Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most difficult-to-treat cancer types. Although there have been some advances in the past few years, the needle has not moved much on survival and prognosis. An important issue for those patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who respond to front-line...
The clot stabilizer tranexamic acid performed no better than placebo when administered prophylactically to prevent bleeding in patients with hematologic malignancies who also received routine prophylactic platelet transfusions, according to findings presented by Terry B. Gernsheimer, MD, and...
It has been well documented that, collectively, Black individuals have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group in the United States for most cancers. Black men also have the highest cancer incidence. Although the causes of these inequities are complex, a study by...
In a study of data from a Medicare fee-for-service population reported in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, and colleagues found that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a “substantial decrease in cancer screenings, visits, therapy, and surgeries among older patients with ...
In a population-based cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Zhai et al found that adjuvant therapies were associated with improved overall survival among patients with stage I (T1 N0 M0) triple-negative breast cancer, with adjuvant chemotherapy being associated with improved breast...
Sarcoma has bedeviled researchers for many years because of its heterogeneity. Sarcoma encompasses more than 100 different subtypes, which makes it difficult to design studies to identify effective therapies. As researchers dig deeper into the constellation of subtypes of sarcoma, some therapies...
A systematic meta-analysis has shown that statin users had a significantly reduced risk of colorectal cancer. The study included patients with and without inflammatory bowel disease, which is associated with an increased risk of this type of cancer. The largest chemopreventive effect was observed...
A study published by Michael S. Leapman, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology found substantial regional variation in the use of genomic testing for prostate cancer, raising questions about access and other factors that might promote rapid adoption of new cancer technologies. “Little was known...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Myint et al found that androgen receptor inhibitor therapy for prostate cancer was associated with an increased risk of both falls and fractures. Study Details The meta-analysis included 11 randomized trials reported through...
In a single-institution study reported in a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Aydillo et al found that SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be detected in patients with COVID-19 receiving immunosuppressive treatment for cancer for as long as 78 days after the onset of virus symptoms. The ...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued regulatory decisions for agents to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), biliary tract cancer, and graft-vs-host disease. Priority Review for Loncastuximab Tesirine...
Findings from a subgroup analysis of the phase III PAOLA-1/ENGOT-ov25 study presented by Fujiwara et al at the ESMO Asia Virtual Congress 2020 showed that the addition of olaparib to bevacizumab maintenance following standard platinum-based therapy plus bevacizumab provided a progression-free...
Social needs—such as food and economic insecurity, poor housing and neighborhood conditions, and lack of access to transportation—were common in a group of Black cancer survivors in Detroit. These factors were associated with lower health-related quality of life, according to findings published by...
In a retrospective case series reported in JAMA Network Open, Poon et al found that definitive stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) was associated with good long-term overall survival and delayed widespread disease progression—but “modest” progression-free survival—in adults with extracranial...
For patients who develop severe diarrhea or colitis while receiving checkpoint inhibitors, the immunosuppressive agent vedolizumab is preferred over infliximab, according to an expert on the topic from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. A retrospective comparison of outcomes with...
On December 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pralsetinib (Gavreto) for adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer who require systemic therapy, or for patients with RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer...
On December 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved gallium-68 PSMA-11—the first drug for positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive lesions in men with prostate cancer. Gallium-68 PSMA-11 is indicated for patients with suspected ...
Dual CTLA-4/PD-1 blockade with ipilimumab plus nivolumab provided durable responses in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, according to updated efficacy and safety findings from a phase II study presented by Kao et al at ESMO Asia Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 266O)....
Among patients with glioblastoma receiving an immune checkpoint inhibitor, those who received the corticosteroid dexamethasone at baseline for cerebral edema had significantly worse overall survival, according to results of a study published by Iorgulescu et al in Clinical Cancer Research....
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Markus Moehler, MD, and colleagues, the phase III JAVELIN Gastric 100 trial showed no improvement in overall survival with avelumab maintenance vs continued chemotherapy after first-line induction in HER2-negative, unresectable, locally advanced or ...
In a study reported as a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Hill et al found a low degree of concordance in risk categorization among commonly used smoldering multiple myeloma risk models. Study Details The study involved application of the Mayo Clinic Risk Stratification Model 2008, the Programa...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Guo et al found that the proportion of positive BRCA genetic test results markedly declined between 2008 and 2018 among women aged ≥ 65 years in the United States, with the trend likely reflecting what the investigators call a loosening of testing criteria...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Ian E. Smith, MD, and colleagues, the phase III POETIC trial found that perioperative aromatase inhibitor therapy did not reduce the risk of disease recurrence in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive early breast cancer vs no perioperative...
In a Swedish nationwide cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Marklund et al found that women who had undergone fertility preservation had a higher live birth rate, were more likely to use assisted reproductive technology, and had better overall survival after breast cancer than women who had not ...
In a retrospective case series reported in JAMA Oncology, Burns et al described clinical characteristics, treatment, experiences, and outcomes among transgender patients with cancer. As stated by the investigators, “Approximately 0.5% to 0.6% of the U.S. population identify as transgender, defined...
