In patients with triple-negative breast cancer, the addition of pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy achieves higher rates of pathologic complete response compared with placebo, according to results of the phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial presented at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer ...
Capecitabine improves disease-free and overall survival for patients with triple-negative breast cancer, but only when it is added to other systemic therapies, not when it is used as a substitute, according to a large meta-analysis of the effects of capecitabine in early breast cancer, The results...
A. Jo Chien, MD, Associate Professor at UCSF’s Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, was the formal discussant of this abstract. Dr. Chien said that a median follow-up of 3-years is relatively short for this trial, considering about 75% of patients had hormone receptor–positive...
Results of the randomized, phase II ATEMPT trial showed that the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) failed to demonstrate improved safety when compared with paclitaxel plus trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy in patients with stage 1 HER2-positive breast cancer. These results of...
In heavily pretreated patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer [fam-]trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd), a novel antibody-drug conjugate, achieved high response rates and durable responses, according to results of the phase II DESTINY-Breast01 trial presented at the 2019 San Antonio...
The investigational oral agent tucatinib added to trastuzumab/capecitabine reduced the risk of death by one-third and reduced the risk of disease progression or death by one-half in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, including those with untreated or previously ...
More than 7,500 specialists in breast oncology from over 90 countries attended the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) held last December. Researchers convened to present a wide-ranging array of abstracts and posters featuring important new data in the treatment of breast cancer....
An international team of clinicians and researchers have described the pathology of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, for the first time. Their findings were published by Tian et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. The article’s senior author, Shu-Yuan Xiao, MD, from the University of Chicago ...
A monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) inhibitor in use for decades as an antidepressant demonstrated activity in patients with recurrent prostate cancer, with most toxicities seen with the treatment being reported as mild. These findings were published by Gross et al in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic...
In a pooled analysis of phase I/II trials reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hong et al found that the tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor larotrectinib produced a high response rate in pediatric and adult patients with advanced TRK fusion–positive solid tumors. Larotrectinib received...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Delaloge et al, a second randomized component of the phase III EORTC 10041/BIG 3-04 MINDACT trial, though underpowered, suggested no benefit of docetaxel/capecitabine vs standard anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy for patients with early breast...
In a phase Ib/II trial (BTRC-GU14-003) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dudek et al found that the combination of pembrolizumab and bevacizumab showed activity in patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. As stated by the investigators, “Anti-angiogenic treatment has...
In patients with metastatic seminoma, the early use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)–positron-emission tomography (PET) to risk-stratify patients enabled the de-escalation of chemotherapy, avoiding treatment with bleomycin—one of the most toxic drugs used to treat this cancer—and excessive doses of...
Richard E. Champlin, MD, Chairman of the nation’s largest Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, was born in Milwaukee and spent his formative years in Chicago. After high school, Dr. Champlin followed an early ambition in...
In a phase I trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Jabbour et al found that the use of pembrolizumab concurrently with chemoradiotherapy in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was tolerable, and that progression-free survival with the combination therapy was 69.7% at 12 months. As stated by the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Talia Golan, MD, and colleagues identified geographic and ethnic heterogeneity of germline BRCA1/2 mutation prevalence among patients screened for entry into the phase III POLO trial, which examined the efficacy of olaparib maintenance...
In the phase III SOLO3 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Richard T. Penson, MD, and colleagues found that olaparib was associated with an improved objective response rate and progression-free survival vs nonplatinum chemotherapy in women with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian...
Daniel V.T. Catenacci, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at the University of Chicago, was the JAVELIN Gastric 100 study’s invited discussant. After offering an extensive background on the use of immunotherapy in gastric or gastroesophageal...
In the phase III JAVELIN Gastric 100 trial, a strategy called “switch maintenance” with the immune checkpoint inhibitor avelumab after 12 weeks of first-line induction chemotherapy did not statistically improve overall survival for treatment-naive patients with HER2-negative advanced gastric or...
The best approach for surgeons to identify malnourished patients with cancer before they have major oncologic surgery may be specifically related to the type of cancer the patient has, according to researchers who found that common definitions of malnutrition do not apply equally to all cancers in...
In an analysis from the NRG Oncology RTOG 1203 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yeung et al found improved patient-reported gastrointestinal toxicity with intensity-modulated radiotherapy vs standard radiotherapy among patients with cervical or endometrial cancer requiring...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, and colleagues, interim analyses of the phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial have shown that the addition of pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and use of adjuvant pembrolizumab vs placebo resulted in improvements in...
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, Gary Deng, MD, PhD, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on active hexose...
In the French phase II CABONE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Italiano et al found that the MET and VEGFR2 inhibitor cabozantinib was active in patients with advanced Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma. Study Details In the multicenter trial, 81 evaluable patients aged ≥ 12 years with progressive ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, and colleagues, long-term follow-up of patients with previously treated advanced programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the KEYNOTE-010 trial has shown a continued survival...
