The addition of pembrolizumab to gemcitabine and cisplatin improved overall survival in patients with untreated metastatic or unresectable biliary tract cancer, according to results from the phase III KEYNOTE-966 clinical trial, which were presented by Robin Katie Kelley, MD, and colleagues at the...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Tang et al, the phase II EXTEND (External Beam Radiation to Eliminate Nominal Metastatic Disease) trial has shown that the addition of metastasis-directed therapy to intermittent hormone therapy improved progression-free survival in patients with oligometastatic...
In a U.S. phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Toni K. Choueiri, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of the hypoxia-inducible factor 2α inhibitor belzutifan and the VEGFR kinase inhibitor cabozantinib showed promising activity in patients with advanced clear cell renal cell...
Researchers have found that the hypomethylating agent azacitidine plus the MEK inhibitor trametinib may be a promising new combination to treat patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), according to a preclinical study published by Pasupuleti et al in Molecular Therapy. Background JMML ...
Researchers have provided strong evidence that a healthy lifestyle may significantly reduce mortality in adults who have survived pediatric cancer, according to a new study published by Dixon et al in The Lancet. The findings are among the first to reveal that the specific primary causes of...
Researchers have revealed that the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, the state of necrosis, and mutations to the tumor-suppressor gene PBRM1 form a biomarker signature that may predict how patients with renal cell carcinoma will respond to immunotherapy, according to a novel study published ...
The questions I am challenged to answer are twofold: (1) Should you attend the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting? (2) If you attend, how is your time best spent? Most people agree scientific conferences are important venues for cancer researchers and clinicians to share and discuss research findings,...
Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab may significantly improve the management of desmoplastic melanoma, increasing the likelihood of successful resection and reducing the need for further surgery or radiation therapy, according to the response data presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, with the surgical...
A health disparity is typically defined as involving a differential in health outcomes between some groups of patients and other groups, for example, between White and Black patients, in which some groups fare better than others. Health inequities are commonly defined as health differences that...
The results of recent trials of PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor plus second-generation androgen receptor inhibitor combinations have had varying results in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Some trials suggest the benefit is confined to those with BRCA mutations and/or...
The addition of the PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor olaparib to standard-of-care abiraterone in the first-line setting of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer achieved longer progression-free survival vs abiraterone alone, as demonstrated in the final results of the phase...
Researchers found that 20% of patients attending breast cancer screening appointments were likely to skip additional testing after abnormal findings on their mammograms if there was a deductible or copayment involved, according to a new study published by Ngo et al in Radiology. Background...
The inaugural MD Anderson Clinical Education Symposium on Immunotherapy Toxicity Management (IOTOX) welcomed more than 250 international attendees, both virtually and in person at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on December 3, 2022. The symposium focused on bringing the ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kim N. Chi, MD, and colleagues, the phase III MAGNITUDE trial showed that the addition of niraparib to abiraterone acetate and prednisone improved radiographic progression–free survival as first-line treatment in patients with metastatic...
In a European study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sauta et al found that the recently devised Molecular International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-M) had improved prognostic ability vs the standard Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) in patients with...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Tang et al found that the use of the subcutaneous route for administering medications and fluids in patients with cancer was highly predominant in a Canadian center, whereas use of the intravenous (IV) route was nearly universal in a U.S....
ASCO submitted comments in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2024 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters proposed rule. ASCO’s comments support proposals aimed at reducing or eliminating gaps in health-care coverage, and ...
On February 14, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) selected three models aiming to address high prescription drug costs for testing by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)....
Treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy achieved an objective response rate of 32% in platinum-ineligible patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who experienced disease progression on an immune checkpoint inhibitor, according to the primary analysis of the...
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third most common cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the United States. However, it ranks second in cancer-related deaths overall and is the leading cause of cancer...
Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine recently named Michael Taylor, MD, PhD, molecular biologist and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar, as Director of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Research Program at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of...
Thomas Powles, MD, PhD, of Barts Health NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London, and Christopher Sweeney, MBBS, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss two important phase III studies on renal cell cancer (RCC) presented at ESMO 2022: IMmotion010, which examined the efficacy and safety of...
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) represents members nationwide from all care delivery settings. ACCC’s 49th Annual Meeting & Cancer Business Summit was held March 8–10, 2023, in Washington, DC, where the society released its advocacy agenda for 2023. Areas of Focus ACCC...
Northwell Health has appointed Richard D. Carvajal, MD, a clinician and researcher in melanoma and early-phase drug development, as Deputy Physician-in-Chief and Director of Medical Oncology at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute. He also was named the R. J. Zuckerberg Chair in Medical Oncology....
