In the 5-year follow-up of the pivotal SOLO-1 trial in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation, maintenance treatment with olaparib led to a more than doubling in progression-free survival, according to a presentation at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Sibylle Loibl, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III PENELOPE-B trial has shown that palbociclib plus endocrine therapy did not improve invasive disease–free survival vs placebo plus endocrine therapy in patients with residual invasive hormone...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, and colleagues, the Children’s Oncology Group ARAR0332 Protocol has identified outcomes associated with different treatment strategies according to disease stage in patients with pediatric adrenocortical carcinoma....
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Nancy Y. Lee, MD, and colleagues, the phase III JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial showed no improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab to chemoradiotherapy in patients with previously untreated locally advanced...
Two new studies published in the journal Blood suggest that the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine may have reduced efficacy in individuals with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and multiple myeloma. According to researchers, these studies could help inform the ideal time for vaccination of these...
A new study has found higher rates of medical financial hardship among adult survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers than in adults without a history of cancer in the United States. The research was published by Lu et al in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute....
In an analysis from the phase III KEYNOTE-177 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Thierry André, MD, and colleagues found that pembrolizumab was associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) compared with chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of...
As reported in JCO Oncology Practice by Roth et al, many participants in a biomarker-driven master protocol trial (Lung Cancer Master Protocol [Lung-MAP]; SWOG S1400GEN) did not display correct knowledge or expectations about using the results of genomic testing. Study Details Lung-MAP is a...
A report published by Kotecha et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network suggests that baseline brain imaging should be considered in most patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Researchers found incidental brain metastases occur in a clinically significant...
In an analysis from the PIK3CA-mutant cohort of the phase III SOLAR-1 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Eva Ciruelos, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of alpelisib to fulvestrant was not associated with significant worsening of global health status/quality of life...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Metzger et al found that the integration of brentuximab vedotin into front-line treatment of pediatric patients with high-risk classical Hodgkin lymphoma resulted in avoidance of radiotherapy in many patients, as well as high rates of...
In an Israeli case-control study reported in a commentary in The Lancet Oncology, Waissengrin et al found that the short-term safety of the Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was similar in patients with cancer receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors compared with healthy controls. Study Details...
Although head and neck cancers include multiple histologies and primary sites, squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) originating in the oropharynx, oral cavity, larynx, or hypopharynx are the most common. Today, we recognize different types of head and neck cancers, primarily those that are human...
In the Chinese phase III RATIONALE 307 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Wang et al found that tislelizumab plus chemotherapy significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs chemotherapy alone in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Ronan J. Kelly, MBBCh, MBA, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CheckMate 577 trial has shown a significant improvement in disease-free survival with adjuvant nivolumab vs placebo in patients with resected esophageal or...
In the next 2 decades, rankings of incidence and death across cancer types in the United States will undergo important changes, according to new research published by Lola Rahib, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open. The study estimates that pancreatic cancer is on course to become the...
Lower levels of cancer aneuploidy were associated with more favorable outcomes after immune checkpoint inhibition in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented by Alessi et al at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021...
Tumor mutational burden (TMB) was an accurate predictor of response to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors for female patients with melanoma, but not for male patients, according to results of a study presented by Sinha et al during the virtual American Association for Cancer Research...
Jacqueline S. Garcia, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who was not involved in this study, agreed that “novel therapies for relapsed/refractory AML that are biomarker-directed are a dire unmet need and may help patients avoid ineffective therapies and unnecessary toxicity.” She noted that 36%...
The novel agentSY-1425 combined with azacitidine appears to be active in retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) superenhancer–positive newly diagnosed and relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to the results of a phase II trial presented at the 2020 American Society of...
In a phase I trial reported at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 (Abstract CT018) and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Friedman et al found that oncolytic virotherapy with genetically engineered herpes simplex virus-1...
In a Canadian study reported in JAMA Surgery, Hallet et al found that higher anesthesiologist volume was associated with reduced risk of short-term adverse postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing complex surgery for gastrointestinal cancer. Study Details The population-based cohort study...
In a long-term follow-up of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nirali N. Shah, MD, and colleagues found that autologous CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy followed by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can...
Cirmena et al discussed whether using a liquid biopsy test to assess plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity could improve the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting the achievement of complete response among patients with locally advanced breast cancer who had received...
Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer were more than three times more likely than the general public to be diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and adjustment disorder, according to results presented by Hu et al during the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021...
Racial differences in genetic mutations were observed among patients with early-onset colorectal cancer, according to data presented by Andreana N. Holowatyj, PhD, MS, during the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 (Abstract 101). The incidence of early-onset ...
The combination of copanlisib plus rituximab reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 48% compared with placebo plus rituximab in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to results of the phase III CHRONOS-3 trial presented by Matthew J. Matasar, MD, at the virtual...
