There is no standard adjuvant therapy for patients with resectable biliary tract cancer, but that may be about to change based on results of the phase III BILCAP trial.1 Adjuvant capecitabine significantly improved overall survival in the BILCAP trial, and this is the first study to show a benefit...
It is well documented that physical activity benefits patients with cancer, both during and after treatment. Exercise helps patients combat both the physical and psychological impacts of cancer treatment, giving them a sense of well-being, control, stress reduction, and empowerment. However,...
New criteria for evaluating response in lymphoma clinical trials—RECIL 2017—have been developed by an International Working Group with the aim of harmonizing criteria with the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). The new criteria were reported by Younes et al in Annals ...
New phase III study results of blue light flexible cystoscopy (BLFC) with an optical imaging agent (Hexvix/Cysview) were presented by Daneshmand et al during a late-breaking plenary session at the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting (Abstract PPTLBA-02). Major Findings The...
A phase III trial (SELECT-1) has shown no improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of the MEK inhibitor selumetinib to docetaxel in the second-line treatment of patients with KRAS-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Trial results were reported by Jänne et al in...
A study by Mariotto et al investigating the prevalence of women living with metastatic breast cancer in the United States estimates that there are 154,794 women living with the disease. In addition, the median and 5-year relative survival for women initially diagnosed with metastatic breast...
An observational study of 826 patients with stage III colon cancer showed that those who consumed 2 ounces or more of nuts per week had a 42% lower chance of cancer recurrence and 57% lower chance of death than those who did not eat nuts. A secondary analysis revealed the benefit of nut consumption ...
The targeted therapy gefitinib (Iressa) appears more effective in preventing recurrence after lung cancer surgery than the standard of care, chemotherapy. In a phase III clinical trial, patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive, stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer ...
A study of 992 patients with stage III colon cancer found that those who reported a healthy lifestyle during and following adjuvant treatment had a 42% lower chance of death and a trend for lower chance of cancer recurrence than those who had less healthy lifestyles. The study will be presented by...
A phase III randomized clinical trial in 447 patients with biliary tract cancers showed that treating the disease with capecitabine after surgery extends survival by a median of 15 months compared to surgery alone. The finding could provide the basis for a new standard of care in the disease. This ...
In a phase II trial, Khan et al found that hypofractionated postmastectomy radiotherapy, completed in 15 treatment days, was safe and effective in women with stage II to IIIa breast cancer. The study was reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details In the study, 67 women from 2...
In the phase III RICMAC trial, use of a dose-reduced vs a standard myeloablative conditioning regimen prior to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) did not appear to reduce 2-year relapse-free or overall survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. These findings were reported by...
The phase III PHEREXA trial has shown no significant improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to trastuzumab (Herceptin)/capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer with disease progression during or after trastuzumab-based...
Detection of EGFR mutations in circulating tumor (ct) DNA from plasma samples can be accomplished using the cobas platform, according to findings presented by Kumar et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) (Abstract 95PD). Assays of ctDNA offer a noninvasive method of finding EGFR...
An investigation of immune cell subtypes in the tumor microenvironment of patients with lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) identified an immune subgroup that associates with prolonged patient survival and may be prognostic of response to nivolumab, according to findings presented ...
An investigational immunotherapy is improving outcomes in difficult-to-treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and showing promise in other cancers, as well. Blinatumomab (Blincyto), the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE), has demonstrated...
Ensartinib demonstrated intracranial responses in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and central nervous system (CNS) metastases, according to findings presented by Reckamp et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC)...
From immunomodulatory agents and proteasome inhibitors to steroids, alkylators, and antibodies, recent years have witnessed an explosion of drug approvals for multiple myeloma. The challenge now, said Amrita Krishnan, MD, FACP, is figuring out how to incorporate them all, particularly in the...
Melanoma is an immunogenic tumor, as it expresses various melanoma-specific antigens. However, it is both biologically and clinically heterogeneous. Biologically, it expresses different melanoma antigens and has diverse genetic profiles among different patients. Clinically, it varies in the amount ...
The final, 10-year follow-up of the ‘all comers’ tAnGo trial, reported by Earl et al in The Lancet Oncology, continued to show no overall benefit of adding gemcitabine to adjuvant therapy in women with early-stage breast cancer. The trial, initiated in 2001, included patients...
At 5 years, the overall survival rate was 16% in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with single-agent nivolumab (Opdivo), according to follow-up of a phase Ib dose-ranging study (CA209-003), presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual...
The race is on to identify combinations of immune checkpoint inhibitors that can improve outcomes over the use of immune checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy. Updated results of the phase III CheckMate 067 trial found the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) improved survival in...
A late-breaking subanalysis of the phase III CONVERT trial presented by Gomes et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) shows that white blood cell–boosting drugs are safe during concurrent chemoradiotherapy of small cell lung cancer (SCLC, Abstract LBA2_PR). “The...
Osimertinib (Tagrisso) improved cancer-related symptoms in patients with advanced lung cancer, according to an analysis of patient-reported outcomes from the AURA3 phase III clinical trial presented by Lee et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC, Abstract 85O). “With my...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Chen et al, the phase II KEYNOTE-087 trial has shown that the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)–inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is highly active in patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. Findings in the study ...
