Anthony S. Fauci, MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), announced his intention to step down from his various roles in December 2022. He issued the following statement on August 22: I am announcing today that I will be stepping down from the positions...
As a nonpartisan organization, the American Cancer Society has an overarching goal to improve the lives of patients with cancer and their families. We believe all individuals should have an equitable opportunity to prevent, find, detect, and survive cancer, irrespective of geography. The June 24...
In locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), immunotherapy consolidation with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab improved overall survival in the PACIFIC trial,1 thus leading to its use after chemoradiotherapy as a standard of care. Real-world evidence of durvalumab’s effect on overall and...
In patients with advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the addition of the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab to first-line chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival vs chemotherapy alone, according to an interim analysis of the global phase III RATIONALE-306 trial....
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Ahmad Bashir Barekzai, MD, FACS, Consultant Surgical Oncologist at Ali Abad Teaching Hospital, an affiliated hospital to Kabul University of Medical Science, Kabul,...
The human monoclonal antibody sugemalimab is a safe and effective consolidation therapy for patients with unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without disease progression after either concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) or sequential chemoradiotherapy (sCRT), according to...
Young people with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who received doses of tisagenlecleucel, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, at the higher end of the approved dosing range had significantly better survival rates at 1 year compared with those who received lower doses within...
Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in women with lung cancer, with most participants in a survey reporting little to no interest in sexual activity, according to research led by Narjust Florez (Duma), MD, presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World...
Using data from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), researchers found that the incidence of second primary lung cancer was approximately 4% among the entire cohort of patients with lung cancer and was as high as 8% among patients undergoing surgery for stage IA disease. The research was...
The protocol used to screen and detect lung cancer in the NELSON trial may be more sensitive than the protocol used in the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST), particularly for early-stage cancers, according to research reported by de Nijs et al at the International Association for the...
Informed consent forms can be overwhelming for patients—they are written at a level that is too high for many patients, possibly impeding true informed consent, according to a report given by King-Kallimanis et al at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2022 World...
Researchers from Japan recently reported that the first phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of durvalumab and concurrent curative radiation therapy for PD-L1–positive unresectable locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without chemotherapy met its primary endpoint with...
Researchers from Vancouver, British Columbia examined the effect of duration of past exposure to air pollution with lung cancer diagnosis in new research presented by Myers et al at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer 2022 (Abstract...
Younger patients with lung cancer are significantly more likely than older patients to be diagnosed with later stages of disease, illustrating the need to develop strategies to increase the early detection of lung cancer among younger patients who are currently ineligible for lung cancer screening. ...
Robert Uzzo, MD, MBA, FACS, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia. In addition, Dr. Uzzo will assume the roles of Executive Vice President, Cancer Services for Temple University Health System, and Senior Associate Dean, Clinical Cancer...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Manmeet S. Ahluwalia, MD, MBA, Deputy Director, Chief Scientific Officer, and Chief of Solid Tumor Medical Oncology at Miami Cancer Institute, where his research focuses on the development of new therapies for...
At the 2022 Summit on Cancer Health Disparities in Seattle, leaders from five of the leading professional societies in cancer discussed their respective organizations’ current initiatives toward improving cancer health disparities.1 Representatives from ASCO, the American Society for Clinical...
The use of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can reduce treatment disparities between White and Black patients, according to research presented by Ganesh et al at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World...
Patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received a combined therapy of tremelimumab, durvalumab, and chemotherapy experienced longer overall survival compared with those who received chemotherapy alone, regardless of STK11, KEAP1, or KRAS mutational status. These findings...
ASCO’s CancerLinQ and Owkin recently announced a new research collaboration to use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze real-world oncology data with the aim to understand why some cases of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are resistant to first-line immunotherapy. Using data from...
In a collaboration announced on June 4, ASCO will work with the World Health Organization (WHO) to measure and improve the quality of cancer care internationally. The goal is to achieve health-related targets of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and WHO Global Action Plan on Non-Communicable...
This is a critical time for cancer research and cancer care across the world, and the cancer community has clearly highlighted the need for greater and more equitable international collaboration. Addressing the global cancer challenge is a significant undertaking, and it has become more urgent as ...
In the phase II MOUNTAINEER trial, tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab produced durable responses in patients with previously treated HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer. The late-breaking data were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on...
A recent survey shows that only 40% of Americans are concerned that they might get lung cancer, and only about one in five have talked to their doctor about their risk for the disease, despite lung cancer being the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The 2022 Lung Health Barometer, ...
In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Global Oncology series, Guest Editor Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, spoke with Kevin Billingsley, MD, MBA, FACS, Chief Medical Officer of the Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center. Although interracial marriage is common in the United States...
