In a recent issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Coleman et al released the results from the GOG-0213 trial, a multicenter, randomized prospective trial that compared secondary cytoreduction followed by chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone in women with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian ...
The phase II KEYNOTE-890 trial is a small but interesting study in patients with inoperable advanced triple-negative breast cancer. After one injection of intratumoral tavokinogene telseplasmid, a plasmid encoding the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12), followed by electroporation and...
Women with early-stage breast cancer who test positive for an inherited genetic variant are not always receiving cancer treatment that follows current treatment guidelines, according to findings from a new study published by Allison W. Kurian, MD, MSc, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology. An inherited ...
Survival outcomes for patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck have made significant gains in recent years, but new research published by Pike et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has found some groups have not...
Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, Director of the Jon and JoAnn Hagler Center for Lymphoma at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, commented on the study by Topp et al for The ASCO Post. “Earlier use of steroids with axicabtagene ciloleucel...
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation recently announced that 12 scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named the 2020 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. Six initial grants of $400,000 over 2 years were awarded to seven early-career scientists...
Ludwig Cancer Research has announced the appointment of Douglas Hanahan, PhD, as a Distinguished Scholar at the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. A molecular biologist and cancer researcher, Dr. Hanahan has made several seminal discoveries in cancer biology and...
In October 2014, I noticed a small pea-sized lump on the left side of my cheek. It didn’t hurt, and I didn’t have any physical symptoms that could connect the lump with a rare and serious disease, but I was curious enough about what the lump could be to get it checked out by my primary care...
Laura van’t Veer, PhD, Co-Founder of Agendia Inc. and developer of MammaPrint, the 70-gene risk of recurrence assay for patients with breast cancer, was recognized at the Precision Medicine World Conference (PMWC) with its Luminary Award. This award recognizes those individuals who have made...
The gaming community showed their support to the oncology community by donating proceeds throughout a 10th Anniversary celebration of a week-long, 24-hour, speedrunning marathon. The charity event, Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ), concluded on January 12, 2020, raising a total of $3.13 million, the ...
Dolores Hambardzumyan, PhD, MBA, has been appointed Senior Faculty in the Department of Neurosurgery and a member of The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research focuses on developing novel therapeutic pathways for the treatment of glioblastoma. She is...
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) has announced Aaron Crane as the new Executive Vice President. Mr. Crane will lead the organization’s strategic development, including its long-range financial plan and the upcoming clinic expansion at the South Lake Union campus. Since joining the organization...
Lung cancer expert Karen L. Reckamp, MD, MS, has been selected to be Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. Dr. Reckamp also will serve as Medical Oncology Director of the Women’s Guild Lung Institute in Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Medicine and Associate Director for ...
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 my 45 years of practicing hematology/oncology at a major urban academic medical center, I have observed a sea change in daily practice that contributes to physician burnout. Although the emotional stresses of caring for seriously ill people play a part in physician burnout, I find the daily...
The history of medicine once was featured in medical school curricula. That is becoming less common due to time restriction and the increased prevalence of more technical topics. However, the importance of the history of medicine cannot be overstated: It shapes every aspect of our cultural,...
The art of oncology practice is tailored to the individual patient with cancer, and with the advent of highly personalized targeted therapies, patient outcomes have improved markedly over the past several decades. Although much of oncology practice is guideline- or protocol-driven, chemotherapy...
A year-by-year age analysis of colorectal cancer rates among adults in the United States has found a 46% increase in new diagnoses from ages 49 to 50, indicating that many latent cases of the disease are likely going undiagnosed until routine screenings begin at 50, according to a new study by...
A study published by Longacre et al in The Journal of Rural Health found that patients with breast cancer in the rural United States typically travel three times farther than those who live in urban areas for radiation therapy. Researchers examined data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End ...
A study published by Anthony Lucci, MD, and colleagues in Clinical Cancer Research showed that the presence of circulating tumor cells was independently associated with relapse of melanoma, suggesting circulating tumor cell assessment may be a useful tool for identifying patients at risk for...
A simple test using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may be used to predict how well people with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer will respond to treatment, according to the results of a new study published by Winfield et al in Radiology. In a large clinical trial, scientists have shown a...
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released two coordinated reports in light of World Cancer Day in response to government calls for more research into the scope and potential policies and programs to improve cancer control. WHO Report...
Today’s World Cancer Day, led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), aims to mobilize urgent action from individuals, governments, and the global cancer community to close gaps in cancer risk awareness between higher and lower socioeconomic groups and the subsequent impact on their...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel immunotherapies for patients with different types of non-Hodgkin...
The American Medical Association Foundation (AMAF) recently announced a new initiative to create a cadre of LGBTQ health specialists through the AMA Foundation LGBTQ Fellowship Program—a national fellowship program to promote best practices and shared outcomes, while improving the quality of LGBTQ ...
Commenting on Dr. DeMichele’s poster presentation at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, FASCO, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, told The ASCO...
Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors are changing the landscape of the treatment of hormone receptor (HR)-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer. Three CDK4/6 inhibitors are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—ribociclib, palbociclib, and abemaciclib—as first- or...
