Targeted therapies for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are a hotbed of investigation. Two new targeted therapies are promising for patients with lung tumors that are either EGFR exon 20 insertions or RET-rearranged. At the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, attendees heard early data on therapies...
Invited discussant of the NALA trial, Carlos H. Barrios, MD, of the Centro de Pesquisa em Oncologia and Latin American Cooperative Oncology Group in Porto Alegre, Brazil, said the results suggest that neratinib plus capecitabine “may represent an alternative for third-line treatment of...
Clinical risk factors add prognostic information that complements the 21-gene recurrence score, according to a new analysis from the landmark TAILORx trial.1,2 The integration of clinical risk with the recurrence score provides greater precision in determining recurrence risk and guiding the use of ...
I was born at the beginning of World War II in a country half way around the world from the fighting. As a child, I was immune to the carnage. My father was too old to be included, although his elder brother had been killed in World War I. Thousands of families in many countries lost a father, a...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to provide oncologists with greater help in acquiring expanded access to investigational therapies. Deemed Project Facilitate, the pilot program was announced at a press briefing during the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting. Project Facilitate is essentially ...
“The end-of-study analysis of the CLEOPATRA trial demonstrates and confirms the long-term benefit of combined HER2-antibody therapy, with a significant number of ongoing responders,” said John T. Cole, MD, breast cancer specialist and Director of Clinical Cancer Research at Ochsner Health System...
The end-of-study analysis of the landmark CLEOPATRA trial shows that 37% of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer are still alive at 8 years, according to principal investigator Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, FASCO, Associate Dean for Research Development at Georgetown University Medical ...
Early detection and treatment through screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) has been investigated as a potential means of reducing lung cancer mortality for more than 2 decades. In 2011, a large U.S. study—the randomized National Lung Screening Trial (NLST)—reported a 20%...
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after two cycles of lutetium-177 (Lu-177)-PSMA radioligand therapy has shown a significant predictive value for patient survival. The research was...
In a single-center retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Funt et al found that the presence of teratoma in advanced nonseminomatous germ cell tumors was associated with a greater risk for disease-related death. The study was a retrospective review of primary tumor...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application for niraparib in the treatment of certain pretreated gynecologic cancers; granted Fast Track designation to a T-cell product; accepted investigational new drug applications for a myelopreservation agent and an...
Just as newer drugs have significantly improved outcomes for patients with multiple myeloma in the past decade, newer imaging techniques are upgrading detection of the disease, leading to earlier treatment, but standards to help guide clinicians on the optimal use of advanced imaging have lagged...
New research published in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and presented by Jarushka Naidoo, MBBCh, at the NCCN 2019 Annual Conference suggests that institutions and networks that utilize immunotherapy should consider establishing multidisciplinary teams for...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). The application received approval ...
The ROBUST trial compared the addition of lenalidomide to R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisone) vs placebo/R-CHOP in previously untreated, prospectively selected, CD20-positive patients with activated B-cell–like (ABC)-type diffuse large B-cell...
In the French phase III PHARE trial reported in The Lancet, Pivot et al found that noninferiority of 6 months vs 12 months of adjuvant trastuzumab combined with standard chemotherapy could not be demonstrated for disease-free survival in HER2-positive early breast cancer. An earlier interim...
In an analysis of the phase II GETUG-AFU 26 NIVOREN study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Flippot et al found that nivolumab had limited activity in patients with previously untreated brain metastases from clear cell renal cell carcinoma. The study assessed nivolumab in patients with ...
In the phase III GOG 258 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Matei et al found that 6 months of adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy plus radiation therapy did not improve relapse-free survival vs chemotherapy alone in stage III or IVA endometrial cancer. In the open-label...
A DIAGNOSIS of any life-threatening cancer or other serious illness has always been a world-shaking event for those touched by significant disease, and most of us have known—or will know—the frustration, helplessness, and desperate sense of urgency provoked by the words, “The disease is worsening,...
ASCO is one of the premier professional societies that is guiding oncologists throughout the world. Whether you are a medical student or an early-career oncologist, ASCO has a lot to offer. A main focus of ASCO is to promote and provide guidance to trainees and early-career oncologists. I consider...
The work of nine researchers who have previously received funding from Conquer Cancer is featured in ASCO’s Clinical Cancer Advances 2019. Visit CONQUER.ORG/CCA for more details. New Approaches in Leukemia In two separate trials, Conquer Cancer researchers joined forces to improve treatment for...
The 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting included groundbreaking science that has the potential to influence oncology care for years to come—but how should that science be applied in practice? The National Library of Medicine–indexed 2019 ASCO Educational Book aims to answer that question with compelling,...
In the final analysis of KEYNOTE-048, first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy led to a significant improvement in overall survival, vs standard chemotherapy with targeted therapy (EXTREME regimen), in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma expressing programmed...
In the field of prostate cancer, the use of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer is received wisdom. When experts are asked why ADT is continued once the disease has figured out how to evade hormone suppression, the answer invariably is...
A fixed-duration regimen of venetoclax plus obinutuzumab demonstrated superior progression-free survival, complete response rates, and minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity compared with chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab as first-line therapy for older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia...
