A 3-year structured exercise program initiated soon after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy improved disease-free survival and overall survival, as well as patient-reported physical functioning and health-related fitness, in patients with stage III or high-risk stage II colon cancer. These...
Studies have shown that being overweight or having obesity increases the risk of developing more than a dozen cancers, including meningioma, multiple myeloma, esophageal, thyroid, breast, gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidney, ovarian, uterus, and colorectal.1 The presence of excess body...
Researchers may have uncovered genetic differences that may help predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors among patients with metastatic melanoma, according to a recent study published by Monson et al in Nature Medicine. Background The investigation revolved around mitochondrial haplogroups ...
In the phase III ALASCCA trial, the use of adjuvant daily aspirin for 3 years reduced the risk of recurrence in colorectal cancer harboring PI3K pathway alterations by 51%, according to research in a Scandinavian population presented at the 2025 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Anna...
Genetic material shed by tumors may be detected in the bloodstream 3 years prior to cancer diagnosis, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Cancer Discovery. Study Methods and Results Researchers used highly accurate and sensitive sequencing techniques to analyze the plasma samples ...
In a long-term follow-up of the phase III MD Anderson dose-escalated, hypofractionated prostate radiation study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hassanzadeh et al compared hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiation therapy (HIMRT) vs conventionally fractionated intensity-modulated...
In a long-term follow-up of an Israeli phase II trial reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Evron et al compared prophylactic radiation therapy (RT) of the contralateral breast vs surveillance in BRCA pathogenic variant carriers with early-stage breast cancer. Study Details In the...
Patients with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy demonstrated moderate changes in their cardiac function over a period of several years, and patients who received a maximum left anterior descending artery dose had a modest worsening in both systolic and diastolic function, according to the...
Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, of City of Hope, and Rebecca Alexandra Dent, MD, FASCO, of National Cancer Centre Singapore, review the results of a biomarker analysis of the DESTINY-Breast06 trial, which evaluated trastuzumab deruxtecan after endocrine therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer...
In a study (VERITAS) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Lentz et al evaluated whether the diagnostic accuracy of navigational bronchoscopy was noninferior to that of transthoracic needle biopsy for malignancy or specific benign conditions in patients with peripheral pulmonary nodules. ...
A novel therapy based on the plant-derived molecule resiniferatoxin could be a safe and effective agent for patients with difficult-to-control cancer pain, according to a recent study published by Mannes et al in NEJM Evidence. Background Resiniferatoxin is derived from Euphorbia resinifera, a...
In a Japanese phase II study (NO LIMIT, WJOG13320G) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kawakami et al evaluated whether first-line nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab showed activity in patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) advanced gastric/esophagogastric junction ...
On June 3, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved darolutamide (Nubeqa) for the treatment of metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC). The oral androgen receptor inhibitor had previously been approved by the FDA in combination with docetaxel for mCSPC. Efficacy...
Although the SWOG S2302 Pragmatica-Lung trial did not achieve its primary endpoint of improved overall survival with the combination of ramucirumab and pembrolizumab compared with standard-of-care treatments for patients with stage IV or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who previously...
New long-term follow-up data from the phase Ib/II CARTITUDE-1 study demonstrated that one-third of patients in the study with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma treated with the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy ciltacabtagene autoleucel achieved progression-free survival of 5 years or...
An investigational dual-target chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy approach could slow tumor growth in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, according to new findings presented by Bagley et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 102) and simultaneously published in Nature ...
The integration of a "best practice advisory" alert into electronic medical record system regarding referrals for fertility preservation programs for young patients with cancer improved referrals to the Oncofertility program at Fox Chase Cancer Center by 450% over 6 months, according to findings...
A new study by researchers at the American Cancer Society shows court-documented adverse financial events of prediagnosis bankruptcy, lien, or eviction were associated with increased risk of all-cause and cancer-specific mortality for multiple cancer types. The findings underscore lasting adverse...
Marital status significantly impacts survival rates for patients with colorectal cancer, according to a new Fox Chase Cancer Center study that was presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 3628). Married individuals were found to have better survival rates than single or separated and...
The investigational agent ziftomenib, a menin-MLL inhibitor, demonstrated activity in patients with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML), regardless of prior venetoclax treatment, according to findings from the phase II KOMET-001 trial. Findings from the study were...
Results from the international phase III AMPLITUDE clinical trial found that adding niraparib to abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AAP) may help to slow cancer growth for people with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene...
A new four-drug combination appears to be effective and safe in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, according to data from the ADVANCE clinical trial conducted by investigators at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Presented ...
Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer may need support for scholastic performance, according to new findings presented by Fisher et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 11053). Previous studies have shown how a cancer diagnosis could disrupt the typical developmental...
Results from an international clinical trial demonstrated that DB-1310, a new antibody-drug conjugate, is showing early signs of effectiveness in patients with advanced solid tumors that have not responded to standard treatments, particularly those with EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer...
