The invited discussant of EMPOWER-Cervical 1 was Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, Chief Oncologist at Copenhagen University Hospital and Chairman of the European Network of Gynaecological Oncology Trials group (ENGOT). Dr. Mirza called the findings “amazing” and predicted they will “usher in a new era” in...
The PD-L1 inhibitor cemiplimab-rwlc has become the first immunotherapy to yield a statistically significant and clinically meaningful survival benefit in recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer progressing after first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients were enrolled irrespective of...
In the phase II ATEMPT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that adjuvant trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) resulted in “excellent” invasive disease–free survival but did not reduce clinically relevant toxicity compared with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Karyn A. Goodman, MD, and colleagues, mature results of the phase II CALGB 80803/Alliance trial indicated that treatment guided by early positron-emission tomography (PET) assessment of response to induction neoadjuvant chemotherapy improved...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Erickson et al found that real-world use of targeted therapy after diagnosis of intracranial metastatic disease was associated with improved overall survival vs no use of targeted therapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer,...
The combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax was found to provide lasting disease remission in patients with newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Findings from a single-institution phase II study were published by Nitin Jain, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology and provide the longest ...
We’re continuing our coverage of Plenary presentations from the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, including research on adjuvant pembrolizumab for patients with renal cell carcinoma; novel treatment options for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; and adjuvant chemotherapy given after standard...
In an analysis from the phase III IMbrave150 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Peter R. Galle, MD, and colleagues found that patients receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab had better patient-reported outcomes vs those receiving sorafenib for advanced unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular ...
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) and the Dutch Hodgkin Late Effects and LATER cohorts reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Moskowitz et al developed a model for predicting the risk of breast cancer among childhood cancer survivors treated with chest...
In an analysis from the global eNRGy1 registry for NRG1 fusion–positive lung cancers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alexander Drilon, MD, and colleagues found greater than expected heterogeneity in characteristics of disease. Additionally, patients had poor responses to cytotoxic,...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ranganathan et al quantified the enormous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on delivery of cancer services in India. Study Details The study involved data from 41 cancer centers across the nation. The delivery of oncology services between March 1 and May...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Matthew J. Matasar, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III CHRONOS-3 trial has shown that the addition of the pan-class I PI3K inhibitor copanlisib to rituximab significantly improved progression-free survival vs rituximab ...
The Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) injection—a radiopharmaceutical agent specifically designed for targeted lymphatic mapping and guiding sentinel lymph node biopsies—has been approved for pediatric use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "This new indication opens the door...
By now, most health-care workers have been vaccinated against COVID-19.* Physical immunity would appear to last for at least 6 months and probably longer. The physical pandemic for most oncologists is declining, with an end in sight. We are protected from the serious physical consequences of...
ASCO submitted comments to a House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing titled “Charting the Path Forward for Telehealth.” The comments convey ASCO’s views on how telehealth can better serve individuals with cancer and the oncology professionals who care for them. During the COVID-19...
ASCO has presented Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) with the annual Congressional Champion for Cancer Care Award in recognition of their ongoing commitment to legislation that improves the environment for cancer research, oncology practice, and the quality of care for patients....
In order to understand and eliminate disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes among transgender people, clinicians and researchers must have data. However, these data are very difficult to obtain because gender identity data are not routinely collected in oncology practice health records. A new ...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) recently announced that Larry Norton, MD, Senior Vice President, Office of the President; and Medical Director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, has been elected to the American Academy of the Arts & Sciences, an honorary society that recognizes ...
In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of mesothelioma have been a keen area of investigation for this immunogenic solid tumor. With recent publications, principally findings from CheckMate 743 by Baas et al1 (reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post), combination immune...
As reported in The Lancet by Paul Baas, MD, of The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, and colleagues, a prespecified interim analysis in the phase III CheckMate 743 trial has shown improved overall survival with first-line nivolumab/ipilimumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy in unresectable...
In a letter recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Rousseau and colleagues reported data on the spectrum of benefit from immune checkpoint blockade in hypermutated tumors.1 Indeed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) presented Carol L. Prives, PhD, FAACR, with the 2021 AACR–G.H.A. Clowes Award for Outstanding Basic Cancer Research during the virtual AACR Annual Meeting 2021. Dr. Prives, the Da Costa Professor of Biology in the Department of Biological Sciences ...
In a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Benoit Rousseau, MD, PhD, and Michael B. Foote, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and colleagues presented evidence that a high tumor mutational burden (TMB) threshold of 10 alone may not be sufficient to predict...
Although once again, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) 2021 Annual Conference could not take place on site in Orlando, researchers presented their work virtually in the form of almost 100 posters. The ASCO Post has summarized some that we found particularly interesting. Many...
The Brooklyn Cancer Center has named hematologist-oncologist Maxim Shulimovich, DO, as its new Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology. His recruitment promises to lead the cancer center as a unified division to provide expert care and culturally sensitive services for patients with all types of...
Following a national search, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has promoted Pawel Kalinski, MD, PhD, to Jacobs Family Endowed Chair of Immunology, Chief of the Division of Translational Immuno-Oncology, and Senior Vice President for Team Science. On staff at Roswell Park since 2017, Dr....