Even as soaring medical costs strain public and private budgets around the world, patients yearn for therapeutic breakthroughs. Game-changing cancer treatments, emerging antiviral agents, and mRNA vaccines are powerful reminders of medical technology’s potential. But insurance premiums and...
It has been 14 years since a collaboration between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Pfizer identified a unique role for cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive human cell line models and demonstrated that these agents act...
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, Chief Executive Officer of ASCO, issued the following statement on July 21: ASCO applauds President Biden for his reported decision to appoint ASCO Past President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, as the new Director of the National Cancer Institute...
In the phase III EVEREST trial, adjuvant everolimus improved median recurrence-free survival in patients with resected renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but this finding failed to be statistically significant in the total study population of 1,499 patients, according to a prespecified boundary. However,...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Syed Ali Abutalib and L. Jeffrey Medeiros explore the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
In countries with a high income, research in oncology is sponsored by funding agencies and industry, which has meaningfully improved survival outcomes of patients with cancer. In contrast, the African continent is disadvantaged in all aspects of human development, particularly in the fields of...
The effective treatment of patients with brain metastases is an unmet need because, until fairly recently, patients with brain metastases were excluded from clinical trials of systemic therapies. However, the emergence of molecular targeted therapies has allowed a new treatment approach in patients ...
After nearly 5 years as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), interrupted by 7 months as Acting Commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, left his position on April 29 to concentrate on his family and contemplate his next career choice....
Part 1 of this two-part report described the beginnings of radiation oncology in the United States, including many of the field’s early pioneers and the rise of associated professional societies. In part 2, we will consider the advances in technology and biology that are the foundation of modern...
On June 8, 2022, CancerLinQLLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO, and HealthVerity, Inc., announced a collaboration that will create the nation’s premier real-world oncology data ecosystem to advance cancer care and research for government and public health agencies. The collaboration...
Moffitt Cancer Center and the global research community have lost a great leader, scientist, and collaborator. Robert J. Gillies, PhD, died on June 7 after an extended illness. He was 69 years old. His recruitment in 2008 elevated Moffitt’s scientific stature, and his vision and work over the past...
Based on the final results of ECOG-ACRIN E2211, invited discussant Marianne E. Pavel, MD, of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany, concluded: “Capecitabine/temozolomide is a preferred regimen…, but temozolomide can still be an option in patients who do not tolerate...
“If we have data, let’s look at it. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” —James Barksdale In this issue of The ASCO Post, Daniel Vorobiof, MD, and Irad Deutsch, principles at Belong.Life, a patient-oriented website whose self-described mission is to improve patient quality of life and ...
In 2021, more than 1.9 million people in the United States were estimated to be diagnosed with cancer, and that number continues to increase yearly. Medical research is critical in prolonging survival and improving the quantity and quality of life of patients. Cancer research is one of the most...
L’Institut Servier, Gustave Roussy, in Villejuif, France, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, have signed a cooperation agreement to foster exchange and develop bilateral collaboration among researchers from these two renowned oncology centers. The 2-year agreement includes the organization...
“Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow, we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.” —Albert Camus, The...
Lori Wilson, MD, FACS, Chief of Surgical Oncology, Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Diversity, and former Program Director of the General Surgical Residency at Howard University Hospital, is the first woman to hold the position of Division Chief as well as the first tenured Professor of...
In a U.S. “real-world” retrospective cohort study of patients receiving first-line treatment for mantle cell lymphoma reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Peter Martin, MD, and colleagues found that autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) did not significantly improve the time to next...
Researchers have found a significant difference in the gut microbiota of patients with prostate cancer compared with those who have benign biopsies. Although the finding is an association, it could partly explain the relationship between lifestyle effects and geographic differences in prostate...
On June 24, the editors of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an editorial online in response to the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Court held in a vote of 5 to 4 that the Constitution of the United States does...
Our growing knowledge of the molecular and genomic drivers of cancer has translated into a robust pipeline of promising anticancer agents. However, bringing new drugs from the lab to the patient with cancer can be frustratingly slow. To that end, the accelerated approval system was created by the...
Radiation therapy has long been one of the three pillars of cancer therapy—surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy—only recently joined by what is widely considered a fourth pillar, immunotherapy. In part 1 of this two-part report, we trace the beginnings of radiation oncology in the United...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Ariela L. Marshall, MD, Director, Women’s Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program at Penn Medicine. Along with her clinical and research activities, Dr. Marshall is also an advocate for women’s health and equity in ...
In Ukraine, with a population of about 44 million, there are more than 1.3 million patients with cancer. Approximately 160,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year.1 In almost every region, there are local cancer centers; specialized oncologic centers are located in large cities. In Kyiv,...
Cancer cases and deaths are expected to double in Africa over the next 2 decades, according to findings from a study published by Sharma et al in Frontiers in Medicine. The study also revealed that the region lacks sufficient health-care resources and infrastructure to handle this growing cancer...