Two experts in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) discussed the findings on the combination of venetoclax plus azacitidine in the treatment of higher-risk MDS with The ASCO Post. David A. Sallman, MD, Assistant Member in the Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffit Cancer Center, Tampa, provided...
For the treatment of high-risk, treatment-naive myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the regimen of venetoclax plus azacitidine led to high response rates, durable responses, and encouraging overall survival, in a phase Ib study reported at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting...
Prithviraj Bose, MD, Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, shared his thoughts on MANIFEST-2 and TRANSFORM-1 with The ASCO Post. While both were international phase III trials that showed similar benefits with two different...
The ASCO Post obtained comments on the Smart Stop study from Dipenkumar Modi, MD, a medical oncologist and hematologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit. Dr. Modi applauded the investigators for...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will award Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, Fellow of the AACR Academy, with the 2024 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research during the AACR Annual Meeting, to be held April 5–10 in San Diego. His award lecture will be presented on...
Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, and Dan Vogl, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, shared their thoughts on the PERSEUS trial for The ASCO Post. Dr. Nooka noted that ...
Michael Crump, MD, of the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, expressed some concerns about the study presented by Shadman et al in patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). “These data should be interpreted with caution. The patient...
Peter Voorhees, MD, a multiple myeloma specialist at Levine Cancer Institute and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Durham, North Carolina, introduced the plenary presentation of the phase III IsKia trial by Gay et al and further commented on the study for The ASCO...
Thoughts on the study by Othman et al were provided by William G. Blum, MD, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and Director of the Acute Leukemia Program at Winship Cancer Institute, and Mikkael Sekeres, MD, MS, Professor of...
The addition of the CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab to a standard regimen for patients with newly diagnosed transplant-eligible multiple myeloma significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs standard treatment in the phase III PERSEUS trial. The study was reported as a late-breaking...
A novel immunotherapy based on STAb T cells may be more effective at treating multiple myeloma than chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, according to a recent study published by Díez-Alonso et al in Science Translational Medicine. Background Multiple myeloma is the second most common...
Among Black patients with prostate cancer, racial representation may be a key factor affecting their trust in websites offering information on the disease, according to a recent study published by Loeb et al in The Journal of Urology. Background Black men may have higher rates of prostate cancer...
A novel three-drug combination achieved notable responses in patients with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer, according to new research published by Roussos Torres et al in Nature Cancer. The regimen included a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor combined with two types of checkpoint...
Research shows that about half of adults near the end of life in the United States are too ill to participate in decisions about whether to accept life-prolonging treatment,1 requiring family members and other proxies to serve as surrogate decision-makers for their critically ill loved ones....
The combination of the anti–PD-L1 antibody durvalumab and the ATR kinase inhibitor ceralasertib may help overcome inherent immune resistance and reinvigorate antitumor activity in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent study published by Besse et al in...
Patients with soft-tissue sarcoma treated with neoadjuvant immunotherapy had very little residual tumor at the time of surgery and promising long-term survival, according to phase II trial results published by Roland et al in Nature Cancer. Background About 13,000 new cases of soft-tissue...
On February 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved irinotecan liposome (Onivyde) with oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin for the first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. NAPOLI-3 Efficacy was evaluated in NAPOLI-3 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier...
Plant-based diets may be linked to a lower risk of erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and other common side effects experienced by patients receiving treatment for prostate cancer, according to a new study published by Loeb et al in Cancer. The findings indicated that nutrition may lead to ...
Sleep apnea may be prevalent among patients who are at higher risk of developing congestive heart failure from cancer therapy, according to new findings presented by Das et al at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Advancing the Cardiovascular Care of the Oncology Patient course. Background...
Physical activity may help lessen the intensity of pain in cancer survivors, according to a recent study published by Swain et al in Cancer. Background Current U.S. guidelines regarding physical activity recommend that individuals receive 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week,...
Low-dose positron-emission mammography (PEM) may provide high sensitivity for detecting breast cancer and significantly reduce the likelihood of false-positive results, according to a recent study published by Freitas et al in Radiology: Imaging Cancer. The innovative breast imaging technique may...
Elevated N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels may be associated with a higher risk of mortality among cancer survivors, according to a recent study published by Cao et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. NT-proBNP—produced in response to the stretching of...
Researchers may have uncovered the factors contributing to hormone therapy resistance in some patients with advanced estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer, according to a recent study published by Kingston et al in Cancer Discovery. The findings may indicate drugs currently in development...
Men with high-risk localized prostate cancer had a significant survival benefit when treated with a more intensified regimen of dose-escalated radiation therapy plus long-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) vs standard radiation therapy plus ADT, according to long-term follow-up from the...
The novel COLOXIS machine learning model may accurately predict which patients with colon cancer are most likely to derive benefit from oxaliplatin, according to a recent study published by Chen et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The findings could ultimately allow physicians to better...
Researchers have discovered that the ephrin B2 protein may drive the growth and development of multiple myeloma and uncovered that blocking part of the protein’s unique signaling pathway may inhibit progression of the disease, according to a recent study published by Sasine et al in Cancer...
