Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact treatment...
In the phase III GeparSepto-GBG 69 trial, reported in The Lancet Oncology by Untch et al, neoadjuvant nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) improved pathologic complete response rate vs conventional solvent-based paclitaxel in women with early-stage breast cancer. Study Details In the open-label trial, 1,206 ...
Overall survival differed according to the site of metastases in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a meta-analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Halabi et al. Study Details The study involved data from 8,820 men who received docetaxel chemotherapy in...
I have a history of fibrocystic breasts, which required biopsies to make certain the cysts were benign, and for years they were. But in 2009, my mammogram screening picked up a suspicious lump in my right breast, which turned out to be stage III estrogen receptor–positive/progesterone...
The increased rate of bilateral mastectomies, as shown in recently released data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is “perplexing,” Ismail Jatoi, MD, PhD, told The ASCO Post. “We are seeing more and more women with unilateral breast cancer opt for bilateral mastectomy,...
New data on molecular biomarkers in advanced prostate cancer are accumulating at a fast pace. The studies in this area can now be broadly grouped in two distinct areas—those that broadly relate to androgen signaling and those that relate to DNA-repair pathways. The Androgen-Signaling Pathway With...
Increased travel distance to a cancer treatment facility negatively impacts the likelihood that patients with stage II/III rectal cancer will receive radiation therapy to treat their disease, according to a study analyzing 26,845 patient records from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) published...
Chan et al found that 1 year of treatment with the HER1, 2, and 4 tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib improved invasive disease–free survival vs placebo after trastuzumab (Herceptin)-based adjuvant therapy in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, in the phase III ExteNET...
Hypofractionated radiotherapy was not noninferior to conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in late genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicity in patients with prostate cancer in the Dutch phase III HYPRO trial. These findings were reported by Aluwini et al in The Lancet Oncology. An earlier...
Myeloma is a disease of aging, with a median age at diagnosis in the United States of 69 years.1 As the population ages, forecasts estimate that, within 20 years, 3 of every 4 people diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the United States will be between the ages of 64 and 84 years.2 In anticipation...
On February 26, 2016, obinutuzumab (Gazyva) was approved for use in combination with bendamustine (Bendeka, Treanda) followed by obinutuzumab monotherapy for treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma who have relapsed after or are refractory to a rituximab (Rituxan)-containing regimen.1,2...
Intravenous pegylated (PEG) Escherichia coli (E coli) asparaginase was associated with similar toxicity and efficacy compared with intramuscular native E coli L-asparaginase in children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to the results of a phase III trial (DFCI 05-001).1 ...
In a phase III trial (SWOG S9005) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 YongLi Ji, MD, PhD, and Claire Verschraegen, MD, of the University of Vermont Cancer Center; and colleagues found no benefit of treatment with the antiprogestin agent mifepristone vs placebo in patients with...
On February 19, 2016, palbociclib (Ibrance) was approved for use in combination with fulvestrant (Faslodex) for treatment of hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer with disease progression following endocrine therapy.1,2 In February 2015, palbociclib in...
On February 26, 2016, everolimus (Afinitor) was approved for treatment of adult patients with progressive, well-differentiated, nonfunctional neuroendocrine tumors of gastrointestinal or lung origin that are unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic.1,2 The drug was previously approved for...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved obinutuzumab (Gazyva), an anti-CD-20 monoclonal antibody, for use in combination with bendamustine (Bendeka, Treanda) followed by obinutuzumab monotherapy for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma who relapsed after, or are...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine and at the 2015 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, Jan A. Burger, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that first-line treatment with the oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) improved progression-free and overall...
Women with advanced ovarian cancer caused by genetic mutations—including in BRCA1 and BRCA2—lived significantly longer than those who did not have a mutation following treatment with a chemotherapy regimen that included bevacizumab (Avastin). According to a study, those with BRCA1 and a ...
As reported by Lichtman et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, an ancillary study (Alliance A171201) of the CALGB 49907 trial showed no significant association of pretreatment creatinine clearance with grade ≥ 3 hematologic toxicity, dose modification, therapy completion, relapse-free...
The phase III ICON6 trial showed that adding cediranib to platinum-based therapy increased progression-free survival and toxicity in women with first relapse of platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, reported Ledermann et al in The Lancet. Study Details In the double-blind trial, 456 women with...
In a phase III trial (ECOG-ACRIN E2805) reported in The Lancet by Haas et al, no benefit of adjuvant VEGFR (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor) inhibitor treatment with sunitinib or sorafenib (Nexavar) was observed vs placebo in patients with completely resected high-risk nonmetastatic...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Garcia-Manero et al, the phase III ONTIME trial showed that treatment with the Ras mimetic rigosertib did not significantly improve overall survival vs best supportive care in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes after failure of hypomethylating...
The addition of fosaprepitant (Emend) to palonosetron and dexamethasone reduced the risk of emesis during 5 weeks of chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer, according to the phase III GAND-emesis trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Ruhlmann et al. Study Details In the double-blind trial, 234...