In posters presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, POLO investigators reported that health-related quality of life was preserved during maintenance olaparib in patients with BRCA 1/2-positive pancreatic cancer, as evidenced by a low symptom burden over time.1 Other studies...
Immune modulation with checkpoint inhibitors has shown benefit in advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, but responses have been limited to a small number of patients. According to data presented by Gregory T. Wolf, MD, FACS, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and...
The mTOR inhibitor everolimus may extend progression-free survival for patients with advanced head and neck cancer who are at high risk for recurrence after standard treatment. Patients enrolled in a randomized phase II trial who received the agent were more likely to be cancer-free 1 year after...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Petrelli et al, noninferiority in relapse-free survival for 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy was not established among patients with resected high-risk stage II colorectal cancer in the Italian phase III TOSCA trial. A potential regimen effect was observed,...
Results from a new clinical trial suggest that neoadjuvant immunotherapy for oral cavity cancers may elicit tumor regression, which could provide long-term benefit for patients. Findings were presented by Jonathan D. Schoenfeld, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, and...
A new phase II trial has found that the combination of radiation therapy and pembrolizumab led to improved survival outcomes and acceptable toxicity for patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The combination therapy may offer a new treatment option for...
On February 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved neratinib (Nerlynx), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in combination with capecitabine for adult patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received two or more prior anti-HER2–based regimens in the...
In a phase Ib study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shanu Modi, MD, and colleagues found that the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan was active in HER2–low-expressing, previously treated advanced breast cancer. The drug component is a topoisomerase I inhibitor. The agent...
In a European phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Martin-Broto et al found that pazopanib showed activity in patients with typical solitary fibrous tumors. The investigators previously reported findings with pazopanib treatment in a cohort of patients in the trial with advanced...
Beginning this year, oncology specialists will have the opportunity to pursue a more flexible and less burdensome path to maintaining recertification. The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)/ASCO Medical Oncology: Learning & Assessment (MOLA) is a lower-stakes Maintenance of...
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 allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation. For full...
OCE Insights is an occasional department developed for The ASCO Post by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this installment, Mitchell Chan, PharmD, BCPS, Regulatory Project Manager; Tamy Kim, PharmD, Associate Director of Regulatory ...
Given as maintenance therapy, the checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab significantly improved overall survival in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and yielded a numerical but not significant benefit as well for patients expressing programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), in...
With the motto of “leaving no one behind,” 420 delegates from 40 countries and 61 faculty members from 19 countries attended the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) in Geneva on November 14–16, 2019. SIOG serves as a platform to discuss a myriad of aspects...
A noninvasive, blood-based, cell-free DNA test focused on the presence of DNA methylation appears to be highly sensitive in detecting gastrointestinal cancers and may pinpoint the tissue of origin in the vast majority of these cancers.1 The assay was developed based on findings from the...
AS A YOUNG CLINICIAN, I was interested in making a difference; it did not matter how much of a difference, as long as I could claim some patient benefit. And I really didn’t care what benefit: better survival, less local recurrence, shorter hospital stays, fewer narcotics—the specifics did not...
Studies have shown that all patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma had a preceding asymptomatic expansion of clonal plasma cells, clinically recognized as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance or smoldering multiple myeloma. According to C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, Professor of...
For the first-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab provided a significant overall survival benefit in the pivotal IMbrave150 trial. New findings from a prespecified analysis also showed numerous benefits for the doublet in terms of quality of life,...
Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service at Columbia University, offered her thoughts on venetoclax-based regimens, such as the one described by Dr. Kaufman. “Despite tremendous progress in the treatment of multiple myeloma, the...
In a phase I/II study of patients with advanced multiple myeloma and t(11;14) translocations, the combination of venetoclax and dexamethasone showed strong, durable activity, even in patients refractory to daratumumab, study investigators reported at the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Brown et al, the phase III NRG Oncology CC001 trial has shown superior cognitive function outcomes with hippocampal avoidance using intensity-modulated radiotherapy during whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) for the treatment of adult patients with...
In the phase II FAKTION trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jones et al found that the addition of the AKT inhibitor capivasertib to endocrine therapy with fulvestrant prolonged progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with aromatase inhibitor–resistant, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, ...
A retrospective analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, reported in The Lancet Oncology by Eugene Suh, MD, and colleagues, showed that as with survivors of childhood cancers, survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers are at increased risk of earlier mortality and chronic...
Using antioxidants and other dietary supplements before and during adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer may increase the risk of recurrence and “to a lesser extent, death,” according to an analysis of dietary and nutritional data from a phase III trial, published in the Journal of Clinical...
On February 19, 2020, ASCO issued a news release about a position statement on state drug repository programs, outlining the Society’s support for drug repository programs solely for oral medications provided they are maintained within a closed system. The Society also makes recommendations to help ...