Numerous studies over the past 4 decades have chronicled the lack of progress in improved outcomes for adolescents and young adults (AYAs)—defined by the National Cancer Institute as those ranging in age from 15 to 39—diagnosed with cancer compared with children and older adults diagnosed with the...
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance, a national nonprofit committed to ending colorectal cancer, has launched a comprehensive marketing campaign. The effort will alert the public to the continued risk of colorectal cancer and the necessity of life-saving screening, which can be conducted safely during...
Despite decades of research, multinational clinical trials, regular guideline updates by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and coordinated efforts by ASCO and other major oncology organizations, the management strategy for prostate cancer remains controversial. To keep the oncology community ...
The SOLAR-1 invited discussant, Fatima Cardoso, MD, Director of the Breast Unit at the Champalimaud Clinical Center in Lisbon and Chair of the ABC Global Alliance, commented: “The overall survival results, though numerically different by almost 8 months, unfortunately do not reach statistical...
“There has been a lot of interest in the development of new antiandrogens” for clinical use in patients with breast cancer,” Anthony D. Elias, MD, reported in an update on male breast cancer at the 2020 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium, sponsored by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center...
The Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation (HCLF) and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) recently announced they are teaming up to support a research grants program of up to $10 million over 5 years. Their goal is to build a more comprehensive understanding of hairy cell leukemia, develop better...
The largest single-arm trial evaluating pembrolizumab in relapsed malignant pleural mesothelioma has demonstrated an “impressive” duration of response, according to a presentation during the virtual edition of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2020 North America...
The addition of the radiotracer fluciclovine to positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging for radiotherapy treatment planning led to superior failure-free survival compared with conventional imaging in men with prostate cancer who had undergone radical prostatectomy and were experiencing biologic ...
Sequencing of androgen-deprivation therapy with radiotherapy has a significant impact on long-term outcomes in localized prostate cancer, according to data presented during the virtual edition of the 2020 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting.1 Pooled individual patient...
A comparison of baseline characteristics in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer revealed that a higher proportion of patients enrolled from Asia had risk factors for disease recurrence than those enrolled from non-Asian countries, reported Jiang et al at...
The Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL), which was completed in 2018, found that vitamin D did not reduce overall incidence of cancer, but it hinted at a decreased risk of cancer deaths. Now, in a secondary analysis of VITAL, a research team focused on the connection between taking vitamin D...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Smith Giri, MD, MHS, and colleagues found that 27% of patients with cancer aged 60 or older reported financial distress in response to a query prior to starting systemic therapy. Numerous demographic and geriatric assessment...
A new study by Tsay et al sheds light on the role the lung microbiome may play in lung cancer pathogenesis and prognosis. According to the study’s findings, enrichment of the lungs with oral commensal microbes was associated with advanced-stage disease, worse prognosis, and tumor progression....
Therese Marie Mulvey, MD, FASCO, Director of Quality Safety and Value at the Massachusetts General Hospital North Shore Cancer Center, Boston, told The ASCO Post that this “provocative and elegant” study underscores the importance of listening to patients. “Baseline patient-reported symptoms are...
“What am I doing here? This question kept running through my mind as the incoming freshman medical students at the University of Chicago assembled for the first time.” The person asking the introspective question was Marvin Stone, fresh out of college, recently married to his wife, Jill, and now a...
As in past years, the results from ASCO’s 2020 National Cancer Opinions Survey showed a startling dichotomy in the perceptions of Americans on a variety of health-care issues. As expected, the two major events this year, the COVID-19 pandemic and a national reckoning over racial injustice,...
On November 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved FoundationOne Liquid CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic for olaparib. As a companion diagnostic, FoundationOne Liquid CDx will use a blood-based biopsy to identify patients with BRCA1, BRCA2, and/or ATM alterations and...
On October 27, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the FoundationOne Liquid CDx test for three new companion diagnostic indications to help match patients who may benefit from treatment with specific FDA-approved targeted therapies. The new indications are for alpelisib...
Chile has a population of approximately 19 million living predominantly in urban areas (87.7%), with a population density of 66 inhabitants per square mile.1 For the year 2020, approximately 12% of its population was older than 65 years.1 Socioeconomic Trends and Cancer The country has experienced ...
A study by Liu et al published in Molecular Cancer Research investigated why Black men appear to be more likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer than White men. Researchers found that prostate tumors in Black men had higher frequencies of distinct genetic alterations, which may contribute to...
As reported in JAMA Oncology, Dess et al have developed a novel clinical prognostic stage group system for nonmetastatic prostate cancer that “meets criteria set forth by the American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] Precision Medicine Core committee… [and outperforms] the existing [AJCC] system...
A new study points to a need for oncologists to ask their patients about sexual health after chemotherapy, radiation, and other cancer treatments. In a survey of nearly 400 cancer survivors, 87% said they experienced sexual side effects, but most also said their oncologist had not formally asked...
A new study finds that the racial composition of clinical trials involving radiation therapy does not match that of the U.S. population. Examining trials from the past 23 years, researchers found that roughly 12% of trial participants were Black, which is less than the 13% population composition of ...
On October 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the FoundationOne Liquid CDx test for three new companion diagnostic indications to help match patients who may benefit from treatment with specific FDA-approved targeted therapies. The new indications are for alpelisib (Piqray) in ...
