On July 7, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) posted a draft recommendation statement, draft evidence review, and draft modeling study on screening for lung cancer in people who do not have signs or symptoms. Based on the evidence, the USPSTF recommends annual screening using a...
At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2020 Virtual, Javle et al reported that third- and later-line treatment with the selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1-3 inhibitor infigratinib resulted in a progression-free survival and...
Discussant Scott T. Tagawa, MD, MS, of Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, agreed that prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted positron-emission tomography (PET) is the wave of the future, but data on long-term outcomes are needed, he said. “We are all aware of the deficiencies of imaging ...
Commenting on the SOLO2 trial for The ASCO Post was Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP, FASCO, Director of Women’s Cancers at Lifespan Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. “It’s great to get an overall survival advantage from a PARP inhibitor study. Coming...
New, longer-term data from a pivotal phase II trial in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), were presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program and discussed during a poster discussion.1 Danny Rischin, MD, of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria, Australia, presented...
Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging with the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiotracer fluorine F-18 DCFPyL (PyL) successfully identified areas of occult metastasis in men with biochemically recurrent metastatic castration-resistant prostate...
In a poster presentation at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, of the the Department of Oncology, Rigshopitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, and colleagues reported the final analysis of the phase II NSGO-AVANOVA2/ENGOT-OV24 trial comparing the...
In the final, preplanned, overall survival analysis in the randomized phase III SOLO2/ENGOT-ov211 trial, maintenance treatment with the PARP inhibitor olaparib extended overall survival by an unprecedented 12.9 months, compared with placebo. This marks the first time that overall survival has been...
Two gynecologic oncologists and ASCO’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, commented on the findings of the TROPHIMMUN trial for The ASCO Post. “The authors demonstrate efficacy of a new treatment approach for gestational trophoblastic...
Almost 50% of patients resistant to single-agent chemotherapy responded in the first trial of immunotherapy for gestational trophoblastic tumors, reported French investigators in an abstract presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program.1 Benoit You, MD, PhD, of Lyon University Hospital,...
Discussant for the CheckMate 227 and CheckMate 9LA trials, Scott N. Gettinger, MD, of Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut, said: “There is tremendous interest in lung cancer to combine nivolumab plus ipilimumab, driven by the melanoma experience. However, combinations of immunotherapy come ...
Advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors have no EGFR or ALK alterations poses a particular challenge in terms of first-line therapy. The use of nivolumab plus ipilimumab as well as nivolumab/ipilimumab plus two cycles of chemotherapy, respectively, as first-line therapy ...
Treatment with the anti–PD-1 agent pembrolizumab significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma compared with standard brentuximab vedotin, according to results of the phase III KEYNOTE-204.1 The study results were presented during the ASCO20 Virtual...
Philip McCarthy, MD, Professor of Oncology and Internal Medicine and Director of the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Center at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, found the results of the DREAMM-6 study to be “exciting and promising.” He commented: “The overall response...
Treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma yielded responses with the antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin, both as a single agent and in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone. Two reports from the DREAMM team expanded on these findings at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific...
Results of the phase III E2108 study indicate that surgery and radiotherapy given after systemic treatment afforded no additional survival benefit among women with newly diagnosed metastatic breast cancer. The practice may, however, reduce locoregional progression of disease, according to a report...
The importance of first-line therapy in multiple myeloma is that the first therapy typically achieves the most impact, and subsequent lines of therapy tend to be less effective, explained ENDURANCE study discussant Jesús G. Berdeja, MD, Director of Myeloma Research at the Sarah Cannon Research...
No superior efficacy was shown with the combination of carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) in newly treated patients with standard- and intermediate-risk multiple myeloma who are not slated for immediate autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), compared with the standard of care: ...
Sharing his perspective on KEYNOTE-177 with The ASCO Post was Axel Grothey, MD, Director of GI Cancer Research at the West Cancer Center, OneOncology, Memphis. “This is a very important, highly anticipated study,” he said. “It’s the first randomized trial of any checkpoint inhibitor in...
“These data are solid, showing a 7-month improvement in overall survival in patients with stable disease or better after first-line chemotherapy. This is roughly a 50% improvement in survival, which is clinically meaningful. Also, progression-free survival was significantly increased with...
Lecia V. Sequist, MD, who was not involved in the ADAURA study, said this could be a practice-changing study. Dr. Sequist is the Landry Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Innovation in Early Cancer Detection at Massachusetts General Hospital....
The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many cancer societies, including ASCO, to cancel their in-person meetings this year and instead present the latest advancements and new approaches in oncology care via a virtual platform. For the first time in its 56-year history, the ASCO Annual...
Elias Jabbour, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses study findings that showed venetoclax and navitoclax with chemotherapy is well tolerated, with promising efficacy in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia and...
Courtney D. DiNardo, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses data from her study of treatment-naive, predominantly older patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are ineligible for intensive therapy. The research shows venetoclax plus azacitidine improved response rates...
LYNN M. SCHUCHTER, MD, FASCO, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, Philadelphia, was optimistic about the vaccine approach in this study. “We have seen broad use of PD-1 and PD-L1 agents across a range of cancers, and it makes sense to combine the immune...
