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Certain genetic variants found in prostate tumors of men of African descent were associated with African ancestry, according to two studies presented at the 15th American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial and Ethnic Minorities...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Topham et al, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis indicated significantly increased frequencies of multiple potential EGFR inhibitor resistance alterations among patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer with vs without prior ...
Newly released results from the phase III ADAURA trial revealed that osimertinib yielded a 5.5-year median disease-free survival in the postsurgical treatment of patients with EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and nearly three in four patients treated with adjuvant osimertinib were...
Antonio Marra, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a mutational signature analysis that reveals patterns of genomic instability linked to resistance to endocrine therapy with or without CDK4/6 inhibition in patients with estrogen receptor–positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (Abstract 210O).
A new mechanism has been identified through which very small pollutant particles in the air may trigger lung cancer in people who have never smoked, paving the way to new prevention approaches and the development of novel therapies, according to late-breaking data reported by Charles Swanton, MBBS, ...
In an interim analysis of the Chinese phase III ORIENT-31 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Lu et al found that the addition of sintilimab and the bevacizumab biosimilar IBI305 to chemotherapy prolonged progression-free survival in patients with advanced EGFR-mutated nonsquamous non–small cell ...
Two studies published simultaneously by Jaratlerdsiri et al in Nature and Gong et al in Genome Medicine have identified genetic signatures explaining ethnic differences in the severity of prostate cancer, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Through genetic sequencing of prostate cancer tumors from...
A team of researchers from the University of Rochester discovered how certain genetic mutations fuel the growth of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare but aggressive type of malignancy that has been on the rise in the United States. Their work, published by Guo et al in Cell Reports this week, details the...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) provides recommendations on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutant grade 2 and grade 3 diffuse glioma. Evidence-based recommendations outline the multidisciplinary...
Alexander T. Pearson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, commended the artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented, ultrasound-based platform for screening and staging of thyroid cancer. “In this study, Dr. Chan and colleagues processed high-resolution ultrasound...
An artificial intelligence (AI) ultrasound platform that incorporates multiple methods of machine learning can accurately predict thyroid malignancy as well as pathologic and genomic outcomes, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Findings from...
In an updated analysis of the Japanese phase III NEJ009 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Miyauchi et al found that gefitinib plus carboplatin/pemetrexed was associated with prolonged progression-free survival and progression-free survival 2—but loss of significance in overall...
Researchers have identified biological markers in patients with triple-negative breast cancer that are associated with resistance to chemotherapy. The study was published by Anurag et al in the journal Cancer Discovery and was funded by the National Cancer Institute’s Clinical Proteomics Tumor...
An online tool developed by researchers and physicians at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may accurately and rapidly identify people who should undergo testing for inherited genetic changes that raise the risk of developing certain cancers, according to findings reported by Yurgelun et al in the...
The highly selective RET inhibitor pralsetinib was well tolerated and demonstrated robust, durable responses in patients with RET fusion–positive cancers regardless of tumor type, according to results from the international phase I/II ARROW trial. Results from the trial were published in Nature...
By searching previously ignored regions of the genome, researchers have found a multitude of new genetic mutations that may contribute to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). These findings were published by Bal et al in Nature. “Our findings not only show that these mutations can contribute to...
A newly constructed map of the landscape of genetic changes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) may provide a better understanding of this complex malignancy, which could lead to more accurate prognoses for patients, improved diagnostics, and novel treatments. These research findings were...
On August 10, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to capmatinib (Tabrecta) for adult patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have a mutation leading to mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 skipping, as detected by an ...
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...
Researchers studying the molecular landscape of over 500 patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma discovered a prevalence of activated key oncogenic pathways in these patients—much more than previously thought. Upward of 45% to 65% of NF-κB and RAS/MAPK pathways each had alterations....
1,2-Dichloropropane (1,2-DCP) is a synthetic organic solvent used in the printing industry. It was linked to cholangiocarcinoma in 2013, when printing company employees in Osaka, Japan, exposed to 1,2-DCP were diagnosed with the cancer. Thereafter, the International Agency for Research on Cancer...
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) who previously developed a blood test for mutations in a gene linked to gliomas have now applied their technology to detect additional mutations—in this case, in the gene that codes for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The advance,...
