The troubling results from a survey1 investigating the sexual harassment and discrimination experiences of academic medical faculty show that such incidents continue to happen with unexpected frequency despite increasing awareness of the problem. The study by Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, and...
Biosimilars are biologic products similar to the parent (branded) molecule in structure and function—such as erythropoietin and filgrastim (Neupogen).1 To truly bend the cost curve, we want to see a dramatic economic savings achieved as oncology biosimilars for rituximab (Rituxan), trastuzumab...
Although several treatment options are available for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains the only curative therapy.1 The risks of complications and death from transplantation can be substantial. Determining which patients may...
In the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer, checkpoint inhibition is making inroads in both early- and late-stage disease, and the line of treatment and expression of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) could be important in determining outcomes, according to studies reported at the...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, R. Coleman Lindsley, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues found that a number of mutations present in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) were associated with poorer clinical outcome after allogeneic...
On June 30, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for panitumumab (Vectibix) for patients with wild-type RAS (defined as wild-type in both KRAS and NRAS as determined by an FDA-approved test for this use) metastatic...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of the monoclonal antibody daratumumab -(Darzalex) in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide ...
In oncology, sometimes we forget about the small, everyday things that can significantly impact a patient’s life. When patients are explained the side effects of chemotherapy and chemotherapy-induced alopecia, most women will cry or become visibly upset. When a woman loses her hair, it represents...
An interim analysis of the SCALP trial, reported in JAMA by Julie Nangia, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, and colleagues, showed that use of a scalp-cooling device significantly reduced hair loss in women receiving chemotherapy for stage I or II breast cancer compared with no scalp cooling.1 The ...
Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) has announced the launch of a 3-year research study that will investigate the link between new-onset diabetes and pancreatic cancer. The main goal of the study is to detect the often lethal cancer at a curable stage. The study was developed by a team of...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Dr. Andrew Zelenetz and colleagues and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, an international phase III trial in 416 patients with refractory or recurrent chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) addressed the benefit of adding the first-in-class phosphoinositide...
As reported by Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues in The Lancet Oncology, interim analysis of a phase III trial has shown the superiority of adding the phosphoinositide-3-kinase δ inhibitor idelalisib (Zydelig) to bendamustine/rituximab (Rituxan) in...
As reported by Stolley et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a community-based interventionist-guided weight loss program for African American breast cancer survivors (Moving Forward) proved successful in achieving weight loss goals compared with a self-guided weight loss program. African...
In a phase III trial (Cancer and Leukemia Group B 10603 [RATIFY]/Alliance) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Stone et al found that the addition of midostaurin (Rydapt) to standard chemotherapy improved overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia with...
For patients with colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver, having a primary tumor on the left side as opposed to the right side of the colon is known to be a significant advantage in terms of treatment response. But a new study, presented by van Hazel et al at the European Society for...
On July 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the expanded use of a cooling cap, DigniCap Cooling System, to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy. This is the first cooling cap cleared by the agency for use in cancer patients with solid tumors. “We are pleased to expand the...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for panitumumab (Vectibix) for patients with wild-type RAS (defined as wild-type in both KRAS and NRAS as determined by an FDA-approved test for this use) metastatic colorectal cancer...
Clinical data on an investigational immuno-oncology drug pegilodecakin (PEGylated human interleukin-10, also known as AM0010) was presented by Hecht et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona, Spain (Abstract O-004). Pegilodecakin is being evaluated in an ongoing...
Preliminary results from patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma enrolled in a phase I study of the investigational anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody BGB-A317 in advanced solid tumors were presented by Yen et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Brose et al, a prespecified analysis of the phase III double-blind SELECT trial of lenvatinib (Lenvima) vs placebo in radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer showed progression-free survival benefits in both older and younger...
As reported by Carbone et al in The New England Journal of Medicine, the phase III CheckMate 026 trial has shown no progression-free survival benefit for first-line nivolumab (Opdivo) vs platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or stage IV non–small cell lung cancer with...
New data from two clinical trials—ENESTfreedom and ENESTop—demonstrates that approximately half of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase, were able to maintain treatment-free remission after stopping treatment with ...
Data from two phase I/II clinical trials evaluating ixazomib (Ninlaro) in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma was presented at the 2017 European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Meeting (Abstracts S408, S780). Both studies evaluated ixazomib plus lenalidomide (Revlimid) and...
A phase II trial has shown that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and the MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinst) produces responses in brain metastases in patients with BRAF V600–mutant melanoma. These findings were reported by Davies et al in The Lancet Oncology. Study ...
The phase III ALCANZA trial has shown that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) produces a higher global response rate vs physician’s choice of therapy in previously treated CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. These results were reported by Prince et al in The Lancet. Study Details In this...
