In the results of a meta-analysis of solid organ transplant recipients who have received immune checkpoint inhibitors as cancer treatment, the study authors concluded that immunotherapy may be “high risk yet promising” for these patients. These findings are being presented during the 2025 ASCO...
Results from an international clinical trial demonstrated that DB-1310, a new antibody-drug conjugate, is showing early signs of effectiveness in patients with advanced solid tumors that have not responded to standard treatments, particularly those with EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer...
Results from the phase III DESTINY-Breast09 clinical trial found that the combination of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) with pertuzumab may delay cancer growth for longer than the current standard of care in people with HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The...
Switching to treatment with camizestrant if an ESR1 mutation is detected during first-line treatment can help slow cancer growth for patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, according to findings from the phase III SERENA-6 clinical trial. The research is...
Greater intake of a proinflammatory dietary pattern may be linked to worse overall survival in patients with stage III colon cancer who have undergone curative-intent resection. Sara K. Char, MD, a clinical fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, presented the results of a prospective...
Results from an international phase III clinical trial found that treating patients with stage II, III, and IVA resectable gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer with perioperative durvalumab and FLOT chemotherapy (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) helped...
A phase III study has found that a 3-year structured exercise program initiated soon after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy improves disease-free and overall survival, as well as patient-reported physical functioning and health-related fitness, in patients with stage III and high-risk stage II...
Results from the international phase III ATOMIC study demonstrated that patients with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) colon cancer who receive atezolizumab in addition to adjuvant chemotherapy experience a 50% reduction in disease recurrence or death compared with chemotherapy alone. The findings...
William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses two abstracts on lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) in relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). In Abstract 7037, liso-cel with ibrutinib demonstrated...
Results from an international phase III clinical trial show that treatment with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy and pembrolizumab helps patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer live longer without disease progression compared with...
The international phase III DESTINY-Gastric04 clinical trial found that second-line treatment with fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki can help people with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancers that have grown during first-line treatment live about 3 months longer. These findings further support the...
Results from an international clinical trial show that a 14-gene molecular assay can help identify patients with early-stage nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. The research will be presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting...
Results from VERITAC-2 trial showed that the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) vepdegestrant could extend progression-free survival for people with previously treated estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer with an ESR1 mutation. The research will be presented at...
Results from an international phase III study showed that the targeted therapy combination of encorafenib and cetuximab with mFOLFOX6 (leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) chemotherapy may help patients with BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer live longer. After early results from...
Inhaling wildfire-related air pollution may reduce the likelihood of survival among patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to new findings presented by Singhal et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 10520). Background Wildfire-related air pollution contains particulate ...
Treatment options for aggressive-variant prostate cancer are limited, but a subset of patients have had promising long-term responses with a combination of carboplatin plus cabazitaxel chemotherapy, followed by PARP inhibitor maintenance. This novel combination treatment approach was the focus of a ...
Patients with leiomyosarcoma experience a high risk of recurrence and have limited treatment options. No biomarkers or targetable mutations currently improve diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment. Spatial transcriptomics, which are rarely used in sarcomas, may provide insights into leiomyosarcoma...
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, Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, DiplOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus...
In a phase II trial (RAVENS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al attempted to determine whether the addition of the bone metastasis–targeting agent radium-223 to stereotactic ablative radiotherapy improved progression-free survival as metastasis-directed therapy in patients...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Heyward et al examined the harm-benefit balance of immune checkpoint inhibitor use across lines of treatment in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details The retrospective cohort study, conducted in 2024, involved 2013 to 2019 Surveillance,...
At just 5 years old, Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO, already knew that she wanted to be a physician when she grew up, although she can’t explain where the idea came from. She just knows the desire to help others was ingrained in her from a very early age. Growing up in New Delhi, India, where...
Patients with multiple myeloma who had lower physical function scores at the time of treatment initiation demonstrated a greater benefit to daratumumab treatment than those with higher physical function scores, according to the results of a study published in the European Journal of Haematology....
Investigators may have uncovered a modest but potentially significant association between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a recent study published by Naudin et al in PLOS Medicine. Background Pancreatic cancer is the twelfth most common cancer type...
In a single-center phase I trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Svoboda et al assessed the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an enhanced chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (huCART19-IL18) in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma after previous...
An evaluation by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) colorectal cancer screening practices for inmates and their clinical follow-up for positive screenings found several serious operational and managerial deficiencies...
In a Danish Breast Cancer Group nationwide prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jensen et al attempted to develop a prognostic standard mortality rate index to predict excess mortality based on risk-adapted adjuvant therapy in postmenopausal patients with early-stage breast...
Although I have spent the past 2 decades of my medical career as a primary care physician, educator, and researcher in conditions that disproportionately affect people of Asian descent, including lung cancer, I was still unprepared to hear the words “You have stage IV non–small cell lung...