As reported by Katherine S. Virgo, PhD, MBA, of Emory University, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has issued a provisional clinical opinion on second-line hormonal therapy for chemotherapy-naive castration-resistant prostate cancer. The provisional clinical opinion applies...
Winner of the Journal of Neuro-Oncology Award sponsored by Kluwer Academic Publishers, Doris Du Wang, MD, PhD, a resident in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), presented her research on seizure outcome after surgical resection of insular...
According to a study reported by Hamada et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, postdiagnosis aspirin use was associated with improved survival vs nonuse among patients with colorectal cancer who have lower, but not higher, tumor levels of CD274 (programmed cell death 1 ligand 1; PD-L1). Study...
In a phase III trial (NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group GOG-0213 trial) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Coleman et al found evidence of an overall survival advantage with the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to paclitaxel-carboplatin in recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. The...
In a separate interview, George Ansstas, MD, a medical neuro-oncologist at Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University, St. Louis, discussed his experience in treating patients with tumor-treating fields. He has treated about 35 patients with glioblastoma in the first-line setting and 20 with...
Using a novel approach called tumor-treating fields—which involves the delivery of low-intensity electric fields to the brain by a patient-operated device—along with standard-of-care temozolomide therapy improved overall survival and progression-free survival vs temozolomide alone in patients with...
This Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes a selection of actively recruiting clinical trials of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors, including palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib in multiple tumor types. All of the studies here and many others are listed on the National...
Geoffrey I. Shapiro, MD, PhD, Director of the Early Drug Development Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, explained the current research initiatives involving cyclin D–dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors. Mechanism of Action How do CDK4/6 inhibitors work at the cellular level in...
The novel mechanism of action of drugs that inhibit the cyclin D–dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6 has prompted effective new treatment strategies. Although the bulk of the data supporting the use of selective CDK4/6 inhibitors is currently in breast cancer, patients with other tumor types are...
On April 28, the European Commission approved nivolumab (Opdivo) as monotherapy for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) in adults with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy. Nivolumab is the first and only immuno-oncology treatment that has...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Renfro et al have derived a nomogram for predicting early mortality in metastatic colorectal cancer using data from more than 20,000 patients in the ARCAD (Aide et Recherche en Cancérologie Digestive) database. Study Details The analysis...
In the international phase III REMARC trial reported by Thieblemont et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, lenalidomide (Revlimid) maintenance was found to prolong progression-free survival vs placebo in older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma responding to first-line R-CHOP...
A randomized trial, reported by Maly et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, has shown that having an individualized survivorship care plan in place was associated with increased physician implementation of recommended breast cancer survivorship care among low-income, predominantly Latina breast ...
On April 27, the investigational next-generation ALK/ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor lorlatinib was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive metastatic non–small cell...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved use of regorafinib (Stivarga) to include treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have been previously treated with the drug sorafenib (Nexavar). This is the first new FDA-approved treatment for liver cancer in...
Results of the SARAH trial presented at the 2017 International Liver Congress (ILC) demonstrated that selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) resulted in a median overall survival of 8.0 months compared to 9.9 months with sorafenib (Nexavar; P = .179) in patients with locally advanced ...
A phase II trial conducted at the University of California at Davis and at Los Angeles showed good outcomes with reduced-dose radiotherapy in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. These findings were reported in The Lancet Oncology by Chen et al....
A Japanese phase III trial has shown no survival benefit of prophylactic cranial irradiation vs observation in patients with extensive-disease small cell lung cancer who had any response to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy and no brain metastases at baseline. These findings were reported in The...
A pathologic complete response to presurgical therapy occurs in between 40% and 50% of patients with HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer, raising the question of the need for surgery for all patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy indicates a pathologic complete response in...
As reported by Blum et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the efficacy analysis of the combined adjuvant Anthracyclines in Early Breast Cancer (ABC) Trials showed better invasive disease-free survival with taxane plus doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (TaxAC) regimens vs six cycles of...
Casali et al have reported 10-year progression-free and overall survival rates among patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) receiving imatinib at 400 or 800 mg/d in the phase III European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer,...
An ASCO clinical practice guideline update, reported by Khorana et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, includes the recommendation of gemcitabine-capecitabine doublet therapy as an adjuvant therapy option in potentially curable pancreatic cancer. The updated recommendation (4.1) modifies the...
An article that appeared in the April 10 issue of The ASCO Post (“Olaparib Maintenance Prolongs Progression-Free Survival in Ovarian Cancer”) suggests unwarranted conclusions from the phase III SOLO2 trial of olaparib (Lynparza) in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and...
In an Italian phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Marcello Tiseo, MD, of Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria, Parma, Italy, and colleagues found that adding first-line bevacizumab (Avastin) to cisplatin/etoposide did not prolong overall survival in patients with...
Long-term survivors of melanoma are more likely than those who have not been diagnosed with the disease to use sunscreen, protective clothing, and other means to limit exposure to the sun, according to a survey of melanoma survivors and controls about ultraviolet radiation exposure and protective...