In the phase II ADAPT-IT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Michael A. Postow, MD, and colleagues showed that findings on interim computed tomography (CT) allowed patients to avoid the third and fourth doses of combination nivolumab/ipilimumab for the treatment of advanced...
In an interim analysis of the Chinese phase III REALITY trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Lin et al found that apatinib, a highly selective VEGFR2 inhibitor, significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with progressive, locally advanced or metastatic, radioactive...
In an interim analysis of a prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tammemägi et al found that the Prostate Lung Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial 2012 risk prediction model (PLCOm2012) may be more efficient than U.S. Preventive Services Task Force 2013 (USPSTF2013)...
In an analysis from the Pediatric Real-World Chimeric Antigen Receptor Consortium reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schultz et al found that pretreatment high disease burden was associated with poorer outcomes in pediatric and young adult patients who received commercial...
Patrick Hwu, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center and President of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), and Mary Dean, JD, CAE, SITC Executive Director, discuss the organization’s mission, strides made in cancer immunology, meeting the challenge of immunoresistance, and the new SITC app for...
Joe Schroers-Martin, MD, of Stanford University, discusses his latest study findings, which show that follicular lymphoma driver mutations are detectable in blood and saliva years prior to a clinical diagnosis. These data build on previous work and suggest that researchers may be able to stratify...
Today, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) published significant updates to the expert consensus recommendations on vaccination and preexposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 for people with cancer. The NCCN Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination and Preexposure Prophylaxis meets...
Cancer deaths rose to 10 million and new cases jumped to over 23 million globally in 2019, according to a new study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine published in JAMA Oncology. At the start of the decade in 2010, total...
A study evaluating the clinical characteristics and outcomes of fully vaccinated patients with cancer who had breakthrough COVID-19 infections indicated they remained at high risk for hospitalization and death. The report, published by Schmidt et al in Annals of Oncology, showed that fully...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Naranbhai et al found that the presence of HLA-A*03 was associated with poorer outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors for advanced cancers. As stated by the investigators, “Predictive biomarkers could allow more precise use of immune...
In a trial-level analysis of randomized studies submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Norsworthy et al found that complete remission rate was moderately correlated, and event-free survival was strongly correlated, with overall...
In an analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Yau et al found that increasing residual cancer burden (RCB) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with poorer event-free survival across breast cancer subtypes. Study Details The study included patient-level data on RCB and other clinical and ...
Nikhil C. Munshi, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the findings from a large nationwide Veterans Affairs study, which showed that, for patients with multiple myeloma, the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine is reduced, likely due to patients’ immunosuppression. Dr. Munshi...
Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses what she considers to be the most notable presentations at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. They include the focus on early-stage disease, especially in the TEXT/SOFT, RxPonder, and KEYNOTE-522 trials, as well as...
Nearly 100% of patients with solid tumors have antibodies effective against the SARS–CoV-2 delta variant after a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to results published as a correspondence by Fendler et al in Cancer Cell. The new findings also highlight a proportion of patients with blood...
Patients with melanoma who reported eating more fiber-rich foods when they began treatment with immunotherapy survived longer without cancer growth than patients with insufficient dietary fiber intake, according to new research published by Spencer et al in Science. The benefit was most noticeable...
On January 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to expand the use of a single booster dose to include use in individuals aged 12 to 15 years; shorten the time between the completion of primary...
In the phase II MASTER trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Luciano J. Costa, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that daratumumab, carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (Dara-KRd) induction; autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT); and measurable residual disease (MRD) ...
In a case-control genome-wide association study among persons of European ancestry reported in The Lancet Oncology, Trépo et al identified common genetic variants associated with the risk of alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Study Details The study involved a discovery cohort of 2,107 ...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, David M. O’Malley, MD, and colleagues found that the PD-1 inhibitor balstilimab and the CTLA-4 inhibitor zalifrelimab—both investigational agents—produced durable responses as second-line treatment for patients with recurrent or...
Sangeetha Venugopal, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a retrospective analysis of 562 patients with treated secondary acute myeloid leukemia and prior exposure to hypomethylating agents (HMAs). The results showed that an HMA plus venetoclax yielded significantly...
Andrew Matthews, MD, of the Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, discusses findings from a retrospective study at an academic institution, which showed there was no statistically significant difference in overall survival between induction with CPX-351 and venetoclax/azacitidine for...
In the phase III POLARIX trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Tilly et al found that polatuzumab vedotin-piiq plus R-CHP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone) significantly improved progression-free survival vs R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, ...
Oropharyngeal cancer incidence among men is continuing to rise rapidly in nearly all 50 U.S. states and among women living in states in the Midwest and Southeast regions, according to a new study published by Damgacioglu et al in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. In addition, the...
