Christopher M. Booth, MD, of Queen’s University, reviews findings from the randomized phase III Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) CO.21 (CHALLENGE) trial, which evaluated the impact of a structured exercise program on disease-free survival in patients with stage III or high-risk stage II colon...
Constantine Si Lun Tam, MD, FRACP, FRCPA, MBBS, of Alfred Hospital and Monash University, reviews results from the 5-year follow-up of arm C of the SEQUOIA trial of treatment-naive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (Abstract 7011).
Nicholas C. Turner, MD, PhD, of the Royal Marsden Hospital, presents final overall survival data from the INAVO120 trial of inavolisib/placebo plus palbociclib and fulvestrant in patients with PIK3CA-mutated, HR-positive, HER2-negative, endocrine-resistant advanced breast cancer (Abstract 1003).
Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, of Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, IRCCS, University of Milano, discusses patient-reported outcomes from the phase III EMBER-3 trial, which investigated treatment with imlunestrant, investigator’s choice of standard endocrine therapy, or imlunestrant plus abemaciclib in ...
William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses two abstracts on lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) in relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). In Abstract 7037, liso-cel with ibrutinib demonstrated...
William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reviews the final analysis of phase II CAPTIVATE study demonstrating the long-term efficacy and safety of ibrutinib plus venetoclax for previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic ...
Results from an international phase III clinical trial show that treatment with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy and pembrolizumab helps patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer live longer without disease progression compared with...
The international phase III DESTINY-Gastric04 clinical trial found that second-line treatment with fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki can help people with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancers that have grown during first-line treatment live about 3 months longer. These findings further support the...
Results from an international clinical trial show that a 14-gene molecular assay can help identify patients with early-stage nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. The research will be presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting...
Results from VERITAC-2 trial showed that the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) vepdegestrant could extend progression-free survival for people with previously treated estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer with an ESR1 mutation. The research will be presented at...
Results from an international phase III study showed that the targeted therapy combination of encorafenib and cetuximab with mFOLFOX6 (leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) chemotherapy may help patients with BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer live longer. After early results from...
A new study led by experts at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is the first to look at trends over time in alcohol-linked cancer mortality across the United States. The findings were presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract ...
Inhaling wildfire-related air pollution may reduce the likelihood of survival among patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to new findings presented by Singhal et al at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 10520). Background Wildfire-related air pollution contains particulate ...
Treatment options for aggressive-variant prostate cancer are limited, but a subset of patients have had promising long-term responses with a combination of carboplatin plus cabazitaxel chemotherapy, followed by PARP inhibitor maintenance. This novel combination treatment approach was the focus of a ...
Patients with leiomyosarcoma experience a high risk of recurrence and have limited treatment options. No biomarkers or targetable mutations currently improve diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment. Spatial transcriptomics, which are rarely used in sarcomas, may provide insights into leiomyosarcoma...
Patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) often experience temporary responses to current treatments, such as hypomethylating agents, which leads to an increased risk of the disease evolving to acute myeloid leukemia. In a phase II study,...
For patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma who did not benefit from checkpoint and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, limited alternative treatment options are available. ALLO-316 is a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy designed to recognize and kill cells expressing...
Universal germline testing is essential for identifying hereditary cancer risk, especially for patients with young-onset colorectal cancer who were diagnosed before the age of 50. However, the implementation of universal germline testing has been hampered by increasing demand and limited physician...
Investigators have developed a genomic score, called multiple myeloma-like (MM-like), for predicting progression from multiple myeloma precursor conditions to active cancer, study results published in Nature Genetics showed. The researchers created a map of the genome of multiple myeloma and its...
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. In this installment, Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, DiplOM, LAc, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus...
In a phase II trial (RAVENS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al attempted to determine whether the addition of the bone metastasis–targeting agent radium-223 to stereotactic ablative radiotherapy improved progression-free survival as metastasis-directed therapy in patients...
In a French phase III trial (NEOPAN) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ducreux et al evaluated whether FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan) significantly improved progression-free survival vs gemcitabine in patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma not...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Heyward et al examined the harm-benefit balance of immune checkpoint inhibitor use across lines of treatment in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details The retrospective cohort study, conducted in 2024, involved 2013 to 2019 Surveillance,...
Climate change may be contributing to a small but notable increase in the incidence and mortality rates of breast, ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancers in the Middle East and North Africa, according to a recent study published by Mataria and Chun in Frontiers in Public Health. Background...
At just 5 years old, Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO, already knew that she wanted to be a physician when she grew up, although she can’t explain where the idea came from. She just knows the desire to help others was ingrained in her from a very early age. Growing up in New Delhi, India, where...
Patients with multiple myeloma who had lower physical function scores at the time of treatment initiation demonstrated a greater benefit to daratumumab treatment than those with higher physical function scores, according to the results of a study published in the European Journal of Haematology....
