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Showing 6751 - 6800Trends in Opioid Prescriptions Among Patients With Cancer Near the End of Life
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Enzinger et al found that the prescription of opioids for cancer pain dropped markedly in the recent past among patients with poor-prognosis disease near the end of life, with the frequency of pain-related emergency department visits...
Can Treatment With Thiopurines Induce Mutations That May Lead to Pediatric Leukemia Relapse?
Chemotherapy has helped make acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) one of the most survivable childhood cancers. Now, a research team has shown how thiopurines may lead to mutations that set patients up for disease relapse. These findings were published by Yang et al in Nature Cancer. The research...
Study Explores Cost-Effectiveness of CHOP Therapy for Patients With DLBCL in Sub-Saharan Africa
In a clinical trial conducted in Malawi, researchers found that combination chemotherapy with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) provided curative benefit compared to current standard-of-care therapy in people diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)—and...
Expert Point of View: Evandro de Azambuja, MD, PhD
“KAITLIN didnot meet its primary endpoint, either in the intent-to-treat or node-positive population,1 but in context with the APHINITY trial [1 year of adjuvant pertuzumab/trastuzumab plus chemotherapy],2 whose outcomes were similar at 3 years, you can appreciate that both arms did extremely...
KAITLIN Trial: No Subgroup Benefits More From T-DM1 Plus Chemotherapy for HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer
In the phase III KAITLIN trial, replacing adjuvant taxane and trastuzumab with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) did not result in a significant improvement in invasive disease–free survival in the node-positive or intent-to-treat population of women with high-risk, HER2-positive early breast...
Pembrolizumab Shows Durable Antitumor Activity in Both Locally Advanced and Recurrent/Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinomas
The results of the second interim analysis of the KEYNOTE-629 study of pembrolizumab in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma confirmed durable antitumor activity in both the locally advanced and the recurrent/metastatic settings. Adverse events with pembrolizumab were generally consistent with its...
Cancer vs Non–Cancer-Related Deaths Among Older Patients Selected for Surgical Treatment
In a Canadian population-based cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Chesney et al found that the 5-year rate of cancer-related deaths exceeded that of non–cancer-related deaths among patients aged 70 or older undergoing surgery for cancer. Study Details The study used data from ICES (formerly...
Prostate Cancer Surgery Rates in Black vs White Men With Nonmetastatic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Bernstein et al found that prostatectomy rates during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic were dramatically lower among Black men vs White men with previously untreated nonmetastatic prostate cancer. Study Details The study involved...
ASCO/Friends of Cancer Research Joint Position Statement Encourages Enrollment of Patients With Cancer in COVID-19 Vaccine Studies
Individuals with cancer or a history of cancer should be eligible for clinical trials—including COVID-19 vaccine trials—unless there is safety justification for exclusion, ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) asserted in a recently released joint position statement. To date, clinical...
ASCO Publishes Resource-Stratified Guideline on Assessment and Treatment of Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer carries a heavy morbidity and mortality burden, particularly in settings and regions of the globe that feature significant limitations in health-care resources. Given that ovarian cancer is more lethal than breast cancer, clinicians in resource-limited areas require guidance on the...
Benefits of Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Melanoma Reinforced by EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE-054 Updates
Adjuvant anti–PD-1 antibody therapy is widely used for stage III melanoma, given the approvals of pembrolizumab and nivolumab. These approvals were based on significantly improved relapse-free survival in the CheckMate 238 trial of nivolumab compared with ipilimumab and the EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE-054...
Lorlatinib for Metastatic ALK-Positive NSCLC
On March 3, 2021, lorlatinib was granted regular approval for treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ALK-positive tumors as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test.1,2 The FDA simultaneously approved the Ventana ALK (D5F3) CDx Assay ...
Pembrolizumab Combined With Chemotherapy for Advanced Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Carcinoma
On March 22, 2021, pembrolizumab was approved for use in combination with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for patients with metastatic or locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (tumors with epicenter 1 to 5 cm above the gastroesophageal junction) carcinoma who...
Expert Point of View: Shonta Chambers, MSW
According to Shonta Chambers, MSW, Executive Vice President of Health Equity Initiatives and Community Engagement, Patient Advocate Foundation, the social determinants of health that hinder people’s ability to access and adhere to cancer care cannot be ignored if health equity is to be achieved....
Road Map to More Equitable Care From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Created more than a decade ago, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities have a mission to advance the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through policies, programs, and partnerships at the Centers for Medicare and...
Lessons From the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Can Lead to Improvements in Cancer Care
The COVID-19 pandemic may have put the world on pause, but it also showed the medical community that rapid progress is possible with focus and collaboration. During the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Virtual Oncology Policy Summit, “Defining the ‘New Normal’ 2021 and the State of...