Eight substances have been added to the Report on Carcinogens, bringing the total list to 256 substances that are known—or reasonably anticipated—to cause cancer in humans. The 15th Report on Carcinogens, which is a cumulative report mandated by Congress and prepared by the National Toxicology...
�In an analysis from the phase III VIALE-A study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Keith W. Pratz, MD, and colleagues found that among treatment-naive patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who experienced complete remission after receiving treatment with venetoclax/azacitidine,...
In a Chinese phase III trial (FOHAIC-1) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lyu et al found that hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy with FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin; HAIC-FO) significantly prolonged overall survival vs sorafenib in patients with advanced...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Bishop et al, the phase III BELINDA trial showed no improvement in event-free survival with second-line tisagenlecleucel vs standard of care including salvage chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients ...
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses findings from a pooled analysis of the MONALEESA-2, -3, and -7 trials. Among the findings was a consistent overall survival benefit with ribociclib plus endocrine therapy...
Charles Coombes, MD, PhD, of Imperial College, London, discusses study results on samuraciclib, a first-in-class, oral, selective inhibitor of CDK7, in combination with fulvestrant in patients with advanced hormone receptor–positive HER2-negative breast cancer. The combination of agents has...
New data were presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium demonstrating that the Breast Cancer Index (BCI) may predict preferential recurrence-prevention benefit from extended endocrine therapy and may also predict the overall benefit/risk and likelihood of improved health outcomes...
Molecular and genetic research has advanced the categorization of different risk groups in patients with smoldering myeloma. Notable presentations at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition included reports on biomarkers to predict response to immunotherapy in...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schneider et al found that genomically directed therapy did not improve 2-year disease-free survival vs treatment of physician’s choice in patients with residual triple-negative breast cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Study ...
In a phase II trial (NRG-CC004) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Barton et al found that bupropion, a dopaminergic agent, did not improve sexual desire vs placebo as measured by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) desire subscale among postmenopausal women with low desire scores...
In the European phase III Lung ART trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Le Pechoux et al found that three-dimensional (3D) conformal postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) did not improve disease-free survival vs no PORT in patients with stage IIIA N2 non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Luznik et al, the phase III Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trial Network 1301 trial has shown no improvement in the composite outcome of chronic graft-vs-host disease or relapse-free survival with calcineurin inhibitor–free regimens in...
ASCO is currently recruiting practices to participate in measures testing for a variety of efforts, including re-endorsing existing measures by the National Quality Forum (NQF). In addition to ensuring the highest level of quality care for individuals with cancer and advancing the specialty of...
Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI) recently introduced new legislation intended to invest in research and deliver more cures to patients. The newly introduced 21st Century Cures 2.0 Act (Cures 2.0) is intended to build on the landmark 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed ...
“The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) calls on Congress to pass legislation that will prevent devastating reimbursement cuts to Medicare services set to begin on January 1. Failure to do so will significantly compromise patient access to lifesaving cancer care during an ongoing and...
On November 19, 2021, the Build Back Better Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a vote of 220–213. The legislation contains significant health-care provisions, some of which are outlined below. Drug Pricing—The legislation contains prescription drug pricing reforms designed to address ...
OCE Insights is an occasional column developed for The ASCO Post by members of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this installment, Julie A. Schneider, PhD, Associate Director for Research Strategy and Partnerships, OCE; Jennifer J. Gao, MD,...
NYU Langone Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center opened a new state-of-the-art center to treat people with hematologic malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. The new center, led by Samer Al-Homsi, MD, MBA, Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine and...
In the past decade, use of immunotherapy has arisen as a novel adjunct to multiple myeloma therapy. Daratumumab is the first anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in November 2015, for use in treating relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.1...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized Peter Marks, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for his outstanding commitment to hematology in overseeing the approval of therapeutics that improve the...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Thierry Facon, MD, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, and colleagues, a prespecified interim analysis of overall survival in the pivotal phase III MAIA trial has shown a significant benefit with the addition of daratumumab to...
Invited discussant Ian Chau, MD, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London and Surrey in the United Kingdom, said the findings from COSMIC-3121 are not mature enough to establish cabozantinib/atezolizumab as a new front-line option for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma...
The phase III COSMIC-312 study has met its primary endpoint, showing a significant improvement in progression-free survival with cabozantinib plus atezolizumab compared with sorafenib in treatment-naive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), investigators reported at a European Society for Medical...
Myung-Ju Ahn, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, South Korea, said the novel regimen of sintilimab, IBI305, and chemotherapy is a promising approach in EGFR-mutated nonsquamous non–small cell lung...
A four-drug combination of the anti–PD-1 antibody sintilimab, the bevacizumab biosimilar IBI305, plus pemetrexed and cisplatin chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ...
On November 22, 2021, sirolimus protein-bound particles for injectable suspension (albumin-bound) was approved for treatment of adults with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was supported by findings in the...