The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a magnetic device system for guiding lymph node biopsies in patients with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy. The Magtrace and Sentimag Magnetic Localization System uses magnetic detection during sentinel lymph node biopsy procedures to ...
In an Australian phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Coughlin et al found similar functional outcomes at 2 years with robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy and open radical retropubic prostatectomy in men with newly diagnosed clinically localized prostate cancer. Study Details In ...
The phase III IMpower132 study met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival and demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin plus pemetrexed [Alimta]) reduced the risk of disease worsening or death compared to chemotherapy...
A study reported in JAMA Oncology by Anne Marie McCarthy, PhD, of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues identified the risk of interval breast cancer after negative screening mammography, including the risk of poor-prognosis breast cancer. The...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology by Chelain R. Goodman, MD, PhD, of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues, adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with better outcome in patients with early breast cancer who had detectable...
ON JUNE 13, 2018, bevacizumab (Avastin) was granted approval for treatment of epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel, followed by single-agent bevacizumab, for stage III or IV disease after initial surgical resection1,2. The...
RECOMMENDATIONS IN the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) clinical practice guidelines for integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment “are clear, thorough, and based on the most relevant scientific evidence,” concluded an ASCO expert panel that reviewed the guidelines.1,2...
ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation presented more than $7.3 million in grants and awards to exceptional oncology researchers at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. ASCO and Conquer Cancer congratulate the recipients and offer their profound thanks to those who generously supported these awards. Visit...
As reported in The Lancet by Thomas Powles, MD, of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues, the phase III IMvigor211 trial showed no survival benefit for atezolizumab vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy in platinum-treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial...
The Fox Chase Cancer Center announced the hiring of Pooja Ghatalia, MD, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Ghatalia joined the faculty after graduating from a 3-year hematology/oncology fellowship and started in her new position on July 1. Dr. Ghatalia is a...
Prior to ASCO’s 2016 endorsement of the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) guideline on active surveillance in the management of localized prostate cancer,1 most men—over 90%—diagnosed with low-risk localized disease were treated with active therapy.2 Today, about 50% of American men with low-risk disease...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) as a first-line treatment for people with advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver...
In a retrospective registry study reported in JAMA Oncology, Kharfan-Dabaja et al found no overall survival difference with second allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) vs donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapse. The study involved 418...
Difficult-to-treat, cancer-related fatigue is a common, distressing clinical issue. It impedes daily activities, severely affecting patients’ quality of life. Compounding the problem is a lack of consensus on an effective pharmacologic intervention. Acupressure is a traditional Chinese medicine...
EARLY IN 2018, olaparib tablets (Lynparza) were granted regular approval for treatment of patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have been treated with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or metastatic setting.1,2...
Question 1 Which of the following is one of the four major criteria for the diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia? Correct Answer: A. Platelet count ≥ 450 × 109/L. Expert Perspective The diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia requires that all four major criteria or the first three major...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib and Medeiros explore the recently updated World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
EARLY IN 2018, abiraterone acetate tablets (Zytiga) in combination with prednisone were approved for the treatment of metastatic high-risk castration-sensitive prostate cancer.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data APPROVAL WAS based on the findings of the phase III LATITUDE trial, in which 1,199 patients...
ON JULY 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). This approval broadens the indicated patient population to include patients with either nonmetastatic CRPC or metastatic CRPC. Enzalutamide was ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hu et al found that higher postradiotherapy levels of the inflammatory marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were associated with an increased risk of early grade 4+ skin toxicity in patients with breast cancer. Study Details...
Patients with cancer receiving anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (anti–PD-1) therapies who develop lesions, eczema, psoriasis, or other forms of autoimmune diseases affecting the skin may experience those adverse reactions on a delay—sometimes even after treatment has...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rodin et al found that a manualized psychotherapeutic intervention (Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully, CALM) was successful in reducing depressive symptoms in patients with advanced cancer. CALM is novel, brief, tailored...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Autio et al found that prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)–targeted docetaxel nanoparticle (BIND-014) treatment was active in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Study Details In the multicenter trial,...
In a French phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kim et al found that treatment with docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil (DCF) was active in patients with metastatic or unresectable locally recurrent anal squamous cell carcinoma. Study Details The multicenter study included 66...
“What is a reasonable plan of follow-up for patients with cancers for which early detection of metastatic disease offers no advantage?” Posing that question during his Presidential Address at the 2018 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Cancer Symposium, Kelly M. McMasters, MD,PhD,...
