The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will honor Connie J. Eaves, PhD, FRS, of BC Cancer at the University of British Columbia, with the 2018 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize for her contributions to the field of hematopoiesis and stem cell research. Dr. Eaves will present her lecture,...
Persephone is a 4,088-patient trial that Helena Margaret Earl, MBBS, PhD, reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting as establishing that 6 months of trastuzumab (Herceptin) is not inferior to 12 months in 4-year survival without invasive or local regional recurrence or distant metastases. Dr. Earl...
The Persephone presentation by Helena Margaret Earl, MBBS, PhD, got a lot of publicity after a pre–ASCO Annual Meeting press release, suggesting that 6 months of adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) is enough. The advice of experts has been that the evidence is inconclusive, but I have not heard a...
As reported by Hauschild et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, longer-term follow-up of the phase III COMBI-AD trial has confirmed improved relapse-free survival with adjuvant dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) vs placebo in resected BRAF V600–mutant stage III melanoma. In...
A pilot study by Ma et al examining the intervention effect on the outcome of a provider-based, culturally tailored, multilevel intervention to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among Asian American adolescents has found that the strategy significantly increased the uptake of at least...
Neoadjuvant erlotinib (Tarceva) benefits selected patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who undergo complete resection of stage IIIA-N2 disease, according to a randomized study comparing erlotinib with gemcitabine plus cisplatin as...
The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and low-dose ipilimumab (Yervoy) could become a new first-line treatment in patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H), mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer, following results from the CheckMate-142 trial reported ...
The phase I NRG Oncology clinical trial BR001 tested the hypothesis that stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) could be used safely in patients with oligometastatic disease characterized by multiple metastases. Results from the trial indicate that using SBRT is safe as treatment for patients with 2 ...
In a Dutch study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Henricks et al found that DPYD genotype–guided dosing reduced the frequency of severe fluoropyrimidine toxicity in patients with cancer. Increased fluoropyrimidine toxicity is associated with reduced activity of the metabolic...
On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with carboplatin and either paclitaxel or nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) as first-line treatment of metastatic squamous non–small cell lung...
In an analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology by Robak et al, bortezomib, rituximab [Rituxan], cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (VR-CAP) significantly prolonged overall survival vs rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) in a phase III trial ...
Neoadjuvant treatment with a combination of the immune checkpoint inhibitors nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) achieved major pathological responses in mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) early-stage colon cancers, according to results reported by Chalabi et al at the European...
Adjuvant treatment with zoledronic acid, plus hormonal therapy with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole, significantly increases disease-free survival compared to tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer, according to results reported by Perrone et al...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology and at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2018 Congress by Hodi et al, the 4-year follow-up of the phase III CheckMate 067 trial has shown a continued overall survival benefit with first-line nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) or nivolumab alone vs ...
The first report of a large international clinical trial shows that, for men who show signs of prostate cancer after surgical removal of their prostates, extending radiation therapy to the pelvic lymph nodes combined with adding short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) to standard treatment...
Adding radiation therapy or surgery to systemic therapy for patients with stage IV lung cancer whose cancer has spread to a limited number of sites can significantly extend overall survival, according to new results from a multicenter, randomized, controlled phase II study. The findings were...
A highly sensitive blood test that detects minute traces of cancer-specific DNA has been shown to accurately determine whether patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) are free from cancer following radiation therapy. Findings were presented by...
A subset of patients with low-risk breast cancer is highly unlikely to see cancer return following breast conservation surgery, but can lower that risk even further with radiation therapy, finds a new long-term clinical trial report. These 12-year follow-up data from the only prospective,...
In long-term follow-up of the phase III NRG/RTOG 9413 study reported in The Lancet Oncology by Roach et al, neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) plus whole-pelvic radiotherapy (WPRT) and prostate-only radiotherapy (PORT) plus adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) were associated with the highest rates of...
In a 10-year study of women who received radiation therapy to treat early-stage breast cancer, those receiving fewer, larger individual radiation doses experienced similarly low rates of late-onset side effects as those undergoing conventional radiation therapy. Findings from the...
A phase III trial has determined that cisplatin chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy showed high amounts of activity in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancer. Findings from NRG-RTOG 1016 were presented by Trotti et al the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for...
A new analysis of genetic data from a large prospective registry and clinical data from several randomized trials indicates that African American patients may have comparatively higher cure rates when treated with radiation therapy than Caucasian patients. The study, which is the first report...
Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive throat cancer responded better to chemoradiotherapy than to cetuximab (Erbitux) with radiotherapy, according to late-breaking research reported by Mehanna et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress (Abstract LBA9_PR)....
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Maria I. Carlo, MD, of the Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer, and colleagues found a high prevalence of germline mutations in cancer susceptibility genes in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this cohort study,...
