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...
Acupuncture significantly reduced joint pain for postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer receiving treatment with an aromatase inhibitor compared with both sham acupuncture and no treatment, according to data from the randomized, phase III SWOG S1200 trial presented by Hershman et al at ...
This year has been an important transitional period for oncology providers to start collecting their performance data to meet the requirements of the Quality Payment Program outlined in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). The Quality Payment Program is a...
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...
Richard G. Gray, MSc, of the University of Oxford, discusses an Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group meta-analysis of 21,000 women in 16 randomized trials, which showed that increasing the dose density of adjuvant chemotherapy by shortening intervals between courses or sequentially...
Louis Fehrenbacher, MD, of Kaiser Permanente, discusses study findings comparing adjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by weekly paclitaxel—or docetaxel and cyclophosphamide—with or without a year of trastuzumab in women with node-positive or high-risk node-negative...
Debu Tripathy, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase III study findings on first-line ribociclib vs placebo with goserelin and tamoxifen or a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast...
Wolfgang Janni, MD, PhD, of Ulm University, discusses study findings that showed extended adjuvant bisphosphonate treatment over 5 years in early breast cancer does not improve disease-free and overall survival when compared with 2 years of treatment (Abstract GS1-06).
Richard Pazdur, MD, of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Oncology Center of Excellence, discusses the rapid changes in evaluating and approving new and effective agents, incorporating the view of patients in the process, and modernizing clinical trial design with broader eligibility...
Silvia C. Formenti, MD, of Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses the high therapeutic potential of combining radiotherapy with immunotherapy and findings that show radiation dose and fractionation seem particularly relevant to the success of abscopal responses. The science has now matured to clinical...
On December 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval of bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of adults with recurrent glioblastoma that has progressed following prior therapy. Bevacizumab was previously granted provisional approval in this setting under the FDA's ...
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...
An analysis of bacteria present in the mouth showed that some types of bacteria that lead to periodontal disease were associated with higher risk of esophageal cancer, according to a study published by Peters et al in Cancer Research. Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the...
Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are treated with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) can safely undergo chemotherapy to treat associated lymphomas at the same time, researchers from the AIDS Malignancy Consortium have found. These findings were published by Tan et al in...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc approval to market a combination sodium picosulfate, magnesium oxide, and anhydrous citric acid oral solution (Clenpiq) for cleansing the colon in adults undergoing a colonoscopy. With availability planned in...
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...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved trastuzumab-dkst (Ogivri) as a biosimilar to trastuzumab (Herceptin) for the treatment of patients with breast or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors overexpress the HER2 gene. The drug is the first...
On November 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the FoundationOne CDx (F1CDx), the first breakthrough-designated, next-generation sequencing–based in vitro diagnostic test that can detect genetic mutations in 324 genes and 2 genomic signatures in any solid tumor type. The ...
Today, ASCO President Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, released the following statement: “A report released today by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine underscores the imperative our nation faces to address the affordability of drugs for medical conditions that have...
A new physician assistant (PA)-based study finds that despite personal satisfaction in the oncology specialty, high rates of burnout—over one-third of PAs (34.8%)—are common. These findings reveal important factors that could help to decrease burnout and improve the oncology workforce...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has created a new resource for patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who develop acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related Kaposi sarcoma. This newly released NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN...
Compared with the non-Hispanic white (NHW) population, the urban American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) community was more likely to have lower survival rates following invasive prostate and breast cancer, according to a new study by Emerson et al in Cancer Research. “It’s been...
On November 28, Merck KGaA and Pfizer announced that the phase III JAVELIN Gastric 300 trial did not meet its primary endpoint of superior overall survival with single-agent avelumab (Bavencio) compared with physician's choice of chemotherapy. The trial investigated avelumab as a third-line...
A recent study showed approximately one-fifth of patients with cancer experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) several months after diagnosis, and many of these patients continued to live with PTSD years later. Published by Chan et al in Cancer, the findings highlight the need for early...
