Updated in 2016, the ASCO clinical practice guideline on the integration of palliative care into standard oncology care provides evidence-based recommendations to oncology clinicians, patients, family and friend caregivers, and palliative care specialists about providing high-quality care for...
“We are in the midst of a steep increase” in the incidence of breast cancer among women aged 65 years and older, Arti Hurria, MD, reported at the 19th Annual Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium, Chicago.1 “Are we prepared as a health-care system and as providers to address this burgeoning need?” she...
In patients with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, the combination of targeted agents and hormone therapy is associated with a significantly increased risk of severe adverse events, according to research presented by Matteo Lambertini, MD, European Society for Medical Oncology...
Neurotoxicity in advanced breast cancer is not limited to chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, according to Matti Aapro, MD, of IMO Clinique de Genolier, Switzerland. Surgery, radiation therapy, and medical therapy can all have detrimental effects on either the central or peripheral nervous ...
The PACIFIC study showed that the addition of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) following chemoradiotherapy for patients with unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) dramatically improved progression-free survival compared with placebo....
With the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell products, this novel approach seems to be moving into the mainstream. The approvals were tisagenlecleucel (also known as CTL019; Kymriah) for the treatment of pediatric B-cell acute...
Over the past 15 years, multiple myeloma has garnered among the highest number of regulatory approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the management of all phases of the disease. This fast-expanding repertoire of treatment options has pushed the median survival of multiple...
Adding the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor ribociclib (Kisqali) to standard endocrine therapy with temporary ovarian suppression significantly improved progression-free survival for pre- and perimenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor–positive (HR-positive), HER2-negative...
A combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) tested in patients with trastuzumab-resistant advanced HER2-positive breast cancer was well tolerated and had clinical benefit in patients whose tumors were positive for a biomarker for pembrolizumab, according to data presented...
In a webcast press briefing prior to the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, journalists got a peek at some of the most anticipated abstracts. ASH President Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Director of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Charles A. Schiffer, MD, of Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on platelet transfusions in patients with cancer. The updated guideline replaces ...
Increasing the dose intensity of chemotherapy—by either shortening the intervals between the cycles or by sequential administration instead of concurrent administration of the drugs—reduced the risk of early-stage breast cancer recurrence and death compared with standard chemotherapy...
Adding trastuzumab (Herceptin) to standard adjuvant chemotherapy did not improve invasive disease–free survival for patients with early-stage breast cancer found to have low levels of HER2, defined as immunohistochemistry (IHC) 1–positive or IHC 2-positive and/or in situ hybridization...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Javle et al found that the oral pan-fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) kinase inhibitor BGJ398 was active in FGFR-altered advanced cholangiocarcinoma. It is estimated that FGFR2 fusions/translocations are present in 13% to 17%...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Wick et al found that adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to lomustine at first disease progression did not improve overall survival in patients with progressive glioblastoma. Study Details In the trial, 437 patients with disease...
The phase III KRISTINE trial has shown that neoadjuvant therapy with docetaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab (Herceptin) plus pertuzumab (Perjeta) resulted in a higher pathologic complete response rate vs ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) plus pertuzumab, as well as a higher incidence of severe...
A new study suggests that an American Cancer Society (ACS) program has been effective in promoting improvements in colorectal cancer screening rates in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). The study data, published by Riehman et al in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, shows the...
In a phase II study reported in Blood Advances, Green et al found that tandem autologous/allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) followed by bortezomib (Velcade) maintenance produced good results in patients with newly diagnosed high-risk multiple myeloma. Poorer outcomes were observed...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Herbst et al, the phase III SWOG S0819 trial showed no overall benefit of adding cetuximab (Erbitux) to carboplatin/paclitaxel both with and without bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with previously untreated stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A ...
The phase III SOLE trial has shown no disease-free survival benefit with extended intermittent vs continuous adjuvant letrozole in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. These findings were reported by Colleoni et al in The Lancet Oncology. As noted by the investigators, the findings suggest an...
In a longitudinal cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fenton et al found that discussion of cancer prognosis between oncologists and patients did not worsen patient judgment of the quality of the patient-physician relationship. Study Details The study involved 265 adult...
An analysis in the Dutch Chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal Cancer Followed by Surgery Study (CROSS) reported by Noordman et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showed no adverse effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs surgery alone on postsurgery health-related quality of life in patients with ...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Soria et al, the phase III FLAURA trial has shown a significant progression-free survival benefit with the third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) osimertinib (Tagrisso) vs standard EGFR TKIs in...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Doi et al, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed activity in patients with previously treated advanced esophageal carcinoma in the phase Ib multicohort KEYNOTE-028 study. Study Details In the study, eligible patients with squamous cell carcinoma or...
The Lung Cancer Awareness Month Coalition (LCAMC), a group of more than 20 research and advocacy organizations from around the world focused on thoracic cancers, announced the launch of the 2017 Lung Cancer Awareness Month in early November with a panel event at the National Press Club in...
The phase III E1505 trial has shown no benefit of adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to adjuvant therapy in early-stage resected non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These results were reported by Wakelee et al in The Lancet Oncology. Study Details In the open-label trial, 1,501 patients from...
