The findings of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), reported in 2011, revealed that participants who received low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) scans had a 20% lower risk of dying of lung cancer than participants who received standard chest x-rays. Despite these results,...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has published a new book of patient information that explains prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for squamous cell skin cancer. Squamous cell and basal cell skin cancers are responsible for about 5 million annual incidents of nonmelanoma...
A qualitative study yielded nine patient-driven recommendations across circumstances that include changes to insurance, supportive services, and financial assistance to reduce long-term, breast cancer–related economic burden. The study was published by Dean et al in Cancer. Unique...
A single dose of a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor before resection for melanoma may predict clinical outcomes for patients. Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania—who documented this finding in the largest cohort of patients to be...
Men with early-stage testicular cancer can safely receive one course of adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy without it having a long-term effect on their reproductive potential, according to a study published by Weibring et al in Annals of Oncology. Although it is known already that several...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology by Nicolosi et al, it was found that 17% of men with prostate cancer had likely deleterious germline genetic variants, and that many of these men would not have been considered candidates for genetic testing. Study Details The study involved data from 3,607...
Kentucky has been one of the most successful states in reducing its uninsured rate, which happened in part through the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion that took effect on January 1, 2014. In the past, Kentucky has reported low rates of colorectal cancer screening, and has ranked ...
While artificial intelligence (AI) systems for skin cancer detection have shown promise in research settings, there is still a lot of work to be done before the technology is appropriate for real-world use. This was the topic of a scientific session at the 2019 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) ...
All homes and all families have or have had their own cancer experiences. Speaking about it dissolves the taboo and allows for earlier diagnosis, less discrimination, increased awareness, and higher commitment by authorities. It also helps those struggling with the disease feel like part of a...
Cancer can affect fertility in both men and women from adolescence through adulthood. Fertility preservation is often not addressed early enough during cancer treatment, but it should be a standard component of comprehensive care for prepubertal and reproductive-age patients. ASCO University offers ...
I am a radiation oncologist from Zambia, where we only have one cancer center offering radiotherapy—and I will beat cancer. This bold statement often evokes a look of surprise. However, if the conversation is allowed to go on, I’ll say cancer is beatable even where resources are thin. I am...
ASCO, along with over 50 other organizations, signed a letter from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging the agency to reject proposed changes to Medicare Part D that could harm patient access to essential therapies, including...
The Pancreatic Cancer Collective—the strategic partner of the Lustgarten Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)—has awarded a total of $7 million in first-round New Therapies Challenge grants to 7 teams of top cancer researchers to explore new pancreatic cancer treatments. Each team will receive...
The Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) 2019 Honorary Award for cancer drug development has been given to Geoffrey Shapiro, PhD, MD, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and institute physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), for his leadership in developmental therapeutics. ...
With advances in the field, the number of haploidentical stem cell transplants being performed (ie, using human leukocyte antigen [HLA] half-matched donor stem cells) has been increasing. In recognition of evolving strategies to improve outcomes, a group of transplant physicians started the...
As reported by Betty R. Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, of the Division of Nursing Research and Education, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, California, and colleagues in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, the National Consensus Project (NCP) of the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative ...
First launched in 2014, the Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium introduced a nascent interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of both the physical and psychological symptoms of cancer to improve disease outcome and quality of life for patients. Today, it has evolved into a leading forum for...
Otis W. Brawley, MD, an authority on cancer screening and prevention who served as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the American Cancer Society and Director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, has been named a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns...
Researchers reported similar efficacy and safety with an every-4-week regimen of nivolumab in the second-line setting compared to an every-2-week schedule in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Edward B. Garon, MD, and colleagues presented the results of an interim analysis of...
Following identification of a positive sentinel lymph node, surgical axillary lymph node dissection and axillary radiation therapy provide comparable locoregional control and survival, according to a 10-year follow-up of the large European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer AMAROS...
NYU Langone Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center recently announced a philanthropic gift to establish a Center for Blood Cancers. The center will house a new program for multiple myeloma care and research, along with NYU Langone Health’s other blood cancer programs. It will also...
Several breast cancer experts said the findings of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) meta-analysis and the AERAS study are in line with data emerging from other studies of extended treatment with aromatase inhibitors. All of these studies suggest that extended...
Biologic age—a DNA-based estimate of a person’s age—may be associated with development of breast cancer, according a report published by Kresovich et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Study Methods Scientists from the National Institute of Environmental Health...
Two studies presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium validated a small benefit of extending adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy beyond thestandard 5 years for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. In a meta-analysis of 24,912 patients from 12...
Neuroendocrine tumors appear resistant to single-agent immunotherapy, according to the results of the KEYNOTE-028 trial of pembrolizumab. “Pembrolizumab monotherapy showed limited antitumor activity but a manageable safety profile in patients with previously treated, advanced neuroendocrine...
The formal discussant of the ARAMIS trial, Ian Davis, MBBS (Hons), PhD, FRACP, FAChPM, of Monash University and Eastern Health, Melbourne, Australia, commented: “ARAMIS is a positive trial with encouraging early results. It has a meaningful endpoint of metastasis-free survival with acceptable...
