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 December 11, 2015, alectinib (Alecensa) was granted...
On January 28, 2016, ASCO released the following statement by ASCO President Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO: ASCO applauds President Obama for aligning the Administration’s full support behind Vice President Biden’s “moonshot” initiative to accelerate the discovery of new cancer treatments, as...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Harrington et al found that the addition of concurrent adjuvant lapatinib (Tykerb) to chemoradiation therapy and the use of maintenance lapatinib did not improve disease-free or overall survival in high-risk patients with resected...
Addressing disparities of cancer care that result in poorer outcomes among certain populations remains a persistent challenge in the oncology community and in the health-care system at large. It is, to a large degree, a medical story of haves and have-nots. Richard “Buz” Cooper, MD, a preeminent...
A committee of national experts, led by a Cleveland Clinic researcher, has established first-of-its-kind guidelines to promote more accurate and individualized cancer predictions, guiding more precise treatment and leading to improved patient survival rates and outcomes. These guidelines were...
Bookmark Title: The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable—and How We Can Get There Authors: Vincent T. DeVita, Jr, MD, and Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication date:...
The outcomes of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) have dramatically improved as the result of tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment. Use of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor regimen can lower the blood CML biomarker to levels imperceptible by current detection methods. For patients in “molecular...
Investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) have found that significant bone loss occurs during the first month of chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which is far earlier than previously assumed. Results of the study were published by Orgel et al in the...
Cancer will kill more than 8 million people worldwide this year, which is equivalent to the entire population of New York. Half of these will be people of working age (30–69 years old). It has been estimated that the cost implications on world economies caused by cancer and the other...
The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) will launch the inaugural Psychosocial Oncology Institute on March 3, 2016, at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina in San Diego, California. Instructors for the full-day, interactive institute—leaders in the psychosocial oncology field—will...
The past year has produced an embarrassment of riches regarding the value of aromatase inhibitors for women with ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast. The long-awaited NSABP B-35 study matured and was reported by Margolese and colleagues at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting this past summer, followed...
Two recently reported phase III trials compared adjuvant anastrozole vs tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive ductal carcinoma in situ. As reported in The Lancet by Margolese et al,1 the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-35 trial, performed in...
Initial results of a European phase III trial (SAKK 09/10), reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ghadjar et al of the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research, showed little difference in acute toxicity with salvage radiotherapy of 70 vs 64 Gy in patients with biochemical recurrence of...
Research is the bedrock of progress against cancer, and discoveries in cancer biology are moving from bench to bedside faster than ever. No recent advance has been more transformative than the rise of immunotherapy, particularly over the past year, making this treatment strategy ASCO’s Advance of...
In the phase III CALGB 40601 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Lisa A. Carey, MD, of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues, pathologic complete response rate was not significantly increased by adding neoadjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) plus lapatinib...
At a Capitol Hill briefing today, ASCO announced immunotherapy as the top cancer advance of the year. Recent breakthroughs in immunotherapy—along with almost 60 other important cancer research advances—are described in ASCO's just-released report, Clinical Cancer Advances 2016: ASCO's...
Ductal carcinoma in situ is a relatively benign form of breast cancer (stage 0), yet up to 10% of women with ductal carcinoma in situ will have a recurrence within 10 years. At present, there is no way to identify which women will recur, so standard treatment is lumpectomy plus radiation therapy....
Sparano JA, Gray RJ, Makower DF, et al: Prospective validation of a 21-gene expression assay in breast cancer. N Engl J Med 373:2005-2014, 2015. Chagpar AB, Killelea BK, Tsangaris TN, et al: A randomized, controlled trial of cavity shave margins in breast cancer. N Engl J Med 373:503-510, 2015....
The 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research, the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, and Baylor College of Medicine, was held in December 2015. As has been true for...
Suleiman Massarweh, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, and Director of Breast Clinical Trials at Stanford Cancer Institute, commented on the ADAPT trial for The ASCO Post. “The complete pathologic response rate in estrogen...
Neoadjuvant treatment with a chemotherapy-free, anti-HER2 regimen yielded high rates of pathologic complete response in patients with HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer in the phase II WSG-ADAPT HER2+/HR+ (ADAPT) trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer...
Patients with multiple myeloma now have access to an all-oral regimen, with the recent approval of the oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib (Ninlaro) in previously treated patients. New pairings for the drug in relapsed/refractory and newly diagnosed patients are being studied, with investigators...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the appointment of an Acting Deputy Office Director and an Associate Director of Clinical Science in its Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP). Acting Deputy Office Director Amy E. McKee, MD, was recently announced as the...
Options for second-line therapy of advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma are expanding. Updates from the CheckMate 025 and METEOR trials presented at the 2016 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium solidify the value of both nivolumab (Opdivo, an immune checkpoint inhibitor) and cabozantinib...
