Once dismissed as rare medical miracles that overcame overwhelming odds to thwart cancer, exceptional responders to cancer treatment are now the subject of intense study. In 2015, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced the launch of its Exceptional Responders Initiative, with the goal of...
Although programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade is highly effective in Hodgkin lymphoma, not all patients respond, and not all responses are durable. Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD, Chair of the Mayo Clinic Lymphoma Group and Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, described...
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) technology platform that could potentially change the way drug combinations are being designed, hence enabling doctors to determine the most effective drug...
In a study using National Cancer Database data reported in JAMA Oncology, Wang et al found that definitive pelvic radiation therapy plus chemotherapy was associated with improved survival vs chemotherapy alone in newly diagnosed metastatic cervical cancer. The study included data from 3,169...
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Walker et al found that institution of a peer-review process resulted in shorter fractionation schedules for palliation of bone metastases, consistent with current guidelines. As stated by the authors, “Shorter...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Hauschild et al identified baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), performance status, disease burden, and gene signature as potential determinants of treatment outcomes in BRAF V600–mutant metastatic melanoma treated with BRAF and/or MEK inhibitors. Study ...
In a Chinese single-center phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Lan et al found a high response rate with oral apatinib plus oral etoposide in patients with platinum-resistant or refractory ovarian cancer. Study Details The study included 35 patients with progression within 6 months...
Cory Wiegert has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO. Mr. Wiegert, a proven expert in building and successfully launching innovative technology solutions, began his new role today (August 13, 2018), overseeing the continued...
Sensus Healthcare, Inc, a medical device company specializing in the noninvasive treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancers and keloids with image-guided superficial radiation therapy, announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its new...
In a planned subgroup analysis of the phase III AURA3 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wu et al found that the third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib (Tagrisso) produced higher central nervous system (CNS) response rates vs platinum plus pemetrexed (Alimta)...
ASCO RECENTLY launched its new “I Live to Conquer Cancer” national outreach and awareness campaign to draw attention to the critical importance of federally funded cancer research. Through a series of compelling videos and written stories, “I Live to Conquer Cancer” puts a human face on cancer...
ASCO AND the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) are calling on leaders and health ministers of the 193 United Nations (UN) member countries to reduce the burden of all noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer. The two organizations issued a joint statement in advance of the third ...
FULLY UPDATED and now with 8th Edition American Joint Committee on Cancer staging information, this updated guide from ASCO is designed for people newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. It aims to help patients get organized and learn more about their diagnosis, treatment options, side effects,...
ASCO DELEGATES participated in the American Medical Association’s (AMA) June Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates (HOD). The AMA HOD is the principal policy-making body of AMA and meets twice a year to discuss pressing issues and establish association policies. This year, delegates approved...
The Conquer Cancer Merit Awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at an ASCO scientific meeting, including the ASCO Annual Meeting and thematic symposia. Conquer Cancer recognized 127 recipients with Merit Awards at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting,...
TAILORx changes the configuration of the ball field and the shape of the ball in deciding which women will be recommended chemotherapy after resection of node-negative, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. TAILORx was presented by Joseph Sparano, MD, at the 2018 ASCO Plenary Session and...
ON JULY 30, 2018, Roche announced approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its cobas HPV Test in first-line screening for cervical cancer in women 25 years and older using cervical specimens collected in SurePath preservative fluid. The FDA first approved the cobas HPV test...
In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ipilimumab (Yervoy), an anticytotoxic T-lymphocyte– associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4), the first checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of advanced melanoma.1 Since then, several more checkpoint inhibitors directed at both the programmed...
In February 2015, there was no indication that my life was about to radically change. I was a practicing attorney and happily raising two young children with my husband. At 40 years old, I was healthy—or so I thought—and had no physical symptoms to alert me to the devastating news that was about to ...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies focused on neurotoxicities of cancer treatment. These studies focus on the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function, changes in resting state brain networks after stem cell...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery by Margonis and colleagues, the presence of a BRAF V600E mutation was associated with a higher risk of recurrence and poorer overall survival among patients undergoing surgical resection of liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Matthew J. Weiss, MD, of the...
Accurately assessing the quality of cancer care over the continuum of treatment requires a special set of metrics and data-gathering methods. Moreover, with a growing number of cancer survivors, the post-treatment care involves primary care providers who are adept at managing the comorbidities...
A study reported in JAMA Oncology by Anne Marie McCarthy, PhD, of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues identified the risk of interval breast cancer after negative screening mammography, including the risk of poor-prognosis breast cancer. The...
BOOKMARK Title: Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the GenomeAuthor: Nessa CareyPublisher: Columbia University PressOriginal publication date: April 2015Price: $22.95, paperback, 360 pages When biologists first delved into the human wonder of genes in the 1970s, they eventually...
