Findings from a series of studies conducted in mice, human tissues, and healthy volunteers suggest that a ketogenic diet may enhance the effectiveness of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. The results point to β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), a substance produced when a ketogenic diet is...
The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), an SABCS cosponsor, will honor two researchers for their significant contributions to breast cancer research during the 2024 SABCS. 2024 AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research ...
Metformin may strengthen the effects of immunotherapy and improve recurrence-free survival in patients with lung cancer with overweight or obesity, according to a recently published article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.1 The investigators looked at data from two groups of...
Guest Editor’s Note: The Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) held its 21st International Conference in Costa Mesa, California. The conference theme was “Full Circle Translational Integrative Oncology: From Bedside to Bench and Back.” The Southern California vibe fostered collegiality and...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Sendaydiego et al identified the risks associated with use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in U.S. patients with rheumatoid arthritis. As noted by the investigators, a previous study has shown increased risk of cancer with use of...
A novel immunotherapy may offer a new option for patients with bladder cancer who no longer respond to bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), according to a study presented on December 5 at the 2024 Society of Urologic Oncology Annual Meeting in Dallas. The therapy, cretostimogene grenadenorepvec, is an...
Over the past decade, ASCO has focused its resources on advancing health equity for sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals with cancer. In 2017, the Society published a position statement “Strategies for Reducing Cancer Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations,” which...
Improvements in cancer prevention and screening have averted more deaths from five cancer types combined over the past 45 years than treatment advances, according to a modeling study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study, published by Goddard et al in JAMA...
A novel cell-based immunotherapy may enhance treatment responses and reduce the need for conventional chemotherapy and its associated toxicities in patients with breast cancer, according to a recent study published by Han et al in JAMA Oncology. Study Methods and Results In the phase I clinical...
A self-pay, artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced breast cancer screening program could help improve breast cancer detection rates, according to new findings presented by Sorensen et al at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2024 Annual Meeting (Abstract R5B-SPBR-4). Background Despite ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted accelerated approval to zanidatamab-hrii (Ziihera), a bispecific HER2-directed antibody, for previously treated, unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive (IHC 3+) biliary tract cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA also...
Durvalumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, has shown activity in treating a wide range of cancers and has been proposed as a potentially safer and more effective option than cetuximab, according to Loren K. Mell, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Research at University of ...
The soaring number of cancer survivors since the National Cancer Act of 1971 was enacted into law provides a snapshot of the profound progress made against cancer over the past half-century: 3 million survivors in the 1970s,1 compared to more than 18 million today, and that number is expected to...
At the 2024 JADPRO Live event, which is held annually for advanced practitioners in oncology, high-risk myelofibrosis was a featured topic. “The treatment landscape has developed so much that JADPRO asked us to present our talks on the main stage this year,” said Julie Huynh-Lu, PA-C, Supervisor...
Targeting certain bacterial strains linked to cancer with treatments or vaccines may help to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, urothelial carcinoma, and prostate cancer, according to a novel study published by Mäklin et al in The Lancet Microbiome. Background The bacterium Escherichia coli is...
A recent nationwide survey has confirmed that prior authorization may cause treatment delays, abandoned treatments, hospitalizations, and deaths among patients with cancer, according to an executive summary published by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The findings may reinforce ...
The results of the HARMOny study published in JACC: CardioOncology by Beekman et al did not reveal a long-term adverse effect of prophylactic surgical menopause on the development of coronary artery calcium—a marker of cardiovascular disease risk—in women with a high familial risk of ovarian...
Based on the phase III E3F05 trial, conducted by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), the combination of radiation therapy and temozolomide appeared to be more effective than radiotherapy alone in the treatment of low-grade gliomas. The trial followed 172 patients for more than 10...
Here are some highlights of clinical trials presented at the 2024 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. They include breakthroughs in cancer care, updates in clinical research, and efforts in cancer...
“Artificial intelligence [AI] will be used in all aspects of [lung cancer] screening…, and it continues to get better,” commented topic overview speaker David F. Yankelevitz, MD, Professor of Radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, at the Quantitative Imaging Workshop...
Worldwide, more than a billion people have obesity—including 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children1—a rate that has nearly doubled since 1980.2 In the United States alone, about two out of three adults are overweight or have obesity, and one out of three have...
Adding chemoradiation to perioperative chemotherapy improves pathologic complete response rates in patients with resectable gastric cancer but does not extend overall survival, according to data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 20241 and published...
Investigators report they have uncovered patterns in the risk of cancer associated with lifetime exposure to air pollution and how this risk may have changed over time, in a recent study published by Hurbain et al in Environmental Science & Technology. The findings could build on the scientific ...
Investigators have assessed the potential role of mesenchymal stem cells in cancer treatment in a new review published by Minev et al in Oncotarget. Study Overview and Implications The investigators found that mesenchymal stem cells can naturally target tumors and deliver therapeutic agents...
