This week, we'll discuss the findings of a study that examined the prevalence of KRAS G12C mutations across different populations. Then, we'll hear recent news about FDA oncology drug approvals in the month of January.
Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, tobacco use remains a serious public health threat. In addition to tobacco-related death and disease, smoking also increases the risk of the most severe impacts of COVID-19. The American Lung Association has released its 19th annual “State of Tobacco Control”...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Quénet et al, the French phase III PRODIGE 7 trial has shown that the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to cytoreductive surgery did not improve overall survival—and was associated with an increase in postoperative late...
Press conference moderator Virginia Kaklamani, MD, of UT Health San Antonio, and Leader of the Breast Cancer Program, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, weighed in on this study. “This study compared patients’ reports with physicians’ reports about the severity of symptoms. It is a...
Physicians may commonly underrecognize radiation-associated symptoms and their severity compared with self-reports of patients with breast cancer, according to a large study comparing patient-reported outcomes with physician assessments of four common radiation-associated symptoms: pain, pruritus, ...
A study led by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that shortening a traditional 45-day course of radiation to a 5-day course delivered in larger doses was safe and as effective as conventional radiation for men with high-risk...
A nationwide panel of experts has developed the first mammography guidelines for older survivors of breast cancer, providing a framework for discussions between survivors and their physicians on screening in survivors’ later years. The guidelines, published today by Rachel A. Freedman, MD, MPH, and ...
To mark World Cancer Day on February 4, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) will give voice to and say thank you to the nurses, doctors, researchers, volunteers, advocates, and other caregivers in oncology from around the world, as well as government agencies, who have worked through...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Luis Paz-Ares, MD, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 9LA trial has shown improved overall survival with first-line nivolumab/ipilimumab plus two cycles of chemotherapy vs four cycles of chemotherapy alone in patients with stage IV or recurrent non–small...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Weiser et al have developed a "third-generation" clinical calculator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), which incorporates molecular and clinicopathologic characteristics and provides an accurate prediction of disease recurrence...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Priority Review to nivolumab as either adjuvant or first-line therapy in several types of gastric cancers, as well as to a novel PD-1 inhibitor for locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal. The FDA also...
Marco Ruella, MD, of Perelman School of Medicine and Scientific Director of the Lymphoma Program, University of Pennsylvania, commented on this study on CD58 aberrations: “This is a very important study because it describes a possible new mechanism for relapse after CAR-T19 immunotherapy in...
Engineering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to overcome CD58 loss may be a way to boost responses in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who do not respond to treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel and other CAR T-cell therapies, according to an experimental study presented...
A study published by Wang et al in JTO Clinical and Research Reports compared surgeries performed at one Chinese hospital in 2019 with a similar date range during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers found that routine thoracic surgery and invasive examinations were performed safely during the...
A modeling study of global demand for cancer surgery and estimated surgical and anesthesia workforce requirements between 2018 and 2040 showed a predicted increase, which could especially impact low-income countries. These findings were published by Perera et al in The Lancet Oncology. Study...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Erica L. Mayer, MD, and colleagues, the second interim analysis of the phase III PALLAS trial showed no improvement in invasive disease–free survival with the addition of adjuvant palbociclib to ongoing endocrine therapy in patients with hormone receptor...
Patients with inactive cancer who are not currently undergoing treatment also face a significantly higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, according to a new study published by Sun et al in JNCI Cancer Spectrum. The findings underscore the importance of COVID-19 mitigation, like social...
Researchers have developed the first comprehensive framework to classify small cell lung cancer (SCLC) into four unique subtypes based on gene expression and have identified potential therapeutic targets for each type. These findings were published by Gay et al in Cancer Cell. SCLC is known for...
In a U.S. population-based, case-control study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Hu et al identified the prevalence of and risk associated with germline pathogenic variants in established and candidate breast cancer predisposition genes. Study Details The study involved 32,247 women...
BOOKMARK Title: Milkshakes and Morphine: A Memoir of Love and LifeAuthor: Genevieve FoxPublisher: VintagePublication date: January 2019Price: $15.95, paperback, 384 pages “It doesn’t hurt, but I know it is there and I know it shouldn’t be. Interloper. I have touched it a couple of times already,...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has announced the publication of new, free informational resources on health and wellness for cancer survivors. These two new NCCN Guidelines for Patients® are focused on healthy living and managing late and long-term side effects, and they include...
Sometimes there just is no escaping cancer. I thought I had done everything right. I was diligent about adhering to my annual physical exams, including mammograms, and routinely performed breast self-exams to spot any early changes in my breasts. Still, in the summer of 2015, I was diagnosed with...
The first independent, community oncology practice recently joined the Mayo Clinic Care Network. Minnesota Oncology comprises a group of carefully vetted, independent health-care providers with special access to the Mayo Clinic’s knowledge and expertise, including its research, diagnostic, and...
Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center has announced that Kenneth H. Kim, MD, will direct its Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Dr. Kim also serves as Chair of the institution’s Committee for Oversight of Training and Education. The appointment reflects Dr. Kim’s breadth of experience, which involves novel...
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah has been awarded a 5-year, $3 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve Utah’s colorectal cancer screening rates. The program will build on an ongoing partnership between HCI’s Center for Health...