When choosing their preferred treatment, patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) place the highest value on treatments that deliver the longest progression-free survival, but they are willing to swap some drug efficacy for a reduced risk of serious adverse events, according to a study...
With cancer care costs projected to increase 32% from 2010 to 2020, researchers are working to determine the main drivers of costs for treating breast cancer. In a study led by Ami Vyas, PhD, MS, MBA, of the University of Rhode Island, published in the November issue of JNCCN–Journal of the...
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...
Donald Coffey, PhD, a distinguished Johns Hopkins Professor and prostate cancer expert, who was the former Director of the Brady Urological Research Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, died on November 9, 2017, at the age of 85. In his more than 50 years at...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will honor James R. Downing, MD, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with the 2017 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize for his discoveries related to the hematopathology and molecular biology of childhood leukemia. This lectureship and prize is named...
Cancer memoirs come in a variety of literary styles and voices. Not surprisingly, the most poignant cancer memoirs are by those who are writing, in essence, their final words before departing this earth. The most widely read of that variety has been the beautifully written best seller When Breath...
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...
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 ...
INTENSE MEDIA COVERAGE of the opioid crisis has ranged from the dire statistics of addiction and death to some hopeful stories of treatment and recovery, but what may raise questions and concerns are the reports of people who start with a prescription opioid and then in a few weeks or months are...
“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...
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY (ASH) will honor Luigi Naldini, MD, PhD, of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan, and Marina Cavazzana, MD, PhD, of Paris Descartes University, Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital, and Imagine Institute of Genetic Diseases, AP-HP, Inserm in...
On October 12, 2017, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and 11 leading biopharmaceutical companies launched the Partnership for Accelerating Cancer Therapies (PACT), a 5-year public-private research collaboration totaling $215 million as part of the Cancer Moonshot. PACT will initially focus...
Timothy Gilligan, MD, FASCO, Co-Chair of ASCO’s Expert Panel on Patient-Physician Communications Guideline and Vice-Chair for Education and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, spends half of his professional time treating patients with urologic...
The Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University (NYU) Langone Health, a National Cancer Institute–designated center, has announced the creation of a new interdisciplinary center bringing together new and existing programs to study, diagnose, treat, and prevent the nation’s leading cancer: lung ...
Although it has long been known that certain cancer types disproportionately affect individuals from underserved and underrepresented populations, the sources of these disparities are still not entirely clear. In a “Facebook Live” session at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)...
Staying up-to-date with peer-reviewed oncology literature is a daunting task. To assist readers, The ASCO Post has summarized a number of studies recently published in the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) and the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). Survival as Quality Metric in Cancer Care In a...
Individuals and organizations looking to contribute to advancements in metastatic breast cancer research can now do so by participating in Susan G. Komen’s inaugural crowdfunding initiative. Through this initiative, donors have the opportunity to contribute directly to the pioneering work of four...
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...
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY of Hematology (ASH) will recognize Josef T. Prchal, MD, of the University of Utah, and Sherrill J. Slichter, MD, of Bloodworks Northwest and the University of Washington, with the 2017 Henry M. Stratton Medal for their seminal contributions in the areas of basic and clinical/ ...
THE AMERICAN Society of Hematology (ASH) will present the 2017 William Dameshek Prize to Benjamin L. Ebert, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for his seminal discoveries in multiple areas of nonmalignant and malignant hematology....
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 ...
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy announced that researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have joined its network. Dana-Farber brings a team of experts who will collaborate with Parker Institute investigators to enhance and expand research projects and clinical trials. Dana-Farber’s...
AT THE 2017 ASCO ANNUAL MEETING, the leaders of the newly formed Value in Cancer Care Consortium (vi3c; vi3c.org) met to discuss the group’s plan to study how to improve the affordability of cancer drugs and make them more accessible to patients. The goal of the Value in Cancer Care Consortium is...
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY (ASH) has elected Stephanie Lee, MD, MPH, a member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch), as its Vice President. Dr. Lee will begin her 1-year term after the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in December...