Results of the phase III randomized KEYNOTE-355 trial showed that the addition of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab to investigator’s choice of first-line chemotherapy improved progression-free and overall survival in women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer compared with placebo and...
The discussant of KEYNOTE-522 at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education at the University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, commented: “We are clearly making...
Updated results from the pivotal KEYNOTE-522 trial have confirmed the benefit of neoadjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with early triple-negative breast cancer.1 The results were presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by Peter Schmid, MD, PhD,...
The ASCO Post asked Debu Tripathy, MD, Professor and Chair of Medical Breast Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, Professor of Medicine, Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education at the University of California San...
Datopotamab deruxtecan, an antibody-drug conjugate directed against trophoblast cell surface antigen-2 (Trop-2), is showing activity as a treatment for relapsed or refractory advanced triple-negative breast cancer, according to early findings from the phase I TROPION-PanTumor01 trial presented...
The current standard of care for the neoadjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer consists of trastuzumab plus pertuzumab and polychemotherapy. But some patients, particularly those with locally advanced or inflammatory disease, still relapse and die. Furthermore, multiagent...
Priyanka Sharma, MD, of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Westwood, the invited discussant of the poster, noted that the DAISY study asked whether HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugates—in this case, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd)—have activity beyond the conventional...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) has led to practice changes in previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Most notably, in the DESTINY-Breast03 trial, treatment with T-DXd produced a doubling in 12-month progression-free survival vs...
Invited discussant Ciara O’Sullivan, MB, BCh, BAO, of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, commented on the DESTINY-Breast03 trial at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. “The treatment of HER2-positive disease is an evolving landscape, with eight approved agents. Despite this rapid...
The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) lengthened progression-free survival and improved the objective response rate compared with the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) after trastuzumab and taxane therapy in women with HER2-positive metastatic...
In its first return to a hybrid model since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) brought together researchers, clinicians, industry experts, patients, and advocates from across the globe to present and grapple with new data and important topics in breast ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ang et al developed a model for predicting carrier status of pathogenic variants in BRCA1 or BRCA2 among Asian women with breast cancer. As stated by the investigators: “With the development of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase [PARP] inhibitors...
A new mutation was identified in 9% of relapsed cases of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that may define a new subtype of the disease, according to a study published by Umeda et al in Blood Cancer Discovery. The mutation is a tandem duplication (a series of adjacent repeats of a DNA...
In a large study of 5,671 older adults with COVID-19 and cancer, performed by the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19), the CCC19 geriatric risk index was associated with poorer outcomes, including clinical complications, hospitalization, and mortality. A higher CCC19 geriatric risk index was...
As reported in Nature by Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, and colleagues, the first interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-811 trial has shown a significantly higher objective response rate with the addition of pembrolizumab to trastuzumab and chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated advanced ...
In a U.S. retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Mallick et al found that hospital readmission for venous thromboembolism events (VTEs) continued beyond 30 days after complex cancer surgery. As stated by the investigators: “…VTE is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality...
In a phase III trial (VIABLE) reported in JAMA Oncology, Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of an autologous dendritic cell–based immunotherapy directed against prostate cancer (DCVAC/PCa) to chemotherapy did not improve overall survival in metastatic...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pires da Silva et al developed predictive models for objective response and progression-free and overall survival among patients receiving anti–PD-1 antibodies with or without ipilimumab for metastatic melanoma. The analyses involved data...
T-cell responses directed against the receptor-binding domain of the SARS–CoV-2 spike protein were associated with protection from SARS–CoV-2 infection in vaccinated individuals with or without cancer, with lower T-cell responses observed in patients with blood cancers, according to results from a...
In an analysis of data from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) reported in Chest, Pinsky et al found that incidental respiratory disease–related findings on low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening were common and associated with an increased risk of mortality from respiratory diseases....
As presented at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium and reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Smith et al, the phase III ARASENS trial has shown significantly improved overall survival with the addition of darolutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy and docetaxel in men with ...
In the phase II SWOG 1318 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Advani et al found that blinatumomab induction and consolidation followed by maintenance with POMP (prednisone, vincristine, mercaptopurine, and methotrexate) produced good outcomes in patients aged ≥ 65 years with newly...
Jeffrey Peppercorn, MD, MPH, has been appointed as the next Editor-in-Chief of the ASCO journal JCO Oncology Practice (JCO OP). The journal publishes impactful information and insights to keep oncology practice current on changes and challenges inherent in delivering equitable, high-quality...
Axel Bex, MD, PhD, of The Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses an efficacy, safety, and biomarker analysis of neoadjuvant avelumab and axitinib in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma who are at high risk of relapse after nephrectomy (Abstract 289).
Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, of Yale Cancer Center, discusses new data on the antitumor activity of neoadjuvant treatment with enfortumab vedotin-ejfv monotherapy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are not eligible for cisplatin.
Alfredo Berruti, MD, of Italy’s University of Brescia, discusses the first study to give adjuvant mitotane to patients with adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare disease with a high risk of relapse after radical surgery. Although theoretically this treatment may be clinically worthwhile, the findings...
Hielke-Martijn de Vries, MD, of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses phase II findings on the use of atezolizumab with or without radiotherapy for patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. The study was designed to address the poor prognosis for this disease by exploring...
In a Danish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pedersen et al identified risk of breast cancer mortality among women with breast cancer recurrence at ≥ 10 years after primary diagnosis and found that mortality risk was reduced after late vs early recurrence. Study Details The study ...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, and colleagues, a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial has shown improved event-free survival with the addition of pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab, in ...
In a first-in-human phase I/Ib study (KRYSTAL-1) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ou et al identified the phase II dose of the oral small-molecule KRAS G12C inhibitor adagrasib and found that the agent was active in patients with advanced KRAS G12C–mutant solid tumors. Study Details...
In a phase II/III trial reported in The Lancet, David M. Gershenson, MD, and colleagues found that trametinib improved progression-free survival vs standard of care treatment in women with low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. As stated by the investigators, “Low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary...
On February 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved FoundationOne CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic to identify patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) status solid tumors who may be appropriate candidates for treatment with pembrolizumab. FoundationOne CDx is...
Partners In Health announced that its founder, Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, unexpectedly passed away on February 21 in Rwanda from an acute cardiac event. He was 62 years old. Dr. Farmer was the Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard...
The ASCO Post asked Joseph Mikhael, MD, Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation and Professor in the Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (an affiliate of City of Hope Cancer Center), to comment on the GMMG-HD7...
For the first-line treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, the percentage of patients achieving measurable residual disease (MRD, previously called minimal residual disease) negativity was significantly greater when the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody isatuximab was added to a standard...
The ASCO Post invited myeloma expert Philip L. McCarthy, MD, Director of the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, to comment on the trials evaluating early detection of myeloma at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual ...
Precursors to multiple myeloma were identified by population screening in two studies reported at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. The prevalence of monoclonal gammopathies was determined in the PROMISE trial using cutting-edge technology in a high-risk ...
The phase III PANTHER trial, which evaluated pevonedistat plus azacitidine vs azacitidine alone in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and low–blast count acute myeloid leukemia (AML) failed to meet its primary endpoint of event-free survival,1 though lessons...
The bispecific antibody mosunetuzumab achieved deep and durable remissions as monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, according to the results of a pivotal phase II trial presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 In ...
Laurie H. Sehn, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor with the BC Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and Alex Herrera, MD, Associate Professor in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte,...
In the primary analysis of the phase III ZUMA-7 trial, examining second-line therapy for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma, the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel led to a fourfold increase in event-free survival over the standard of care. These findings were presented at the...
The moderator of the session, Laurie H. Sehn, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor at the BC Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, called the results of the TRANSFORM trial “quite remarkable” and said chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has the...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy with lisocabtagene maraleucel could prove to be the new standard-of-care treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma in the second-line setting, according to data presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
Jane N. Winter, MD, Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and 2022 President of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and Christopher R. Flowers, MD, MS, Chair of the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,...
As a first-line treatment of intermediate- or high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the addition of the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq to standard-of-care therapy resulted in a 27% reduction in the relative risk of disease progression, relapse, or death, with a similar safety...
The first 6 months of fellowship in a nutshell: Waves. July A move back to the waves of the Atlantic Calmly and incessantly recoiling while The Greek alphabet regains traction. August The fallout of Delta. Telemedicine for goals of care, While reciting the ABCs of chemotherapy. September Boards,...
Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, formally assumed the role of Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) on January 1, 2022, ushering in a new era of leadership for the educational and professional society for surgeons. Dr. Turner succeeds David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, MAMSE, who led ...
The three most common reasons patients with cancer surveyed at an outpatient infusion therapy clinic gave for not having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine were: My doctor has not told me to get the vaccine. I do not think it is safe for me because I have cancer. I’m afraid of the side ...
“My doctor has not told me to get the vaccine.” That was the number one reason patients with cancer gave in a survey at an outpatient infusion therapy clinic for not having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Rivalling that reason were concerns about safety and fear of vaccine side...
When I got the call from the radiology department telling me I had to come back for a follow-up mammogram right before Christmas of 2020, I wasn’t surprised or initially concerned. I have dense breasts, and my first mammogram 2 years earlier had also detected suspicious areas in one of my breasts...