Despite improvements in survival for adolescents and young adults diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, the gains have not been shared uniformly across this patient population. A large population-based study by Keegan et al investigating the impact of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, influence of...
Women who eat more high-fiber foods during adolescence and young adulthood—especially fruits and vegetables—may have significantly lower breast cancer risk than those who eat less dietary fiber when young, according to a new large-scale study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan...
Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, on abstract S3-09, “Patient-reported endocrine symptoms, sexual functioning and quality of life in the IBCSG SOFT trial: Adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen alone vs tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression in premenopausal women with...
Charles E. Geyer, Jr, MD, FACP, of Massey Cancer Center, discusses abstract S3-08, “Randomized comparison of adjuvant tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression vs tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer: Analysis of the SOFT trial,” presented by...
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses findings from abstract S3-08, “Randomized comparison of adjuvant tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression vs tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer: Analysis of the SOFT ...
Edith A. Perez, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, discusses abstract S1-06, “Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes: In the Alliance N9831 trial S-TILs are associated with chemotherapy benefit but not associated with trastuzumab benefit.”
Prudence Francis, MD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and Hope Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discuss data from abstract S3-08, "Randomized comparison of adjuvant tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression vs tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone...
Gunter von Minckwitz, MD, of the University of Frankfurt, offers his thoughts on abstract S3-04, "The phase III ICE study: Adjuvant ibandronate with or without capecitabine in elderly patients with moderate or high risk early breast cancer."
William J. Gradishar, MD, of Northwestern University, and Edith A. Perez of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, discuss immunotherapy and the highlights of the BOLERO-1 and SOFT trials.
Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and John A. Gentile, Jr, Chairman, Harborside Press, LLC, discuss the early days of NCCN, controversies that surrounded the first meeting, oncologists’ embrace of the guidelines, and how the organization has...
Hans Gerdes, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a new approach to the management of early-stage esophageal cancers with endoscopic resections.
Amy Cyr, MD, of the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, discusses advances made in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer: less radiation and a shorter course, the rising use of molecular profiling, and less invasive surgery and reduced...
James L. Mulshine, MD, of Rush University Medical Center, and David E. Gerber, MD, of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, discuss the ALCHEMIST trial, an NCI initiative to address the role of molecular testing and targeted therapies for earlier-stage lung disease (Abstract TPS7583).
James L. Mulshine, MD, of Rush University Medical Center, and Carolyn Jean Presley, MD, of Yale Cancer Center/Yale School of Medicine, discuss the burden on patients and the Medicare system as new lung cancer CT guidelines are put into effect and treatment of early-stage NSCLC increases (Abstract...
Eric Roeland, MD, FAAHPM, of the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center, and Areej El-Jawahri, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discuss two important studies on early palliative care and the use of anamorelin in advanced NSCLC with cachexia.
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, and Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discuss the use of the decision support system Watson for Oncology and results of the iCanCare study on second opinions (Abstracts 566 and 6508).
Anil D’Cruz, MD, of Tata Memorial Hospital, discusses results from his study that seem to resolve a 50-year-long debate on performing elective neck dissection at the time of primary surgery––a potentially practice-changing finding (Abstract LBA3).
Jame Abraham, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic discusses analyses of two trials for locally advanced, inflammatory, or early HER2-positive breast cancer using docetaxel, trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and neratinib (Abstracts 505 and 508).
Allison J. Applebaum, PhD, and William S. Breitbart, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discuss the early days of this new treatment for despair and distress in cancer patients.
Irene Higginson, MD, of Cicely Saunders International, discusses the goals of psychosocial palliative care for patients around the world with advanced cancer.
Jennifer King, PhD, of the Lung Cancer Alliance, gives her perspective on major themes of this year’s meeting: the stigma of lung cancer, the changing face of who is affected, early detection, and advances in immunotherapy.
Nagashree Seetharamu, MD, of the North Shore LIJ Health System, discusses serum AGA-signatures that may provide a minimally invasive test for early detection of lung cancer risk (Abstract P3.04-085).
James R. Jett, MD, of National Jewish Health, discusses his study of the early CDT-Lung biomarker. His hypothesis: When used in combination with low-dose CT in screening of a high-risk population, this biomarker would increase the detection of early-stage lung cancer (Abstract MINI 12.11).
James L. Mulshine, MD, of Rush University Medical Center, discusses the profound challenges of implementing national CT screening to ensure delivery of high-quality, best-practice early lung cancer detection in the target population of tobacco-exposed individuals (Abstract MS 15.01).
Catherine C. Park, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, summarizes results from three clinical trials of radiation therapy for various cancers: metastatic melanoma, oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and breast cancer (Abstracts 215, 3, and LBA7).
The recently updated U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation once again confirmed the value of screening mammography, concluding that the benefit of mammography outweighs the harms of screening in all age groups from age 40 through age 74. It emphasizes that both women and...