A special report published by Oudkerk et al in the journal Radiology outlined strategies for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of thromboembolic complications in patients with COVID-19. Based on recent reports that demonstrated a strong association between elevated D-dimer levels and poor...
Barbara DeVivo, PhD, MBA, of Westmont College, talks about how the culture and structure of tumor boards—and their invisible status hierarchies—may hamper collaboration and influence the way providers treat patients with cancer (Abstract BPI20-020).
In dealing with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), some oncologists are modifying conventional treatment regimens to limit patients’ visits to infusion centers and providers’ offices. The ASCO Post asked C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, Chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer...
On April 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved niraparib (Zejula) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a complete or partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy....
A risk-prediction model that combined genetic and clinical factors with circulating biomarkers may help to identify people at a significantly higher-than-normal risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to results of a study published by Peter Kraft, PhD, and colleagues in Cancer...
First results from the TERAVOLT (Thoracic cancERs international coVid 19 cOLlaboraTion) registry for thoracic cancers—presented by Marina C. Garassino, MD, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting in the COVID-19 and Cancer Session—indicate a high mortality rate ...
On April 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to a new dosing regimen for pembrolizumab (Keytruda)—400 mg every 6 weeks—across all currently approved adult indications, in addition to the current 200 mg every 3 weeks dosing regimen. The approval was based on...
A randomized clinical trial offers evidence that a combination of two targeted melanoma drugs, when given continuously, improves progression-free survival when compared with intermittent treatment, according to study results presented by Algazi et al at the American Association for Cancer Research...
A group of clinicians from New York City sought to determine if patients with cancer and COVID-19 in the United States have a poor prognosis. In an article published as a pre-proof in Annals of Oncology, Miyashita et al analyzed the electronic medical records from the Mount Sinai Health System, and ...
ASCO (the Society) and its affiliate organization the Association for Clinical Oncology (the Association) recently announced the results of a survey that tracked the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer clinical trials, highlighted a new research initiative to address the data gap on...
Jacek Jassem, MD, PhD, of the Medical University of Gdansk, and an international editor on The ASCO Post Editorial Board, talks about the situation in Poland, how his institution is coping, and the adjustments the staff has made to deliver quality cancer care. Filmed April 17, 2020.
Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Naples, Italy, talks about minimizing risks for patients with cancer, prioritizing surgery and other treatments for melanoma, and the state of clinical trials. Filmed April 17, 2020.
“Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.” ―Hippocrates The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that occasionally quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib and Connors...
New data from the phase III EMBRACA trial showed the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor talazoparib did not produce a statistically significant overall survival benefit for patients with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-negative germline BRCA-mutated breast cancer. Most patients...
ASCO and Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation®, are proud to recognize the winners of ASCO’s 2020 Special Awards and Conquer Cancer’s Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards. The recipients of these awards have worked to transform cancer care around the world. David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award...
On March 31, 2020, the US Oncology Network (The Network) named cancer researcher Robert L. Coleman, MD, FACOG, FACS, as its new Chief Scientific Officer. In this role, Dr. Coleman will be the senior-most clinician scientist on The US Oncology Network leadership. Dr. Coleman, who most recently...
A team led by Pawel Kalinski, MD, PhD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, has earned a 5-year, $14.5 million award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand a promising immunotherapy platform. Funded through the NCI’s Program Project Grant, this 5-year grant will fund five...
Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA, FACS, has been appointed the inaugural Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center, Professor of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine, and Interim Director of the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital. As Deputy Chief...
Earlier this month, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced resources available to help physicians cope with increased levels of distress and anxiety during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These resources build on the AMA’s efforts to ensure physicians and other...
Texas Oncology recently announced a major expansion of its telemedicine services to allow patients to schedule virtual visits with more than 400 physicians and 150 advanced practice providers throughout the statewide cancer care practice. Through this expanded approach, launched earlier this month, ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has implemented a program to expedite the development of potentially safe and effective life-saving treatments. The program, known as the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP), is using every tool at the agency’s disposal to bring new...
The individualization and optimization of adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer are important and not always simple. Guidance on this issue was offered at the 2020 Miami Breast Cancer Conference by Joyce O’Shaughnessy, MD, the Celebrating Woman Chair in Breast Cancer Research at Baylor...
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concluded that about 21,000 people die each year of lung cancer related to radon gas exposure, making it the second leading cause of lung cancer death in the United States. Although the EPA and various other organizations, including the National Radon ...
Mismatch repair (MMR)-deficiency and consequently high DNA microsatellite instability (MSI-H) are associated with high tumor mutational burden. A high mutational load increases the potential number of neoantigens that can be presented by the tumor cell and recognized by host lymphocytes. Detection...
Previous single-center studies have linked the gut microbiota (via stool sample analysis) to outcomes after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), such as overall mortality, transplant-related mortality, graft-vs-host disease, and graft-vs-host–related mortality.1-4 Although intriguing, these...
To complement The ASCO Post’s continued comprehensive coverage of the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, here are several abstracts selected from the meeting proceedings focusing on novel therapies for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs). For full...
