On October 1, 2021, the CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy brexucabtagene autoleucel was approved for adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).1 The product is available only through a restricted program under a Risk Evaluation ...
Following a review of new data and additional analyses of previous data concerning colorectal cancer, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) “concluded the evidence is inadequate that low-dose aspirin use reduces colorectal cancer incidence or mortality.”1 Consequently, a draft...
Updating its 2016 recommendation on the use of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a draft recommendation statement. It noted the potential harms of daily aspirin, with the most serious being bleeding in the...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1999 to 2019, nearly 247,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids in the United States. According to the CDC, the problem can be broken into three waves. The first began with an increase in prescribing...
The Nobel Laureate Otto Warburg was regarded as one of the most significant biochemists of the 20th century, whose exhaustive research led to an understanding of cancer that remains significant to this day. Warburg was also one of the most despised figures in his homeland of Nazi Germany. As a...
A little after noon on December 23, 1971, President Richard Nixon entered the White House state dining room. Before 137 esteemed guests from government, science, and industry, he signed the landmark National Cancer Act. It was, in short, a national commitment to conquer cancer. President Nixon...
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...
“Good evening, doc; I wanted to check on you and update you on my mom” read the text message on a late Thursday afternoon. I recognized the sender; it was not uncommon for me to share my cell phone number with patients and their families. Having been a caretaker of my own parents’ medical needs, I...
In part 1 of this two-part review, we looked at early pioneers in the field of medical oncology in Europe, as well as the development of international cooperative trials and the formation of European oncology societies (see related articles below). In part 2, we explore how the field of medical...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) recently acknowledged the commitment of the Edward P. Evans Foundation to inaugurate The Edward P. Evans Center for Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) at MSK. With the grant of $5 million matched by institutional funds, MSK will establish the Edward P....
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) presented its 2021 Annual Awards at the its 38th National Oncology Conference, held virtually on November 9–10. The awards honor individuals who have made significant contributions to patient care, the practice of clinical care and research, and...
Mount Sinai Health System, together with BronxCare Health System, recently held a ribbon-cutting to launch BronxCare Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Care—a new, state-of-the-art comprehensive cancer facility in the Bronx. The new spacewill allow both health systems to bring their strengths...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recently congratulated its Chief Executive Officer, Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), on her recognition by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) with its 2021 Tara Withington Public Service Award. According to the SITC, this award “honors an ...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is proud to announce three recipients of this year’s Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research. The prize recognizes a new generation of leaders in cancer research who are making significant contributions to the understanding of cancer or are improving the...
Kevin Kalinsky, MD, of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, discusses updated phase III results from the SWOG S1007 (RxPONDER) study of women with one to three positive lymph nodes, and hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The data showed that postmenopausal women...
On October 12, 2021, abemaciclib was approved for use with endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor) for adjuvant treatment of adults with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-positive, early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence and a Ki67 score ≥ 20%, as determined by...
On October 29, 2021, the oral kinase inhibitor asciminib was granted accelerated approval for adults with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase previously treated with at least two tyrosine kinase inhibitors and regular approval for adults with...
Since many different chemotherapeutic agents have been linked with cardiac adverse events, there is a growing need for strategies for the assessment and mitigation of treatment-induced cardiotoxicity. Moreover, the rapid rise of immunotherapies has added a new dimension to this clinical setting....
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with bone marrow transplant expert Mammen Chandy, MD, FRACP, FRACPA, Director of Tata Medical Center, in Kolkata, India. Dr. Chandy was instrumental in establishing the first sustained bone marrow...
Lewis Cantley, PhD, the cancer researcher best known for his discovery of the PI3K pathway and his groundbreaking work on cancer metabolism, will be joining the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in February 2022. Dr. Cantley’s move from his current position as Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer...
The Principal investigator Committee of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) re-elected Mitchell D. Schnall, MD, PhD, as the Group Co-Chair, a position he has held since the founding of the Group in 2012. Dr. Schnall will serve in this role from 2021 to 2031. Dr. Schnall co-leads the...
Tara O. Henderson, MD, MPH, has been named the new Service Line Chief of Pediatric Cancer and Blood Diseases at the Chicagoland Children’s Health Alliance (CCHA), a collaboration between University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, Advocate Children’s Hospital, and Pediatrics at...
IN THE NOVEMBER 25, 2021, issue of The ASCO Post, a photo on page 1, in the article, “Shorter Course Radiation Therapy: A New Practice Standard After Prostatectomy,” was incorrectly identified as Mark K. Buyyounouski, MD, MS. We regret the error and apologize to Dr. Buyyounouski for the confusion....
In a single-institution study reported in the journal Cancer, and reviewed in the September 10, 2021, issue of The ASCO Post, Bei Hu, MD, and colleagues from Levine Cancer Institute/Atrium Health found that the use of a dedicated nurse navigation program aided in producing similar patterns of...