BOOKMARK Title: MortalityAuthor: Christopher HitchensPublisher: Twelve: Hachette Book GroupOriginal Publication Date: May 13, 2014Price: $19.95, paperback, 128 pages “There are no atheists in foxholes” is an aphorism used to contend that in times of extreme fear, such as during war or facing a...
BOOKMARK Title: Toms River: A Story of Science and SalvationAuthor: Dan FaginPublisher: Random HouseOriginal publication date: March 2013Price: $28.00, hardcover, 560 pages The Toms River emerges in the Pine Barrens of northern Ocean County, New Jersey, and zigzags through wetlands, emptying into...
The largest coordinated research effort to study biologic and nonbiologic factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer in African American men has begun. The $26.5 million study is called RESPOND, or Research on Prostate Cancer in Men of African Ancestry: Defining the Roles of Genetics, Tumor ...
On July 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved iobenguane I 131 injection (Azedra) for intravenous use in the treatment of adults and adolescents aged 12 and older with unresectable pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma that have spread beyond the original tumor site and require ...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided oncology services to people with cancer who had previously been denied coverage. And for that reason alone, many oncologists supported its passage. However, even though the U.S. health-care system remains in the crosshairs of partisan politics, parties on both ...
Almost 1 year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and...
Researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Northwell Health’s Department of Radiation Medicine have identified methods to increase use of the radiation therapy hypofractionation in patients with breast cancer. These findings, published by Gilbo et al...
Data from a lung cancer screening program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) provides evidence that national lung cancer screening guidelines, which were developed based on the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in 2011 and recommend screening based on age and smoking history, may be...
The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research has estimated that in developed countries, about 35% of breast cancers and 45% of colorectal cancers could be prevented with better adherence to nutritional recommendations. A large prospective study evaluating adherence to...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on the use of reishi...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mogamulizumab-kpkc (Poteligeo) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome after at least one prior systemic therapy. This approval provides a new...
In the scramble to bring successful apps for the diagnosis of skin cancer to market, there is a concern that a lack of testing is risking public safety, according to research led by the University of Birmingham. The research, outlined at the British Association of Dermatologists Annual...
Studies show that triple-negative breast cancer is associated with advanced-stage disease and higher-grade tumors at the time of diagnosis, and carries an increased risk of recurrence and poorer 5-year survival rates relative to other breast cancers. This type of breast cancer accounts for...
GC4419, A SMALL molecule superoxide dismutase mimetic, reduced the duration, incidence, and severity of chemoradiotherapy-induced mucositis in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer, with a safety profile comparable to that of placebo. This finding comes from a randomized phase IIb...
FOR THE TREATMENT of lymphoma, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are becoming an important class of drugs, as described at the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference by Brad Kahl, MD, Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.1 “We have one ADC—brentuximab vedotin...
THE EMERGENCE of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has sparked a wave of optimism in hematologic malignancies, but as experience in using CAR T-cell therapy has grown, new challenges have surfaced. A pioneer in the field, David G. Maloney, MD, PhD, enlightened attendees on these issues ...
BEFORE TOO LONG, oncologists can expect to have an entirely new arsenal in the fight against multiple myeloma. Cutting-edge therapies on the near horizon were described in a presentation by Kenneth Anderson, MD, at the 2018 American Association of Cancer Research’s (AACR’s) inaugural conference on...
ROBERT PETER GALE, MD, PhD, DSc (hc), was on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine for 20 years and has served as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. In 1986, he was asked by the...
ON MAY 30, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2017.1 This law creates an additional and alternative pathway for patients with a “life-threatening disease or condition” to access...
AS REPORTED in The New England Journal of Medicine by Maha Hussain, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, and colleagues, the phase III PROSPER trial has shown a 71% reduction in the risk of metastasis or death with enzalutamide (Xtandi) vs placebo in men ...
Adult survivors of childhood cancer should be screened for financial problems that might cause them to delay or skip medical care or to suffer psychological distress. The recommendation from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers followed an analysis that found 65% of...
In an interim analysis of the French phase III noninferiority Carmena trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Méjean et al found that sunitinib alone was not inferior in overall survival vs nephrectomy followed by sunitinib in patients with intermediate- or poor-risk...
Results were recently announced from the ASTRAL-1 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of guadecitabine in adults with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are not eligible for intensive induction chemotherapy. The study did not meet its co-primary endpoints: complete...
In an analysis of Asian trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yeoh et al found evidence that treatment intensification improved outcomes in childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) with IKZF1 deletion (del). The analysis compared outcomes in the Malaysia-Singapore ALL...
Gini Fleming, MD, had a peripatetic path to her destination as a gynecologic and breast cancer expert. As a child, she moved around a lot, living in about 10 or 12 different places, so she had no real sense of being born and reared in any particular place. “My parents married young, when my father ...
GUEST EDITOR Dr. Abraham is the Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, interviewed Mace L. Rothenberg, MD,...