Treatment with tebentafusp, a novel bispecific fusion protein, reduced the risk of death from metastatic uveal melanoma at 14 months by half, compared with available treatments, in a phase III study presented by Piperno-Neumann et al at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)...
Invited discussant David A. Braun, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, said there are a couple of established pillars of systemic therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). “An immune checkpoint inhibitor is a strong pillar, a [vascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine...
Separate studies presented at the 2021 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium provide supportive evidence for belzutifan (formerly MK-6482) as an active treatment for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). One study showed single-agent activity for this novel approach in an early-phase trial,...
Treatment with unselected autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) showed early clinical efficacy among patients with advanced melanoma, according to results presented by Hawkins et al during week 1 of the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 (Abstract ...
Bispecific anti-CD19/CD20 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy was well tolerated and showed signs of clinical efficacy in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma, according to phase I clinical trial data presented by Ghafouri et al during week 1 of the virtual American...
We who live and work in Seattle recently took note of two milestones: the first death of a patient from COVID-19 reported in the United States in Seattle on February 28, 2020, and recognition of 5,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the state of Washington on March 2, 2021. The juxtaposition of these two...
The swastikas on his knuckles kept stealing my attention. I tried not to stare but every time he gestured to emphasize his words my gaze snapped back there. That awful symbol, multiplied across all 10 digits, refused to be ignored. The blue lines were blurred and misshapen, probably jail tats. I...
To complement The ASCO Post’s comprehensive coverage of the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel clinical trial findings in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). For full details of...
Next-generation inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations showed promise in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in early-phase trials presented during the International Association Society for Lung Cancer 2020 World Conference on Lung...
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) have proved to be effective drugs in the treatment of many solid tumors. However, their clinical benefit may come at the cost of cardiovascular toxicity if clinicians are not vigilant and proactive. During...
“The absolute risk reduction in metastasis ranges from 2% to 12% by 10 years. Given this heterogeneity, there is a strong rationale for better prognostic markers to personalize treatment of prostate cancer. Nearly all men treated with androgen-deprivation therapy have variable side effects that...
According to a retrospective study, the combined clinical and cell-cycle risk (CCR) score may be able to accurately predict which patients with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer will have little additional benefit from androgen-deprivation therapy added to dose-escalated radiotherapy and...
Xin Gao, MD, a medical oncologist at Mass General Hospital and Instructor at Harvard Medical School, said these were important findings. “Analyses of patient-reported outcomes pertaining to health-related quality-of-life measures from CheckMate 9ER showed significantly improved quality-of-life...
Results of the CheckMate 9ER phase III trial showed significantly improved patient-reported outcomes in quality of life for first-line treatment with nivolumab plus cabozantinib compared with sunitinib for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.1 These findings are in line with the previously...
Invited discussant, Ursula Matulonis, MD, Chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, applauded the improved outcomes favoring lenvatinib/pembrolizumab in the confirmatory KEYNOTE-775 trial. “This represents the start of a new era in endometrial cancer...
In the first report from the pivotal phase III KEYNOTE-775/Study 309 trial, the combination of lenvatinib, a multikinase inhibitor of VEGFR1, VEGFR2, and VEGFR3 kinases, and pembrolizumab significantly improved multiple outcomes compared with standard single-agent chemotherapy in patients with...
José Baselga, MD, PhD, FASCO, a global innovator in novel cancer therapeutics, led research efforts in his native country of Spain and in the United States, most notably as Physician-in-Chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). “My moment of recognition as an oncologist came early,...
At 33, I’m not living the life I had imagined for myself. If cancer hadn’t interrupted my plans, I would be serving in the United States Army Special Forces by now, a profession that was inspired by my father’s career as a military officer and helicopter pilot and one that I had dreamed about since ...
Gastrointestinal oncologist John Marshall, MD, is well known for his candid observations about cancer treatment and research. In 2006, all the scientific intricacies and sociopolitical dramas of oncology coalesced in Dr. Marshall’s life when his 43-year-old wife, Liza, was diagnosed with breast...
Globally, breast cancer surpassed lung cancer as the most common cancer among women, with an estimated 2.3 million cases in 2020.1,2 Approximately 685,000 women will die of breast cancer in 2020 around the world. Approximately 24.5% of all cancers in women are breast cancer, and 15.5% of...
The Sarcoma Alliance recently announced the appointment of William Tseng, MD, to the organization’s Board of Directors. A surgical oncologist at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), Dr. Tseng specializes in soft-tissue sarcoma. “Our Board of Directors comprises a...
The treatment paradigm for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma has undergone a dramatic shift over the past few years, improving outcomes for many patients but leaving many unanswered questions as to how to optimally choose the best treatment for an individual patient. The changes are...
As reported in two articles in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by David F. McDermott, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and colleagues, the phase II KEYNOTE-427 study showed that pembrolizumab monotherapy produced durable responses as first-line treatment in cohorts of patients with...