At the 2020 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Virtual Conference, sponsored by Emory University School of Medicine and Winship Cancer Institute, Pamela Allen, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory, described recent trials on therapeutic approaches that are informative on this...
A review of the 2019 Drug Trials Snapshots Report1 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that although female participation in clinical trials grew to 72% from 56% in the FDA’s 2018 Drug Trials Snapshots Report,2 ethnic minority participation in clinical trials actually declined...
Nivolumab monotherapy showed high response and disease control rates in patients with pathogenic exonuclease domain POLE (edPOLE)-mutated, mismatch repair (MMR)-proficient advanced tumors containing confirmed pathogenic mutations, according to findings presented by Benoit J.C. Rousseau, MD, PhD, of ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has released the 10th edition of its annual Cancer Progress Report. The report highlights how cancer research, largely supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is...
The challenge in treating patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer is how to render tumors resectable and how to achieve the negative surgical margins that enhance long-term survival odds. Fortunately, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is helping to achieve these important goals, according to...
Combined use of aspirin, metformin, and statins may be associated with decreased lung cancer incidence and mortality, according to a study published by Kang et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Study Methods The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of the three agents with...
In a large group of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, consumption of a few cups of coffee a day was associated with longer survival and reduced risk of disease progression, according to findings reported by Mackintosh et al in JAMA Oncology. The findings, based on data from a large...
“Studies that have compared neoadjuvant endocrine therapy with neoadjuvant chemotherapy have shown low pathologic complete response rates with both approaches. However, the rates of breast-conserving surgery have been shown to be slightly higher with neoadjuvant endocrine therapy,” Kelly Hunt, MD,...
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of the City of Hope National Medical Center, discusses results from the COSMIC-021 study, which tested two different doses of cabozantinib, each with a standard dose of atezolizumab, administered to patients with metastatic advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Dr. Pal...
Immune therapy for advanced gastroesophageal cancer has taken a leap forward by showing its value in the first-line setting, according to two studies in which nivolumab and pembrolizumab, both given with chemotherapy, significantly improved overall survival vs chemotherapy alone. The studies,...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine and during the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 610O) by Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, FASCO, and colleagues, an overall survival analysis from the phase III PROfound trial has shown a significant benefit with olaparib vs physician’s choice of...
Ezra E.W. Cohen, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, discusses primary results of the phase III JAVELIN trial of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, in which the immune checkpoint inhibitor avelumab was combined with chemoradiotherapy followed by avelumab...
For the first time, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) has improved outcomes in patients with early breast cancer when combined with standard endocrine therapy, Stephen Johnston, MD, PhD, and colleagues reported at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract LBA5_PR)....
The Lung ART trial was designed to demonstrate whether there was any benefit to the routine use of modern mediastinal postoperative radiotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following complete resection and (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy. No difference in disease-free survival...
In a phase I clinical trial for patients with advanced solid cancers marked by KRAS G12C mutations, the KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib (AMG 510) showed manageable toxicities and durable clinical benefits. Results from the trial were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, and data from the ...
Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the first results from the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial, which suggested the combination of nivolumab and cabozantinib is safe. It showed activity in progression-free and overall survival, as well as in overall response rates and may ...
Researchers have found that certain treatments for cancer may increase the chance of death if they contract COVID-19. These findings from a multicenter study presented by Trisha Wise-Draper, MD, and colleagues at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (LBA71), shed light on ways standard anticancer...
The combination of nivolumab plus cabozantinib was superior to the former standard, sunitinib, as first-line treatment for advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to results of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial reported by Toni K. Choueiri, MD, and colleagues at the ESMO Virtual...
Delays and cancellation of cancer treatments and other safety measures undertaken to minimize the risk of exposure to the coronavirus have generated a backlog in oncology care and research. The threat of delayed diagnoses looms while oncology professionals face burnout, according to new studies...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted designations to agents for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, recurrent glioblastoma, and pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. Fast Track Designation for EPI-7386 in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer The FDA...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kyriakopoulos et al found that use of quantitative total bone imaging with fluorine-18 (F-18)–sodium fluoride (NaF) positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) helped identify heterogeneity of response in bone lesions...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that the addition of pembrolizumab to eribulin did not improve progression-free survival in women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. As stated by the...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Kohei Shitara, MD, and colleagues, the phase III KEYNOTE-062 trial showed no significant improvement in overall or progression-free survival with first-line pembrolizumab with or without chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in patients with PD-L1–positive advanced...
There are approximately 25 million foreign-born immigrants living in the United States, which is more than 13% of the nation’s total population. Of these individuals, it is estimated that about 11 million are undocumented; by far, the largest group of this immigrant undocumented population is...
Higher viral loads may be associated with a greater risk of death among patients with cancer—and individuals without cancer—hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a report by Westblade et al in Cancer Cell. Among hospitalized patients infected with COVID-19, those with hematologic malignancies...
