Neuroendocrine tumors appear resistant to single-agent immunotherapy, according to the results of the KEYNOTE-028 trial of pembrolizumab. “Pembrolizumab monotherapy showed limited antitumor activity but a manageable safety profile in patients with previously treated, advanced neuroendocrine...
Darolutamide—an investigational androgen receptor inhibitor—significantly improved metastasis-free survival in men with high-risk nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer vs placebo in the large phase III ARAMIS trial.1 Men treated with darolutamide had a median metastasis-free survival...
In a prospective, single-center, single-arm phase II trial reported at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, a novel approach using a tumor-specific radioligand therapy that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) (lutetium-177 PSMA-617 -[LuPSMA]) achieved responses in a majority of...
Although diagnostic errors date back to antiquity, in recent years, they have begun to receive attention as an important patient safety issue. This culminated in the National Academy of Medicine’s 2015 landmark report, which concluded that most people in the United States would experience at...
Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who have homologous repair damage response mutations may derive considerable benefit from treatment with platinum agents, according to an analysis of patients in the Know Your Tumor Program presented by Michael Pishvaian, MD, PhD, of Georgetown University,...
The checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab plus the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates vs sunitinib as first-line therapy for clear cell metastatic renal cell...
A phase Ia/Ib trial was launched in order to evaluate the safety of LY3321367, an anti–T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain–containing molecule-3 (TIM-3) antibody, administered alone or in combination with LY3300054, an anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody, in...
In the phase III TROG 09.02 CHISEL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ball et al found that stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy improved local disease control vs standard radiotherapy in peripherally located, inoperable stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The open-label trial ...
After preclinical findings showed shared activity between trastuzumab and HER2-targeted vaccines, researchers evaluated adjvuant nelipepimut-S plus granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) with trastuzumab compared to trastuzumab with GM-CSF alone in patients with HER2...
The Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI) calculated prior to the initiation of treatment may be used to stratify patients with diverse tumor types into groups that significantly associate with outcome following immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to a retrospective study presented at the...
Compared to young adults, adolescents with the same types of cancer have far less access to immunotherapy and/or targeted therapies, according to findings presented at the TAT 2019–International Congress on Targeted Anticancer Therapies in Paris. In addition, young adults could be included in ...
In a phase I/II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Bardia et al found durable responses with the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy in patients with heavily pretreated, metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. The monoclonal antibody sacituzumab targets the...
In the phase III ERA 223 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Smith et al found that the addition of radium-223 to abiraterone acetate and prednisone or prednisolone did not improve symptomatic skeletal event-free survival and was associated with increased risk of fracture in patients with...
A recent study by the American Cancer Society (ACS) has found that while colorectal cancer incidence in the United States is rapidly declining overall, colorectal cancer rates are increasing among young adults. According to the study, compared with adults born in the 1950s, those born in the 1990s...
The number of guideline-recommended biomarkers to be assessed in patients with newly diagnosed, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is increasing. These biomarkers include both predictive targets—including EGFR, ALK, ROS1, BRAF, RET, MET, and ERBB2—and prognostic...
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 70% of cervical cancers worldwide are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18. In 2006, the HPV vaccine was introduced in the United States to prevent HPV-associated morbidity and mortality. A study analyzing data on the...
In the phase II portion of a phase Ib/II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Loi et al found evidence of activity of pembrolizumab plus trastuzumab in programmed cell death protein ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive, trastuzumab-resistant, HER2-positive advanced breast cancer. Study Details In the...
In a French phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Oudard et al found that the addition of docetaxel to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) did not improve prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival in men with high-risk prostate cancer with rising PSA after primary local therapy. ...
FIRST-LINE therapy with the combination of ibrutinib and rituximab reduced disease progression by two-thirds compared with standard chemotherapy using fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) in younger patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to the late-breaking...
THE LARGEST PROSPECTIVE trial of hydroxyurea for sickle cell anemia has shown that this treatment is feasible, accepted, well tolerated, and safe for children living in sub-Saharan Africa. Hydroxyurea has long been the standard of care for treating children with sickle cell anemia in developed...
Mrinal S. Patnaik, MBBS, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Oncology and a consultant in hematology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, commented on the MEDALIST trial for The ASCO Post. “Given its unique mode of action, relative ease of administration, and excellent tolerability,...
IN THE RANDOMIZED, double-blind, phase III MEDALIST trial, the experimental drug luspatercept significantly reduced the need for frequent red blood cell transfusions in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and ring sideroblasts. With luspatercept, 37.8% of patients remained...
IN A PHASE III TRIAL reported during the Plenary Session at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, single-agent ibrutinib and ibrutinib/rituximab were associated with superior progression-free survival vs...
In sunny San Diego, the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition welcomed nearly 30,000 attendees who were eager to present, learn, network, and cheer the joint achievements of many researchers. The packed meeting was filled with important information from...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On October 30, 2018, pembrolizumab in combination with...
“IN THIS era of immunotherapy, it is highly possible, and potentially probable, that radiation therapy may become not just a form of locoregional and palliative treatment, but an essential component of our systemic treatments of cancer,” according to Zachary S. Morris, MD, PhD, Vice-Chair,...
