As the Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan wrote, “The times they are a-changin’.” Heather Cheng, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Washington, Associate Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Prostate Cancer Genetics Clinic, quoted this line in...
Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors is now considered a standard of care for the front-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. Despite better outcomes with these agents, there is still room for improvement. At the 2019 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium, Robert J. Motzer, MD, of...
In the post-trastuzumab era, a number of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved targeted agents for metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer are available, but there is no preferred option for third-line treatment and beyond. At the 2019 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium, Shanu Modi, MD,...
In 2018, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute launched a large, ambitious screening study called (PROMISE; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03689595) to identify people with premalignant precursor conditions of multiple myeloma, to understand the molecular signs of progression to myeloma...
Researchers have identified a new genetic mutation that may cause a type of familial thyroid cancer. According to the researchers, DUOX2 is the first and only mutation associated with familial thyroid cancer to be identified in a gene that is primarily expressed in the thyroid gland. These findings ...
Over the past few weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted reviews or designations to treatments for gastrointestinal cancers and lymphoma, and also provided authorizations for products designed to screen for malignancies and tumor mutational burden. Priority Review for Nivolumab...
In the phase III trial Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG)-0213 trial, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robert L. Coleman, MD, and colleagues, no overall survival benefit was found for secondary surgical cytoreduction followed by chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in women with...
As reported in The Lancet by Michel Attal, MD, and colleagues, the phase III ICARIA-MM trial has shown that the addition of the CD38-targeted antibody isatuximab to pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with relapsed and refractory...
On November 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to voxelotor (Oxbryta) for adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with sickle cell disease. “[Voxelotor] is an inhibitor of deoxygenated sickle hemoglobin polymerization, which is the central...
Combination therapy with the programmed cell death ligand 1 inhibitor atezolizumab and the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab significantly improved overall and progression-free survival in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared to sorafenib, according to findings from the phase ...
More than one out of two patients with metastatic melanoma treated with the combination of nivolumab plus ipilimu-mab is still alive after 5 years, according to the longest follow-up of patients receiving this combination. In two additional studies, the immunotherapy duet also proved to be active...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) has named three investigators as the recipients of this year’s Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research. The award recognizes scientists for their accomplishments in the area of cancer research. The winners for 2019 are Nathanael S. Gray, PhD; Joshua...
ASCO submitted comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applauding its proposed rule to implement the use of new graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging and advertisements. The comments were sent in a letter from 2019–2020 ASCO President Howard A. Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, ...
Constipation affects about half of all people with cancer. Help patients identify, manage, and cope with this side effect by giving them the ASCO Answers constipation fact sheet. This handout includes an overview of constipation; causes and risks; treatment and management options; a bowel movement...
Patrick J. Loehrer, MD, FASCO, of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, and Everett E. Vokes, MD, FASCO, of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, were selected by the ASCO Nominating Committee as candidates for President-Elect. Below, they discuss...
Nicholas J. Petrelli, MD, Bank of America Endowed Medical Director of ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, received the Tilton Award from the Medical Society of Delaware in October. The award is named after James Tilton, MD, the first U.S. Army Surgeon General...
The National Academy of Medicine has announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its Annual Meeting. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding ...
William G. Kaelin, Jr, MD, Sidney Farber Professor of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, admits that early in his research career, he and his late wife, Carolyn, would have fun...
Local therapy for stage IV breast cancer has not been proven to increase overall survival, yet there are some cases where local therapy could be considered outside a clinical trial. For patients with intact asymptomatic primary tumors, local therapy could be offered if distant disease is well...
IBM, the American Cancer Society (ACS), the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) recently announced a new alliance—Allied Against Cancer—to help improve access to high-quality cancer care and treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Alliance...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Puerto Rico received a competitive renewal of their Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (CPACHE) grant from the National Cancer Institute. The CPACHE grant provides a total of $13 million over 5 years....
Medical oncologist/hematologist Adetokunbo ‘Toks’ Oluwasanjo, MD, has joined Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) in the new FCS Lake City office. For 3 years, she served on the faculty in the Department of Medicine of the Reading Health System (now Tower Health System). Dr. Toks received her medical...
New exercise guidelines for patients with cancer can “improve physical and psychological outcomes from cancer diagnosis and for the balance of life,” concluded representatives from 17 organizations participating in the Second Roundtable on Exercise and Cancer Prevention and Control.1 Attention...
In 1999, a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College advocated the use of a then-novel practice: low-dose radiation CT screening for lung cancer. It captures a full thoracic image in a single breath hold, and can recognize a tumor in its earliest stages when the chance for cure is...
“There is clear evidence that patients are more likely to exercise if their oncologist tells them to do so,” reported representatives from 17 organizations participating in the Second Roundtable on Exercise and Cancer Prevention and Control. In an article published in CA: A Cancer Journal for...