Two recent studies found significant survival benefits for patients older than 70 years with surgically treated nonmetastatic triple-negative breast cancer who also received chemotherapy.1,2 The authors of both studies concluded that the findings support the consideration of chemotherapy for older...
Women older than age 70 diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer had significantly improved overall survival if they received adjuvant and/or neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to an analysis of data from more than 16,000 women enrolled in the National Cancer Database. The estimated 5-year...
In a National Cancer Database analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jennifer A. Crozier, MD, of the Division of Cancer Medicine, Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Jacksonville, and colleagues found that receipt of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with improved overall...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Thierry André, MD, of Sorbonne Université and Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, and colleagues, the prospective pooled analysis of six phase III trials in the IDEA collaboration has shown that noninferiority in overall survival for 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Laura M. Fernandez, MD, of Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, and colleagues found high rates of conditional recurrence-free survival during watch-and-wait surveillance among patients with rectal cancer who maintained a clinical complete response to...
Commentary for monarchE and PENELOPE-B was provided by C. Kent Osborne, MD, and Ruth M. O’Regan, MD, respectively. Dr. Osborne is Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Oncology and the Dudley and Tina Sharp Chair for Cancer Research at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as Founding Director of...
The primary outcome analysis of the phase III monarchE trial, an update of previous data, continued to show significant benefit for abemaciclib in the adjuvant setting, reducing the risk for invasive disease recurrence by 28.7%. Meanwhile, the first results of the phase III PENELOPE-B trial of...
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey has named Christian Hinrichs, MD, as Chief of the Section of Cancer Immunotherapy and Co-Director of the Cancer Immunology and Metabolism Center of Excellence, along with Eileen White, PhD, Deputy Director and Chief Scientific Officer at Rutgers Cancer...
The ASCO Post is pleased to introduce this department on Global Health-Care Equity. On an occasional basis, we will publish interviews between Guest Editor, Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, and another oncologist or cancer care specialist spanning regions around the world. Our goal is to...
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) recently appointed Kristin Ferguson, DNP, RN, OCN, as Senior Director, Cancer Care Delivery and Health Policy. Dr. Ferguson will lead the organization’s initiatives to improve cancer care delivery across rural, urban, and underresourced settings,...
The studies of ALLO-715 “off-the-shelf” CAR T-cell therapy and bb21217 impressed two experts in the field. Sagar Lonial, MD, the Anne and Bernard Gray Family Chair in Cancer, Chair and Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and Adam D. Cohen, MD, ...
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and partners in the United States and India are applying the investigative and predictive capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to help physicians customize treatments for patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas. Research shows that oral...
In the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies with unique characteristics, still targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), are looking promising. At the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition,...
Five Innovation Discovery Grants (IDG) have been awarded to faculty from Mass General Brigham for scientific advancements, as the highly competitive IDG program exceeds $3.5 million in grants since inception. Each of the five potential patient health and health-care delivery breakthroughs for 2020...
Russ Kridel, MD, Chair of the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees, recently released the following statement on December 17, 2020: The American Medical Association strongly supports the nominations of Xavier Becerra, JD, to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)...
Commenting on this trial, Marlise Luskin, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, explained that the treatment of AML in older adults remains a particular challenge for leukemia clinicians. “Although many older patients eligible for intensive induction chemotherapy achieve complete remission,...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Shaji K. Kumar, MD, of the Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and colleagues, the phase III BELLINI trial has shown that the addition of venetoclax to bortezomib/dexamethasone significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with...
Health-related quality of life was sustained in patients taking oral azacitidine (also known as CC-486) compared with placebo in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to results of the phase III QUAZAR AML-001 trial reported at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual...
In a national address delivered on January 12, 2021, American Medical Association (AMA) President Susan R. Bailey, MD, outlined immediate action necessary for a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The address, titled “COVID-19: The Long Road to Recovery,” focused...
IFM 2009 showed that autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) combined with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (RVd) results in a significantly better progression-free survival than RVd alone in newly diagnosed patients with myeloma.1 “The data favor immediate ASCT, as transplant resulted in ...
City of Hope, an independent cancer and diabetes research and treatment center, has welcomed Angela L. Talton, MBA, to its executive leadership team as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. Ms. Talton will provide leadership for City of Hope’s efforts to build a...
The benefit of autologous transplantation in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma has been confirmed by follow-up of the IFM 2009 trial, reported at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition by Aurore Perrot, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Hematology at the Cancer...
Yuan Yuan, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at City of Hope, Duarte, California, commented on the IPATunity130 trial. “Targeting the PIK3CA/AKT/mTOR cancer driver pathway is the holy grail for breast cancer in general. About 30% to 40% of breast cancers carry an alteration. Activation of this pathway ...
The combination of ipatasertib plus paclitaxel failed to improve progression-free survival in PIK3CA/AKT1/PTEN-altered locally advanced, unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, according to results from cohort A of the phase III IPATunity130 trial, presented at the 2020 San...
Yuan Yuan, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at City of Hope, Duarte, California, said that this was yet another failed phase III trial following promising phase II data. “Entinostat was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration several years back based on preclinical and...