Data from post hoc exploratory analyses from the phase III ARIEL3 clinical study of rucaparib in recurrent ovarian cancer was presented during oral plenary and poster sessions at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 50th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. These analyses...
In a French phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Stéphane Oudard, MD, PhD, of Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, and colleagues found that the addition of docetaxel to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) did not improve prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival in men with...
Most oncologists are comfortable treating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) patients with cancer, according to a survey of 149 oncologists from 45 National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, but not as confident in their knowledge of the...
At the end of 2015, I was dying. I was just 50 years old and a wife and mother of 2 teenage boys. Twelve years earlier, I had been diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ in my left breast. Despite a modified radical mastectomy and removal of nearly all of the lymph nodes in my left underarm—which ...
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,...
On January 15, 2019, WebMD, an online and print health-care resource for consumers, presented its 2018 Health Heroes Award in New York City to 7 people who are making a difference in oncology care. The honorees include Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Wake...
Two recent publications in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and the resulting drug approval applications that have already been filed, lead to concern that the basis of medical practice on valid evidence may be corrupted. Each involves statistically shaky analysis leading to a striking...
The Johns Hopkins Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute awarded research grants to four projects that focus on bladder cancer treatments in women and how biology could offer new targets for cancer therapy.The Institute awards grants of $25,000 to $50,000. David McConkey, PhD, Director of the...
GUEST EDITOR Dr. Abraham is the Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. In this installment of Living a Full Life, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP,...
Stephen J. Forman, MD, Leader of City of Hope’s Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute and the Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, recently received the 2019 DKMS Mechtild Harf Science Award in...
In the 20-plus years I have spent in hematologic oncology, I have been fortunate to have a ringside seat to watch “game-changing” advances come into our field—all-trans retinoic acid for acute promyelocytic leukemia, tyrosine kinase inhibitors starting with imatinib for chronic myeloid leukemia,...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Stephen J. Schuster, MD, of Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, the international phase II JULIET trial has shown high response rates with the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel in...
In 2015, ASCO and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) introduced value frameworks that utilize algorithmic scales to evaluate the clinical benefit of cancer therapies and provide an objective assessment of outcomes and treatment toxicities experienced by patients.1,2 Although the two...
A new survey of radiation oncologists points to a sharp decline in the use of prophylactic cranial irradiation for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), indicating a rapid change in standard practice for the disease following the 2017 publication of a major clinical trial by...
A new analysis of patients treated with local consolidative therapy for oligometastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) found that the intensive treatment approach is associated with improved overall survival. Local consolidative therapy—consisting of radiation therapy or...
Nearly half of all childhood cancers are not being diagnosed globally, according to a new modeling study published by Ward et al in The Lancet Oncology. “Our model suggests that nearly one in two children with cancer are never diagnosed and may die untreated,” said lead...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, McKay et al found a trend toward improved pathologic response or minimal residual disease with the addition of neoadjuvant abiraterone and prednisone to enzalutamide and leuprolide prior to radical prostatectomy in patients with...
In the phase IIIb/IV CheckMate 511 study reported by Lebbé et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a regimen of nivolumab at 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab at 1 mg/kg (NIVO3+IPI1) was found to significantly reduce the incidence of treatment-related grade 3 to 5 adverse events compared with...
There is a plethora of educational books for patients with cancer and their families; advocates and patients themselves write most. Books in this genre often have a difficult time distilling the hard science of oncology into a lay-friendly narrative that keeps the reader engaged from cover to...
In an interim analysis of a prospective cohort study (IOTA5) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wouter Froyman, MD, and colleagues found that the risk of malignancy and acute complications is low when adnexal masses with benign ultrasound findings are managed conservatively. In the study, patients...
MY BREAST CANCER was probably a decade in the making, although I only became aware that there might be a problem in 2014, when I noticed some slight pain in my left breast. A routine mammogram and ultrasound found benign cysts in my dense breasts, which most likely explained the pain, I was told,...
AS PART of The ASCO Post’s continued coverage of the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here is an update on several different studies on new therapeutics in non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs), including follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), ...
ON FEBRUARY 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved trifluridine/tipiracil tablets (Lonsurf)—a fixed combination of trifluridine, a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor, and tipiracil, a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor—for adult patients with metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction...
Prosecuting health-care fraud is a top priority for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal government agencies.1,2 After all, the government earns a $6 return for every $1 that it spends on enforcement. In December 2018, the DOJ announced that it had obtained more than $2.5 billion...
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. On January 14, 2019, cabozantinib was approved for the...
THE TREATMENT approaches for multiple myeloma, both newly diagnosed and relapsed disease, continue to undergo major transformation as new agents and combinations are being introduced.1 This change has been driven by the introduction of novel drug classes such as monoclonal antibodies, as well as...