Investigators may have uncovered a modest but potentially significant association between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a recent study published by Naudin et al in PLOS Medicine. Background Pancreatic cancer is the twelfth most common cancer type...
In a phase III trial (CheckMate 9DW) reported in The Lancet, Yau et al evaluated whether first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab improved overall survival vs investigator's choice of lenvatinib or sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Study Details In the open-label trial,...
In a single-center phase I trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Svoboda et al assessed the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an enhanced chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (huCART19-IL18) in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma after previous...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has announced the publication of the latest version of its scale that measures the clinical benefit of cancer treatments, the ESMO-MCBS (ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale). The ESMO-MCBS was first introduced in 2015 and updated to version 1.1...
With the currently available BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has transformed from an invariably fatal disorder (10-year overall survival < 10%) to an indolent one, associated with a near-normal life expectancy on optimal tyrosine kinase inhibitor...
An evaluation by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) colorectal cancer screening practices for inmates and their clinical follow-up for positive screenings found several serious operational and managerial deficiencies...
In a Belgian phase III trial (ROBOMET) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mercier et al attempted to determine whether dose-escalated, single-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy was associated with statistically significant benefit vs conventional, single-fraction, 3D conformal...
In a Danish Breast Cancer Group nationwide prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jensen et al attempted to develop a prognostic standard mortality rate index to predict excess mortality based on risk-adapted adjuvant therapy in postmenopausal patients with early-stage breast...
Researchers may have uncovered early indications of the clinical benefit of niraparib in patients with advanced melanoma whose tumors have specific genetic changes impacting DNA repair, according to a recent study published by Kim et al in JCO Precision Oncology. Background The U.S. Food and Drug...
Although I have spent the past 2 decades of my medical career as a primary care physician, educator, and researcher in conditions that disproportionately affect people of Asian descent, including lung cancer, I was still unprepared to hear the words “You have stage IV non–small cell lung...
Despite the significant rise over the past 50 years in the use of evidence-based integrative medicine in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments—up from just 20% in the 1970s to about 80% in 20171—training opportunities in the fundamentals of this emerging field within the specialty of...
In January 2025, the Trump Administration issued executive orders asserting opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on the federal level1,2 and rescinding Biden Administration orders that emphasized the importance of these efforts to promote equal opportunity across government ...
The JAK (Janus kinase) inhibitor ruxolitinib may prove to be an effective treatment of parkinsonism arising from immunotherapy for patients with multiple myeloma, according to the results of two case reports by Baldeep Wirk, MD, and Jin Lim, MD, PhD, both of Virginia Commonwealth University,...
Several recent studies have shown the value of cancer screening in reducing the number of deaths from the disease. One study using computer modeling to estimate the number of cancer-related deaths that could be averted by increasing the use of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)...
ASCO and Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, will recognize researchers, patient advocates, philanthropists, teachers, and global oncology leaders who have reshaped cancer care around the world with the Society’s highest honors at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting. “The recipients of this year’s...
Following a comprehensive national search, W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, FASCO, former Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), has accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J....
Listed here is the newly elected 2025 class of Fellows of the American Academy for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy, which was recognized at the AACR Annual Meeting, April 25–30, 2025, in Chicago. Rafi Ahmed, PhD, Atlanta, Georgia Sir Shankar Balasubramanian, PhD, Cambridge, UK Bradley Bernstein, MD, ...
Thousands of forward-looking research studies defined the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. Here, aside from our fuller coverage of key presentations in The ASCO Post, we offer a snapshot of a few additional abstracts that may be of interest to cancer researchers...
Mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) tumors beyond those in the rectum may respond to PD-1 blockade in the neoadjuvant setting, offering the option of organ preservation in early-stage cancer regardless of the tumor type, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center reported at the...
For more than 25 years, my goal as a community oncologist has been to ensure that all patients have access to the highest-quality cancer care. This is the future I stood for when I became ASCO’s 61st President and what I know our more than 50,000 members stand for. And I believe we will get there...
Despite a 30-year history as an ASCO volunteer, for Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, this past year as President-Elect has opened new perspectives on the organization he will soon lead as ASCO’s 62nd President, effective during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 30–June 3, 2025, in Chicago. After serving...
Zongertinib, an investigational oral, HER2-selective, EGFR-sparing tyrosine kinase inhibitor, elicited durable responses and demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced, previously treated, HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented by John V. Heymach,...
New findings from the phase III INAVO120 trial showed that adding inavolisib to palbociclib and fulvestrant may help extend survival and delay the time until treatment with chemotherapy in previously treated patients with PIK3CA-mutated, HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. The...
Studies have shown that having overweight or obesity increases the risk of developing more than a dozen cancers, including meningioma; multiple myeloma; and esophageal, thyroid, breast, gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreatic, kidney, ovarian, uterine, and colorectal cancers. The presence of excess ...