IN A SEPARATE interview with The ASCO Post, Charles Drake, MD, PhD, commented on the clinical implications of the ENZAMET and TITAN trials, as well as studies of apalutamide, abiraterone acetate, and docetaxel used in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Dr. Drake is Director of...
Adding apalutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) significantly improved survival in men with metastatic castration-sensitive (also termed hormone-sensitive) prostate cancer, according to the results of the phase III TITAN trial, which were presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting and...
ONEONCOLOGY, a clinical partnership between three community oncology practices—Tennessee Oncology, New York Cancer and Blood, and West Cancer Center, and other independent community oncologists, recently announced three new appointments to the group's executive team: Natalie Dickson, MD, as Chief...
IAN CHAU, MD, a consultant medical oncologist at the Gastrointestinal and Lymphoma Units of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London and Surrey, United Kingdom, was the invited discussant of KEYNOTE-062. In an interview with The ASCO Post, he first commented that although single-agent...
KEYNOTE-062, a study of first-line treatment in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, found pembrolizumab to be noninferior to chemotherapy and perhaps better than chemotherapy in a subgroup of patients. The results were reported at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting ...
“THE RATIONALE for the POLO study is sound,” said invited study discussant Wells Messersmith, MD. “There’s clearly an unmet need in pancreatic cancer, and there are promising data for poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in other BRCA-mutated tumors.” Dr. Messersmith is Professor and Head ...
In patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and germline mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2, maintenance therapy with olaparib doubled the time to disease progression and the proportion of patients who were progression-free at 2 years, in the phase III POLO trial.1 “Maintenance olaparib provided a...
Agents that improve survival in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer when added to background androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) are showing success in treating metastatic prostate cancer earlier while it is still hormone-sensitive. These agents include docetaxel (chemotherapy) and...
The Oncology Center of Excellence of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a new pilot program to assist oncology health-care professionals in requesting access to unapproved therapies for patients with cancer. A new call center designated Project Facilitate will be a...
I am writing to provide personal context to my column on adjuvant denosumab or bisphosphonates for resected breast cancer, which appears on page 52 in this issue of The ASCO Post. I have been upset since 2013 that adjuvant zoledronate has been recommended for women with breast cancer onset after...
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has joined with hospitals, health systems, physicians, and supportive care teams from across New York to launch the Roswell Park Care Network. Led by Roswell Park, the network is the most expansive community cancer, supportive care, and specialized care...
As you probably already know, physicians do not make the best patients. When I began experiencing the early signs of Hodgkin lymphoma, in 2007, including a persistent cough, unusual fatigue, and pruritus, I self-diagnosed allergic rhinitis and began treatment with intranasal corticosteroids....
The recently published report of Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group’s Study 18 (ABCSG-18)1 for the secondary endpoint of disease-free survival suggests that denosumab given in a low dose of 60 mg subcutaneously every 6 months during aromatase inhibitor adjuvant therapy is...
Recently, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) debuted the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)—the most comprehensive and up-to-date, evidence-based, consensus-driven guidelines for treating children with...
NYU Langone Health has opened the doors to a new multispecialty outpatient facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. This new location features the capabilities of the Perlmutter Cancer Center. Previously, patients received radiation treatment at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn and chemotherapy and other...
Like most clinicians, oncologists often informally consult their colleagues, both asking questions and seeking suggestions on how best to care for their patients.1,2 These informal or “curbside” consults (sometimes called “sidewalk,” “elevator,” or “hallway” consults) are valuable, because the...
Nonmetastatic (M0) castration-resistant prostate cancer arises in the subset of men with biochemically recurrent disease (ie, rising prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level after definitive therapy in the absence of metastases) who develop PSA progression after chronic exposure to...
In a phase III ARAMIS trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Karim Fizazi, MD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, Universite Paris-Sud, Villejuif, France, and colleagues found that the androgen-receptor antagonist darolutamide significantly prolonged metastasis-free survival vs placebo ...
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, studies have shown an increased risk of several cancers—including multiple myeloma and prostate, head and neck, and thyroid cancers—among first responders to the scene. The results from a new study by Gong et al...
Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, Director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer and Phase ONE Foundation Distinguished Chair in Oncology, has been inducted as a new member of the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Theodorescu is a translational cancer researcher and expert in bladder cancer. He is known for his...
ELI LILLY AND COMPANY recently announced that it has been working to facilitate the withdrawal of olaratumab from the market for the treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma. Lilly’s actions to withdraw olaratumab from the market follow completion of the international phase III ANNOUNCE clinical...
A new study published by McDonough et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice found that while primary care physicians are often involved in cancer survivorship care, many do not feel adequately prepared for key components of it. The study shared the results of a survey of 117...
Poor oral health is associated with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, according to new research published by Jordão et al in the United European Gastroenterology Journal. Methods “Poor oral health has been associated with the risk of several chronic diseases, such as...
In a prospective study of directly measured body fat distribution and prostate cancer risk, investigators found that higher levels of abdominal and thigh fat are associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer. The findings—published by Dickerman et al in Cancer—may lead ...
Sixty percent of patients with triple-negative breast cancer will survive more than 5 years without disease after standard treatment, but 4 out of 10 women will have a rapid recurrence of the disease. There are currently no clinical tests to assess an individual patient’s prognosis, so all...