The addition of the radiotracer fluciclovine to positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging for treatment planning led to superior failure-free survival compared with conventional imaging in men with prostate cancer who had undergone radical prostatectomy and were experiencing biologic recurrence of ...
Kala Visvanathan, MD, MHS, is working to prevent cancer in every patient. With the help of donor-supported grants, including a Career Development Award from Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, Dr. Visvanathan researches cancer prevention and strategies to prevent cancer recurrence. “To be...
Ipatasertib plus abiraterone plus prednisone achieved significantly superior radiographic progression–free survival and antitumor activity compared with placebo plus abiraterone plus prednisonein patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and PTEN loss, according to the results...
The PARP inhibitor olaparib reduced the risk of death by 31% compared with a second hormonal treatment (enzalutamide or abiraterone) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer characterized by BRCA1, BRCA2, or ATM mutations, in the final analysis of the phase III PROfound trial...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to treatments for EGFR-mutant lung cancer and advanced renal cell carcinoma; granted Fast Track designation to agents in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors; and more....
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Sargos et al, the French phase III GETUG-AFU 17 trial has shown no event-free survival benefit for adjuvant radiotherapy vs salvage radiotherapy—both with short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT)—after radical prostatectomy in men with localized prostate...
Neoadjuvant combination therapy with the anti–CTLA-4 therapy tremelimumab and the anti–PD-1 therapy durvalumab was well tolerated and showed early signs of activity in patients ineligible to receive cisplatin-based chemotherapy, all of whom had tumors with high-risk features that are associated...
In a phase III noninferiority trial (RAVES) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kneebone et al found that salvage radiotherapy did not meet noninferiority criteria for biochemical progression vs adjuvant radiotherapy, but was associated with nearly identical biochemical control rates and reduced...
The increasing incidence rates of skin cancer in the United States are staggering. It is the most common cancer diagnosed in the country, and current estimates show that about 9,500 Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer every day. Over the course of a year, more than 3 million people are...
A report published by Hu et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found the rate of bone mineral density testing in people with prostate cancer undergoing androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) has improved in recent years, but remains low. ADT is considered a cornerstone of...
The well-loved Art of Oncology section of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and its pioneering podcast are both resonating as never before, as cancer specialists are prompted into deeper reflections about the poignant moments that give life meaning by the COVID-19 pandemic. JCO’s Art of...
Although cancer incidence and mortality rates for all cancers combined are considerably lower in younger adults than older adults, a disturbing pattern is beginning to emerge in the development of early-onset cancers, typically diagnosed in older patients, occurring in younger adults. The rising...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wassim Abida, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase II TRITON2 trial has shown that the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor rucaparib produced durable responses in patients with previously treated...
The lockdown phase of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and continued measures, such as social distancing, while necessary, are disrupting cancer care in ways that will have consequences for months, if not years, to come. Studies are showing that delayed or suspended cancer treatments,...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cristina Saura, MD, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, and colleagues, the phase III NALA trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with the irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib plus...
As a high school student growing up in St Petersburg, Russia, I was so obsessed with chemistry that I begged my professor for extra problems to complete after school. When I rode the bus home on cold winter evenings, I traced chemical reactions with my finger in the frost on the window. By the...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in The Lancet, Claire L. Vale, PhD, and colleagues found that immediate adjuvant radiotherapy did not improve event-free survival vs early salvage radiotherapy in men with intermediate-risk or high-risk localized or locally advanced prostate cancer...
Five years ago, as Rachel B. Issaka, MD, MAS, was beginning her second year as a gastroenterology fellow and feeling proud of the progress she was making in her training, she was suddenly confronted with an all-too-familiar slight that underrepresented minority providers may often experience. As...
This week on The ASCO Post Podcast, we're discussing three reports on genitourinary cancers presented at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020. We’ll hear directly from the researchers about first-line treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, as well as the long-term results of a doublet therapy for ...
A large cohort study with close to 160,000 men and women reported that “recent-onset diabetes accompanied by weight loss was associated with a substantial increase in risk for pancreatic cancer and may represent a high-risk group in the general population for whom early detection strategies would...
The ASCO Post is pleased to continue this occasional special focus on the worldwide cancer burden. In this issue, we feature a close look at the cancer incidence and mortality rates in Botswana. The aim of this special feature is to highlight the global cancer burden for various countries of the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cristina Saura, MD, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, and colleagues, the phase III NALA trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with the irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib plus...
“Good morning! I’m Dr. Saksena. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I wave my introduction as I enter the room. Two women sit beside each other. One of them wears a mask that reads “lipstick optional,” and the other dons a surgical mask. This is a new visit for breast cancer, but I haven’t yet deciphered ...
A new report examining cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs, defined as diagnoses occurring between the ages of 15 and 39) provides updated estimates of the contemporary cancer burden in this age group, with predictions that 89,500 cases and 9,270 deaths will occur in this group in 2020 in...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine and during the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 610O) by Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, FASCO, and colleagues, an overall survival analysis from the phase III PROfound trial has shown a significant benefit with olaparib vs physician’s choice of...
In a phase I clinical trial for patients with advanced solid cancers marked by KRAS G12C mutations, the KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib (AMG 510) showed manageable toxicities and durable clinical benefits. Results from the trial were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, and data from the ...