In a single-center phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Elamin et al found that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor poziotinib showed activity in previously treated patients with HER2 exon 20–mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As related by the investigators,...
In the Italian phase III GIM4 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Lucia Del Mastro, MD, and colleagues found that 5 years vs 2 to 3 years of adjuvant letrozole significantly prolonged invasive disease–free survival in postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer who had already completed...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Philippe Moreau, MD, and colleagues, an interim analysis of part 2 of the phase III CASSIOPEIA trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with maintenance daratumumab vs observation following induction and consolidation with or without...
Researchers have shown that using a validated risk calculator helped to drive informed treatment decisions in older patients with cancer. Mbewe et al identified the Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG) calculator as a quick and helpful tool in assessing chemotherapy toxicity probability in...
A pilot program developed by researchers at Yale Cancer Center that offers patients next-day access for oncologic consultation showed reduced wait times for initial access to cancer care and increased patient satisfaction, according to a new report presented by Mougalian et al at the 2021 ASCO...
Researchers have discovered that grouping EGFR mutations by structure and function provides an accurate framework to match patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to the right drugs. The findings, published by Robichaux et al in Nature, identify four subgroups of mutations and introduce a...
In the Japanese phase II/III JCOG0603 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kanemitsu et al found that the addition of adjuvant mFOLFOX6 (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) to hepatectomy improved disease-free survival in patients with liver-only metastatic colorectal cancer;...
In an interim analysis of the phase III IMCgp100-202 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Nathan et al found that tebentafusp, a bispecific protein consisting of an affinity-enhanced T-cell receptor fused to an anti-CD3 effector, significantly improved overall survival vs...
Historically, rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been lower in rural areas than urban regions. However, a recent study published by Zhou et al in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology shows that while cases of HCC have begun slowing in urban communities in the United States, the...
Breast cancer survivors who participated in Active Living After Cancer, an evidence-based 12-week group program, markedly increased their physical activity and ability to accomplish the basic pursuits of daily life, reported Tami-Maury et al in the journal Cancer. The results show the program could ...
New research published by Shen et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has found that more than 80% of therapies tested in phase III oncology trials did not achieve meaningful clinical benefit in prolonging survival. The researchers analyzed 362 industry-sponsored phase...
In a multicenter cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Hsu et al found that among pancreatic cancer kindreds, individuals with germline ATM pathogenic variants had a sixfold increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer vs noncarriers of pathogenic variants. Study Details The study involved data ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Chang et al, long-term results of the single-institution revised STARS trial indicate that overall survival in patients receiving stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for operable stage IA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was noninferior to that in a...
In the FOCUS4-N trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Adams et al found that capecitabine maintenance improved progression-free—but not overall—survival vs active monitoring in patients with stable disease or objective response after first-line therapy for metastatic colorectal...
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha announced news of the death of James Edney, MD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Edney died on August 7 in a small plane crash in Minnesota. A Caring Physian and Educator UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, said in a...
Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Marvin and Concetta Greenberg Pancreatic Cancer Institute were recently renewed as a Clinical Center of Excellence and named for the first time as an Academic Center of Excellence for Pancreatic Cancer by the National Pancreas Foundation. This distinction places Fox...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently announced that Elvan “Ellie” Daniels, MD, MPH, has been appointed Senior Vice President of Extramural Discovery Science after serving as the interim lead since April 1, 2021. She has also served as a member of the ACS Office of Cancer Research and...
The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases, has appointed Amelia Escolano, PhD, and Nan Zhang, PhD, as Assistant Professors. Dr. Escolano’s research focuses on the development of novel vaccine approaches against highly mutating ...
On August 25, 2021, ivosidenib was approved for adults with previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with an IDH1 mutation, as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test.1 The FDA simultaneously approved the Oncomine Dx Target Test as a...
Every system in the body relies on oxygen. From cognition to digestion, effective breathing not only provides us with a greater sense of mental clarity, but it can also help us sleep better, digest food more efficiently, improve our body’s immune response, and reduce stress levels. According to...
Expanding its multidisciplinary teams of experts focused on the management of head and neck cancers as well as cancers of the lungs, pleura, and mediastinum, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health have welcomed Missak Haigentz, Jr, MD, as Chief of Thoracic and Head and Neck...
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. These highly resistant bacteria cause more than 750,000 deaths worldwide every year, a number that is predicted to rise dramatically....
With a population under half a million people, Brunei Darussalam is a small equatorial nation in Southeast Asia. Bordered by the South China Sea on the north, Brunei Darussalam is surrounded on all other sides by Malaysia, which separates the nation into two noncontiguous parts. Nearly two-thirds...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present the Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib, Desai, and DeAngelis explore the treatment of older patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), which pose...
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. In this installment, Yen Nien Hou, PharmD, DipIOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Gregorio Jaimovich, MD, Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Favaloro University Hospital in Buenos Aires. Distinguished expert on radiation therapy and bone...