Veterans with cancer who receive treatment from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will now have easier access to clinical trials of novel cancer treatments, thanks to an agreement between the VA and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The NCI...
An analysis of cancer registry data from a California hospital system showed that women with head and neck cancer were less likely to receive intensive chemotherapy (35% vs 46%) and radiation (60% vs 70%) compared to men. Controlling for factors such as age and serious medical conditions, a...
The ASCO Post presents these brief summaries of important studies in breast cancer, presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. Ribociclib Plus Fulvestrant in Metastatic Breast Cancer The benefit of an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) added to fulvestrant has now been proven to...
It would be impossible to cover all of the important presentations from the 5,000-plus abstracts accepted for the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. In addition to our regular meeting coverage of the top news stories, the following highlights focus on novel investigational approaches to therapy for various...
On July 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) plus low-dose ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal...
As first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer, the oral taxane tesetaxel produced a 45% confirmed response rate and was well tolerated, producing little alopecia or neuropathy, according to Andrew D. Seidman, MD, and colleagues from several cancer centers. Dr. Seidman, of Memorial Sloan...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for ribociclib (Kisqali) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor for premenopausal or perimenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer as initial...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Abou-Alfa and colleagues, the second interim analysis of the phase III CELESTIAL trial has shown a significant improvement in overall and progression-free survival with cabozantinib (Cabometyx) vs placebo in patients with sorafenib...
Patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had a greater benefit from first-line treatment with the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in the randomized, phase III, IMpower131 clinical trial.1 At the landmark of 12-month...
At the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) and its collaborators presented the 8-year updates of the key modern trials of ovarian function suppression after local treatment for young women with resected breast cancer.1 These updates...
Selma Ugurel, MD, of the Skin Cancer Center Essen at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, discussed the Merkel cell carcinoma presentations at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. “Immunotherapy is of high interest in Merkel cell because of the high immunogenicity of the tumor—viral-induced and...
At the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, investigators presented long-term follow-up data for immunotherapy in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma and new data for its use in the neoadjuvant setting. The results drew high interest from attendees and a number of questions were raised following the...
Two pancreatic cancer specialists commented on the PREOPANC-1 study for The ASCO Post: Colin D. Weekes, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, who had discussed the abstract at the ASCO Annual Meeting, and Manish A. Shah, MD, FASCO, Chief of the Solid Tumor...
For patients with newly diagnosed, potentially resectable pancreatic cancer, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy led to better outcomes when compared with immediate surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy in the phase III PREOPANC-1 trial. Approximately 25% fewer deaths occurred among patients in the...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Carlo et al found a high prevalence of germline mutations in cancer susceptibility genes in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Study Details In this cohort study, conducted between October 2015 and July 2017, 254 of 267 patients with advanced...
Results of the phase III Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group 99.03 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by MacManus et al indicate that use of systemic therapy following involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT) increased progression-free survival in patients with stage I or II low-grade...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Adkins et al, the addition of the angiogenesis inhibitor pazopanib (Votrient) to cetuximab (Erbitux) in a phase Ib and expansion cohort study showed activity in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In the...
On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). This approval broadens the indicated patient population to include patients with either nonmetastatic CRPC or metastatic CRPC. Enzalutamide was ...
Veterans with cancer who receive treatment from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will now have easier access to clinical trials of novel cancer treatments, thanks to an agreement between the VA and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The NCI...
Important steps in the development of an artificial ovary have been successfully completed. Researchers from the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, reported that they have—for the first time—isolated and grown human follicles to a point of biofunctionality on a bioengineered ovarian ...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Goodman et al found amplification of PDL1 genes in 0.7% of solid tumors, including more than 100 tumor types. Response to checkpoint inhibition was high in a small group of patients with PDL1 amplification. Prevalence of PDL1 Amplification The study included...
In a phase II trial (Active8) reported in JAMA Oncology, Ferris et al found that the addition of the toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) agonist motolimod to platinum-fluorouracil plus cetuximab (Erbitux) did not improve progression-free survival among all patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Hussain et al, the phase III PROSPER trial has shown a 71% reduction in risk of metastasis or death with enzalutamide (Xtandi) vs placebo in men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Study Details In the double-blind trial,...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) plus low-dose ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR)...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Desjardins and colleagues found that convection-enhanced intratumoral delivery of a recombinant nonpathogenic polio–rhinovirus chimera (PVSRIPO) was not associated with neurovirulence in patients with recurrent grade IV glioma and...