Discussant of the abstract on this novel algorithm, Thomas Herzog, MD, Deputy Director of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UC College of Medicine, called the use of risk-based factors in complex ovarian cancer surgery to successfully...
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance has announced the winners of the 2021 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research, awarded annually to cancer research scientists and physician-scientists based in the greater New York City area. The prize, totaling $3.6...
The Children’s Cancer Cause is now accepting applications for its 2021 Survivorship Champion’s Prize. The annual award was established in 2020 to recognize a group, program, or institution making significant advances in programs and services to provide lifelong health maintenance for survivors of...
In May 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) announced that it was updating its recommendation for when individuals at average risk of colorectal cancer should begin screening. Echoing the recommendation from the American Cancer Society in 2018, the USPSTF now recommends that those ...
A simple, risk-assessment algorithm may change practice when it comes to selecting patients with advanced ovarian who can tolerate complex primary debulking surgery, according to data presented during the virtual edition of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2021 Annual Meeting on Women’s...
In a phase II study (innovaTV 204/GOG-3023/ENGOT-cx6) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Robert L. Coleman, MD, and colleagues found that the antibody-drug conjugate tisotumab vedotin produced durable responses in previously treated patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer. In the...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Xing Lv, MD, and colleagues found noninferior progression-free survival with induction therapy with the third-generation platinum lobaplatin/fluorouracil (5-FU) vs cisplatin/5-FU, followed by lobaplatin- vs cisplatin-based...
COVID-19 pandemic–related disruptions in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and research have varied worldwide and so have the responses to those disruptions. During the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) 2021 International Conference on Surgical Cancer Care, members of the Global Forum of Cancer...
A minor car accident I had with my mother when I was 17 probably saved my life. We were taken to the hospital for a routine checkup, and a subsequent chest x-ray found multiple nodules on my lungs. I underwent dozens of other imaging and blood tests, and finally, my pediatrician suggested my...
Clinical trial data show that adjuvant imatinib improves recurrence-free survival as well as overall survival, when administered for at least 3 years, among patients who undergo a macroscopically complete resection of a primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), Chandrajit P. Raut, MD, MSc,...
The members of the oncology community who spend time and energy addressing the growing global cancer burden in low- and middle-income countries have a kind of selfless dedication beyond the scope of the profession itself. One such medical oncologist was Gouri Shankar Bhattacharyya, MD, FRCP, a...
Jennifer Barsky Reese, PhD, Associate Professor for the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, was recently recognized with the New Investigator Award from the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS). “I am extremely honored to get this award. This is a testament...
“I want to make very clear that radiation is not the enemy,” Monika Metzger, MD, MSc, emphasized in discussing a study she led on the integration of brentuximab vedotin into the front-line treatment of pediatric patients with high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma. The study yielded excellent results while...
Integrating the antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin into the front-line treatment of pediatric patients with high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma “facilitated significant reduction in radiation exposure and yielded excellent outcomes,” Monika Metzger, MD, MSc, Director for the Central and South...
The CheckMate 577 trial—reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Kelly et al1 and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—is the first global randomized controlled trial for patients with resectable esophageal cancer that showed a significant disease-free survival benefit for adjuvant...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Ronan J. Kelly, MB BCh, MBA, of The Charles A. -Sammons Cancer Center at Baylor University Medical Center, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CheckMate 577 trial has shown a significant improvement in disease-free survival...
The pace of clinical research in metastatic renal cell carcinoma is faster than ever. Over the past 5 years, we have seen data from six phase III clinical trials evaluating combination strategies with checkpoint inhibitors. The era began with data from CheckMate 214, evaluating nivolumab with...
Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS) has named Gustavo “Gus” Fonseca, MD, FACP, as Medical Director of the Clinical Research Program. Dr. Fonseca will provide clinical leadership and oversight of the statewide practice’s extensive involvement in conducting phase I through IV...
Atezolizumab given after chemotherapy to patients with resected stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) significantly improved disease-free survival compared with best supportive care alone in patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1.1 These results of the global phase III IMpower010 trial ...
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James) has recruited Marcos J. de Lima, MD, to lead its Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy programs, two key leadership positions within central...
Tampa General hospital recently announced the appointment of Eduardo M. Sotomayor, MD, as Director of its newly established Cancer Institute. A pioneer in the field of cancer immunology and immunotherapy and an expert in lymphoma research and treatment, Dr. Sotomayor will lead a team of Tampa...
The Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology (JADPRO) is presenting JADPRO Live 2021, which will bring together more than 1,000 oncology advanced practitioners—nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and advanced degree nurses—in a virtual setting from October 7 to 17, 2021. ...
A change in presidential administrations has implications across the health sector, including for oncology. In this column, we review some recent actions by Congress and the Biden administration and their implications for the oncology community. We focus on three areas: funding for patients and...
In a virtual visit to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on February 3, 2021, just 2 weeks after her husband, Joe Biden, was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, First Lady Jill Biden, EdD, recounted that, in her many years of travel across the United States, she learned that...