Longer-term follow-up of the global phase III monarchE trial showed an increasing benefit for adding abemaciclib to endocrine therapy in the adjuvant treatment of early high-risk hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, regardless of Ki67 index. The latest findings were reported at a ...
S. M. Qasim Hussaini, MD, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, discusses findings from a nationwide study of the association between living in areas with discriminatory mortgage practices from the 1930s with present-day access to quality colon cancer care. The...
Following a Mediterranean diet rich in fiber, monounsaturated fatty acids, and polyphenols may be associated with improved immunotherapy response rates and progression-free survival in patients with advanced melanoma, according to a recent study presented at the United European Gastroenterology...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Voleti et al identified the proportion of patients with cancer receiving routine clinical care who reported financial hardship and analyzed risk factors for financial hardship. The researchers found that patients who reported experiencing financial...
Just 1 month after the DESTINY-Breast04 data were presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting Plenary Session,1 an ASCO expert panel released updated guidance that endorses the adoption of the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) into clinical practice for patients with...
Although standard therapies may provide long-lasting remissions for many patients with various subtypes of lymphoma, there is a critical need for new strategies for the sizable high-risk subset. At the 2022 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference, four experts in the field described future therapies for...
An overall survival benefit has now emerged for sacituzumab govitecan-hziy in women with previously treated, hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative, locally recurrent, inoperable or metastatic breast cancer, according to a planned second interim analysis of the phase III TROPiCS-02 trial.1 The...
Pembrolizumab (anti–PD-1 therapy) plus chemotherapy continued to demonstrate a survival benefit and durable responses as first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the results of two phase III trials.1,2 Five-year overall survival was improved in both...
Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) accounts for less than 1% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas and between 3% and 4% of all brain tumors, with an age-adjusted incidence rate of four cases per million persons per year. Approximately 1,500 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United...
The results of SWOG S18011 were met with enthusiasm by attendees at the Presidential Symposium of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022. The ASCO Post captured the thoughts of several melanoma experts, who had somewhat different ideas about the immediate clinical...
In resectable stage III to IV melanoma, three cycles of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab was significantly more beneficial than adjuvant pembrolizumab alone, based on the results of the phase II SWOG S1801 trial presented in a Presidential Symposium at the European...
With the aging of the world population, geriatric oncology is becoming a mainstay. Over the past year in The ASCO Post, we published a couple of articles on the history of oncology, including one on the history of geriatric oncology in the United States and Europe. Our goal was to promote a...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 915 trial showed no improvement in recurrence-free survival with adjuvant nivolumab/ipilimumab vs nivolumab in patients with resected stage IIIB–D or IV melanoma. Study Details In...
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Oncology, Allen S. Ho, MD, and colleagues found evidence that active surveillance may be a suitable treatment for most patients with low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma. Study Details The prospective study included 222 patients enrolled at...
Over the past few years, we have seen rapid and dramatic transformation in the therapeutic landscape of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We have had multiple new targeted therapies for newer targets (previously undruggable targets) and better diagnostic strategies to workup patients to realize...
The addition of the CTLA-4 inhibitor tremelimumab to durvalumab and chemotherapy in the first-line setting has already demonstrated an overall survival and progression-free survival benefit vs chemotherapy alone in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). According to data...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ji et al, the HOPE study (Hurria Older Patients [HOPE] with Breast Cancer Study) has shown that older women categorized as robust prior to adjuvant chemotherapy are at risk for clinical decline postchemotherapy, with high baseline levels of the...
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH, has assumed the role of Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Dr. Fagan, an expert on tobacco-related health disparities and co-founder of the...
ASCO and the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) jointly released two resources to help research sites increase racial and ethnic equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in cancer clinical trials. The Just ASK™ Increasing Diversity in Cancer Clinical Research: An ACCC-ASCO Training...
The incorporation of blood-based measurements—ie, “liquid biopsies”—into imaging assessment may refine the accuracy of prognosis in aggressive lymphomas, as described by David Kurtz, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, in a talk at the 2022...
The addition of the CTLA-4 inhibitor tremelimumab to durvalumab and chemotherapy in the first-line setting has already demonstrated an overall survival and progression-free survival benefit vs chemotherapy alone in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). According to data...
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs)1 and overturned Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey, which recognized a federal constitutional right to end a pregnancy up to the point of viability. This decision opened the door for states to...
Germline testing may be warranted for all patients with lung cancer, according to research presented during the August 2022 ASCO Plenary Series by Renato G. Martins, MD, MPH, Chair of Hematology Oncology and Palliative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, Richmond.1 The...
The ASCO Nominating Committee has selected 11 distinguished members as candidates for open leadership positions within the Society. Voting members are urged to vote in the election beginning November 2, 2022. Voting will close on December 6, 2022. President-Elect (4-year term) Robin Zon, MD, FACP, ...