THE U.S. PREVENTIVE Services Task Force (Task Force) announced the addition of two new members: Michael Cabana, MD, MA, MPH, and Lori Pbert, PhD. Both were appointed to serve 4-year terms, which began in January 2019. Dr. Cabana is Professor of Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics and a...
In a modeling study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Simms et al detailed the preventive effects on cervical cancer that could be achieved by scaled-up human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical screening efforts with the aim of disease elimination. The major modeling projections are...
A study evaluating a prognostic signature derived from integrating tumor budding, lymphocyte infiltration, and their spatial relationship has found that the method could more accurately stratify patients with stage II colorectal cancer at high risk for disease-specific death compared with...
A single dose of a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor before resection for melanoma may predict clinical outcomes for patients. Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania—who documented this finding in the largest cohort of patients to be...
The FDA recently issued announcements on a Fast Track designation, a Priority Review, two supplemental new drug applications, an investigational new drug application, and a marketing clearance. The agency also released a safety communication on cancer-related surgery. Fast Track Designation for...
In “A Lifesaving Intuition”, this month’s featured Your Stories podcast, a two-time cancer survivor shares lessons with her daughter about beating the odds, trusting science, and trusting your gut. Developed by ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation, the Your Stories podcast series shares unscripted...
As of January 9, ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Round 1 of reporting is open for data abstraction. Round 1 will close on June 3, and final reports will be available approximately 2 weeks after the round closes. To get started, go to the registration portal and log in. A...
With advances in the field, the number of haploidentical stem cell transplants being performed (ie, using human leukocyte antigen [HLA] half-matched donor stem cells) has been increasing. In recognition of evolving strategies to improve outcomes, a group of transplant physicians started the...
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named nine scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer the 2019 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. Five early career scientists will receive initial grants of $400,000 over 2 years. Another 4 awardees who demonstrated...
First launched in 2014, the Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium introduced a nascent interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of both the physical and psychological symptoms of cancer to improve disease outcome and quality of life for patients. Today, it has evolved into a leading forum for...
In the neoadjuvant setting, adding palbociclib to letrozole significantly enhanced the suppression of malignant cell proliferation, as measured by Ki67 levels, in patients with primary estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer but did not increase the clinical response rate over 14 weeks, according ...
Researchers reported similar efficacy and safety with an every-4-week regimen of nivolumab in the second-line setting compared to an every-2-week schedule in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Edward B. Garon, MD, and colleagues presented the results of an interim analysis of...
Following identification of a positive sentinel lymph node, surgical axillary lymph node dissection and axillary radiation therapy provide comparable locoregional control and survival, according to a 10-year follow-up of the large European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer AMAROS...
Two studies presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium validated a small benefit of extending adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy beyond thestandard 5 years for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. In a meta-analysis of 24,912 patients from 12...
Neuroendocrine tumors appear resistant to single-agent immunotherapy, according to the results of the KEYNOTE-028 trial of pembrolizumab. “Pembrolizumab monotherapy showed limited antitumor activity but a manageable safety profile in patients with previously treated, advanced neuroendocrine...
Darolutamide—an investigational androgen receptor inhibitor—significantly improved metastasis-free survival in men with high-risk nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer vs placebo in the large phase III ARAMIS trial.1 Men treated with darolutamide had a median metastasis-free survival...
“This is an intriguing agent,” said ASCO expert Robert Dreicer, MD, MS, MACP, FASCO, of the University of Virginia Cancer Center and moderator of a press briefing where these data were discussed. “Survival rates are low for patients with metastatic castration--resistant prostate cancer, and the...
In a prospective, single-center, single-arm phase II trial reported at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, a novel approach using a tumor-specific radioligand therapy that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) (lutetium-177 PSMA-617 -[LuPSMA]) achieved responses in a majority of...
Although diagnostic errors date back to antiquity, in recent years, they have begun to receive attention as an important patient safety issue. This culminated in the National Academy of Medicine’s 2015 landmark report, which concluded that most people in the United States would experience at...
The checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab plus the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates vs sunitinib as first-line therapy for clear cell metastatic renal cell...
Leadership from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued the following statement yesterday: As the NIH Director stated in September, sexual harassment is about power. The goal of the perpetrator, most commonly but not exclusively a man, is to objectify, exclude, demoralize,...
In the phase III ERA 223 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Smith et al found that the addition of radium-223 to abiraterone acetate and prednisone or prednisolone did not improve symptomatic skeletal event-free survival and was associated with increased risk of fracture in patients with...
A recent study by the American Cancer Society (ACS) has found that while colorectal cancer incidence in the United States is rapidly declining overall, colorectal cancer rates are increasing among young adults. According to the study, compared with adults born in the 1950s, those born in the 1990s...
New research published by Chopra et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network calls for much greater integration between cardiologists and oncologists for patients with coronary artery disease who are diagnosed with cancer. Coronary artery disease is the most...