Approximately 5% to 6% of cases of colorectal cancer are associated with germline mutations conferring an inherited predisposition for disease. As reported by Stoffel and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 ASCO has endorsed, with qualifying statements, the European Society for Medical ...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On February 3, 2015, palbociclib (Ibrance) was granted...
Anti–PD-1 antibodies have been shown to be effective in solid tumors. There is evidence that the malignant Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin lymphomas use the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathway to evade immune detection, with alterations in chromosome 9p24.1 increasing levels of the PD-1...
In a phase III trial (SWOG S0221) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, George T. Budd, MD, of Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues found no difference in disease-free survival among four different combinations of continuous or every-other-week...
In two studies recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine,1,2 whole-exome sequencing of DNA from peripheral blood cells of individuals unselected for hematologic phenotype showed that clonal hematopoiesis with somatic mutations is increasingly common with increasing age and is...
In a phase III trial (PROFILE 1014) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Benjamin J. Solomon, MB, BS, PhD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, and colleagues found that the ALK inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori) improved progression-free survival vs standard chemotherapy in...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On February 13, 2015, lenvatinib (Lenvima) was approved for the...
In a randomized phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Robert J. Motzer, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues found that the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor antibody nivolumab (Opdivo) was associated with...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On February 23, 2015, panobinostat (Farydak) was granted...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On February 18, 2015, the indication for lenalidomide (Revlimid)...
In a phase III trial (SOFT) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Prudence A. Francis, MD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia, Meredith M. Regan, ScD, of IBCSG Statistical Centre at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues found that the addition of...
In a study reported in JAMA, Justin E. Bekelman, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and colleagues found that approximately two-thirds of patients with early-stage breast cancer for whom hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation (for 3–5 weeks) was endorsed received...
The phase III CRYSTAL trial showed that the addition of cetuximab (Erbitux) to first-line FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan) significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates in patients with KRAS codon 12/13 (exon 2) wild-type...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On March 4, 2015, the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) ...
In a planned interim analysis of the phase III ASPIRE trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, A. Keith Stewart, MB, ChB, of the Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, and colleagues found that the addition of the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to lenalidomide...
In the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 30994 trial, a phase III intergroup study reported in The Lancet Oncology,1 Cora N. Sternberg, MD, FACP, Chief of Medical Oncology at San Camillo and Forlanini Hospitals, Rome, and colleagues found no overall survival...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On March 6, 2015, the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor...
Immunohistochemistry results can be further evaluated by a semiquantitative approach used to assign an H-score (or “histo” score) to tumor samples.1,2 First, membrane staining intensity (0, 1+, 2+, or 3+) is determined for each cell in a fixed field. The H-score may simply be based on a predominant ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Jeffrey D. Bradley, MD, of Washington University, and colleagues, the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0617 trial showed no survival benefit of high- vs standard-dose radiotherapy or addition of cetuximab (Erbitux) to concurrent...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On March 10, 2015, the chimeric monoclonal antibody dinutuximab...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Edith A. Perez, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, and colleagues found that an immune function gene profile was associated with significantly improved relapse-free survival among patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer who...
In a phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 Nabil Ahmed, MD, MSc, of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and colleagues, found that infusion of T cells expressing HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) with a CD28.ζ signaling domain (HER2-CAR T cells) could produce...
In an analysis from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 89803 adjuvant trial reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues found consistent trends suggesting benefit of aspirin use and cyclo-oxygenase-2...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 researchers at the National Cancer Institute observed complete regression of metastatic cervical tumors in two patients following a single infusion of human papillomavirus (HPV)-targeted tumor-infiltrating T cells. In the protocol, nine patients...
Retrospective analyses of the ATAC, TEAM, and BIG 1-98 adjuvant endocrine therapy trials in breast cancer have suggested that treatment-emergent endocrine symptoms may be associated with superior survival outcomes. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vered Stearns, MD,...
In the phase III PRIME II trial, designed to assess whether whole-breast irradiation could be omitted in women aged ≥ 65 years with early-stage breast cancer undergoing breast-conserving surgery and receiving adjuvant endocrine treatment, Ian H. Kunkler, MB BChir, FRCR, of Western General Hospital, ...
