IF THE INITIAL promise of research presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting bears fruit, we may one day have a simple blood test to screen for early-stage lung cancer and possibly other cancers. Although it is still very early days for this test, an initial report from the ongoing Circulating...
“TODAY WE HAVE good news, because IMpower 150 is another clear positive trial on the combination of chemotherapy with immunotherapy. This is true in terms of progression-free and overall survival, which are both statistically significant [for atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus bevacizumab (Avastin)...
BRUCE D. CHESON, MD, Director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, agreed that rituximab (Rituxan) plus lenalidomide (Revlimid; R2) is a reasonable first-line option, considering the findings of the RELEVANCE trial. “Dr. Fowler showed ...
RESEARCH TO DATE has not been able to identify a subgroup of patients with estrogen receptor–positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who do not derive benefit from the addition of inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4/6 (CDK4/6) to endocrine therapy, according to a study by the U.S. Food ...
Imagine health care in the not too distant future… JOHN IS GOING about his usual Saturday at home, when his health-care–enabled smart watch alerts him to a sudden rise in his heart rate. As he is wondering about the reason, he feels a sharp pain in his left lower quadrant. The tachycardia...
THE COMBINATION of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus platinum-based chemotherapy improved overall survival, response rates, and duration of response in patients with advanced squamous cell non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with chemotherapy alone irrespective of programmed cell death ligand 1 ...
Flight attendants showed an elevated incidence of several types of cancer compared with the general population, according to findings published by McNeely et al in Environmental Health. “Our findings of higher rates of several cancers among flight attendants is striking given the low rates...
A research team led by a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital epidemiologist has conducted the largest analysis to date of how adult survivors of childhood cancer view their health risk. The scientists found that a surprisingly high number of survivors showed a lack of concern for their...
In a Japanese phase III noninferiority trial (JCOG0504) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kayama et al found that salvage stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) was noninferior to whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for survival in patients with 1 to 4 resected brain metastases. In the...
The following essay by Sushil Bhardwaj, MD, is adapted, with permission, from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and...
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. Earlier this year, apalutamide (Erleada) was approved for ...
With the development of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test in the early 1990s, the urology community advocated for population screening of all men of a certain age, igniting a heated argument about the test’s clinical value vs potential harms that has not abated to this day. Moreover, from...
A new genetic test in bladder cancer could be key to reducing the cost of care while avoiding overtreatment in some patients, according to research published by Waldman et al in Clinical Cancer Research. Deciding whether to treat bladder cancer aggressively can be difficult—predictive...
Eight years ago, I was having a series of colds I couldn’t shake and pain that radiated throughout my back. Still, my symptoms weren’t concerning until, on Halloween morning in 2010, I stepped out of bed and fell to the floor in excruciating pain, unable to move. A visit to the emergency room and a ...
GUEST EDITOR Integrative Oncology is guest edited by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine and Chief, Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. “Mindfulness” has gained significant popularity in the lay press in recent...
GUEST EDITOR Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology explores the unique physical, psychosocial, social, emotional, sexual, and financial challenges adolescents and young adults with cancer face. The column is guest edited by Brandon Hayes-Lattin, MD, FACP, Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical...
Despite significant gains in improved access to public places, transportation, and job opportunities for people with disabilities since the enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990, the long history of discrimination in the social and medical treatment of people with disabilities is ...
Many cases of early-stage kidney cancer can be treated with a relatively new, nonsurgical procedure used to destroy tumors, a new study by Talenfeld et al in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests. The procedure, called percutaneous ablation, involves the insertion of a needle through the skin into...
The implementation of educational interventions among heavy equipment operators, or operating engineers, in Michigan significantly increased the use of sunscreen and decreased the number of sunburns, reported Duffy et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. “The rates of...
“Biosimilars foster competition and can lower the cost of biologic treatments for patients, yet the market for these products is not advancing as quickly as I hoped. I believe that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can do more to support the development of biosimilars, as well as...
The lungs can be a difficult organ to biopsy with a needle, so the promise of identifying lung cancer through a blood-based biopsy has lung cancer experts and patients optimistic. Knowing how and when to use a liquid biopsy is critically important and led global experts at the International...
New research led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators suggests that patients treated for nonmetastatic colon cancer may sharply reduce the risk that the disease will return by following a diet low in carbohydrates and other foods that raise insulin levels. In a study published by...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Psallidas et al developed a model that is predictive of 3-month survival in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Study Details The PROMISE study involved an analysis of 5 independent data sets from randomized trials to discover, validate, and prospectively ...
With growing concern among the medical community and the public regarding physician and medical student depression, burnout, and suicide, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted policy during its Annual Meeting that continues its efforts aimed at improving physician access to mental health...
In a single-center phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Teply et al found that bipolar androgen therapy can induce prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response and resensitization to enzalutamide (Xtandi) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer whose disease progressed on ...
