Christopher Willett, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, shared his thoughts on the findings of the study by Lumish et al1 with The ASCO Post. He first noted the shift in recent years toward total neoadjuvant therapy in the...
Artificial intelligence (AI) has captured society’s imagination and generated enthusiasm for its potential to improve our quality of life, especially in the health-care arena. The availability of high-dimensionality data sets along with innovations in high-performance computing and deep-learning...
In a small study of patients with locally advanced mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, treatment with the anti–PD-1 agent dostarlimab-gxly alone led to a clinical complete response rate of 100%. The findings of this study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) were reported...
Guest Editor’s Note: Pain is a debilitating symptom experienced by many patients with cancer that negatively impacts their quality of life. Massage therapy, historically used for relaxation and pain relief, plays an important supportive role in oncology settings. In this installment of The ASCO...
Samuel J. Klempner, MD, Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, commented on the NEONIPIGA study for The ASCO Post. “This study was the first prospective data set to show what many have suspected—that neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade would lead to a...
In patients with resectable microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H)/mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, dual checkpoint inhibition with ipilimumab and nivolumab given as neoadjuvant therapy led to a pathologic complete response rate of 58.6%,...
MAGNITUDE is challenging from a statistical point of view,” said formal discussant Celestia S. Higano, MD, currently Adjunct Professor, Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and formerly of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle....
Findings from the international phase II KEYNOTE-158 trial of pembrolizumab among women with previously treated microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) endometrial tumors “suggest a long-term benefit to patients,” stated the trial’s lead author David M. O’Malley, ...
Benoit Rousseau, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, called the findings of the phase II GERCOR NIPICOL trial “interesting and convincing.” Long-term follow-up showed the 3-year progression-free survival rate to be 70% after just 1 total year of treatment with nivolumab...
The phase II GERCOR NIPICOL study evaluated 1 year of treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with chemotherapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors were microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR). With this shortened treatment duration,...
“Robust and clinically meaningfulantitumor activity,” with durable responses and “encouraging survival outcomes,” were reported among patients with previously treated microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) endometrial tumors who received pembrolizumab in the...
Alicia K. Morgans, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses findings from the largest digital survey conducted in patients with prostate cancer, allowing identification of unmet needs in the patient journey. Preliminary data suggest that lower rates of screening may correlate with higher ...
Mihir Gupta, MD, a neurosurgery resident at the University of California San Diego and postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Neurosurgery, and Ganesh M. Shankar, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School,...
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is readily detectable in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma and is a strong prognostic biomarker for outcomes, a team of researchers from Germany and Stanford University reported at the 2021 American Society of...
Survivors of childhood cancer who become pregnant in adulthood are as likely to have healthy babies as those without a history of cancer, according to a new study published by Zgardau et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Their children also don’t have higher risks of birth defects ...
Scientists have determined that first responders to the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have increased levels of mutations that may escalate their risk for blood cancers or cardiovascular disease, according to a study published by Jasra et al in Nature Medicine....
In a Chinese single-institution phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zhu et al found that stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) followed by pembrolizumab plus trametinib improved overall survival vs SBRT followed by gemcitabine in patients with postresection, KRAS-mutant, PD-L1–positive...
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” —Plutarch About 30% to 40% of patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) experience relapse, and 10% are refractory to the...
Much progress has been made in the past 50 years since the signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971, which included the establishment of the President’s Cancer Panel. Nevertheless, there remain significant opportunities to make improvements across the cancer spectrum, perhaps none more pressing...
Michelle Mollica, PhD, MPH, RN, OCN, has joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Office of Cancer Survivorship as Senior Advisor. In this role, she is responsible for developing, supporting, and promoting research efforts focused on cancer survivorship. Dr. Mollica also holds a secondary...
Medical oncologist Philip A. Philip, MD, PhD, has joined Henry Ford Cancer Institute (HFCI) as Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology and Neuroendocrine Oncology, Medical Director of Research and Clinical Care Integration, and co-leader of the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center (HFPCC). Dr. Philip...
Linda Fleisher, PhD, MPH, Associate Research Professor in the Cancer Prevention and Control research program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, was recently appointed Co-Chair of the American Cancer Society’s National Navigation Roundtable. Patient navigators act as intermediaries between patients and...
Monica Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, was recently elected to the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Board of Directors.Dr. Bertagnolli is the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery in the Field of Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Disease...
OneOncology, the national platform for independent community oncology practices, announced that Davey Daniel, MD, has been appointed Chief Medical Officer succeeding Lee Schwartzberg, MD. Dr. Schwartzberg served as the founding member of the platform’s clinical office and will remain a senior...
On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, as Assistant Administrator of Global Health Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Dr. Gawande assumed the new role in January 2022. Dr. Gawande’s role at USAID ...
