In 2018, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute launched a large, ambitious screening study called PROMISE (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03689595). The objectives of the study were to identify people with premalignant precursor conditions of multiple myeloma, understand the molecular...
Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation honored recipients of the 2020 Medical Student Rotation for Underrepresented Populations (MSR), Resident Travel Awards for Underrepresented Populations (RTA), Long-Term International Fellowship (LIFe), and International Development and Education Awards (IDEA)...
In further statements from professional oncology organizations about inequities and disparities among racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations, as well as racism and discrimination, the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) issued the following statement: The AACI...
The first symptoms I had of colorectal cancer—blood in my stool and abdominal pain—coincided with surgery I had to remove my appendix in the spring of 2017. My surgeon attributed the symptoms to the appendectomy and to the medications I received both before and after the surgery. In addition to...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has now published a third book to complete the NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Head and Neck Cancers series. Each book contains detailed, expert guidance on what to expect and management options for various cancers that impact the mouth and throat....
When I was 18, I was diagnosed with stage II melanoma. I had a strange spot on my back that I mentioned to my dermatologist, almost as an afterthought. It never occurred to me it could be skin cancer, let alone the most dangerous kind. I have fair skin but was by no means a sun worshipper. My...
Although the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has recommended extended-fraction radiation therapy (more than 10 fractions) not be routinely used for palliation of bone metastases,1 a recently published retrospective cohort study using Medicare data for more than 12,000 patients found ...
An analysis of radiation therapy patterns among more than 12,000 Medicare patients treated for bone metastases found that 23.4% received extended-fraction radiation therapy, “wasting both health-care dollars and precious patient time,” according to the investigators.1 One-third of the treating...
"When the technician leaves the room, I turn my head toward the screen to interpret neoplasms, the webs of nerves, the small lit fonts in which my pathology and/or future or future end might be written. The first tumor I ever saw was a darkness on that screen, round with a long craggy finger...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests the benefits of physical activity through the cancer continuum....
On May 6, 2020, the oral mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) kinase inhibitor capmatinib was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adult patients who have metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tumors that have a mutation that leads to MET exon 14 skipping, as detected...
The path that led Donald I. Abrams, MD, to a career in oncology was a circuitous one. Although his love of science began when he was a student at Cleveland Heights High School in Ohio, and continued during college at Brown University, where he received an AB in molecular biology in 1972, he was...
As pandemic-related restrictions gradually begin to ease, oncology practices are trying to understand how to safely restore patient access to critical cancer care services. In response, ASCO released the ASCO Special Report: A Guide to Cancer Care Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic, which...
As oncology trainees, we develop skills to synthesize complex data and communicate this information with empathy as we accompany our patients through the trenches of a cancer diagnosis. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented layer of challenges has surfaced, as our patients who are...
On June 4, 2020, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released this statement: [AACR] is outraged and saddened about the pervasive racism and social injustices toward African Americans in our country and all people of color around the world. As a scientific organization focused on...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of tolerating cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays, historical...
The antipsychotic agent olanzapine may be helpful in reducing nausea and vomiting caused by advanced cancer, according to results of a study by Loprinzi et al published recently in JAMA Oncology. “There was a dramatic reduction [in nausea and vomiting] within 24 hours in the people who received...
Neurosurgeon and neuroscientist Daniel Yoshor, MD, has been named Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Vice President of Clinical Integration and Innovation for the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. ...
GUEST EDITOR Dr. Abraham is Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, and Chair of the Hematology and Medical Oncology Department at Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic. In this edition of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with pioneering art ...
Question 1 Which of the following statements about mixed-cellularity classic Hodgkin lymphoma is correct? A. It has a female predominance. B. This type of classic Hodgkin lymphoma is relatively more common in developing nations and is frequently associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positivity....
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that occasionally quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this first-part of a two-part installment, Drs. Abutalib and Medeiros highlight the histologically rare lymphocyte-rich type of classic Hodgkin lymphoma,...
On May 14, 2020, pomalidomide was granted accelerated approval to treat adult patients with AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma after failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy and for Kaposi sarcoma in adult patients who are HIV-negative.1,2 Pomalidomide is available only through the restricted...
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) announced the opening of a Gastrointestinal (GI) Care Neighborhood, a new cancer clinic aimed at improving the experience for patients with GI cancers, which features dedicated GI-related cancer care services on one floor of SCCA’s South Lake Union campus. “We...
In a recent study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 an alternative treatment regimen that is less toxic than standard dose-intensive chemotherapy was found to be highly effective for adults with Burkitt lymphoma across all age groups and independent of HIV status. In addition to being...
Breast surgical oncologist Laura S. Dominici, MD, was born and reared in Litchfield, a small town in the southern portion of New Hampshire. “Our house was on a long dirt road, in a very rural area,” she shared. “There were only about 5,000 residents in the town. My mother was a teacher, and my dad...
Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP, Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Clinical Director of the Early Drug Development Service, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, served as the study’s invited discussant. Dr. Jhaveri noted that, in SOLAR-1, the...
The text and photograph here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Anesthesia Era: 1845–1875 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns...
Early data from a clinical study published in Science Immunology1 suggest that blocking the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) protein provided clinical benefit to a small group of patients with severe COVID-19 infection.1 Roschewski et al observed that the off-label use of the BTK inhibitor...
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance recently released findings from its latest survey of patients with young-onset colorectal cancer and survivors. The Never Too Young Survey shares the self-reported medical, psychosocial, and quality-of-life experiences of this often-overlooked population to better...
The ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program was different in many ways, not only because of the virtual modality forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of the resilience of the scientific society and my colleagues around the world. I’m in the plenary session of the ASCO 2025 Annual Meeting....
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Hackensack Meridian Health recently announced they have formed an Immunology Research Collaboration. Through this joint initiative, researchers can apply for funding to support innovative investigations exploring the power of the immune system and...
Select Baylor College of Medicine faculty are honored annually through the Michael E. DeBakey, MD, Award for Excellence in Research for outstanding published scientific contributions to clinical and basic science research over a 3-year period. Included among the honorees for this year’s DeBakey...
On May 22, 2020, brigatinib was approved for the treatment of adult patients with ALK-positive, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test.1,2 The FDA also approved the Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit as a companion...
Studies have shown a disconnect between where patients say they want to die and where they actually die. According to research from Stanford School of Medicine, although an overwhelming majority of Americans—about 80%—would prefer to die at home, just 20% do. In fact, 60% die in acute care...
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have developed a new test that may help identify individuals who may be likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma. A study of the new approach was led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The findings were published in the journal...
Oncology pharmacy practitioners around the world are fighting to provide patients who have cancer with high-quality care despite increasingly limited and sometimes restricted personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as impaired access to essential anticancer medication, according to study...
In an article published in JCO Oncology Practice, David Waterhouse, MD, MPH, of Oncology Hematology Care, Cincinnati, Ohio, and colleagues presented the results of a recent ASCO survey of clinical programs on the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of oncology clinical...
As reported in The Lancet by Matthew D. Galsky, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Tisch Cancer Institute, New York, and colleagues, the phase III IMvigor130 trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival with first-line atezolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy vs...
The global toll of breast cancer on women is staggering. In 2018, nearly two million new breast cancer cases were diagnosed, an increase of more than 20% since 2008,1 and mortality rates have increased by 14%, bringing the annual number of deaths worldwide from the cancer to more than 611,625.2...
On May 19, 2020, olaparib was approved for the treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who experienced disease progression after treatment with...
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 May 15, 2020, the receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor...
Commenting on the final overall survival analysis of the LOTUS trial, the study’s invited discussant, Suzette Delaloge, MD, MSc, Chair of the Breast Cancer Group at the Institut Gustave Roussy, Paris, said: “We see there might also be an overall survival effect with ipatasertib and paclitaxel…....
In the phase II LOTUS trial, the addition of the AKT inhibitor ipatasertib to paclitaxel in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer yielded a strong numerical improvement—a median gain of 9 months—in overall survival, in the final survival analysis reported...
First- and second-line treatments of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer have become the standard of care based on solid gains in overall survival, but the prevalence of resistance to these agents is increasing; up to 55% of patients will ultimately develop brain metastases. According to a pair...
The Northwell Health Cancer Institute of Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, New York, has recruited four experts to strengthen its cancer care management, survivorship programs, oncology nursing, cancer research, and oncology surgery at locations throughout Long Island and Westchester county:...
Worldwide, nearly 1.7 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Of that number, nearly 300,000 Americans and more than 500,000 Europeans will be diagnosed with both invasive and in situ breast cancers.1,2 Breast-preserving surgery will initially be performed on approximately 60% of...
Months ago, when I defined a theme for my year as ASCO President, “Equity: Every Patient. Every Day. Everywhere,” I never imagined we would experience a health-care pandemic that would disproportionally impact people of color. Nor could I know this would be the moment when yet another brutal crime ...
Study discussant Taofeek Kunie Owonikoko, MD, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair of Hematology/Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, Atlanta, had praise for the design of KEYNOTE-604. He noted the adoption of the combination of pembrolizumab plus etoposide/platinum for the treatment of ...
On June 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with recurrent or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma that is not curable with surgery or radiation. KEYNOTE-629 Efficacy was investigated in KEYNOTE-629, a multicenter, multicohort,...
Harmonization of big data in examining acute and long-term outcomes with contemporary treatment for pediatric and adult patients with Hodgkin lymphoma is yielding a new approach to inform future clinical trial design and enhance clinical decision-making, according to a statement by Rutgers Cancer...