HIS HEAD WAS DIFFERENT from those of the other people in line. He bore a matrix of white rows of circular patches on his shaved scalp like a wig. The patches were electrodes, connected by cords to a power supply in a satchel around his shoulder. I was able to make an instant and unfortunate...
Informed consent is an important part of delivering quality cancer care. Traditional ethical and legal rules require clinicians to disclose three types of information: (1) the patient’s diagnosis; (2) the nature of the proposed intervention and its intended benefits, risks, and adverse effects;...
THE FORMAL DISCUSSANT of the KEYNOTE-427 trial, Tracy Rose, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told listeners: “I think pembrolizumab should now be considered an option for non–clear cell kidney cancer. Response rates, however, remain inferior to those seen in clear cell...
In patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, the delivery of all radiotherapy and chemotherapy neoadjuvantly—with a shorter course of radiation—may improve the chance of complete response and downstaging over conventional treatment, according to investigators from Washington University, St....
IMMUNOTHERAPY WITH the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab may prove to be an effective option for patients with advanced non–clear cell renal cell carcinoma, according to results in cohort B of the KEYNOTE-427 trial, presented at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.1 Response rates were...
In contrast with melanoma, lung cancer, and kidney cancer, immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has been disappointing in prostate cancer thus far. Because of success in treating other tumor types, interest remains high in exploring the effect of immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibition in prostate...
Although ARCHES was a positive trial, the results may not signal a practice change at this time, according to formal discussant Ian Davis, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FAChPM, of Monash University Eastern Health Clinical School, Melbourne. “We should probably not change practice yet on the basis of these...
Adding enzalutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) significantly prolonged radiographic progression-free survival in men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, reducing the risk of disease progression or death by 61% compared with ADT plus placebo, according to the results of the ...
ASCO, the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) are pleased to acknowledge receipt of a key clarification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on prescribing opioids to manage pain from certain conditions. ...
The increasing incidence and prevalence of nonmelanoma skin cancers has led to the search for new and more efficient diagnostic imaging and therapy guidance approaches. However, proper selection of therapy requires the precise delineation of skin cancer margins. To address this need, researchers...
Watch John Marshall, MD, and BILCAP first author John Neil Primrose, PhD, MBBS, discuss the trial at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting. In the phase III BILCAP trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Primrose and colleagues found evidence that adjuvant capecitabine may improve overall...
SEVERAL STUDIES at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium evaluated the benefits of neoadjuvant treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer—and in patients deemed fully resectable, not just “borderline” resectable.1-3 Although the standard of care for resectable pancreatic ductal...
FORMAL STUDY discussant Matthew J. Milosky, MD, of the University of North Carolina, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, said there had been few drug approvals in advanced bladder cancer until 5 new checkpoint inhibitors were approved over the past 2 years. “Although these agents...
SOME PATIENTS with metastatic prostate cancer may respond to a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors after treatment with hormonal therapy and chemotherapy is not successful, according to early results from the phase II CheckMate 650 trial. Principal Investigator Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD,...
ALTHOUGH ARCHES was a positive trial, results may not signal a practice change at this time, according to formal discussant Ian Davis, MBBS (Hons), PhD, FRACP, FAChPM, Monash University Eastern Health Clinical School, Melbourne. “We should proceed with caution and probably not change practice yet,” ...
ADDING ENZALUTAMIDE to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) significantly prolonged radiographic progression-free survival in men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, reducing the risk of progression or death by 61% compared with ADT plus placebo, according to results of the phase III...
THE PROGRAMMED cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor, avelumab, was combined with the multitargeted vascular growth endothelial factor (VEGF) agent, axitinib, and compared to monotherapy with sunitinib in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Toni K. Choueiri,...
THIS YEAR saw a huge turnout and a large number of scientific abstracts presented at both the 2019 Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers Symposium, held on January 17–19, and the 2019 Genitourinary (GU) Cancers Symposium, held on February 14–16, both in San Francisco. The GU Cancers Symposium attracted...
A new study reveals that preventive medications—such as those to lower blood pressure or cholesterol, or to protect bone health, among others—are commonly prescribed during the last year of life of older adults with cancer, even though they are unlikely to provide meaningful benefits....
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended the indication of palbociclib (Ibrance) capsules in combination with specific endocrine therapies for hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer to include male patients. “Today, we are...
The experimental oncolytic adenovirus telomelysin in combination with radiotherapy was safe and showed early clinical efficacy in vulnerable patients with esophageal cancer, according to results from a phase I clinical trial presented by Fujiwara et al at the American Association for ...
Researchers have observed for several years that people who have a history of using oral contraceptives are less likely to develop ovarian cancer. A team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University at Buffalo analyzed those connections more deeply, reporting that the protective ...
People with and without cancer are more likely, over time, to use a more potent form of medical marijuana with increasingly higher amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a new study published by Kim et al in the Journal of Palliative Medicine has shown. “Although there is growing...
Surgery was associated with higher survival rates for patients with HER2-positive stage IV breast cancer compared with those who did not undergo surgery, according to results presented by Mudgway et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting (Abstract 4873). Between...
New research presented by Gu et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 found that administering radiation treatments in the morning as opposed to later in the day may significantly reduce the severity of mucositis and its related impacts (Abstract 4860). ...