SOME PATIENTS with advanced head and neck cancer may achieve durable responses with immunotherapy, and recent trial results suggest first-line immunotherapy may increase survival among patients with recurrent or metastatic disease. However, concerns remain about selecting patients most likely to...
AXICABTAGENE CILOLEUCEL (also known as CAR19) is an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat selected hematologic malignancies.1 To appreciate the clinical trial findings summarized here, from selected abstracts presented at the ...
TISAGENLECLEUCEL IS an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat selected hematologic malignancies.1,2 To appreciate the clinical trial findings summarized here, from selected abstracts presented at the 2018 American Society of...
TO ADD to our ongoing coverage of the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, we bring readers of The ASCO Post these summaries of an assortment of interesting studies. They focus on novel therapies under investigation in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic...
IN THE PADDY TRIAL, involving more than 10,000 women with early invasive breast cancer, the presence of disseminated tumor cells at diagnosis or primary surgery was an independent prognostic factor for overall, disease-free, and distant disease–free survival. The study findings were presented at...
REPORTERS FOR The ASCO Post captured the following summaries of noteworthy studies presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. In HER2-Negative Metastatic Disease, CTCs Frequently HER2-Positive ALMOST HALF of all patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer have circulating...
ROUTINE TESTING for BRAF V600E mutations in patients with biliary tract cancer may prove to be a good idea, based on the findings of a phase II study in which treatment with dabrafenib plus trametinib showed activity.1 The results suggest there may be a benefit to testing patients with biliary...
INVITED STUDY discussant Michael J. Overman, MD, Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, is a co-investigator on CheckMate 142, which led to the approval of another immunotherapy doublet—nivolumab plus ipilimumab—in patients...
THE COMBINATION of durvalumab and tremelimumab prolonged median overall survival by 2.5 months compared with best supportive care alone in patients with advanced treatment-refractory colorectal cancer. These findings, which are from the randomized phase II Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) CO.26...
IN 2017, ASCO issued its recommendations for addressing the oncology care needs of sexual and gender minority cancer survivors and the unique challenges they face.1 There are myriad reasons for cancer disparities in this population compared to heterosexual cisgender cancer survivors, including...
THERE IS little doubt that the U.S. health-care system is under assault from many directions.1 It is clear that the costs of health management are no longer sustainable, and the United States has one of the highest per capita health costs among the 36 member nations of the Organisation for...
SEVERAL STUDIES presented at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium evaluated the benefits of neoadjuvant treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer—and in patients deemed fully resectable, not just “borderline” resectable.1-3 Although the standard of care for resectable pancreatic ductal...
For the first time in more than 20 years, patients with sickle cell disease may have another treatment option to reduce painful vaso-occlusive crises, according to data presented at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 Results of the phase II, randomized,...
Results of a recent study suggest that direct oral anticoagulants can reduce the risk of thromboembolism in patients with cancer who are starting a new systemic therapy regimen, without significantly increasing the risk of major bleeding. Data presented at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting &...
Initial findings from a first-in-human trial have provided proof of principle for a groundbreaking approach to gene therapy for sickle cell disease, according to data presented at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 Early results of genetic targeting of...
The results of a recent pilot study suggest that low-dose rituximab provides similar efficacy to standard-dose rituximab for the treatment of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a finding that could point to potential cost savings for patients in the nonlymphoma setting. According...
In patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are not eligible for stem cell transplantation, the addition of daratumumab to lenalidomide and dexamethasone significantly reduced the risk of death or disease progression by 44%, according to a late-breaking abstract presentation by Thierry...
Over the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted multiple Priority Reviews and accepted a supplemental new drug application: Priority Review for Entrectinib in NTRK Fusion–Positive Solid Tumors and Metastatic, ROS1-Positive NSCLC This week, the FDA accepted new drug...
BOOKMARK Title: Severed Trust: Why American Medicine Hasn’t Been FixedAuthor: George D. Lundberg, MD, With James StaceyPublisher: Basic BooksPublication date: March 2001Price: $28.00, hardcover, 336 pages Pathologist George D. Lundberg, MD, served as Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of the American...
As reported at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (Abstract 543) and in The New England Journal of Medicine, Rini et al found significant benefits in overall and progression-free survival with the combination of pembrolizumab plus axitinib vs sunitinib in the first-line treatment of advanced...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Fabrice Barlesi, MD, and colleagues, the phase III JAVELIN Lung 200 trial has shown no overall survival benefit with avelumab vs docetaxel in patients with platinum pretreated programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer ...
The first symptom of my multiple myeloma appeared 6 months before I received the official diagnosis. I began having some discomfort, not pain exactly, in my right hip, and developed a pronounced limp. I had recently left my medical practice to launch Global Girls Global Women, a nonprofit...
Younger women who have been treated for breast cancer have a higher risk for osteopenia and osteoporosis than do their cancer-free peers, and that risk seems to rise when treatment involves chemotherapy plus hormone therapy or aromatase inhibitors alone. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg...
GUEST EDITOR Dr. Abraham is the Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. In this installment of the Living a Full Life series of articles, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, interviewed Norman E. ...