Breast cancer specialist Jennifer K. Litton, MD, was born and reared in Leominster, Massachusetts, a small city in the north central part of the state. “I went to parochial schools until seventh grade and then went on to high school in Worcester. Although I enjoyed science early on, I was...
Primary treatment of most solid tumors includes surgical excision or radiation therapy, both of which require precise anatomic localization of the tumor as well as surrounding tissue and organs. If the targeting is too broad, unnecessary morbidity may occur to nearby structures, along with the...
ON SEPTEMBER 24, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to duvelisib (Copiktra) for adults with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) after at least two prior therapies. Duvelisib also received accelerated...
THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has recognized Tony S. Mok, MD, FRCPC, FASCO, with the ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions in lung cancer. Dr. Mok, who is a Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation Endowed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Oncology at the ...
In a single-center phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Massarelli et al found combining tumor-specific vaccine and nivolumab (Opdivo) showed evidence of activity in incurable human papillomavirus (HPV) 16–related cancer. The therapeutic vaccine, ISA 101, induces HPV-specific T cells....
Analysis of male- and female-derived tumor samples revealed differences in prognostic biomarkers, genes that drive cancer, and in regulation of key pathways that may predict responses to treatment, according to results published in two studies in Cancer Research, one by Li et al and the other...
A therapeutic vaccine may boost antibodies and T cells, helping them infiltrate human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancer tumors. Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania tested the immunotherapy approach in two groups of patients with...
In a long-term follow-up of a phase I trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Emens et al found that single-agent atezolizumab (Tecentriq) produced enduring benefit in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer after stable or responding disease and in first-line treatment. Study Details In...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Barlesi et al, the phase III JAVELIN Lung 200 trial has shown no overall survival benefit with avelumab (Bavencio) vs docetaxel in patients with platinum pretreated programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer...
Advances in the treatment of multiple myeloma have led to longer progression-free survival, but the majority of patients will still relapse despite newer treatments. A number of new drugs and combinations are under study in the hope of improving outcomes. “Multiple myeloma is a complex disease...
An analysis of the NRG Oncology clinical trial NRG-GY003 suggests that adding ipilimumab (Yervoy), a monoclonal antibody that targets the protein receptor cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), to a regimen with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) could improve response ...
Germline mutations in the breast cancer–susceptibility genes 1 and 2 (BRCA1/2) increase the risk for cancer due to an inability to repair DNA double-strand breaks, and about 5% of patients with unselected breast cancer carry a germline BRCA mutation.1 These DNA repair–deficient tumors are...
In a secondary analysis of the UK phase III RATHL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Anderson et al found that ovarian function recovery was affected by age and type of response-adapted therapy in women receiving treatment for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. The analysis included 67 eligible...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Jennifer K. Litton, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III EMBRACA trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor...
The C-C chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) is predominantly expressed in type 2 helper T (Th2) cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells.1 Under physiologic conditions and in response to its ligands, CCL17 (TARC) and CCL22 (MDC), CCR4 promotes T-cell migration to the skin.2 Of note, CCR4 is highly expressed in...
As reported by Youn H. Kim, MD, of Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues in The Lancet Oncology, the phase III MAVORIC trial showed that the anti-C-C chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) monoclonal antibody mogamulizumab (Poteligeo) significantly improved...
In the phase III RELEVANCE trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Franck Morschhauser, MD, PhD, of The University of Lille, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Lille, France, and colleagues, no difference in the complete response rate or interim progression-free survival was found...
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. In April 2018, osimertinib (Tagrisso) was approved for...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has released its annual Cancer Progress Report,1 highlighting how federally funded research discoveries are fueling the development of new and even more effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat cancer. Key advances outlined in the...
Because neuroendocrine tumors are not one disease but a continuum of diseases, ranging from well-differentiated tumors to poorly differentiated and small cell tumors, treatment approaches can vary greatly. At the 2018 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology conference, held on Sea Island,...
The Beat AML Master Clinical Trial seeks to change the treatment paradigm and outcomes in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by personalizing therapy and ultimately facilitating the approval of novel targeted agents. Co-investigator William Blum, MD, of the Winship Cancer Institute at the Emory...
We have seen remarkable progress in the outcomes of patients with advanced-stage follicular lymphoma over the past 2 decades.1 Recent manuscripts and presentations describing long-term follow-up of randomized trials comparing various chemotherapy platforms (all combined with anti-CD20 antibodies)...
A phase I clinical trial investigating the use of bacterial Clostridium novyi-NT spores as an injectable monotherapy had manageable toxicities and showed early clinical efficacy in patients with treatment-refractory solid tumor malignancies, according to data presented at the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to expand the prescribing information for carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to include a once-weekly dosing option in combination with dexamethasone (once-weekly Kd70) for patients with relapsed or...