Results from the phase III DESTINY-Breast09 clinical trial found that the combination of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) with pertuzumab may delay cancer growth for longer than the current standard of care in people with HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The...
Greater intake of a proinflammatory dietary pattern may be linked to worse overall survival in patients with stage III colon cancer who have undergone curative-intent resection. Sara K. Char, MD, a clinical fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, presented the results of a prospective...
A phase III study has found that a 3-year structured exercise program initiated soon after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy improves disease-free and overall survival, as well as patient-reported physical functioning and health-related fitness, in patients with stage III and high-risk stage II...
Adding the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab to standard chemoradiotherapy after surgery significantly reduced recurrence rates for patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who are at high risk for recurrence, according to data presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 At a...
Results from VERITAC-2 trial showed that the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) vepdegestrant could extend progression-free survival for people with previously treated estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer with an ESR1 mutation. The research will be presented at...
A new study led by experts at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is the first to look at trends over time in alcohol-linked cancer mortality across the United States. The findings were presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract ...
In a phase II trial (RAVENS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al attempted to determine whether the addition of the bone metastasis–targeting agent radium-223 to stereotactic ablative radiotherapy improved progression-free survival as metastasis-directed therapy in patients...
In a French phase III trial (NEOPAN) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ducreux et al evaluated whether FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan) significantly improved progression-free survival vs gemcitabine in patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma not...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Heyward et al examined the harm-benefit balance of immune checkpoint inhibitor use across lines of treatment in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details The retrospective cohort study, conducted in 2024, involved 2013 to 2019 Surveillance,...
Climate change may be contributing to a small but notable increase in the incidence and mortality rates of breast, ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancers in the Middle East and North Africa, according to a recent study published by Mataria and Chun in Frontiers in Public Health. Background...
At just 5 years old, Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO, already knew that she wanted to be a physician when she grew up, although she can’t explain where the idea came from. She just knows the desire to help others was ingrained in her from a very early age. Growing up in New Delhi, India, where...
In a phase III trial (CheckMate 9DW) reported in The Lancet, Yau et al evaluated whether first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab improved overall survival vs investigator's choice of lenvatinib or sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Study Details In the open-label trial,...
In a single-center phase I trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Svoboda et al assessed the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an enhanced chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (huCART19-IL18) in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma after previous...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has announced the publication of the latest version of its scale that measures the clinical benefit of cancer treatments, the ESMO-MCBS (ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale). The ESMO-MCBS was first introduced in 2015 and updated to version 1.1...
With the currently available BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has transformed from an invariably fatal disorder (10-year overall survival < 10%) to an indolent one, associated with a near-normal life expectancy on optimal tyrosine kinase inhibitor...
An evaluation by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) colorectal cancer screening practices for inmates and their clinical follow-up for positive screenings found several serious operational and managerial deficiencies...
In a Belgian phase III trial (ROBOMET) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mercier et al attempted to determine whether dose-escalated, single-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy was associated with statistically significant benefit vs conventional, single-fraction, 3D conformal...
In a Danish Breast Cancer Group nationwide prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jensen et al attempted to develop a prognostic standard mortality rate index to predict excess mortality based on risk-adapted adjuvant therapy in postmenopausal patients with early-stage breast...
Although I have spent the past 2 decades of my medical career as a primary care physician, educator, and researcher in conditions that disproportionately affect people of Asian descent, including lung cancer, I was still unprepared to hear the words “You have stage IV non–small cell lung...
In January 2025, the Trump Administration issued executive orders asserting opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on the federal level1,2 and rescinding Biden Administration orders that emphasized the importance of these efforts to promote equal opportunity across government ...
Several recent studies have shown the value of cancer screening in reducing the number of deaths from the disease. One study using computer modeling to estimate the number of cancer-related deaths that could be averted by increasing the use of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)...
ASCO and Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, will recognize researchers, patient advocates, philanthropists, teachers, and global oncology leaders who have reshaped cancer care around the world with the Society’s highest honors at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting. “The recipients of this year’s...
Thousands of forward-looking research studies defined the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. Here, aside from our fuller coverage of key presentations in The ASCO Post, we offer a snapshot of a few additional abstracts that may be of interest to cancer researchers...
Mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) tumors beyond those in the rectum may respond to PD-1 blockade in the neoadjuvant setting, offering the option of organ preservation in early-stage cancer regardless of the tumor type, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center reported at the...
For more than 25 years, my goal as a community oncologist has been to ensure that all patients have access to the highest-quality cancer care. This is the future I stood for when I became ASCO’s 61st President and what I know our more than 50,000 members stand for. And I believe we will get there...
Despite a 30-year history as an ASCO volunteer, for Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, this past year as President-Elect has opened new perspectives on the organization he will soon lead as ASCO’s 62nd President, effective during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 30–June 3, 2025, in Chicago. After serving...