Newly released results from the phase III ADAURA trial revealed that osimertinib yielded a 5.5-year median disease-free survival in the postsurgical treatment of patients with EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and nearly three in four patients treated with adjuvant osimertinib were...
Richard S. Finn, MD, of the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses primary phase III results from the LEAP-002 study of pembrolizumab, an anti–PD-1 therapy, plus lenvatinib, the orally available multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, vs lenvatinib...
An overall survival benefit has now emerged for sacituzumab govitecan-hziy in patients with previously treated hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative locally recurrent inoperable or metastatic breast cancer, according to a planned second interim analysis of the phase III TROPiCS-02 trial. These...
“I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning!” —Steve Jobs Relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma remains a treatment challenge. Promising responses have been demonstrated with bispecific antibodies, with a...
The numbers are dizzying. The costs of cancer care in the United States are rising so fast that by 2030, it is projected the national cancer-attributable costs will total more than $246 billion, up from $183 billion in 2015—a 34% increase.1 And although the total global economic burden of cancer is ...
ASCO has issued a new practice guideline update on the use of biomarkers in the management of metastatic breast cancer.1 The updated guideline revisits recommendations from the 2015 guideline and addresses topics that have emerged since then in the move toward personalized medicine in metastatic...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, and colleagues, the phase III TROPiCS-02 trial has shown a significant progression-free survival benefit with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy vs chemotherapy in previously treated patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive,...
When combined with radiotherapy as definitive treatment of locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, cisplatin at a dose of 40 mg/m2 weekly is noninferior to cisplatin at 100 mg/m2 every 3 weeks, according to the results of the ConCERT trial.1 These findings were presented by Atul...
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) alone may be considered an effective treatment option for “low-risk” T1–2N1 and T3N0 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, according to trial data presented by Jun Ma, MD, MS, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China,...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Marcia S. Brose, MD, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, the phase III COSMIC-311 trial has shown that cabozantinib produced a numerically higher objective response rate and significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs...
On September 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cabozantinib (Cabometyx) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer that has progressed following prior vascular endothelial growth...
Advanced radiotherapy techniques may reduce the risk of severe and debilitating toxicity associated with radiation, but not all patients have equal access to these modalities, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Retrospective analysis of the...
Head and neck cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the world, with 1.1 million new diagnoses reported annually.1 In the United States, the incidence of oral and pharyngeal cancers is over 54,000 cases per year, resulting in over 11,000 yearly deaths.2 Although smoking and alcohol consumption ...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on the herb dong...
Two ASCO guideline updates provide new evidence-based recommendations for the systemic treatment of stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with and without driver alterations.1,2 Among several other updates, these new guidelines add the ALK and ROS1 inhibitor lorlatinib and the PD-L1 immune...
In an English retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: Cardio-Oncology, Helen Strongman, PhD, of the Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues found that cardiovascular mortality ultimately exceeded mortality from common...
Anthony S. Fauci, MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), announced his intention to step down from his various roles in December 2022. He issued the following statement on August 22: I am announcing today that I will be stepping down from the positions...
Updated results from the adjuvant APHINITY trial in HER2-positive early breast cancer, now with a median follow-up of 8.4 years, confirmed the benefit of adding pertuzumab to trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in preventing invasive disease recurrences, but as yet no statistically significant overall...
Katrina S. Pedersen, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, said while the results of the phase II -SEQUENCE trial1 are encouraging and the drugs are available to translate into the clinic without delay, phase III validation would be needed...
The 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting was filled with important science, engaging data, and several practice-changing abstracts, many of which have been covered in detail on other pages or in earlier issues of The ASCO Post. There were numerous high-impact studies and attendees, whether present at the...
As a nonpartisan organization, the American Cancer Society has an overarching goal to improve the lives of patients with cancer and their families. We believe all individuals should have an equitable opportunity to prevent, find, detect, and survive cancer, irrespective of geography. The June 24...
About 3 years ago, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute launched PROMISE (Predicting Progression of Developing Myeloma in a High-Risk Screen Population; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03689595), a large, ambitious screening study to identify individuals at high risk of developing...
An article in The New York Times earlier this year crystallized the dilemma facing health-care providers when they are presented with a patient in a life-threatening situation: Should they rely on advance care directives written years prior to the current medical situation to accurately determine...
On August 11, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd; Enhertu) for adult patients with unresectable or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have activating HER2 mutations, as detected by an...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Sherer et al found that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening was associated with reduced prostate cancer mortality among both non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White U.S. veterans who developed prostate cancer. Annual vs some screening was associated...
In a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schoot et al provided findings from the European Paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group MTS 2008 and pooled findings of MTS 2008 with those of the concurrent BERNIE study, both of which evaluated strategies for the treatment of pediatric...