Katherine Van Loon, MD, MPH, was raised in Miami, until the age of 12, and then her family relocated to Atlanta, where she spent her junior and high school years. “If you ask my parents about my decision to become a doctor, they will say I first declared it at age 5. Nobody knew how that idea came...
On August 19, 2021, the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab was approved for adjuvant treatment of patients with urothelial carcinoma who are at high risk of recurrence after undergoing radical resection.1 This is the first approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for adjuvant treatment of patients...
In conjunction with the 2021 World Conference on Lung Cancer, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) presented the following lifetime achievement awards. Paul A. Bunn, Jr, Scientific Award David Carbone, MD, PhD, received the Paul A. Bunn, Jr, Scientific Award. This...
ASCO has a list of resources and information to support cancer care providers and patients affected by natural disasters such as Hurricane Ida. The resources include materials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, emergency contact and preparedness information, and information on...
An ASCO guideline rapid update is revising recommendations for the management of locally advanced esophageal carcinoma to include provision of nivolumab following adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery. The new guidance addresses treatment of patients with residual disease following resection and...
To underscore its commitment to scale and grow cancer research funding and to align more closely with ASCO, Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, has updated its mission and vision. Mission: Accelerate breakthroughs in lifesaving research and empower people everywhere to conquer cancer. Vision: A...
“The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) commends the Biden Administration for proposing to rescind the Most Favored Nation (MFN) model from consideration. ASCO has consistently opposed the ill-advised MFN model, as it would have had a devastating impact on people with cancer. “The proposed...
A recently updated ASCO guideline offers both new and revised guidance on the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.1 “ASCO regularly updates its guidelines to make sure everything is current and valuable for oncologists and patients. About a year ago,...
On September 10, 2021, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the following statement: “I wanted to share an update about my health. In February of this year, doctors at Mayo Clinic found small white spots called calcifications during a routine mammogram. After this was discovered, I had a biopsy...
During the opening session of the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, Julio Frenk, MD, PhD, MPH, President of the University of Miami, gave a riveting presentation in which he described the devastating effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic on patients with cancer as well as on fragile and fragmented...
Saad Z. Usmani, MBA, MD, of the Levine Cancer Institute, discusses new data on the CAR T-cell therapy ciltacabtagene autoleucel, a single infusion of which yielded early, deep, and durable responses in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (Oral Abstract MM-119).
The OPTIMUM/MUKnine1 and FORTE2 updates were discussed at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting by Gordon Cook, MBChB, PhD, Clinical Director of the National Institute for Health Research In Vitro Diagnostics Cooperative and the Clinical Trials Unit in Hematology of the University of Leeds, United Kingdom....
Newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma deemed at high risk for disease progression may achieve sustained measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity with newer regimens and transplantation, and this may translate into longer progression-free survival. That’s the key take-away message from...
A novel combination of well-known drugs may prolong survival in patients with prostate cancer, according to late-breaking research presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2021. The PEACE-1 and STAMPEDE studies found that the addition of abiraterone acetate plus...
Oncologists who treat patients with melanoma will need to become familiar with another immunotherapy approach. For refractory metastatic disease, adoptive cell therapy is on the horizon. “Adoptive cell therapy will offer additional hope for our patients with melanoma. We’ll likely be seeing this...
On August 13, 2021, belzutifan, a hypoxia-inducible factor inhibitor, was approved for treatment of adults with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease who require therapy for associated renal cell carcinoma, central nervous system (CNS) hemangioblastomas, or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors but do not...
On August 17, 2021, dostarlimab-gxly, aPD-1 blocking monoclonal antibody, was granted accelerated approval for adults with mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) recurrent or advanced solid tumors, as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test, who have had disease progression...
There is no doubt that subsets of patients with esophageal and gastric cancers benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. The complexity lies in identifying the appropriate histology, tumor location, expression of programmed cell death receptors and ligands, mechanism of checkpoint...
As reported in The Lancet by Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 649 trial has shown that the addition of first-line nivolumab to chemotherapy resulted in improved overall and...
As ASCO Annual Meeting attendees know by now, clinicians don’t have to be at McCormick Place to hear practice-changing findings and forward-looking advances in the field of oncology. Interesting content was no exception at the 2021 conference, so in addition to covering the biggest news from the...
The first randomized study in patients with malignant pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma has found that sunitinib prolongs progression-free survival by more than 5 months. The late-breaking results of the FIRSTMAPPP trial were presented by Eric Baudin, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the European...
Antibody-drug conjugates are improving outcomes of patients with lymphoma, often those who have exhausted treatment options after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Four available antibody-drug conjugates are in the clinic, with brentuximab vedotin moving into the front-line...
The integration of radiation therapy into chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may improve outcomes for patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma, according to Charles A. Enke, MD, Professor and the Bill Bures and Jerry Pabst Chair in Radiation Oncology at the Fred and Pamela Buffett...
In relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphomas, bispecific T-cell engager antibodies are finding a place in the treatment algorithm, said Christopher Flowers, MD, MS, FASCO, Professor and Chair of the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. At the...