In a Chinese phase III trial (EXTENTORCH) reported in JAMA Oncology, Cheng et al reported that the addition of the immunoglobulin G4 PD-1–blocking antibody toripalimab to first-line chemotherapy with etoposide plus cisplatin or carboplatin (EP) improved progression-free survival among patients with ...
As reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Marth et al, the phase III European Network of Gynaecological Oncological Trial-en9/LEAP-001 study showed no significant differences in progression-free or overall survival with first-line lenvatinib/pembrolizumab vs chemotherapy in patients with...
It’s not news that some viruses, including human papillomavirus, human immunodeficiency virus, Epstein-Barr, and hepatitis B, can cause or accelerate the development of cancer. But a recent story in The Washington Post about rare cancers being diagnosed in individuals who had previously been...
A second-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may offer a new option for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive blood cancer with few treatment options. Results from the phase Ib/II FELIX trial, published by Roddie et al in ...
New research may expand on existing evidence that a healthy diet may protect against gastrointestinal cancers and improve disease outcomes, according to a recent study published by Abebe et al in the European Journal of Nutrition. Background Gastrointestinal cancers including esophageal, gastric,...
Lung cancer screening with low-dose chest computed tomography (CT) may be capable of identifying coronary artery calcium in patients without cardiac symptoms, according to a recent study published by Caires et al in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Background Lung cancer is currently one...
A recent report highlighted evidence-based recommendations for the prevention, detection, and management of cancer therapy–related cardiovascular toxicity and cardiovascular events in patients with cancer, as well as knowledge gaps. Select considerations are summarized herein. “The European Society ...
Researchers may have established an accurate ultraperformance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for comparing the pharmacokinetic properties of three epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and their major metabolites in mouse...
Researchers may have uncovered the factors contributing to an increased susceptibility to common infections among patients with cancer receiving checkpoint inhibitors, according to a recent study published by Ogishi et al in Immunity. The findings may provide new insights into immune responses and...
The final overall survival analysis of the phase III PRIMA trial found no survival benefit for maintenance niraparib over placebo in advanced ovarian cancer. However, the PARP inhibitor continued to exert a sustained progression-free survival benefit, investigators reported at the European Society...
Researchers have demonstrated that a targeted intervention may increase screening rates in patients who do not adhere to current colorectal cancer screening recommendations, according to a recent study published by Reuland et al in JAMA Network Open. Background Colorectal cancer screening is often...
Researchers have found that the cancer peer support program Stronger Together may provide critical social support to patients with cancer, particularly in low-resource settings in low- and middle-income countries, according to a recent study published by Le et al in JCO Global Oncology. Background...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of imatinib (Imkeldi) oral solution, the first oral liquid formulation of the drug to treat certain types of leukemias and other cancers. Background In 2024, an estimated 9,280 patients will be diagnosed with chronic myeloid...
In a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Salmasi et al described identification of monoclonal gammopathy of thrombotic significance (MGTS) in a patient with coronary artery disease and its successful treatment with daratumumab, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (DVd). As...
Both radiation and temozolomide may have meaningful single-modality antitumor activity against slow-growing, low-grade gliomas, according to recent findings presented by Schiff et al at the 2024 Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting (Abstract LTBK-07) and simultaneously published in...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Vora et al found that short-course hypofractionated proton-beam therapy guided by 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[F-18]fluoro-L-phenylalanine (F-18–DOPA) positron-emission tomography (PET) and contrast-enhanced MRI produced good outcomes in patients aged ≥ 65...
Initial analysis from the PEACE-3 trial suggests that the addition of radium-223 dichloride to enzalutamide could offer a promising new first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to data presented by lead study author, Silke Gillessen,...
The combination of the VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared with TACE alone, according to...
A 3-week moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy regimen has been found to be noninferior to the 5-week fractionation when irradiating nodal areas in patients with breast cancer, according to data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024.1 The 5-year results of...
In the neoadjuvant I-SPY2.2 trial, a treatment strategy including the antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), partnered with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab, yielded a high pathologic complete response rate, especially in immune-positive and ‘all-negative’ subtypes.1...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 in Barcelona featured several groundbreaking trials with the potential to significantly influence clinical practice. These studies highlighted the benefits of new combination immunotherapy strategies and innovative approaches in the...
The studies summarized below were reported online over the past month in The ASCO Post, generating a high number of visitors. For comprehensive reviews of these studies and more, visit ASCOPost.com. Trastuzumab Duocarmazine in Previously Treated HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer In the phase...
My twin brother and I were adopted at 18 months old, so I don’t know the medical history of our biological parents and family. But for certain, cancer has played an integral—and heartbreaking—role in my life. Both of my adoptive parents were diagnosed with genitourinary cancers at relatively early ...
In earlier issues of The ASCO Post, we shared unique insights from recipients of the International Development and Education Award (IDEA), whose experiences at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting (ASCO24) had a profound impact on their professional and personal growth. Here are more reflections from...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) introduced expanded NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) to account for the advanced understanding of hereditary cancer risk in breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancers.1 “The recently updated NCCN Guidelines for ...
At the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, Rebecca D. Kehm, PhD, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, and colleagues presented some of the ...