Unlike ASCO’s Annual Meeting, symposia, and conferences, which highlight the current scientific advances in specific cancers and how they are improving cancer outcomes for the more than 18.1 million people worldwide diagnosed with cancer each year,1 ASCO Breakthrough: A Global Summit for Oncology...
In the first comparative clinical trial of lung cancer screening decision aid vs standard educational information, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center showed that a decision aid delivered through tobacco quitlines effectively reaches a screening-eligible population...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to a treatment for lung and thyroid cancers with a RET fusion or mutation; gave Breakthrough Therapy designation to a doublet therapy for TP53-mutated myelodysplastic syndromes; and issued an update to their...
Among men with prostate cancer who received care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health System, an equal-access health-care system, African American men did not have more advanced disease at the time of diagnosis or die earlier than white men, unlike trends seen in the greater...
With nearly all patients who undergo treatment for cancer of the head and neck experiencing oral mucositis, effective pain control is one of the main goals of physicians and care teams. Looking to provide more effective relief for patients—while also reducing the need for opioid painkillers—a team...
Thomas Yau, MBBS, of the University of Hong Kong, discusses this triplet combination, which yielded better responses than doublet combination therapy in patients with advanced liver cancer, but with more severe adverse events and more treatment discontinuations (Abstract 478).
Brian M. Wolpin, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses a noninvasive blood test evaluating methylation of circulating free DNA. In his study, the blood test detected multiple gastrointestinal cancers at a sensitivity of approximately 81% and a prespecified specificity of > 99%. It also...
Basem M. William, MD, MRCP(UK), FACP, Director of the T-Cell Lymphoma Program and Member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, Columbus, Ohio, commented on the...
A tumor-highlighting technology—OTL38—enhances the visualization of lung cancer tissue, providing surgeons with a significantly better chance of finding and removing more cancer than previously possible, according to a scientific presentation by Gangadharan et al at the Plenary Session of the 56th...
Advanced-stage cancer diagnoses declined following health insurance expansion in Massachusetts, likely due to increased access to screening and diagnostic services that identified cancers earlier, according to new research published by Sabik et al in the journal Medical Care. The analysis...
Some patients with cancer celebrate the end of a course of radiation or chemotherapy by ringing a bell. Indeed, many patients say they love the graduation-like ceremony and the sense of closure it gives them. However, a study published by Williams et al in the International Journal of Radiation...
Danielle S. Bitterman, MD, of the Harvard University Radiation Oncology Program and Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses an analysis of genomic and clinical data from 97 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with circulating tumor DNA. Mutations were most frequently detected in...
Thibaud Kössler, MD, PhD, of Geneva University Hospital, discusses the first trial to study the efficacy and safety of anti–PD-1 immunotherapy plus short-course radiotherapy in localized microsatellite-stable rectal cancer. The study explores whether a gene signature can predict sensitivity to...
Eyal Meiri, MD, of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southeastern Regional Medical Center, discusses his findings on heavily pretreated patients with colorectal cancer with high tumor mutational burden. Monotherapy with pembrolizumab showed antitumor activity, which merits further study to ...
Franck Pagès, MD, PhD, of the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, discusses study findings from the prospective IDEA France cohort study of patients with stage III colon cancer treated with mFOLFOX6. The study showed that patients with an intermediate or high Immunoscore seemed to benefit from 6...
Van K. Morris, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the COBRA study, which is examining circulating tumor DNA and its ability to predict whether patients with resected stage IIA colon cancer may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy (Abstract TPS261).
Peter R. Galle, MD, of the University Medical Center, Mainz, discusses patient-reported outcomes from this phase III study, which showed the combination of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab vs sorafenib is well tolerated and may represent a new standard of care in the first-line setting for...
Zev A. Wainberg, MD, of the UCLA Medical Center, discusses the first subset analysis of how a combined positive score in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers related to the efficacy of pembrolizumab in PD-L1–positive disease (Abstract 427).
Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, of USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses how treating microsatellite instability–high/DNA mismatch repair–deficient metastatic colorectal cancer with nivolumab once every 2 weeks plus low-dose ipilimumab every 6 weeks may represent a new option for patients...
As first-line treatment of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and a germline BRCA/PALB2 mutation, cisplatin plus gemcitabine yielded high response rates and encouraging survival, establishing this doublet as a standard approach in this subset of patients, according to Eileen M....
Patient enrollment in clinical trials as the first course of treatment after cancer diagnosis is low, despite the fact that enrollment may increase life expectancy, according to research published by Zaorsky et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Researchers also found ...
Residents of rural, sparsely populated “frontier counties” in the western United States have a higher incidence of skin cancer and related mortality rates. New research published by Jensen et al in Psychology, Health & Medicine indicated that the biggest obstacle to early detection and...
On January 27, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took action to cover U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved or –cleared laboratory diagnostic tests using next-generation sequencing (NGS) for patients with germline ovarian or breast cancer. Over the last several years, CMS ...