AN APPROACH using an RNA-based personalized cancer vaccine called RO7198457 in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab has shown a preliminary benefit, according to an early study in patients with advanced solid tumors. The novel combination was well tolerated, and 8% of patients showed a ...
LYNN M. SCHUCHTER, MD, FASCO, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, Philadelphia, was optimistic about the vaccine approach in this study. “We have seen broad use of PD-1 and PD-L1 agents across a range of cancers, and it makes sense to combine the immune...
In a new study published by Wentzensen et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a computer algorithm improved the accuracy and efficiency of cervical cancer screening compared with cytology (Papanicolaou [Pap] test), the current standard for follow-up of women who test positive in...
For patients with neuroendocrine tumors and liver metastases, a new radiopharmaceutical, Ga-68 DOTA-JR11, has shown a benefit in imaging for tumor detection, staging, and restaging, providing important information to guide treatment. In a head-to-head comparison of two somatostatin receptor (SSTR)...
A study by Camacho-Rivera et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention examining how increasing knowledge about cancer and cancer services among Hispanic adults may help in reducing inequities to care has found that there is significant variation by ethnicity and other...
In a French trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bridoux et al found adding cyclophosphamide to bortezomib/dexamethasone offered no benefit for renal recovery of patients with multiple myeloma and initial cast nephropathy not requiring dialysis. Study Details In the multicenter...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, York et al found that perceived lack of insurance coverage for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, male sex, and decreased parent-survivor communication regarding HPV vaccination were among the factors associated with an increased likelihood...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to relugolix for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer; Fast Track designation to a radioimmunotherapeutic treatment for marginal zone lymphoma; and Orphan Drug designation to a novel monoclonal antibody for...
AN APPROACH using an RNA-based personalized cancer vaccine called RO7198457 in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab has shown a preliminary benefit, according to an early study in patients with advanced solid tumors. The novel combination was well tolerated, and 8% of patients showed a ...
In a new study published by Wentzensen et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a computer algorithm improved the accuracy and efficiency of cervical cancer screening compared with cytology (Papanicolaou [Pap] test), the current standard for follow-up of women who test positive in...
For patients with neuroendocrine tumors and liver metastases, a new radiopharmaceutical, Ga-68 DOTA-JR11, has shown a benefit in imaging for tumor detection, staging, and restaging, providing important information to guide treatment. In a head-to-head comparison of two somatostatin receptor (SSTR)...
A study by Camacho-Rivera et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention examining how increasing knowledge about cancer and cancer services among Hispanic adults may help in reducing inequities to care has found that there is significant variation by ethnicity and other...
Courtney D. DiNardo, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses data from her study of treatment-naive, predominantly older patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are ineligible for intensive therapy. The research shows venetoclax plus azacitidine improved response rates...
At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2020 Virtual, Javle et al reported that third- and later-line treatment with the selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1–3 inhibitor infigratinib resulted in a progression-free survival and...
At the Genitourinary Highlights session of the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Toni K. Choueiri, MD, Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, put these findings into perspective. “This is an important update. The initial publication was with ...
Extended analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-426 study upholds pembrolizumab plus axitinib as a preferred front-line regimen over sunitinib in patients with advanced sporadic renal cell carcinoma.1 These updated results were presented at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program by Elizabeth R. Plimack,...
In a French study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pistilli et al found that serum detection of nonadherence to adjuvant tamoxifen therapy was common and was associated with poorer distant disease-free survival among premenopausal women with breast cancer. Biochemical nonadherence was...
A visiting away elective is a resident’s designated time to visit another academic program to foster the growth of medical knowledge through patient care from the perspective of another health-care system and educational experience. The time dedicated to make this dream happen is grueling. First is ...
In a study published by Wolpert et al in the European Journal of Cancer, venous thromboembolic events (VTE) were reported in 12% of a cohort of patients with cancer that had metastasized to the brain. Researchers identified thrombogenicity of primary tumor, immobilization, chemotherapy, obesity,...
A new study published by Savitch et al in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery found that black patients are less likely to receive surgery for resectable esophageal cancer, which may contribute to higher rates of death. “National guidelines suggest that early-stage esophageal cancer should be...
“GnRH antagonists have several advantages over GnRH agonists,” explained David Wise, MD, of Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health in New York. “There is no testosterone flare on initiation [as there is with leuprolide], no increase in cardiac toxicity, and faster onset of action. Currently ...
Men with prostate cancer on androgen-deprivation therapy are usually treated with leuprolide, a long-acting injectable luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist requiring an every-3-month injection, but it may be possible for ADT to be delivered by a daily oral treatment, pending...
In patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma, a novel combination of biomarkers from baseline tumor tissues was predictive of improved clinical responses and prolonged survival following treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to findings published by Goswami et al in Science...
In a European Intergroup for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma/Children’s Oncology Group phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Minard‑Colin et al found that the addition of rituximab to standard Lymphomes Malin B (also known as Lymphome Malin de Burkitt, or LMB) chemotherapy ...
Scientists studying a common TP53 R337H variant found among people of Brazilian descent discovered that a variant in the tumor-suppressor gene XAF1 increases cancer risk when combined with the inherited TP53 R337H mutation. These findings were published by Pinto et al in Science Advances. “We...