a response rate of 36%, a disease control rate of 80%, and a median duration of response that had not been reached by 18 months in the global open-label phase II...
On May 15, 2020, rucaparib was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with deleterious BRCA mutation–associated (germline or somatic) metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have been treated with androgen receptor–directed therapy and taxane-based chemotherapy.1,2...
In the treatment of resectable, locally advanced rectal cancer, researchers are trying to identify the most effective chemotherapy regimens, the best radiotherapy approaches, and the optimal sequence of these modalities. Two phase III trials presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program...
Study discussant Daniel Y. Heng, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist at Tom Baker Cancer Centre, University of Calgary, Canada, called the negative trial results important. IMvigor010 randomly assigned patients with high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma to adjuvant atezolizumab or observation...
Two myeloma specialists weighed in on the disappointing findings of SWOG S1211: Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and Director of the Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service, and Joshua Richter, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at...
Clinicians interested in breast cancer who logged into the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program were greeted with an abundance of high-impact presentations. The ASCO Post has reported on several studies in depth elsewhere, but here we offer our readers a roundup of several important studies in early...
The ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program was the forum for an unusual but profoundly important event in oncology. Four studies that should be practice-changing were presented.1-4 These studies provided irrefutable evidence that we can improve the quality of life of older patients by reducing toxicity. ...
The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in two different regimens: On May 15, 2020, the two-drug combination was approved for first-line treatment in...