As chemotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy regimens reach their maximal impact in follicular lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma, clinicians are turning to chemotherapy-free approaches to achieve better control, less toxicity, and (hopefully) a cure. During the ASCO20 Virtual Education Program, Sonali M. ...
My husband and I adopted our cat, Franklin, on a cold November day. It was one of the last days Andrew felt well enough to leave the house to go anywhere other than to chemotherapy or a doctor’s appointment. Our news at these appointments had shifted toward the negative, with disease progression...
As evidenced at this year’s ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, oncology science, technology, and clinical practice are evolving at a rapid pace, bringing new challenges to the efficient and ethical practice of cancer care at all levels. To shed light on some of the large-scale public health and...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Abida and colleagues, the phase II TRITON2 trial has shown that rucaparib produces durable responses in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with deleterious BRCA1 or BRCA2 alterations. The trial supported the May 2020...
On August 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with carfilzomib (Kyprolis) and dexamethasone (DKd) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received one to three previous lines of therapy....
ASCO has released an update to its Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Guideline that includes recommendations for second-line treatment, including early biomarker testing for actionable genomic alterations.1 Last updated in 2018, this new version was triggered by novel evidence related to targeted...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Reviews for a novel dosing regimen for durvalumab as well as for trilaciclib in small cell lung cancer; granted Fast Track designations to treatments for glioblastoma and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; and issued reports...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Xiao et al found that low skeletal muscle index and low skeletal muscle radiodensity were associated with an increased risk of complications and poor outcomes following surgery for colon cancer. Study Details The study involved data on...
The results of an online questionnaire of 609 breast cancer survivors in the United States suggest that nearly half of patients experienced delays in care during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was published by Papautsky et al in the journal Breast Cancer Research and ...
“The distressing intersection of COVID-19 and cancer requires the use of large registries to acknowledge diversity,” stated Solange Peters, MD, PhD, President of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), in her keynote speech at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Yang et al found overall survival benefits with immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment vs non–immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment of advanced cancers irrespective of sex, age < 65 years vs ≥ 65 years, or Eastern Cooperative ...
In a Korean study reported in the American Journal of Surgical Pathology, Lee et al identified clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical characteristics of neuroendocrine carcinomas of the gallbladder. Study Details The study involved data from 34 patients with gallbladder neuroendocrine carcinomas ...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al found that hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) and conventionally fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT) following breast-conserving surgery were associated with similar low 5-year local recurrence rates in women with...
The development of complex biomarkers such as tumor mutational burden (TMB) has enabled clinicians to identify patients more likely to respond to treatment of a variety of cancers, leading to more accurate diagnoses and improved outcomes. Differences in testing assays, however, have produced...
Scientists have newly discovered three genetic changes that increase the risk of breast cancer in men. These findings were published by Maguire et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers identified three common variations in DNA that predispose men to developing breast...
Public health screening guidelines for lung cancer followed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) undercount eligible Black individuals, according to a study by Mary Pasquinelli, DNP, FNP-BC, and colleagues in press at the...
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Farjah et al found that patients who underwent resection for lung cancer at hospitals and with surgeons meeting Volume Pledge criteria did not have better short-term outcomes compared with patients who received care from...
In the phase III VIALE-A trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Courtney D. DiNardo, MD, and colleagues found that venetoclax plus azacitidine significantly improved overall survival vs azacitidine alone in previously untreated patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were...
“In line with the emergence of targeted therapies, molecular biomarker testing in metastatic colorectal cancer has evolved over the past decade,” noted Jeanne Tie, MD, MBChB, FRACP, who acknowledged there is confusion about the best ways to use molecular testing in the clinic. Dr. Tie, who is...
Project N95, a not-for-profit organization, is offering access to ASCO’s qualifying U.S. members who are having difficulty obtaining personal protective equipment (PPE) for their patients and staff. Qualifying ASCO members will be able to make a one-time bulk purchase of the following PPE...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, and colleagues, a second prespecified interim analysis of the pivotal phase III ALTA-1L trial has shown maintained progression-free survival benefit with brigatinib vs crizotinib in ALK inhibitor–naive patients with...
Novel targeted therapies have increased the likelihood of cure and prolonged survival in many patients with advanced breast cancer (Table 1), but these new agents also carry toxicity profiles that vary greatly from those of traditional chemotherapy. During the ASCO20 Virtual Education Program,...
Results from a recent clinical trial indicated that for older adults with advanced cancer, initiating aspirin treatment may increase their risk of disease progression and mortality. These findings were published by McNeil et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Study Background and...
In a prospective lymphedema screening trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Naoum et al found that although regional lymph node radiation increased the incidence of breast cancer–related lymphedema, the primary driver of risk was the type of axillary surgery used. Study Details The...