A retrospective analysis of the phase III registration trial IMCL-9815 of cetuximab (Erbitux) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Rosenthal et al suggests that the addition of cetuximab to radiotherapy was of benefit irrespective of p16 expression in patients with locoregionally...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Cristofanilli et al, the final results of the phase III PALOMA-3 trial show that the addition of the CDK4/CDK6 inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance) to fulvestrant (Faslodex) improved progression-free survival in women with hormone receptor–positive,...
The anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody atezolizumab produced durable responses in a marked proportion of patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, according to a phase II trial reported in The Lancet by Rosenberg et al. The...
In the UK phase III PICCOLO trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Seligmann et al found that high expression of either of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands epiregulin or amphiregulin was associated with a progression-free survival benefit with panitumumab (Vectibix)/irinotecan vs...
The HELIOS study is an international phase III trial of bendamustine (Treanda) plus rituximab (Rituxan) in combination with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) vs placebo in patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. As reported by Chanan-Khan in The Lancet Oncology1 and reviewed in this...
In the phase III HELIOS trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Asher Chanan-Khan, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Jacksonville, Florida, and colleagues found that addition of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) to bendamustine (Treanda)/rituximab (Rituxan)...
Ado-trastuzumab emtansine (formerly T-DM1; Kadcyla) improved overall survival compared with treatment of physician’s choice of therapy for patients with pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to the phase III TH3RESA trial.1 Patients enrolled in the trial had previously been...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On January 21, 2016, carfilzomib (Kyprolis) was approved for use in ...
Separate phase III trials presented at the 2016 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium demonstrated that modest hypofractionated radiotherapy is noninferior to conventional radiotherapy for men with intermediate- and low-risk prostate cancer and should be considered a new standard of care.1,2 However, it...
A radiolabeled somatostatin analog compound, 177Lu-DOTA0-Tyr3-Octreotate (Lu-177 dotatate), reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 79% in the international phase III NETTER-1 population of previously treated, advanced neuroendocrine tumors of midgut origin.1 Lu-177 dotatate belongs to...
Anamorelin (a ghrelin-receptor agonist) increased lean body mass but had no beneficial effect on handgrip strength vs placebo in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and cachexia, according to two international phase III trials (ROMANA 1 and 2) reported in The Lancet...
In the phase III SIRFLOX trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, van Hazel et al found that adding selective internal radiation therapy with yttrium-90 resin microspheres to FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin) with or without bevacizumab (Avastin) did not improve any-site...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by O’Sullivan et al, a new staging system for human papillomavirus–related oropharyngeal cancer has been developed based on findings from the International Collaboration on Oropharyngeal Cancer Network for Staging (ICON-S) study. Study Details The...
In a subgroup analysis of the phase III RADIANT-4 trial, focusing on neuroendocrine tumors of gastrointestinal origin, the mTOR inhibitor everolimus (Afinitor) essentially doubled the median progression-free survival time, compared with placebo, researchers reported at the 2016 Gastrointestinal...
Weekly dose-dense paclitaxel did not provide a progression-free survival benefit over every-3-week paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin and with or without elective bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with previously untreated ovarian cancer, according to the results of the phase III GOG-0262...
In the Asian phase III REGATTA trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fujitani et al found that the addition of gastrectomy to chemotherapy did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced gastric cancer with a single noncurable factor. Study Details In this open-label trial conducted...
Use of minimally invasive hysterectomy did not seem to have an adverse impact on long-term survival in women with endometrial cancer, according to an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wright et al. Study Details The study involved Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result...
In the phase III LUX-Breast 1 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Harbeck et al found no benefit of afatinib (Gilotrif)/vinorelbine vs trastuzumab (Herceptin)/vinorelbine after previous trastuzumab treatment in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Broader inhibition of ErbB...
In the UK phase III FRAGMATIC trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Macbeth et al found no survival benefit of adding low–molecular-weight heparin to standard treatment in patients with lung cancer. Previous evidence suggested that low–molecular-weight heparin might...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Burstein et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on ovarian suppression as part of the extant guideline on adjuvant endocrine therapy in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. The update is based on an update panel...
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact treatment...
The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 20 years despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about dietary supplements can be daunting. Patients typically rely on family, friends, and...
As reported by Senan et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the phase III PROCLAIM trial showed no significant improvement in overall survival for chemoradiation with pemetrexed (Alimta)/cisplatin vs etoposide/cisplatin followed by consolidation pemetrexed vs a platinum-based doublet in...
On January 23, 2016, the indication for nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) in unresectable or metastatic melanoma was expanded through accelerated approval to include patients regardless of BRAF V600 mutation status.1 The combination was previously approved for treatment of patients with...
Here are several more abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, focusing on newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, and amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. For other selected abstracts...
In three phase III studies reported in The Lancet Oncology, the addition of the neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonist rolapitant to serotonin (5-HT3) receptor antagonist and dexamethasone treatment significantly improved complete response rates in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and ...
There is ample evidence to suggest that older adults with a good performance status (0 or 1) with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) should be treated with combination chemotherapy akin to younger patients.1,2 However, older adults comprise a heterogeneous group that has been...