A phase III trial (SOLO2/ENGOT-Ov21) has shown improved progression-free survival with an olaparib tablet formulation vs placebo as maintenance therapy in patients with BRCA1/2-mutant platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer. These study results were reported by Eric Pujade-Lauraine, MD, of the...
In a health-related quality-of-life study among patients in the phase III TOAD trial, immediate vs delayed androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) was associated with early worsening of androgen-deprivation therapy–related symptoms but few other comparative adverse effects on functioning or quality of...
In a single-center analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Hiten D. Patel, MD, MPH, of The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and colleagues found that among men undergoing elective radical prostatectomy, those with low-volume intermediate-risk...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Wyatt et al found high agreement between driver mutations in plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and metastatic tissue biopsy in castration-resistant prostate cancer. Martin Gleave, MD, and Alexander Wyatt, DPhil, of Vancouver...
THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) approved a number of novel drugs and new indications in November 2017. Several of them are listed here. Fulvestrant/Abemaciclib Combination in Breast Cancer ON NOVEMBER 15 , the FDA approved fulvestrant (Faslodex) in combination with abemaciclib...
ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2017, nivolumab (Opdivo) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients previously treated with sorafenib (Nexavar).1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data APPROVAL WAS based on findings in a 154-patient subgroup of the CheckMate 040 trial consisting...
MORE THAN A QUARTER of patients with recurrent high-grade glioma treated with the retroviral vector Toca 511 and the prodrug of the chemotherapy fluorouracil (5-FU), Toca FC, were alive more than 3 years after treatment, according to data from a subset of patients in a phase I clinical trial, Toca ...
“WE’VE GOT A CHALLENGING TIME right now, trying to relieve pain during the time of an opioid epidemic,” Judith A. Paice, RN, PhD, acknowledged at the 2017 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium in Chicago.1 She cited a recent study reporting that up to 40% of cancer survivors are living with pain, and...
HERE IS A BRIEF LOOK at the study findings and clinical implications of several recent and important clinical trials in neoplastic hematology. Attention is focused on clonal myeloid disorders, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, lymphoma, and plasma cell dyscrasias. Clonal Myeloid Disorders STUDY:...
African Americans and members of other communities of lower socioeconomic status have higher burdens of lung cancer mortality. Therefore, targeting underserved patient populations with lung cancer screening is of the utmost importance, according to Christopher Lathan, MD, MS, MPH, a medical...
Even with equivalent access to care, black patients with breast cancer may fare worse than white patients with breast cancer, according to Lawrence H. Kushi, ScD, Director of Scientific Policy at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research in Oakland. “Accounting for...
A deeper understanding of biology has allowed significant advances in the treatment of breast cancer. In the early-stage setting, standard pathology measures can help identify which subset of patients with hormone receptor–positive breast cancers are more likely to experience benefit from...
As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Losk and colleagues from Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center report their institution’s implementation of a protocol of surgeon-initiated genomic profiling of estrogen receptor–positive tumors in women with early breast cancer that resulted in ...
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Katya Losk, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues found that an intervention including surgeon initiation of gene-expression profile testing with Oncotype DX significantly reduced the time to testing, receipt of...
A matched case-controlled study among Medicare beneficiaries with metastatic lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers has found that palliative care consultation significantly reduced total health-care costs following intervention. According to data presented at the 2017 Palliative and...
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Medical School in Ann Arbor recently received a $1,167,943 5-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to launch the Integrative Oncology Scholars Program. The goal of the program is to teach oncology health-care providers how to evaluate the scientific evidence of...
A new study has shed light on how palliative care interventions may improve patient outcomes. According to data presented at the 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium,1 patients with incurable cancer who received early integrated palliative care had an increased use of active...
For 50 years, clinicians in the United States have had a legal duty to disclose to patients with cancer the risks, benefits, and alternatives to a proposed cancer treatment. Until recently, however, it has been unclear whether clinicians have a similar duty to discuss the costs of that treatment....
Nicaragua, situated between Costa Rica and Honduras, is the poorest country in Central America. Following the U.S. occupation in 1912, the Somoza family began a brutal political dynasty that would end in 1979 during the bloody Nicaraguan Revolution. Marcela G. del Carmen, MD, MPH, Chief Medical...
Addressing the need to integrate palliative and supportive care practices into medical specialties to ensure optimal patient-centered care across the cancer continuum and the evidence-based remedies to accomplish that goal were the focus of the nearly 300 study abstracts presented at the 2017...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Sheila N. Garland, PhD, R Psych, and Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, present...
On September 22, 2017, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of recurrent locally advanced or metastatic, gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma with tumors expressing programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug...
Seattle Children’s has opened the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy trial in the U.S. for children and young adults with relapsed or refractory CD19- and CD22-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that will simultaneously attack two targets on cancer cells. With ...
CHILDREN WITH relapsed or refractory malignant rhabdoid tumors, epithelioid sarcomas, or poorly differentiated chordomas with a particular genetic defect were treated with the investigational drug tazemetostat and appeared to tolerate treatment well. Some patients had objective and durable...