Two Michigan cancer programs are joining forces to find new solutions for prostate cancer. The University of Michigan (U-M) Rogel Cancer Center and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University have received a $9.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The...
In late 2018, calaspargase pegol-mknl, an asparagine-specific enzyme, was approved for use as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in pediatric and young adult patients aged 1 month to 21 years.1,2 The new product provides for a longer interval ...
The 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition is being held December 7–10, 2019, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Be sure to visit The ASCO Post in the exhibit hall (booth 2429, Harborside) and watch interviews with experts being filmed there live....
The text and photograph on this page are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Anesthesia Era: 1845–1875 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and...
In an analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Scott J. Antonia, MD, PhD, of Duke Cancer Institute, and colleagues identified long-term survival rates with nivolumab therapy in patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including comparative outcomes vs...
In patients with stage IV squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), those with high programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression treated with atezolizumab and chemotherapy experienced longer overall survival rates than those treated with chemotherapy alone. For those participants without...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has selected Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD, to receive the 2019 ESMO Award for Immuno-Oncology. The award is given in recognition of his groundbreaking work elucidating why some patients are resistant to immunotherapy and how to restore the anticancer...
Here is a glimpse at updated clinical trial data on newer therapies under study for the small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and advanced extrapancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. IMpower133 and ALTER: Novel Therapies for SCLC The treatment of small cell lung cancer has seen little progress in recent years,...
The Stanford Medicine Department of Medicine is excited to welcome three faculty members to its Division of Oncology: Curtis Chong, MD, PhD; Fauzia Riaz, MD; and Shagufta Shaheen, MD. Each of these individuals brings an impressive record of academic pursuits focused on advancing care for and...
Older adults are the fastest-growing segment of our population, and more than 65% of patients with newly diagnosed cancer are 65 years of age or older. Although we now recognize the special needs of older patients with cancer, the field of geriatric oncology emerged quietly, with early growing...
“I could not have written this book when I was 30 years old. It is not because of any great discoveries I have made or research papers I have published since. It is because of the experience the intervening decades have given me as I cared for thousands of cancer patients and accompanied many to...
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Navneet S. Majhail, MD, MS, about his journey from India to the Cleveland Clinic, where he is Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. He is also President of the American Society for...
Earlier this year, ASCO published the results of its new study on oncologists’ perceptions and practice behaviors regarding obesity, weight management, and related lifestyle factors in their patients both during and after cancer treatment.1 The findings from the online survey of 971 oncology...
Richard T. Lee, MD, Associate Professor at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, discussed the abstract by Galloway et al at the 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. He remarked that starting a new palliative care consultation can sometimes feel...
Nivolumab improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy in previously treated patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the final analysis of the phase III ATTRACTION-3 study. The data were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019 Presidential...
Cancer survivors are at an increased risk of osteoporotic fractures due to the accelerated loss of bone mineral density as a result of their treatment. Bone loss from cancer therapy is faster and more severe than bone less from aging; rates of bone loss are up to sevenfold higher when they occur...
This year’s meeting of the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit: Cancer and Universal Health Coverage, held on October 15–17 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, brought together more than 350 global health leaders, including ministers of health, first ladies, and industry leaders, from 82 countries to discuss how...
As part of modernization plans approved in September 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) office responsible for reviewing applications for new and existing cancer therapies has reorganized and been renamed. The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Office of Hematology and...
Each year, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) offers merit-based awards to support select trainees with high-achieving annual meeting abstracts who are chosen to present their work at the ASH Annual Meeting. Trainees include those who fall within one of the following categories: undergraduate ...
Outcomes4Me Inc and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently announced a new collaboration to integrate the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Breast Cancer into the Outcomes4Me mobile application. The collaboration leverages Outcomes4Me’s...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has named Allyson Hancock Kinzel, JD, as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, effective November 1, 2019. Ms. Kinzel takes on this new role leading legal and regulatory affairs after serving as Chief Legal Officer since 2018. She will...
On October 16, 2019, an expert panel convened by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)released updated guidance and recommendations on the role of physical activity and exercise in cancer prevention and survivorship. The panel was co-chaired by Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, of the Department...
The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) has announced eight grant recipients across three research programs to support its mission to foster, develop, and encourage investigative knowledge in dermatologic surgery. Jumpstart Research Seed Grants Three Jumpstart Research Seed Grants were ...
In a late-breaking, oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2019 Congress, Margaret von Mehren, MD, presented results from INVICTUS, a pivotal phase III clinical study of ripretinib in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).1 Ripretinib is an...
“The majority of breast cancers are hormone receptor–positive, and treatments that target the estrogen receptors are very effective, but they also cause havoc in many tissues that are dependent on estrogen for normal functioning. As a result, breast cancer survivors suffer from ongoing symptoms and ...