A recent review of patient-caregiver communities focused on non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with genomic alterations showed that these groups are improving outcomes by supporting patients and caregivers, increasing awareness and education, and accelerating research. Patient advocate Janet...
Angiosarcoma of the head, face, neck, or scalp is a rare cancer associated with high rates of local recurrence, distant metastasis, and poor prognosis. Because angiosarcoma is so rare, it is difficult to conduct large-scale research in the cancer. To address this issue, the Broad Institute of MIT...
On September 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or locally advanced cutaneous SCC who are not candidates for curative surgery or...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Whelan et al, combined trials (EURO-EWING99 and Ewing-2008) have shown evidence of improved outcomes with high-dose therapy with busulfan and melphalan (BuMel) and autologous stem cell transplant (SCT) vs standard chemotherapy with vincristine,...
As reported at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer (Abstract PL02.03) and in the The New England Journal of Medicine by Camidge et al, an interim analysis of the phase III ALTA-1L trial has shown improved progression-free...
On September 24, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to duvelisib (Copiktra) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) after at least two prior therapies. In addition, duvelisib...
ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk (Lumoxiti) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia (HCL) who have received at least two prior systemic therapies,...
USING MULTIGENE hereditary cancer panels to test for mutations in five genes can identify women at high risk for triple-negative breast cancer who may then benefit from more frequent screening, risk management, and potentially targeted therapies as well. A study that looked at multigene panel...
Although the basic concept of using the body’s immune defense mechanisms to fight cancer has been around for centuries, the idea of using immunotherapy in cancer, in general, returned to prominence when Dr. Thomas Burnet first proposed the theory of cancer immunosurveillance in 1957. Despite...
AT THE END OF 2017, pertuzumab (Perjeta) was granted regular approval for use in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2- positive early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data APPROVAL WAS BASED on...
MAYO CLINIC physicians Matthew Block, MD, PhD, and Tina Hieken, MD, have received a Stand up to Cancer (SU2C) Catalyst Award to fund melanoma research and a neoadjuvant clinical trial. “This study, “Neoactivate,” will test two novel approaches to the treatment of patients with high-risk, stage 3...
AMERICAN ONCOLOGY Network, LLC (AON), an alliance of physicians and health-care leaders advocating for the oncology community, announced that Genesis Cancer Center, a community oncology/hematology practice in Arkansas, and the Hematology/Oncology Clinic (HOC) in Baton Rouge & Zachary,...
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,...
IN EARLY 2018, abiraterone acetate tablets (Yonsa, Zytiga) in combination with prednisone was approved for the treatment of metastatic high-risk castration-sensitive prostate cancer.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data APPROVAL WAS BASED on findings from the phase III LATITUDE trial, in which 1,199...
In a study conducted by Stanford Health Care, researchers achieved a 46% reduction in opioid use among 443 patients with cancer who underwent a range of urologic surgeries without increasing their pain or anxiety. They achieved this reduction through a two-pillared approach: (1) maximizing the use...
In a French study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ferrara et al found that hyperprogressive disease appeared to be more common with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor treatment than single-agent chemotherapy among previously treated patients with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Justin E. Bekelman, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and colleagues, ASCO has endorsed the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and Society of Urologic...
On August 8, ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) submitted recommended language to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for five guidance documents on ways to broaden eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials. The recommendations are part of an ASCO and Friends collaboration...
Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, a long-time ASCO member and volunteer, began his role as ASCO President-Elect in June 2018. An ASCO member for nearly 30 years, Dr. Burris’ service to the Society is extensive. His volunteer roles include member of the ASCO Board of Directors and...
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. Find him on Twitter @jamecancerdoc. For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor, Jame Abraham, MD,...
Investigators have unraveled the origins and identified mutations associated with mixed-phenotype acute leukemia. The study, published by Alexander et al in Nature, potentially lays the foundation for more effective treatment of patients with this high-risk cancer. Mixed-phenotype acute...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Basch et al established the feasibility of using the National Cancer Institute patient-reported outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) in the setting of a multicenter clinical trial in locally advanced...
A pair of new studies from researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania are shedding light on why patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) respond or do not respond to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Although CAR T-cell therapy is...
Although the optimal approach to maintenance is not definitive in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have undergone chemotherapy-based induction with anti–endothelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) agents, the phase II VALENTINO trial showed that anti-EGFR maintenance therapy with...
Moxetumomab pasudotox produced deep and durable responses in a heavily pretreated population of patients with hairy cell leukemia, with the ability to eradicate minimal residual disease. The drug showed a favorable safety profile with less bone marrow suppression than with purine nucleoside analog...
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 June 13, 2018, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was granted...