In an interim analysis of the French phase III noninferiority Carmena trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Arnaud Méjean, MD, PhD, of the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, and colleagues found that sunitinib alone was not inferior in overall survival vs nephrectomy followed by...
Radiation therapy for early-stage follicular lymphoma “is underused,” Joanna C. Yang, MD, MPH, and Joachim Yahalom, MD, declared in a recent editorial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 This underuse of radiation therapy can result in overtreatment with systemic therapies or overconfidence in...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. Although physical activity is associated with many positive outcomes in the general population,...
For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor, Jame Abraham, MD, interviewed Kanti R. Rai, MD, Professor of Medicine at the Karches Center for Oncology Research, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset; Professor of Medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at...
I’m a psychiatrist, so I don’t say this lightly: receiving a diagnosis of stage IV gastric adenocarcinoma made me insane. I had remembered the horrible deaths due to abdominal cancer I had seen during my medical training and was terrified that would be my fate as well. I knew from looking at the...
Recently, the term “personalized medicine” in oncology care has been overtaken by the more contemporary concept of “precision medicine.” According to the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the newer terminology shifts the focus to improving...
On April 10, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved everolimus tablets for oral suspension (Afinitor Disperz) for the adjunctive treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged ≥ 2 years with tuberous sclerosis complex–associated partial-onset seizures.1,2 Tuberous sclerosis complex is ...
A pair of studies showcased the potentially devastating long-term health and financial consequences cancer has on adult survivors of childhood cancer compared with other adults, as well as survival disparities based on health insurance status.1,2 Despite increasing survival rates among the more...
In a phase I study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Strickler et al found evidence of activity of the antibody-drug conjugate telisotuzumab vedotin in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) overexpressing c-Met. The agent combines the anti–c-Met monoclonal antibody...
Radiotherapy to the prostate improved overall survival in men newly diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer who have a low metastatic disease burden, but not in those with higher burden of disease, according to results from a preplanned analysis of a large comparison study reported by Parker et...
A combination of the immune checkpoint blocker avelumab (Bavencio) plus the tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib (Inlyta) improved progression-free survival (PFS) in previously untreated patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 study, according to results...
Two-year maintenance therapy with olaparib (Lynparza), a poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, led to a substantial improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) in newly diagnosed patients with advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation, results from the phase III SOLO-1 trial...
When Frederick B. Sontag’s wife, Susan, was diagnosed in 1994 with grade III astrocytoma, the couple was understandably overwhelmed to hear that her expected survival was 3 years. At that time, there were few organizations providing resources to patients with brain tumors and their families. While...
More than 100 ASCO volunteers from across the country came to Capitol Hill on September 25–26 for the 2018 ASCO Advocacy Summit, where they urged Congress to act on major policy priorities to support cancer research and ensure access to high-quality care for the millions of people in the United...
According to Kaveh Shojania, MD, the keynote speaker at the 2018 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, dedicated quality improvement work can help repair a fragmented health-care delivery system, but it’s challenging, and there are multiple things that can go wrong during the process.1 “I’ve developed this ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it has awarded 12 new clinical trial research grants totaling more than $18 million over the next 4 years to enhance the development of medical products for patients with rare diseases. These new grants were awarded to principal...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, and colleagues, and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, the phase III CELESTIAL trial has demonstrated that cabozantinib (Cabometyx) improved the median overall survival to 10.2 months in comparison to 8 months...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Ghassan K. Abou‑Alfa, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 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...
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 April 16, 2018, nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab...
“Patients with follicular lymphoma who relapse early after treatment are a minority of patients, fortunately, but they are clearly patients with a different disease,” according to Jonathon B. Cohen, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine. At Emory’s 2018 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and...
Targeting a common mutation in patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer with the alpha-specific phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor alpelisib improved progression-free survival, according to...
Treatment with the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance) achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer that has relapsed or ...
A combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy improves survival in some patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, according to late-breaking results from the IMpassion130 trial reported by Schmid et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress (Abstract...
Novel agents such as ibrutinib (Imbruvica), idelalisib (Zydelig), and venetoclax (Venclexta) have transformed the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and are increasingly used to treat the disease. The optimal sequencing of these agents is not clear in relapsed or refractory disease,...
The addition of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to a standard platinum doublet as first-line therapy improved overall and progression-free survival in patients with metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in the primary analysis of KEYNOTE-407.1,2 Furthermore, it did not seem to matter...
Although ROS1-mutated lung cancer accounts for about 1% to 2% of all non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), it is an important druggable oncogene, and new data show that it can be successfully targeted for clinical gain. In a pooled analysis of phase I and II trials in patients with ROS1-positive...