A study investigating a computational method that integrates deep learning on histology specimens with clinicodemographic variables has found that the artificial intelligence may help predict response to immune checkpoint blockade among patients with advanced melanoma. This computational approach...
On November 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to naxitamab (Danyelza) in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for pediatric patients aged 1 year and older and adult patients with relapsed or refractory high-risk...
Job loss is stressful no matter the circumstances. Recently, millions of people have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. To make matters more difficult, job loss in the United States can often mean a loss of health insurance. For people with cancer, losing a job is especially challenging...
The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project is ending 2020 by surpassing a goal established 20 years ago, reporting more than 1 million nurses and other professionals trained using the ELNEC curriculum. Administered through a partnership between the American Association of Colleges ...
A cohort study of 188,862 cases of all-stage melanomas of the trunk and extremities found no differences in overall survival between patients treated with Mohs micrographic surgery or with wide local excision.1 “These findings add to the existing body of evidence demonstrating that wide local...
You could call it a sixth sense, but the moment I felt a lump in my left breast I knew it was cancer, although it would take several weeks to confirm the diagnosis. When I saw my primary cancer physician and told him of my concern, he said: “Don’t worry. Men don’t get breast cancer; it’s a woman’s...
In a phase III trial (SORCE) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tim Eisen, FMedSci, FRCP, PhD, of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and colleagues found no disease-free survival benefit with 3 years of sorafenib vs placebo as adjuvant therapy in patients with renal...
In states that have expanded Medicaid availability as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), mortality rates for three major types of cancer are significantly lower than in states that have not expanded Medicaid availability, according to a recent study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer...
Nationally recognized oncologic surgeon Sandra L. Wong, MD, MS, FASCO, FACS, was born and raised in Stockton, California, a city on the San Joaquin River, in California’s Central Valley. “My parents were both immigrants, but unlike the stereotypical picture of hard-driving immigrant parents who...
In the French phase III Senti-MERORL trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Renaud Garrel, MD, PhD, of the University Hospital Center of Montpellier, France, and colleagues, found that sentinel node biopsy was equivalent to neck lymph node dissection in 2-year neck node...
My patient with metastatic colon cancer was sitting across from me after being absent for several months. His cancer had been under excellent control on chemotherapy, but now he was having worse pain and shortness of breath. Despite our calls, he had not kept his appointments. We were 6 feet apart, ...
Although William Dameshek, MD, is renowned for his work in hematology, especially in advancing the understanding of myeloproliferative disorders and their interrelatedness, his early interest in medicine was instead focused on such diverse diseases as hyperthyroidism and typhus fever. Born on May...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Karim Fizazi, MD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, University of Paris-Saclay, Villejuif, and colleagues, the phase III ARAMIS trial has shown significantly prolonged overall survival with darolutamide vs placebo in men with nonmetastatic...
In an Italian phase II trial (GIMEMA LAL2116) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Robin Foà, MD, of Sapienza University of Rome, and colleagues, found that first-line induction and consolidation treatment with dasatinib and blinatumomab produced a high rates of molecular response as...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD, of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, and colleagues, the phase III TOURMALINE-MM4 trial has shown that postinduction maintenance with ixazomib prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in...
In an analysis from the phase III ExteNET trial reported in Clinical Breast Cancer, Arlene Chan, MD, of the Breast Cancer Research Centre of Western Australia and Curtin University, Perth, and colleagues, found significant improvements in efficacy outcomes with administration of neratinib vs...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, of Yale School of Medicine, and colleagues, the phase III IMpower110 trial has shown significantly prolonged overall survival with first-line atezolizumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy in metastatic non–small cell lung...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Stephen R.D. Johnston, MD, PhD, of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, and colleagues, an interim analysis in the phase III monarchE trial has shown that adjuvant abemaciclib plus endocrine therapy significantly improved invasive...
New diagnostic criteria and modern imaging techniques, a wealth of new therapeutics, and an update on current thinking as to when to treat patients with smoldering myeloma were highlighted during the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2020 Virtual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies™....
“Both KarMMa and CARTITUDE-1 trials presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program showed exceptional results, not only in obtaining higher responses in the majority of patients but also in attaining high-quality responses,” said Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of...
Based on early results in clinical trials, interest in the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma has been high, especially for products targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). During the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, further support for CAR T-cell...
The SOLAR-1 invited discussant, Fatima Cardoso, MD, Director of the Breast Unit at the Champalimaud Clinical Center in Lisbon and Chair of the ABC Global Alliance, commented: “The overall survival results, though numerically different by almost 8 months, unfortunately do not reach statistical...
The statistically significant benefit of alpelisib in reducing disease progression, as reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2 years ago, did not translate into a significant improvement in overall survival, although a numerical 8-month gain was observed in the final ...
“There has been a lot of interest in the development of new antiandrogens” for clinical use in patients with breast cancer,” Anthony D. Elias, MD, reported in an update on male breast cancer at the 2020 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium, sponsored by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center...
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 October 14, 2020, the approval of pembrolizumab was...