Recent evidence indicates that proton pump inhibitors may cause significant changes in the gut microbiota; gut microbiota dysbiosis has been linked to reduced immune checkpoint inhibitor effectiveness. In a retrospective analysis of clinical trials investigating the immune checkpoint inhibitor...
In a comprehensive analysis of adenosquamous cancer of the pancreas in preclinical models, researchers identified potential therapeutic targets for this aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. They also identified already-available agents—designed to treat other types of cancer—that may be useful in...
In the treatment of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), use of newer antibodies and de-intensification of chemotherapy have greatly improved outcomes, according to Hagop Kantarjian, MD, who has been very involved in much of the research in ALL treatment. Dr. Kantarjian, Professor and...
Results from a phase II trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggest that a combination of ipilimumab (anti–CTLA-4) plus nivolumab (anti–PD-1) can generate durable responses in a subset of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, an...
In a letter to the editor published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Brandon A. Mahal, MD, and colleagues described genomic differences in prostate cancer in Black, White, and Asian men. Study Details The study involved next-generation sequencing data from patients who had been treated for...
For some patients with prostate cancer, surgery and/or radiation are considered standard treatments. However, these procedures may cause side effects, including urinary incontinence or impotency. A recent study published by Abreu et al in the Journal of Urology demonstrated that high-intensity...
A research letter published by Thornblade et al in JAMA Network Open examined the impact of race or ethnicity on rates of chemotherapy, liver resection, and survival among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. “The unfortunate reality is that minorities, especially Black people, have a much...
According to findings from a small study published by Calabretta et al in Circulation, treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors may worsen inflammation in the arteries that distribute blood from the heart. The research found increased inflammation in the large arteries of 20 Austrian patients...
In a German Intergroup phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Grünwald et al found that progression-free survival with first-line pazopanib was noninferior to doxorubicin in patients aged 60 years or older with inoperable metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Pazopanib was also...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Wolf et al, the phase II GEOMETRY mono-1 trial has shown durable responses with the selective MET inhibitor capmatinib in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and MET exon 14–skipping mutations. The trial supported the May...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released new data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). The results, published by Wang et al in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), show 1.8 million...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many stem cell transplant centers (including guidance from the National Marrow Donor Program [NMDP]) recommend that stem cell products be frozen for preservation. However, findings from a study by Duncan Purtill, MD, and colleagues in Blood Advances suggest that the...
Cervical cancer is a worldwide public health problem. The incidence of the disease is particularly high in low- and middle-income countries, where low coverage of prevention strategies and high risk of infection persist. To reduce morbidity and mortality, improved screening and prevention are...
On July 7, 2020, an oral combination of the nucleoside metabolic inhibitor decitabine and the cytidine deaminase inhibitor cedazuridine was approved for treatment of adult patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), including: Previously treated and untreated, de novo, and secondary MDS with the ...
On January 1, 2021, significant changes to the office and outpatient Evaluation and Management (E&M) services Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) codes (99202-99215) will go into effect. Practices, physicians, and staff must prepare in advance for these changes to ensure a successful...
Global oncology refers to the application of the concepts of global health to cancer and implies an approach to the practice of oncology that acknowledges the reality of limited resources in parts of the world. The Global Oncology Young Investigator Award (YIA) from ASCO and Conquer Cancer, the...
Multiple myeloma is a malignant clonal plasma cell malignancy that primarily affects older adults. Although therapeutic advances have led to improvements in disease-specific and overall survival over the past decade, age-related survival disparities continue to exist. The higher prevalence of...
On July 30, 2020, atezolizumab was granted approval for use in combination with cobimetinib and vemurafenib for patients with BRAF V600 mutation–positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings from the phase III, double-blind IMspire150 trial ...
On June 30, 2020, avelumab was approved for maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the randomized, multicenter, ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of “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. They include narratives, topical essays, historical...
In this period of time, more than ever before, I feel the dichotomy of being a non-Hispanic White American vs a person of color. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, I rode the subway to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Ralph Lauren Cancer Center clinic in Harlem, where I was often the only White person on...
Although most patients with breast cancer are considered to have an overall excellent prognosis, 600,000 people still die annually of the disease around the world. Even in HER2-positive breast cancer, a subtype that has seen a transformation of outcomes in the past 2 decades, there’s still room for ...
Cancer is not for the faint of heart, and sometimes neither is the treatment, according to information presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Education Program.1 Approximately 30% of patients who receive cancer therapy will have cardiovascular complications.2 What’s more, in anthracycline-treated...
Recognizing the COVID-19 crisis “as an opportunity to mobilize the organization to rise in the most difficult challenges” allowed The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, to keep mortality rates low for COVID-19–positive patients with cancer and its employees. So said Peter WT...
With incredibly paced approvals and clinical advancements in the systemic therapy of cutaneous melanoma, the efficacy of immunotherapy in this disease is clear. However, many important questions remain regarding timing and dosing—in other words, which drug (or drugs) makes the most sense and in...