In September 2023, ASCO announced the establishment of its fourth regional council, the Central and Eastern European Regional Council, which includes representatives from 17 countries, with the goal of expanding ASCO’s mission globally to “conquer cancer through research, education, and promotion...
Positive results were reported for belantamab mafodotin-blmf plus bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to data from the phase III DREAMM-7 study presented at the ASCO Plenary Series: February 2024 Session (Abstract 439572). DREAMM-7...
The combination of fruquintinib and paclitaxel is a potential new second-line treatment for patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer, according to data presented during the ASCO Plenary Series: February 2024 Session (Abstract 438780). Results of the phase III FRUTIGA...
Investigators may have found a significant unmet need for improved analyses and reporting of patient-reported outcomes in genitourinary cancer clinical trials, according to a recent study published by Paravathaneni et al in eClinicalMedicine. Background Genitourinary cancers affect over 444,000...
Investigators have uncovered high rates of reoperation following initial breast-conserving surgery in patients with breast cancer that may contribute to increased costs of cancer care and a higher risk of postoperative complications, according to a recent study published by Kim et al in the Annals...
Andrea B. Apolo, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, discusses the results of the AMBASSADOR Alliance A031501 study, which showed adjuvant pembrolizumab improved disease-free survival vs observation for patients with high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma...
Rohit K. Jain, MD, MPH, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses a novel phase II trial of pembrolizumab plus cabozantinib. The study showed this combination may be efficacious as first-line therapy for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma, including those who...
Over the past 2 years, my family and I have experienced firsthand the challenges of cancer. In the spring of 2021, my mother was diagnosed with stage IIB pancreatic cancer. She died in mid-2023 after developing metastatic disease, including peritoneal carcinomatosis. The experience has caused me to ...
Combination therapy with two or more antihypertensive drugs may reduce blood pressure in patients receiving ibrutinib, according to a recent study published by Samples et al in Blood Advances. Background Ibrutinib was the first Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor to receive U.S. Food and Drug...
Researchers have identified a next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) degrader that could help patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and related hematologic malignancies overcome treatment resistance, according to a recent study published by Montoya et al in Science. The findings...
Bishoy M. Faltas, MD, of Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses the biology of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and how it affects treatment, noting that most of these tumors are luminal papillary with a T-cell–depleted immune contexture driven by FGFR3 activation. Phase III trials have confirmed the...
Thomas Powles, MD, of Barts Cancer Institute, Cancer Research UK Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, and Queen Mary University of London, discusses overall survival results from the phase III KEYNOTE-564 study of adjuvant pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma...
Andrew Johns, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses efficacy, safety, and tolerability data on tivozanib. The agent yielded a modest clinical benefit in a minority of patients with advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma who received prior immune checkpoint–based...
David H. Aggen, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses reportedly the first data to describe an inverse correlation between HER2 immunohistochemistry expression and PD-L1 combined positive score. According to Dr. Aggen, these and other findings by his team may provide a...
Enrique Grande, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center Madrid, discusses findings from the CABATEN/GETNE-T1914 study, in which cabozantinib plus atezolizumab showed modest activity in patients with locally advanced or metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare malignancy with a poor prognosis and...
Michiel S. Van Der Heijden, MD, PhD, of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses phase III results from the global EV-302 study, showing that enfortumab vedotin-ejfv plus pembrolizumab improves outcomes in patients with previously untreated locally advanced metastatic urothelial carcinoma...
It has been almost 20 years since the approval of trastuzumab for the treatment of early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer. I remember returning from the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting excited to offer patients a treatment that led to significant improvement in clinical outcomes. However, within a short ...
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has released updated findings of the current global burden of cancer alongside World Cancer Day on February 4, 2023. The WHO indicated that a majority of countries do not adequately finance...
Investigators have found that the targeted therapy osimertinib may be associated with improved progression-free survival when administered after chemotherapy and radiation in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, according to a...
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of City of Hope, discusses the ways in which the composition of the gut microbiome may impact the outcome of immune therapy. Methods such as fecal microbiome transplant hold promise as a means of augmenting the effect of treatment and, according to Dr. Pal, potentially...
Saby George, MD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety results from CheckMate 67T, a phase III trial comparing the use of subcutaneous vs intravenous nivolumab in patients with advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma who have...
Umang Swami, MD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, describes the molecular and immunologic mechanisms of metastatic tropism in advanced prostate cancer, data that may facilitate future drug development. In patients with metastatic disease, specific sites are associated with...
Syed Muneeb Alam, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses study findings evaluating links among microsatellite instability status, tumor mutational burden, and response to immune checkpoint blockade in patients with microsatellite instability–high urothelial carcinoma (Abstract...
In January 2021, two of us wrote in these pages about our field’s pressing need to pivot away from identifying and deploying the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) when it comes to targeted oncology therapies.1 We argued that, instead, one should be looking for the “optimal dose”—the dose that best...