Breast Cancer in 2030: Predictions From a Breast Cancer Luminary
According to George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, FASCO, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology at Stanford University Medical Center, by the beginning of the next decade, clinicians will be aided by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in many facets of care and by the approval of a wave of new ...
Expert Point of View: Fabrice André, MD, PhD
Fabrice André, MD, PhD, Director of Research and Professor of Medical Oncology at Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, commented on the two studies that used the MammaPrint 70-gene signature to identify patients for de-escalation or escalation of endocrine therapy.1,2 The push to...
MINDACT Trial Shows ‘Excellent’ Outcomes in Ultra-Low–Risk Breast Cancer
Patients with ultra-low–risk breast cancer, as classified by the MammaPrint 70-gene assay, had “excellent” long-term outcomes regardless of clinical risk or receipt of adjuvant therapy, a new analysis of the MINDACT trial has shown.1 In a separate study, a retrospective analysis of the National...
Public Comment on National Coverage Analysis of Screening for Lung Cancer With Low-Dose Computed Tomography
The following letter is adapted from comments made to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by the American College of Radiology, the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. “The American College of Radiology, the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, and the...
I’m Alive by Sheer Force of Will—and a Lot of Luck
From the moment I felt a searing pain go through my right breast, I had a premonition that something was very wrong. Although I couldn’t feel anything unusual when I did a breast self-exam, I made an appointment with my gynecologist for a more thorough clinical breast exam and a mammogram. Because...
The Compelling Story of Cystic Fibrosis and the Dawn of Precision Medicine
Woe to the child who tastes salty from a kiss on the brow” was a forbidding prophecy from Medieval Europe, presaging unknown disease. Today, we know that salty skin is a telltale sign of cystic fibrosis in children, a disease that eluded medical identification until 1938, when an American...
Bone-Protecting Agents Shown to Reduce Fracture Rate in Men With Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer experts have often stated it is important to add a bone-protecting agent for patients on treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Recent evidence in support of this recommendation comes from a study presented during the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, confirming a...
Tivozanib for Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
On March 10, 2021, the VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor tivozanib was approved for treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma following at least two prior systemic therapies.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label, phase III...
Small Study Suggests ALK Targeting May Be of Benefit in Adult Neuroblastoma
Targeting mutations appears to be bearing fruit in the treatment of some difficult-to-treat tumors. For instance, in one study of adult-onset neuroblastoma, targeting ALK mutations in ALK-positive tumors demonstrated activity, even in patients who had not responded to their first ALK inhibitor. Of...
Dostarlimab-gxly for Mismatch Repair–Deficient Recurrent or Advanced Endometrial Cancer
On April 22, 2021, the PD-1 inhibitor dostarlimab-gxly was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adults with mismatch repair–deficient recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer, as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test, that has progressed on or following a...
American Ginseng
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, Eugenie Spiguel, MSN, ANP-BC, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on American...
Canadian Oncologists Report Costly Delays in Their Drug Regulatory Process
Canada’s publicly funded health-care system has a complex drug approval and funding process. Due to multiple assessment steps and bureaucratic processes, newly developed cancer drugs can often experience long delays before oncologists may use them to treat their patients with cancer. Several...
Expert Point of View: Amit M. Oza, MD, MBBS
Invited discussant of the FORWARD II trial,1Amit M. Oza, MD, MBBS, concluded that bevacizumab and mirvetuximab soravtansine was a “very well tolerated and effective” combination with “encouraging activity,” even in patients previously treated with bevacizumab and weekly paclitaxel. Dr. Oza is Head ...
Axicabtagene Ciloleucel for Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma
On March 5, 2021, the CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T-cell immunotherapy axicabtagene ciloleucel was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy.1,2 Axicabtagene ciloleucel is...
B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Update on Clinical Trials
“Learning never exhausts the mind.” —Leonardo da Vinci To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on treatments under study ...
Early-Phase Trial Finds Mirvetuximab Soravtansine Plus Bevacizumab Active in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
In patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, the antibody-drug conjugate mirvetuximab soravtansine, given with bevacizumab, showed antitumor activity leading to durable responses in platinum-agnostic patients with strong expression of folate receptor alpha (FRα), researchers reported at the 2021 ASCO ...
Expert Point of View: Kostas Stamatopoulos, MD, PhD
In the phase III GLOW trial, the all-oral regimen of fixed-duration ibrutinib plus venetoclax as first-line treatment for older or unfit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) showed superior efficacy compared with chlorambucil and obinutuzumab.1Kostas Stamatopoulos, MD, PhD, of the...
Bringing Palliative Care to Native American Patients With Cancer
Native Americans are among the most underserved minority populations in the United States and are disproportionately affected by cancer. They have the lowest survival rates for nearly all types of cancer of any minority population and much higher rates of certain types of cancer, including lung,...