The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), as the President-Elect for the 2023 to 2024 term. Dr. LoRusso will become President-Elect on Monday, April 17, during the Annual Business Meeting of Members at the AACR Annual Meeting...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Locke J. Bryan, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of pembrolizumab with ICE chemotherapy (a regimen including ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide) produced a high rate of complete response in patients with relapsed or refractory...
In a single-center phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Renata Ferrarotto, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of axitinib and avelumab showed evidence of activity in patients with recurrent or metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma. Study Details In the study, 28...
In the phase II NEOSTAR trial, adding ipilimumab to a neoadjuvant combination of nivolumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy resulted in a major pathologic response in half of all treated patients with early-stage, resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). New findings from the NEOSTAR study,...
Researchers have revealed how the lack of genomic research for individuals with African ancestry—particularly those from the Sub-Saharan region—may be hampering efforts to reduce disparities for patients with prostate cancer, according to a new study published by Gheybi et al in JNCCN–Journal of...
In an analysis from the phase III KEYNOTE-826 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bradley J. Monk, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab did not adversely affect health-related quality of life in patients with persistent,...
In a single-institution phase I trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Marwan Fakih, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of regorafenib, ipilimumab, and nivolumab showed evidence of activity in patients with microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer who did not have liver metastases....
In the GET FIT study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Winters-Stone et al found no significant difference in incidence of falls with programs of tai ji quan (also known as tai chi) or strength training vs a stretching control group among postmenopausal women who had received...
The 2022 Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 28–30, 2022. The meeting was held in conjunction with the SIOG 2022 Public Policy Meeting: Global Policy to Action on Cancer in the Aging Population at UN Headquarters...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Star et al found that cancer screening remained below prepandemic levels in the United States during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study Details Data on past-year receipt of age-eligible screening for breast cancer (women aged 50...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Toni K. Choueiri, MD, and colleagues, extended follow-up of the phase III CLEAR trial has shown maintained progression-free and overall survival benefits with first-line lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab vs sunitinib in patients with advanced clear cell renal cell...
As reported in the journal Blood by Sattva S. Neelapu, MD, and colleagues, 5-year outcomes from the the phase II ZUMA-1 trial showed that axicabtagene ciloleucel was associated with maintained response in one-third of patients with refractory large B-cell lymphoma. The estimated 5-year overall...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Saberzadeh-Ardestani et al found that first-line pembrolizumab was associated with clinically significant prolongation of survival outcomes in mostly older patients with mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer....
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third most common cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the United States. However, it ranks second in cancer-related deaths overall, and is the leading cause of death in ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Marina C. Garassino, MD, and colleagues, 5-year follow-up in the phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial has shown maintained progression-free and overall survival benefits with the addition of pembrolizumab to pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy in the...
Investigators have found that millions of individuals in the United States continued to miss critical cancer screening tests during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study published by Star et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Compared with 2019 levels, individuals...
Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a fascinating disease from which many groundbreaking medical and oncologic lessons have been learned. Since the Irish surgeon Denis P. Burkitt, MD, FRCS, FRS, first described rapidly enlarging jaw and facial tumors in Ugandan children in 1958,1 the study of BL has led to...
Investigators have estimated the environmental impacts of prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and prostate biopsies, according to a new study published by Michael S. Leapman, MD, MHS, and colleagues in European Urology. The findings suggest that more carefully selecting patients for...
Patients with early-stage estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer who live in low-income neighborhoods may be more likely to have more aggressive tumor biology and significantly lower overall survival than those living in higher-income neighborhoods, according to a new study published by Ma...
As in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 ASCO GI Cancers Symposium—its 20th such gathering—played to a full ballroom. It featured a stellar lineup of experts in the field as well as high-quality, impactful research in esophageal, gastric, hepatocellular, pancreatic, biliary tract, and ...
The widespread use of immune checkpoint inhibitors has led to significant benefits in younger patients with advanced lung cancer; however, older patients have not experienced similar survival benefits, according to research from Yale Cancer Center. The study was published in JAMA Oncology.1 “There ...
In the phase II ANCHOR CRC trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the combination of encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab produced an objective response in nearly half of previously untreated patients with BRAF V600E–mutant...
Offering their thoughts on the study by Williams et al from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort were Jane N. Winter, MD, Immediate Past President of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and Catherine Bollard, MBChB, MD. Both moderated press briefings where the results were presented or discussed....
Alexey Danilov, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center and Professor, Division of Lymphoma, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, California, commented on the phase III ALPINE trial comparing ibrutinib and zanubrutinib in patients...
Researchers have highlighted the barriers to stem cell donation impacting LGBTQIA+ individuals and the efforts needed to build more inclusive donor recruitment practices and offered guidance for donor recruitment organizations, registries, and transplant centers worldwide to advance a more...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Silvia Novello, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the 5-year update of the phase III KEYNOTE-407 trial showed continued overall survival and progression-free survival benefit with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of...