Extended follow-up data demonstrated responses from nivolumab (Opdivo) in adult patients with relapsed or progressed classical Hodgkin lymphoma after autologous stem-cell transplant (ASCT), irrespective of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) therapy history. Results from the phase II CheckMate-205 study ...
Updated results from the ELIANA clinical trial demonstrated CTL019 (tisagenlecleucel) remission rates are maintained at 6 months in relapsed/refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). These data from this pivotal trial of CTL019 show that 83% (52...
Long-term follow-up data from the DYNAMO study, which met its primary endpoint of overall response rate (ORR; P = .0001) at the final analysis, was presented at the 22nd Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) (Abstracts S777, E1130). DYNAMO is a phase II clinical study...
On June 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approvals to dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) administered in combination for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with BRAF V600E mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test. These ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of the monoclonal antibody daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide...
In a single-center retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Wiesenthal et al found that among patients dying in a hospital, those with palliative care in place at final admission received less diagnostic testing and other services not associated with promoting patient...
In the phase II BIRCH trial, atezolizumab (Tecentriq) was found to produce higher response rates as first-line or subsequent therapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with higher levels of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Study findings were...
The results of the long-awaited APHINITY trial are in, and although the phase III study met its primary endpoint, it failed to establish dual HER2 blockade as the optimal adjuvant treatment for early HER2-positive breast cancer. After 3 years of follow-up, the addition of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to...
On June 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval to the combination of rituximab and hyaluronidase human (Rituxan Hycela) for adult patients with follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The approval provides a...
Findings from a retrospective study showed that women who became pregnant after an early breast cancer diagnosis, including those with estrogen receptor–positive tumors, did not have a higher chance of cancer recurrence and death than those who did not become pregnant.1 Matteo Lambertini, MD, of...
This issue of The ASCO Post discusses a recent trial reported by Strosberg et al in The New England Journal of Medicine that is the first phase III randomized international multicenter clinical trial evaluating lutetium Lu-177 dotatate as a peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in midgut...
In the phase III NETTER-1 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jonathan R. Strosberg, MD, of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and colleagues found that the addition of the targeted radiotherapeutic agent lutetium Lu-177 dotatate to the long-acting repeatable (LAR)...
The joint American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), College of American Pathologists (CAP), Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), and ASCO guideline reported by Sepulveda et al, and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, represents a collaboration of three pathology societies and ASCO ...
In 2011, crizotinib (Xalkori) became the first effective targeted therapy for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Now data from a phase III trial show that alectinib (Alecensa), a second-generation ALK inhibitor, outperformed crizotinib, the current...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Antonia R. Sepulveda, MD, PhD, of Columbia University, and colleagues, a joint guideline on the use of molecular biomarkers for evaluation of colorectal cancer has been developed by an expert panel from the American Society for Clinical Pathology...
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) has endorsed a report that outlines key action items to be taken immediately to accelerate progress toward ending cigarette smoking in adults.1 Issuing its Executive Summary Report, the Core Team for Tobacco Control and Smoking...
Accelerating the discovery of targeted cancer therapies requires defining the targets present in individual tumors, and there are two main ways to do this, David B. Solit, MD, told participants at the inaugural OncoSET Symposium: Emerging Approaches to Precision Medicine in Chicago.1 The...
Commenting on the studies of CAR T cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) thus far, Susan O’Brien, MD, of the University of California at Irvine, said: “Some people are disappointed in the results, but the problem is there was too much hype to begin with. The first article on CAR T published...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a hot area of research and development in hematologic malignancies and, more recently, some solid tumors. Results have been particularly good in acute lymphocytic leukemia, and one or more CAR T-cell products may be getting close to approval by the ...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded SWOG clinical trials program has added 3.34 million years of life for patients with cancer in the United States because of successful therapies that were validated through its trials. When analyzed, the investment for each year of life gained since the...
Larotrectinib, an oral inhibitor of tropomyosin receptor kinase, showed “striking” activity in adult and pediatric patients with the genetic aberrations known as tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) fusion, researchers reported at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 Of 55 patients treated with...
Richard S. Finn, MD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, commented on MONARCH 2 and the field of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibition in general in an interview with The ASCO Post. “MONARCH 2 is confirmatory for the role of CDK4/6 inhibition in estrogen...
In the treatment of metastatic estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, a highly significant 45% reduction in progression was achieved with abemaciclib, combined with fulvestrant (Faslodex), in the global phase III MONARCH 2 trial, reported at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting by George W. Sledge, MD,...
The PARP INHIBITOR olaparib (Lynparza) improved progression-free survival in women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer that was either hormone receptor–positive or triple-negative in patients who had a germline BRCA mutation.1,2 These results of the international, randomized, open-label,...
The addition of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisolone/prednisone to standard androgen-deprivation therapy improves survival in men starting treatment for locally advanced or metastatic, hormone--naive prostate cancer, according to the results of two potentially practice-changing studies...