A study by Wilson et al investigating the impact of radiation therapy on adult survivors of pediatric abdominal and pelvic tumors has found that these survivors were significantly more likely to have insulin resistance, high levels of triglycerides, and low levels of high-density lipoproteins...
Amit Mahipal, MBBS, MPH, Consultant, Associate Professor of Oncology, Mayo College of Medicine, Rochester, put the findings for tremelimumab/durvalumab into context regarding other studies evaluating checkpoint inhibitors in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. In the current study by Kelly et al, he ...
A single priming dose of tremelimumab and durvalumab, followed by monthly durvalumab, showed clinical activity in a predominantly second-line advanced hepatocellular carcinoma population, in a study reported at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer Virtual 2020.1 In a study of 332...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first liquid biopsy companion diagnostic that also uses next-generation sequencing technology to identify patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and specific types of EGFR mutations. The FDA also granted Fast Track...
In a single-institution Korean study reported in the American Journal of Surgical Pathology, Kim et al found that chromogranin A expression in rectal neuroendocrine tumors is associated with more aggressive clinical characteristics and poorer prognosis. As stated by the investigators, “Although...
Updated clinical practice guidelines for managing mucositis—a common and often debilitating complication of cancer therapy—were recently published by Elad et al in the journal Cancer. The new guidelines summary, which will provide health-care professionals with better tools to deliver care for...
Androgen-deprivation therapy has been, and remains, the standard of care for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Patients are often surprised to learn that was all we would do to control their disease and sometimes asked why they would not receive chemotherapy, as for other cancers. I would...
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...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 Matthew D. Galsky, MD, of The Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and colleagues found that maintenance pembrolizumab produced additional responses and improved progression-free survival vs...
Pembrolizumab: On January 8, 2020, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive, high-risk, non–muscle invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ with or without papillary tumors who are ineligible for or...
Extended analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-426 study upholds pembrolizumab plus axitinib as a preferred front-line regimen over sunitinib in patients with advanced sporadic renal cell carcinoma.1 These updated results were presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program by Elizabeth R....
It may be possible to use a platinum-free combination as first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in cisplatin-ineligible patients, if the results of the phase Ib/II EV-103 trial hold up. The combination of the newly approved antibody-drug conjugate (enfortumab vedotin)...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Loriot et al, the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1-4 tyrosine kinase inhibitor erdafitinib showed activity in FGFR-altered advanced urothelial carcinoma.1 The study enrolled patients from sites in 14 countries between May 2015 and March 2018. ...
Based on the recently published ENZAMET, ARCHES, and TITAN trials,1-3 we now have several choices of systemic combination therapies for men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Today, men are faced with decisions of androgen-deprivation therapy alone or combinations with abiraterone,...
Maintenance therapy with avelumab and best supportive care significantly prolonged overall survival vs best supportive care alone in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma that did not progress on first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, according to an interim analysis of the phase III JAVELIN ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 Anita Gul, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, and colleagues found that salvage therapy with nivolumab/ipilimumab was capable of producing a response after prior PD-1 pathway inhibitor therapy in some patients with...
Two recently reported phase III trials have shown the benefits of combination therapy vs sunitinib in the first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Brian I. Rini, MD, of Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, and colleagues, the ...
As reported inThe New England Journal of Medicine by Ian D. Davis, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FAChPM, of Monash University and Eastern Health in Melbourne, and colleagues, the phase III ENZAMET trial has shown that the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide improved progression-free and overall survival...
In a study presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program1 and published as a brief report in JAMA Oncology,2 Praful Ravi, MB, BChir, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues found that rechallenge with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy was capable of producing...
Nonmetastatic 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 androgen-deprivation...
In the phase III ARAMIS trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 Karim Fizazi, MD, PhD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, Universite Paris-Sud, Villejuif, France, and colleagues found that the androgen-receptor (AR) antagonist darolutamide significantly prolonged metastasis-free...
The past year has witnessed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a number of drugs for treatment of patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer or castrate-sensitive prostate cancer. Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer Olaparib: On May 19, 2020, olaparib...
In the final overall survival analysis of the phase III PROSPER trial reported at the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program1 and published in The New England Journal of Medicine,2 Cora N. Sternberg, MD, and colleagues found that enzalutamide plus androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) significantly...
Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging with the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiotracer fluorine F-18 DCFPyL (PyL) successfully identified areas of occult metastasis in men with biochemically recurrent metastatic castration-resistant prostate...
Initial results of the randomized phase II TheraP trial showed that therapy directed to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) with lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) significantly improved prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response compared with cabazitaxel in men with metastatic...
Over the past year, we have seen significant advances in the treatment of prostate, kidney, and urothelial cancers that will benefit patients now and in the future. We have learned about the final results of important clinical trials across multiple genitourinary cancers disease states leading to...