"One of the great advocates for the poorest and sickest of our planet.” —Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu “Our mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. By establishing long-term relationships with sister organizations ...
In a Canadian population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gupta et al found that survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers were not at a greater risk of COVID-19 infection or severe complications of infection compared with matched controls without cancer....
In the prospective paired-cohort CADMUS study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Grey et al found that patients at risk of prostate cancer had a similar likelihood of being diagnosed with clinically significant cancer with the use of multiparametric ultrasound vs multiparametric magnetic resonance...
Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses a 30-month follow-up of results from the KEYNOTE-564 trial, which further support the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab when treating patients with renal cell carcinoma at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence, or with an M1 NED...
Updates of phase II studies evaluating fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) in gastrointestinal cancers were presented at the 2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, continuing to offer support for the antibody-drug conjugate in these malignancies. In HER2-expressing gastric cancer, T-DXd...
Researchers at City of Hope published data pointing to the limitations of a popular liquid biopsy that is used to detect the recurrence of colorectal cancer in patients who who have undergone surgical resection. The findings were published in JAMA Network Open by Marwan Fakih, MD, and colleagues....
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Brian I. Rini, MD, and colleagues, prospective cardiovascular monitoring in the phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 trial in advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) showed that patients with higher baseline troponin T levels receiving the combination of the...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tang et al found that elective upper-neck irradiation sparing the uninvolved neck was noninferior in regional relapse–free survival vs standard whole-neck irradiation in previously untreated patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Study...
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Janna A. Hol, MD, and colleagues found that (epi)genetic predisposing factors could be identified in one-third of children diagnosed with Wilms tumor. As stated by the investigators, “Wilms tumor is associated with (epi)genetic...
According to the United Nations (UN), more than 1.7 million Ukrainians have already fled to Central Europe due to the Russian invasion, which the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has called the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. Many of those fleeing Ukraine and those...
Advanced radiotherapy techniques can 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 by Neal S. McCall, MD, at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium (Abstract...
Researchers have discovered that treatment resistance in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) may be caused by two distinct classes of stem cells and identified possible therapeutic approaches that target these cells. Their findings, which could have significant benefits for patients with...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Wang et al identified mutations that conferred resistance to noncovalent Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and found that some also conferred resistance to covalent BTK...
On March 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) in combination with platinum-doublet chemotherapy for adult patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the neoadjuvant setting. This represents the first FDA approval for neoadjuvant therapy for...
The 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium took place from February 24 to 26 in Phoenix, Arizona. The meeting provided the most up-to-date information on multidisciplinary therapies, clinical research, treatment strategies, supportive care, and scientific breakthroughs in head and...
A new meta-analysis adds to evidence that taller adults may be more likely than shorter ones to develop colorectal cancer or colon polyps that can later become malignant. While the association between taller height and colorectal cancer has been previously investigated, researchers from Johns...
Patients treated for Merkel cell carcinoma face a 5-year recurrence rate of 40%—markedly higher than the recurrence rates for melanoma and other skin cancers, according to research published by McEvoy et al in JAMA Dermatology. Additionally, in the study cohort of more than 600 patients, 95% of...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ho et al, the phase III ASTRA trial showed no improvement in complete remission rate with the addition of selumetinib to adjuvant radioactive iodine (RAI) in patients with high-risk differentiated thyroid cancer. As stated by the investigators,...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Harrison et al found that the BCL-XL/BCL-2 inhibitor navitoclax showed activity in patients with myelofibrosis with disease progression or suboptimal response during ongoing ruxolitinib treatment. As stated by the investigators,...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Ruppert et al found that nonmalignant etiologies contribute to back pain in many men with metastatic prostate cancer who experience pain in areas where spinal metastases are known to occur. Study Details The study consisted of...
A new study has found that an artificial intelligence (AI) model incorporating multiple methods of machine learning accurately detects thyroid cancer and predicts pathological and genomic outcomes through analysis of routine ultrasound images. The AI model could present a low-cost, noninvasive...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Lowry et al found that a strategy of annual magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening starting at age 30 to 35 years—followed by annual MRI and mammography at age 40—could reduce the risk of breast cancer mortality by more than 50% in women with ATM,...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Louie et al, the Canadian phase III PROACTIVE trial showed that esophagus-sparing intensity-modulated radiotherapy (ES-IMRT) did not significantly improve esophageal quality of life vs standard radiotherapy in patients with advanced central non–small cell lung cancer ...
Positron-emission tomography (PET) scans obtained before and midway through treatment can be used to de-escalate therapy for oropharyngeal cancer, potentially leading to fewer short-term side effects, according to data presented by Allen et al at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers...
In an analysis from the phase III PROfound trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Thiery-Vuillemin et al found that olaparib was associated with better pain outcomes and preservation of health-related quality of life (QOL) vs enzalutamide or abiraterone plus prednisone in a cohort of men with...