The university of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has appointed Wendy Brewster, MD, PhD, as Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The newly created position underscores the cancer center’s commitment to identifying and addressing issues and...
Our goal with this review of the pivotal years of oncology in Europe is to acknowledge the tremendous contributions of the early leaders in the field and to help young investigators learn from the past to better cope with the inevitable challenges of today and tomorrow. “On ne connaît pas...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, He et al found that individuals with immune-mediated diseases were at an increased risk of developing cancer, with organ-specific immune-mediated diseases being more strongly associated with local vs extralocal cancers. Study Details The prospective cohort...
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...
On November 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule requiring COVID-19 vaccination of eligible staff at health-care facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)...
ASCO has released new recommendations for the management of adverse events related to two immunotherapy modalities with increasing application in cancer care—immune checkpoint inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. The recommendations were published as two separate...
Among patients with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer treated with an aromatase inhibitor plus palbociclib, those who displayed a rising ESR1 mutation detected in their blood before disease progression doubled their median progression-free survival following a switch to fulvestrant plus...
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan honored recipients of the 2021 King Hussein Award for Cancer Research during ceremony held on November 14 by the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF). The event was conducted under the patronage of Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al...
In a French single-center retrospective cohort study reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Rémy Duléry, MD, of Saint-Antoine Hospital, Paris, and colleagues found that posttransplantation cyclophosphamide was associated with a significantly increased risk of early cardiac toxicity among patients...
Among previously treated patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, those who received pyrotinib plus capecitabine had longer overall survival than those who received lapatinib plus capecitabine, according to updated results from the phase III PHOEBE trial presented by Binghe Xu, MD,...
On October 15, 2021, atezolizumab was approved for adjuvant treatment following resection and platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with PD-L1 expression on ≥ 1% of tumor cells, as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
Recent articles in JAMA Oncology focused on lung cancer and screening strategies. Apar Kishor Ganti, MD, MS, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, and colleagues provided updated data on non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) incidence, prevalence, and stage through 2017.1 Sylvia K....
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pan et al found that overall survival was poorer among patients with metastatic right-sided vs left-sided colorectal cancer with TP53 mutations, driven by poorer outcomes in those with non–gain-of-function mutations, and that gain-of-function ...
In a 6.5-year update of the phase III CheckMate 067 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, FASCO, and colleagues provided long-term overall survival as well as melanoma-specific survival findings among patients with advanced melanoma who received nivolumab...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mehtsun et al found patterns of increasing use of adjuvant chemotherapy over time among patients aged ≥ 80 years undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In addition, they found that use of adjuvant chemotherapy was associated...
On November 17, 2021, the immunotherapeutic agent pembrolizumab was granted approval for adjuvant treatment of patients with renal cell carcinoma at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence following nephrectomy or nephrectomy and resection of metastatic lesions.1 Supporting Efficacy Data...
As reported in The Lancet by Jong-Mu Sun, MD, of Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, and colleagues, an interim analysis in the phase III KEYNOTE-590 trial has shown that the addition of first-line pembrolizumab to chemotherapy resulted in improved overall and progression-free...
In a panel discussion that followed the presentation by Ravi Kalhan, MD, MS, at the Quantitative Imaging Workshop XVIII, Lee Gazourian, MD, of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Massachusetts, emphasized the need for a more centralized approach to the management of incidental findings on chest...
Lung health in adults has traditionally been defined as the absence of disease, but it may be time to rethink this paradigm, according to Ravi Kalhan, MD, MS, Director of the Northwestern Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of...
Recent advances in medical imaging have led to more accurate detection and management of early thoracic diseases such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cardiovascular disease—three of the top four leading causes of death in the United States. Unfortunately, if not...
“It’s becoming more and more clear that increasing the cytotoxic effect of treatment and expecting to get a better outcome is an approach of the past,” said Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, the Lynne and Howard Halpern Chair in Head and Neck Cancer Research, Professor and Vice Chair ofHematology and...
In the treatment of patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, neither cancer outcomes nor measurable quality of life have yet been shown to differ between surgery- and radiotherapy-based approaches, according to Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, FASTRO, Professor of ...
Michaela Gack, PhD, Scientific Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Research and Innovation Center, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award to support her research toward the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. The grant is part of NIH’s High-Risk,...
LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s leading lung cancer-focused nonprofit organization, has created a new resource: Lung Cancer Patient Gateways. The first to launch is the KRAS Patient Gateway, which will allow patients with cancer and the KRAS gene mutation to more easily locate resources and...
“Immunotherapy is now the standard of care in the recurrent metastatic setting,” said Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, Director of Head and Neck Oncology at Emory University and a specialist in immunotherapy for head and neck cancer. “However, we’re still struggling with the question of which immunotherapy ...
The management of recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer is complex. Historically, patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with local or regional recurrence were considered for salvage surgery or reirradiation (in high-volume centers or centers of expertise), with an...