Darolutamide—an investigational androgen receptor inhibitor—significantly improved metastasis-free survival in men with high-risk nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer vs placebo in the large phase III ARAMIS trial.1 Men treated with darolutamide had a median metastasis-free survival...
“This is an intriguing agent,” said ASCO expert Robert Dreicer, MD, MS, MACP, FASCO, of the University of Virginia Cancer Center and moderator of a press briefing where these data were discussed. “Survival rates are low for patients with metastatic castration--resistant prostate cancer, and the...
In a prospective, single-center, single-arm phase II trial reported at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, a novel approach using a tumor-specific radioligand therapy that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) (lutetium-177 PSMA-617 -[LuPSMA]) achieved responses in a majority of...
Formal discussant of KEYNOTE-426, Lori Wood, MD, of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, called both KEYNOTE-426 and JAVELIN-101 “practice-changing.” “In 2019, we have a new standard of care,” Dr. Wood declared. “The majority of patients with clear cell advanced renal cell carcinoma ...
The checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab plus the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates vs sunitinib as first-line therapy for clear cell metastatic renal cell...
An aging population, a growing number of cancer survivors, and a projected shortage of cancer care providers will lead to challenges in delivering care for cancer survivors in the United States if systemic changes are not made, according to a commentary in the Journal of the National Cancer...
Leadership from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued the following statement yesterday: As the NIH Director stated in September, sexual harassment is about power. The goal of the perpetrator, most commonly but not exclusively a man, is to objectify, exclude, demoralize,...
The proportion of early-stage drug trials tackling the most common tumor types has declined sharply since the early 1990s, as less common cancers receive increasing attention in trials, according to new research presented by Sato et al at the TAT 2019–International Congress on Targeted...
Patients with advanced prostate cancer who had preexisting cardiovascular disease had a higher risk of mortality in the 6 months after starting abiraterone acetate treatment compared with those who had no preexisting cardiovascular disease, according to data presented by Lu-Yao et al at a presscast ...
Among patients with melanoma treated with anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) immunotherapy, consumption of a high-fiber diet was associated with higher gut microbiome diversity and better response to treatment, according to data presented by Spencer et al at a presscast in advance of ...
New research published by Chopra et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network calls for much greater integration between cardiologists and oncologists for patients with coronary artery disease who are diagnosed with cancer. Coronary artery disease is the most...
INVESTIGATORS FROM Australia have identified a genetic mutation that causes resistance to the targeted drug venetoclax in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to research presented at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition1 and...
FIRST-LINE therapy with the combination of ibrutinib and rituximab reduced disease progression by two-thirds compared with standard chemotherapy using fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) in younger patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to the late-breaking...
Mrinal S. Patnaik, MBBS, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Oncology and a consultant in hematology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, commented on the MEDALIST trial for The ASCO Post. “Given its unique mode of action, relative ease of administration, and excellent tolerability,...
IN THE RANDOMIZED, double-blind, phase III MEDALIST trial, the experimental drug luspatercept significantly reduced the need for frequent red blood cell transfusions in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and ring sideroblasts. With luspatercept, 37.8% of patients remained...
IN A PHASE III TRIAL reported during the Plenary Session at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, single-agent ibrutinib and ibrutinib/rituximab were associated with superior progression-free survival vs...
In sunny San Diego, the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition welcomed nearly 30,000 attendees who were eager to present, learn, network, and cheer the joint achievements of many researchers. The packed meeting was filled with important information from...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On October 30, 2018, pembrolizumab in combination with...
A new global resource that includes data on thousands of inherited variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes will help inform the understanding of cancer risk. Wendy Rubinstein, MD, PhD, FACP, FACMG, Deputy Medical Director of CancerLinQ, LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO, served as a...
AT MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING Cancer Center, Mrinal M. Gounder, MD, led the first randomized, global trial for patients with desmoid tumors, a rare type of sarcoma. The trial: Patients with unresectable progressive desmoid tumors randomly received either a placebo or sorafenib. The results: Tumors...
THE JOURNAL of Clinical Oncology’s (JCO) author-friendly submission programs are taking time off the publication process for health-care professionals. JCO’s quick review process programs, Fast Track Presubmission and Rapid Review, aim to make the journal submission and review process easier for...
“IN THIS era of immunotherapy, it is highly possible, and potentially probable, that radiation therapy may become not just a form of locoregional and palliative treatment, but an essential component of our systemic treatments of cancer,” according to Zachary S. Morris, MD, PhD, Vice-Chair,...
SOME PATIENTS with advanced head and neck cancer may achieve durable responses with immunotherapy, and recent trial results suggest first-line immunotherapy may increase survival among patients with recurrent or metastatic disease. However, concerns remain about selecting patients most likely to...
AXICABTAGENE CILOLEUCEL (also known as CAR19) is an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat selected hematologic malignancies.1 To appreciate the clinical trial findings summarized here, from selected abstracts presented at the ...