In a study reported in Lancet, Jolyn Hersch, MApplSc, of the University of Sydney, and colleagues found that use of a decision aid containing information on overdetection in breast cancer screening was associated with an increased rate of informed choice regarding screening, a reduced rate of...
In the phase III AETHERA trial reported in The Lancet, Craig H. Moskowitz, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues found that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) consolidation therapy after autologous stem cell transplantation prolonged progression-free survival by 18 months vs...
In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Cominelli and colleagues found that EGFR amplification/overexpression was associated with improved response of glioblastoma to adjuvant metronomic (every day of a 28 day cycle at a dosing of 50-75 mg/m2) but not standard (5...
In a study exploring the mechanisms of stabilized disease vs tumor regression with targeted anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy in colorectal cancer reported in Science Translational Medicine, Zanella and colleagues found that stable disease as response was characterized by...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kobold and colleagues assessed whether combining tumor-specific T cells modified with a marker antigen and a bispecific antibody that selectively recognizes transduced T cells and tumor cells could improve T-cell recruitment to...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Sandra M. Swain, MD, of Washington Cancer Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and colleagues, the final prespecified overall survival analysis in the phase III CLEOPATRA study showed a significant 15.7-month increase in median overall ...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On April 24, the monoclonal antibody ramucirumab (Cyramza) was...
In the phase III KEYNOTE-006 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, Head of the Dermatology Unit at the Institut Gustave Roussy, Paris, and colleagues found that the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda) increased...
In a randomized trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, William Breitbart, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues found that meaning-centered group psychotherapy significantly improved psychological well-being compared with supportive group psychotherapy in...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Martin Schlumberger, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, and colleagues found that the multikinase inhibitor lenvatinib (Lenvima) produced a large improvement in progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with advanced...
In a study reported in JAMA, Javaid Iqbal, MD, of Women’s College Research Institute, Toronto, and colleagues found racial/ethnic differences in the likelihood of breast cancer diagnosis at stage I and subsequent survival in U.S. breast cancer patients.1 These differences seemed largely to reflect...
In a phase II study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues found that adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab (Herceptin) was associated with high invasive disease-free survival in women with small, node-negative,...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Antonio C. Wolff, MD, of Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, and colleagues found a low but higher-than-expected incidence of marrow neoplasms in patients receiving adjuvant radiation therapy or chemotherapy...
In the phase III MAINSAIL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, of Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues found that the addition of lenalidomide (Revlimid) to docetaxel-prednisone in chemotherapy-naive men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Matthew J. Resnick, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and colleagues, ASCO has endorsed the 2014 American Cancer Society Prostate Cancer Survivorship Care Guidelines.1,2 The ASCO endorsement panel was co-chaired by Dr. Resnick and David...
In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Chacon and colleagues found that ex vivo manipulation of the tumor microenvironment could enhance expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes for use in adoptive cell therapy. The addition of an agonistic anti–4-1BB antibody during initial tumor...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Church and colleagues assessed whether proofreading mutations in POLE (which encodes the DNA polymerase epsilon catalytic subunit) were associated with prognosis in endometrial cancer. Such mutations have been reported in...
Gene fusions resulting in androgen receptor–modulated ERG gene overexpression can be found in up to 70% of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Attard and colleagues assessed the effect of ERG rearrangement on outcomes in...
In the phase III RAISE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, Head of Medical Oncology at Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, and colleagues found that the addition of the antiangiogenic anti–vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) antibody...
In a phase III trial (CheckMate 037) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, of the Moffitt Cancer Center, and colleagues found that treatment with the PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) resulted in a significantly greater response rate vs...
In the phase II CUSTOM trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ariel Lopez-Chavez, MD, Anish Thomas, MD, and colleagues performed molecular profiling of tumors in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), or thymic malignancies and...
In an analysis of Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) studies reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Devansu Tewari, MD, of Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center, and colleagues found that intraperitoneal chemotherapy was associated with a survival advantage compared with intravenous...
In a study reported in The Lancet, the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer found that use of menopausal hormone therapy was associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer, with risk being highest among current users.1 The study consisted of meta-analyses of...
In the phase I KEYNOTE-001 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 Edward B. Garon, MD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues found that the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda)...