The results from the first in-human phase I clinical trial in the United States evaluating CRISPR-Cas9–edited T cells in patients with advanced cancer has shown that the therapy is both feasible and safe, representing a big step forward in the potential of using gene editing to boost the natural...
The phase III confirmatory ASCENT study of the antibody drug-conjugate sacituzumab govitecan will be stopped based on efficacy across multiple study endpoints following unanimous recommendation from the independent data safety monitoring committee, according to a news release issued earlier this...
Inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) have changed the natural history of hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer. While median progression-free survival on these drugs is approximately 27 months, the disease eventually progresses and clinicians must choose a subsequent ...
Novel antibody-drug conjugates that target actionable cell-surface markers in metastatic breast cancer will soon expand the utility of the class that already includes ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), according to two speakers at the 2020 Miami Breast Cancer Conference. These new agents were...
Can patients with cancer and preexisting autoimmune disorders safely benefit from immunotherapy? The answer has been unclear, with only retrospective studies and anecdotal reports guiding oncologists. This subpopulation of patients has largely been excluded from clinical trials out of concerns over ...
For several tumor types, can the successes achieved with immunotherapy in the metastatic and adjuvant settings be replicated in the neoadjuvant setting? An explosion in clinical trials—with more than 300 listed on ClinicalTrials.gov—point to “yes.” “The neoadjuvant use of immunotherapy is of great ...
The addition of apalutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) reduced the risk of second disease progression or death (PFS2) by 34% vs ADT alone in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, in a post hoc analysis of the phase III TITAN trial presented at the 2020...
Merry-Jennifer Markham, MD, FACP, FASCO, grew up in Fort White, Florida, a rural speck on the map in the northern part of the state. Fort White is home to the Ichetucknee River and Springs, a crystal-clear natural wonder known only to the locals until 1972, when it was declared a National Natural...
Patients and caregivers are always looking for trusted online information on cancer topics. Display these free referral cards in your practice to encourage your patients to visit ASCO’s patient information website, Cancer.Net, where they will find authoritative, oncologist-approved information...
The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) presents unprecedented challenges and uncertainty to the cancer care delivery system. ASCO has been actively monitoring and responding to the pandemic to ensure that accurate information is readily available to clinicians and their patients. ...
It’s 1964 in Chicago. Seven forward-thinking oncologists gather to brainstorm what will become the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Among the group is Jane C. Wright, MD, FASCO, the only woman and African American among ASCO’s founders. It’s time for the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting in...
ASCO commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for releasing draft guidance that encourages inclusion of older adults in clinical trials of drugs for the treatment of cancer. The guidance emphasizes the importance of including adults aged 75 or older in clinical trials to better enable...
The lymphomas are an incredibly complex assemblage of neoplastic diseases. They are not one disease, and, at least based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumors published in 2017, they represent a collection of approximately 80 different malignancies, a number that will...
Earlier this month, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced that the group’s Annual Meeting would be held in a two-part virtual format and not in person. Instead, segments of the meeting program will be presented in late April and in June 2020. The decision was made not to...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to advance the FDA’s public health initiative called Project Renewal. Launched in October 2018 by the FDA’s Oncology Center for Excellence (OCE), Project Renewal has an ambitious goal to...
A study showing that statins used alone or in combination with metformin was associated with reduced prostate cancer mortality and all-cause mortality among men with high-risk prostate cancer may raise more questions about these already commonly used drugs.1 “Metformin is the first-line therapy for ...
A population-based retrospective cohort study involving 12,700 patients found that men with high-risk prostate cancer who took a statin alone or in combination with metformin had reduced all-cause and prostate cancer–specific mortality. The associations between the medications and reduced...
In the fall of 2009, I began experiencing some abdominal discomfort, pain in my right shoulder, and severe fatigue that were easily explained away as the result of gallstones and by my career as a paramedic. I had many of the risk factors for gallbladder disease, and both my mother and sister...
The text and photograph here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The X-Ray Era: 1901–1915 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Dr. Burns and The Burns Archive. To view ...
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 suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays, historical...
I read with great interest Jo Cavallo’s article “Maintaining Blood Donations During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. My wife and I have been British residents in the United States for over 6 years and are frustrated that we cannot donate blood, especially during this raging global COVID-19 pandemic, when...
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched the $1 million Technology Accelerator Challenge to spur the design and development of noninvasive, handheld, digital technologies to detect, diagnose, and guide therapies for diseases with high global and public health impact. The challenge is...
To more accurately reflect the mission and vision of the program, Fox Chase Cancer Center recently announced that the name of the Pain and Palliative Care Program has been changed to the Supportive Oncology and Palliative Care Program (SOPCP). The program has also received, for the third time, the ...
Joseph C. Alvarnas, MD, of the City of Hope National Medical Center, discusses the patients with cancer who are at an increased risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19, including those receiving bone marrow or stem cell transplants and CAR-T cell therapy, and what they can do to...