The JAK (Janus kinase) inhibitor ruxolitinib may prove to be an effective treatment of parkinsonism arising from immunotherapy for patients with multiple myeloma, according to the results of two case reports by Baldeep Wirk, MD, and Jin Lim, MD, PhD, both of Virginia Commonwealth University,...
Thousands of forward-looking research studies defined the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. Here, aside from our fuller coverage of key presentations in The ASCO Post, we offer a snapshot of a few additional abstracts that may be of interest to cancer researchers...
Mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) tumors beyond those in the rectum may respond to PD-1 blockade in the neoadjuvant setting, offering the option of organ preservation in early-stage cancer regardless of the tumor type, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center reported at the...
For more than 25 years, my goal as a community oncologist has been to ensure that all patients have access to the highest-quality cancer care. This is the future I stood for when I became ASCO’s 61st President and what I know our more than 50,000 members stand for. And I believe we will get there...
Despite a 30-year history as an ASCO volunteer, for Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, this past year as President-Elect has opened new perspectives on the organization he will soon lead as ASCO’s 62nd President, effective during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 30–June 3, 2025, in Chicago. After serving...
Zongertinib, an investigational oral, HER2-selective, EGFR-sparing tyrosine kinase inhibitor, elicited durable responses and demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced, previously treated, HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented by John V. Heymach,...
New findings from the phase III INAVO120 trial showed that adding inavolisib to palbociclib and fulvestrant may help extend survival and delay the time until treatment with chemotherapy in previously treated patients with PIK3CA-mutated, HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. The...
Results from a global phase III clinical trial found that maintenance therapy with a combination of the alkylating agent lurbinectedin and the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab improved survival in some patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) compared with maintenance therapy with...
The accuracy of HER2 breast cancer scoring improved with the use of AI assistance, especially for patients with low and ultralow levels of HER2 expression, results from a multinational study showed. The findings were presented in a press briefing ahead of the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract...
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), termed HPV-DeepSeek by the study investigators, showed greater sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy than any current...
Abbreviated breast MRI scans demonstrated comparable diagnostic accuracy to full multiparametric protocol MRI scans for women with extremely dense breasts, according to findings from the DENSE trial published in Radiology. MRI scans have greater diagnostic accuracy than mammograms for women with...
Investigators may have uncovered key differences in tumor biology but similarities in survival outcomes in instances of equal access to care between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White men with metastatic prostate cancer, according to a recent study published by Valle et al in JAMA Network...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zampini et al identified a proportion of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes who had nonmutational TP53 but p53 dysfunction, which was associated with poor disease outcomes. Study Details The study involved data from a cohort of 6,204...
Investigators have found that the antiseizure/pain drug gabapentin may be associated with improved survival in patients with glioblastoma, according to a recent study published by Bernstock et al in Nature Communications. Background With about 12,000 new cases diagnosed annually in the United...
Investigators from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) identified changes in stromal breast tissue, called stromal disruption, that may help to identify women with a higher risk of developing breast cancer, according to study findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Women ...
In a German phase II trial (WSG-KEYRICHED-1) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kuemmel et al evaluated whether chemotherapy-free neoadjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab plus trastuzumab/pertuzumab showed activity in patients with HER2-enriched early breast cancer. As stated by the investigators:...
The disease we now call diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has gone by the names of reticulum cell sarcoma, diffuse histiocytic lymphoma, and diffuse large cell lymphoma, and included both lymphomas of B cells and T cells. We now know DLBCL is still heterogenous and some subtypes might benefit...
In a UK phase II trial (PLATO-ACT4) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gilbert et al evaluated whether short-term results showed good complete response rates with both standard-dose and reduced-dose chemoradiotherapy in patients with localized squamous cell carcinoma of the anus. Study Details In the ...
Total neoadjuvant therapy of intensified chemoradiotherapy was shown to be less effective for treating patients with rectal cancer with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than those with sporadic rectal cancer, according to study findings presented during Digestive Disease Week 2025. However, there...
In a phase II trial (PALMIRA) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Llombart-Cussac et al evaluated whether palbociclib rechallenge with second-line alternative endocrine therapy may improve progression-free survival vs second-line alternative endocrine therapy alone. Study Details In the...
In a phase IIa study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Escrivá-de-Romani et al evaluated whether the chemotherapy-free triplet of the HER2-targeted bispecific antibody zanidatamab plus palbociclib and fulvestrant showed activity in heavily pretreated patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive,...
On May 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to telisotuzumab vedotin-tllv (Emrelis), a c-Met–directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate, for adults with locally advanced or metastatic, nonsquamous, non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high c-Met ...
On May 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the oral hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2α) inhibitor belzutifan (Welireg) for patients aged 12 years and older with locally advanced, unresectable, or metastatic pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma (PPGL). This represents the first FDA ...