Phase III GLOW Trial: Improved Outcomes With First-Line Ibrutinib Plus Venetoclax in Elderly Patients With CLL
Fixed-duration ibrutinib and venetoclax as a first-line treatment yielded superior outcomes compared with chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), based on the primary analysis of the phase III GLOW trial presented during the European Hematology...
Oncology Community Mourns the Loss of Investigator Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD
Oncologist Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD, recently died after a long struggle with neurodegenerative disease. He was 58 years old. Dr. Di Leo was devoted to breast cancer research for more than 25 years. He first trained with Gianni Bonadonna, MD, in Milan, followed by postdoctoral research at Jules...
Bridging the Gender Gap in Oncology
Women account for a growing proportion of the oncology workforce. Multiple studies, however, show that women oncologists are underrepresented in leadership positions, may have significantly lower salaries than men, and may be subjected to discriminatory practices stimulated by a medical culture...
Avapritinib for Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis
On June 16, 2021, avapritinib was approved for the treatment of adult patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis, including patients with aggressive systemic mastocytosis, systemic mastocytosis with an associated hematological neoplasm, and mast cell leukemia.1,2 Avapritinib is not recommended...
Expert Point of View: Philip McCarthy, MD
Commenting on the updated results of the MAIA trial1 for The ASCO Post was Philip McCarthy, MD, Professor of Oncology and Internal Medicine and Director of the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Center at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York. Dr. McCarthy described how the...
Role of PI3K Inhibition in Indolent Lymphomas
As reported by Fowler et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology1—and summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post—the international phase IIb UNITY-NHL trial of 208 patients with marginal zone lymphoma (MZL; n = 69), follicular lymphoma (FL; n = 117), and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL; n = 22)...
MAIA Update: Overall Survival Benefit Reported With Daratumumab Plus Lenalidomide in Myeloma
In an updated analysis of the phase III MAIA trial, the addition of the monoclonal antibody daratumumab to the immunomodulatory agent lenalidomide and the corticosteroid dexamethasone (D-Rd) significantly improved overall survival over lenalidomide/dexamethasone alone in patients newly diagnosed...
Dual PI3Kδ/CK1ε Inhibitor Umbralisib in Relapsed or Refractory Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nathan H. Fowler, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, a phase IIb trial (UNITY-NHL) has shown that the dual PI3Kδ/casein kinase (CK)1ε inhibitor umbralisib produced durable responses in patients with relapsed...
Factoring Fertility Preservation Into Breast Cancer Treatment
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women of reproductive age. Approximately 10% of breast cancers are diagnosed in this age group.1 Young age at diagnosis is an adverse prognostic factor, and most young women will be offered chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy, both of which ...
Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Treatment and Early Detection: Data-Driven Insights
From a dramatic drop in caseloads to missed screenings and diagnoses as well as the emergence of telemedicine, COVID-19 turned the world of oncology upside down. During the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Virtual Oncology Policy Summit, “Defining the ‘New Normal’ 2021 and the State of...
Addition of Ipilimumab to Nivolumab in Previously Treated, Immunotherapy-Naive Patients With Stage IV Squamous NSCLC
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Scott N. Gettinger, MD, and colleagues, the phase III Lung Cancer Master Protocol S1400I trial showed no improvement in overall survival with the addition of ipilimumab to nivolumab in previously treated, immune checkpoint inhibitor–naive patients with stage IV...
Outcomes in Patients With HER2-Low–Positive Breast Cancer Participating in Neoadjuvant Clinical Trials
In a pooled analysis of individual patient data from breast cancer neoadjuvant clinical trials reported in The Lancet Oncology, Carsten Denkert, MD, and colleagues found that pathologic complete response and survival rates for patients with HER2-low–positive vs HER2-zero tumors differed according...
Expert Point of View: Carol Aghajanian, MD
“The phase III ENGOT/GCIG study1 proved to be negative, with no advantage seen with the extension of bevacizumab treatment,” said the abstract’s invited discussant, Carol Aghajanian, MD, Chief of the Medical Gynecologic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Dr....
Bevacizumab in Advanced Ovarian Cancer: Phase III Trial Finds More Is Not Better
In advanced ovarian cancer, the duration of maintenance bevacizumab should remain 15 months, according to the European multicenter phase III ENGOT/GCIG trial. These results were presented during the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by Jacobus Pfisterer, MD, PhD, of the AGO Study Group and Gynecologic...
Study Finds the COVID-19 Pandemic Created Significant Disruptions in Cancer Screenings at Federally Qualified Health Centers
A new study has found that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to significant disruptions in breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer screenings at federally qualified health systems spanning 15 states across the United States. The postponed screenings have created backlogs that systems will need to...
Ruxolitinib for Glucocorticoid-Refractory or -Dependent Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation
In the phase III REACH3 trial, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Robert Zeiser, MD, and colleagues found that ruxolitinib produced a significantly higher overall response rate vs investigator-selected control treatments in patients with glucocorticoid-refractory or -dependent chronic ...