DESPITE STEADY declines in death rates in recent years, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in wealthy countries. In a study published by Anita Andreano, MD, of the University of Milan-Ciocco, and colleagues in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology,1 Yale researchers collaborated with ...
Cardiovascular complications, such as anthracycline-related heart failure, are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in survivors of childhood cancer, often developing at a time when these survivors are least engaged in long-term survivorship care, prompting the need for new paradigms in...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, recently issued the following statement: Over the past decade, advances in our understanding of the basic biology of serious and life-threatening diseases has led to the development and FDA approval of targeted treatments for ...
Building on the efficacy of colorectal cancer screening, the American Medical Association (AMA) endorsed a plan at its Annual Meeting to work with physicians and payers to make the screening more available and affordable. Challenges with insurance coverage remain a barrier to colorectal cancer...
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. Gary Deng, MD, PhD, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on the potential health benefits ...
Valentina Nardi, MD, is a staff pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and her current clinical work includes implementing molecular assays for hematologic malignancies at the Center for Integrated Diagnostics. “I was born in Rome, but I did my high school and college education in Genoa. I ...
It may sound too good to be true, but asking patients a simple question about what is on their bucket list can actually spark a dialogue about how best to make their cancer care and survivorship fit into their life plans, as well as be an effective way to identify their end-of-life care goals,...
AT THE 71ST World Health Assembly in Geneva, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) delivered two statements positioning cancer as a priority on the global agenda of the World Health Organization (WHO). Presenting its recommendations for action to the international community, ESMO...
Terminally ill patients with cancer will sometimes ask their clinicians for help with assisted or hastened death.1 Although palliative care and hospice care can usually address the concerns of most patients, some have physical or existential suffering that is refractory to comfort and supportive...
The QOPI® Reporting Registry, a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) brought to you by ASCO and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), is your one-stop shop for 2018 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting. The new...
By including a planned gift to ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation in your estate plans, you can help make a dramatic difference for patients with cancer years—even decades—into the future. With just one small change to your will or trust, your planned gift of any size will deliver a big impact, and: ...
This year’s ASCO Research Community Forum (RCF) 2018 Annual Meeting will not be one to miss! Though still a few months away, I am thrilled to share the work that is already underway to bring the research community together for 2 days of learning and collaboration. During my term as Chair of the...
Tell your patients about Cancer.Net’s award-winning mobile app! Recently updated, the newest version features several performance upgrades to improve the user experience, plus all the same great features offered before, including filtering capabilities, calendar integration, and native Spanish...
A career in oncology can be extremely rewarding. Fast-paced advances in research and treatment, exciting changes in the practice environment, and the opportunity to build strong relationships with and provide critical support to patients can be incredibly professionally satisfying—but they can...
A STUDY evaluating the impact of breast cancer screening has shown that the benefits of regular mammograms extend well beyond reduced mortality. According to data presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) 2018 Annual Meeting, women with breast cancer who underwent regular...
Researchers can access a wide array of ASCO data through the Society’s Center for Research and Analytics (CENTRA). A detailed list of the data, along with samples of each data set, can be found on CENTRA’s updated data library page. ASCO maintains an expansive repository of information that...
As you know, for more than 2 years, ASCO has been working closely with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to shape the future of maintenance of certification (MOC) and assessment for our specialty. The ASCO MOC Task Force was charged by ASCO’s membership to make the process for...
The ASCO updated guidelines on the treatment of metastatic non-castrate prostate cancer penned by Morris and his colleagues1 provide valuable information annotated to the strengths of evidence in recently reported prostate cancer studies. CHAARTED, GETUG-AFU 15, LATITUDE, and STAMPEDE have...
After about 70 years with no significant progress, the landscape for men with de novo metastatic prostate cancer has changed dramatically in the past 4 years, with statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful survival improvement reported from multiple phase III trials when...
A major new study of more than 140,000 men has identified 63 new genetic variations in the DNA code that increase the risk of prostate cancer. These findings were published by Schumacher et al in Nature Genetics. Researchers devised a new test combining these single-letter genetic variants with...
Parents of adolescents believed that the potential to prevent certain types of cancer is the best reason for their children to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, whereas other reasons health-care providers often give were far less persuasive. Findings from this study were published by...
“In CheckMate 227, the benefit of nivolumab [Opdivo] plus ipilimumab [Yervoy] was the same in tumor mutational burden–high patients whether or not they were programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–high or –low,” said formal discussant of this paper, Naiyer Rizvi, MD, Director of Thoracic Oncology...
The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) improved progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a high tumor mutational burden irrespective of programmed cell death ligand 1...
Biologics are credited with increasing median overall survival in colorectal cancer to approximately 30 months. Their optimal use was discussed by Axel Grothey, MD, Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, in an article he coauthored for the Journal of Oncology Practice 1...
An updated analysis of a randomized phase III trial showed that taking a high dose of esomeprazole with low-dose aspirin for at least 7 years may moderately reduce the risk of developing high-grade dysplasia or esophageal cancer and may delay death from any cause in people with Barrett’s esophagus. ...