Although the pool of registered bone marrow donors has increased in recent years, a new study suggests that most patients of southern European and non-European descent are unlikely to have a suitable match if they need a bone marrow transplant. If an immediate registry search does not identify a...
A combination of the experimental histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor entinostat with the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab showed clinical responses in patients with melanoma that had progressed on prior anti–PD-1 treatment, according to results from the phase...
A higher body mass index (BMI) before age 50 may be more strongly associated with pancreatic cancer mortality risk than excess weight at older age, according to the results of a study presented by Jacobs et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 (Abstract...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Abe et al found previously unidentified deleterious germline mutations in patients with family history as the basis for pancreatic surveillance. Moreover, the study showed the risk of pancreatic cancer was higher in individuals with germline...
A small phase I study by Navai et al investigated a combination of lymphodepletion chemotherapy and HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for pediatric and adult patients with advanced HER2-positive sarcoma. The combination showed promising antitumor activity and was found to ...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced policy changes to modernize mammography policies and issued a Breakthrough Therapy designation, an Orphan Drug designation, and an investigational new drug application. FDA Advances Policy Changes to Modernize Mammography Services...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Dessinioti et al found that thin nodular primary melanomas are associated with aggressive characteristics that may portend poorer prognosis vs superficial spreading melanomas. Study Details The study involved data on 5,062...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shaw et al found that lorlatinib showed greater efficacy in patients with vs without anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) resistance mutations among patients with advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in whom one or more...
Keratinocyte carcinoma, previously known as nonmelanoma skin cancer, is the most common malignancy in fair-skinned populations worldwide. In a review article published in Current Opinion in Pharmacology, Alexander Zink, MD, MPH, PhD, of the Technical University of Munich, proposed that...
ASCO HAS PUBLISHED a new guideline, “Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs: ASCO Standards,” to promote the safety of pharmacists, nurses, and all staff who handle potentially dangerous medicines, such as chemotherapy compounds.1 Safety is pivotal in the entire drug workflow, including drug mixing and...
ASCO ENDORSES and reinforces the evidence-based American Urological Association (AUA), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) Guideline published in 2018 in the Journal of Urology. ASCO’s endorsement of a guideline on clinically localized...
THE MANAGEMENT of localized prostate cancer remains controversial. Although the widespread use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has resulted in a dramatic increase in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, many men do not benefit from intervention because the disease is either...
IN PATIENTS with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who responded well to induction therapy and underwent transplant, 2 years of maintenance therapy with ixazomib led to a 38% improvement in progression-free survival compared with placebo, according to the results of the phase III TOURMALINE-MM3...
THE PHASE III IMpassion130 trial, first reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress1 and published in The New England Journal of Medicine,2 found that the combination of front-line atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel significantly improved disease-free and overall...
WHEN BRANDON CANYON’S mother Leone was diagnosed with uterine cancer, he drove her to treatment sessions at the nearest cancer center—a 200-mile round trip on rough roads. Gas was a significant expense, but their only other option was to forgo treatment. The Canyons are members of the Navajo...
IN A MOVE that is a significant departure from current testing recommendations, the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) recommends that genetic testing be available to all individuals newly diagnosed with breast cancer.1 The new recommendations expand on common restrictions by the National...
DISCUSSANT OF the abstract presented by Pinato et al, Jason Luke, MD, FACP, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, called the survival difference for patients receiving antibiotics prior to checkpoint blockade “rather dramatic and quite...
USE OF ANTIBIOTICS prior to checkpoint blockade therapy may attenuate anticancer activity, according to data presented at the 2019 ASCO–Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium.1 Results of the multicenter study suggest that antibiotic therapy administered...
MULTIPLE POLY (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are under study in metastatic prostate cancer and no clear winner has emerged yet. Some studies suggest that the best use of PARP inhibitors may be in patients whose cancers harbor DNA-repair defects and BRCA1/2 mutations, but other data...
FORMAL STUDY discussant Matthew I. Milowsky, MD, of the University of North Carolina, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, said there had been few drug approvals in advanced bladder cancer until 5 new checkpoint inhibitors were approved over the past 2 years. “Although these agents...
THE ANNUAL GASTROINTESTINAL CANCERS SYMPOSIUM took place earlier this year in San Francisco. In addition to important studies captured in our past few issues, The ASCO Post here briefly summarizes additional interesting studies. Adjuvant Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in Colon Cancer...
YOU CANNOT write about caring; you must practice it. None of us went to medical school thinking we would be an oncologist or a neurosurgeon or a stem cell biologist. But we did have vague aspirations of wanting to help others: to be involved in other lives. It was an altruistic avocation; how...
DISCUSSANT OF the CheckMate 384 trial, Siwen Hu-Lieskovan, MD, PhD, Director of Solid Tumor Immunotherapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, called the short-term safety data “convincing.” However, she noted that the long-term impact of intermittent, lower-minimum concentration...
PATIENTS WITH advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may no longer have to come to the clinic every 2 weeks for treatment. According to a descriptive analysis of the phase IIIb/IV CheckMate 384 study, a more convenient dosing option of nivolumab has demonstrated convincing short-term safety...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Rosenthal et al, the phase III NRG Oncology RTOG 0521 trial showed that the addition of docetaxel to androgen suppression and radiotherapy improved overall and disease-free survival as well as the distant metastasis rate in patients with high-risk...