Telling children about their mother’s risk of hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer does not adversely influence the offspring’s lifestyle or quality of life in the long term, according to a new study published by McDonnell et al in the journal Pediatrics. The study looked at the mutation status...
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 ...
The all-oral combination of dabrafenib plus trametinib—two targeted therapies—significantly improved the overall response rate vs standard-of-care chemotherapy with carboplatin plus vincristine in pediatric patients with BRAF V600 mutation–positive low-grade gliomas. The clinical benefit rate...
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Klatte et al provided findings from a 20-year follow-up of a pancreatic cancer surveillance program including carriers of germline CDKN2A pathogenic variants. Study Details The study included 347 carriers in the Netherlands who...
On June 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged 6 years and older with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with a BRAF V600E mutation whose disease...
Investigators at the American Cancer Society presented results of several studies during poster sessions at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting. Summaries of a few of these studies are provided here. COVID-19 and Cancer Mortality According to a new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society,...
In patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer and KRAS wild-type tumors, novel treatment with the monoclonal antibody nimotuzumab, which targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), plus gemcitabine significantly improved overall survival and other outcomes over...
In an analysis from an NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group phase II study (GOG-86P) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Thiel et al looked at outcomes in patients with advanced endometrial cancer treated with bevacizumab added to front-line chemotherapy. The investigators found that...
Researchers have, for the first time, identified genes that may predict response to a therapy for a blood cancer that can have serious side effects for some patients. The therapy, selinexor, is part of the treatment armamentarium for multiple myeloma, but the ability to target its use to patients...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Timothy A. Yap, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, and colleagues found that a substantial proportion of patients with cancer types that lacked hereditary testing guidelines harbored germline pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants. Study Details The study included data from...
Gilberto de Lima Lopes, Jr, MD, MBA, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, and Matthew Krebs, PhD, of The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, discuss results from the CHRYSALIS study. The trial showed that the bispecific antibody amivantamab-vmjw demonstrated antitumor activity, even after prior treatment, in patients with non–small cell lung cancer that exhibits the MET exon 14 skipping mutation (Abstract 9008).
Michael J. Overman, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Smitha Krishnamurthi, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, review three abstracts, all of which enrolled patients with newly diagnosed RAS and BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer with left-sided primary tumors. The discussion centers on what the study results indicate about the use of an EGFR therapy and weighing the risk to quality of life from rash, in particular (Abstracts LBA3503, LBA3504, LBA3505).
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Liu et al found that hypomethylating therapy was associated with upregulation of the oncogene SALL4 in a high proportion of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. They also identified the gene region that is demethylated and responsible...
FLT3-ITD–mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive disease usually resistant to available treatment options, resulting in high front-line response rates but short response durations and low survival rates. Quizartinib—a potent selective FLT3 inhibitor—can work synergistically with...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Nimgaonkar et al found that less than half of patients with urothelial cancer who had received first-line platinum-based therapy underwent testing for FGFR alterations and that less than half of patients with susceptible alterations...
Mutations in SF3B1 and U2AF1 can drive overexpression of activated IRAK4—which regulates inflammation and promotes cancer cell growth and survival—and are associated with a poor prognosis for patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Emavusertib is a...
In a study presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 10502) and simultaneously published in JCO Precision Oncology, Veda N. Giri, MD, and colleagues found that Black men with prostate cancer exhibited a lower frequency and narrower spectrum of germline pathogenic or likely pathogenic...
On June 9, Foundation Medicine, Inc., announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for FoundationOne CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic for the two indications of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor entrectinib (Rozlytrek). As a companion diagnostic,...
Neal D. Shore, MD, of the Carolina Urologic Research Center, discusses his study findings, showing that germline genetic testing influenced care for patients with prostate cancer. Men whose genetic test was positive for a pathogenic germline variant received more recommendations for changes to follow-up and treatment, and for testing and counseling of relatives, than did patients with negative or uncertain test results (Abstract 10500).
Nearly 1 million people in the United States are affected by Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer condition with markedly elevated risk of gastrointestinal, endometrial, and other cancers. Most of them, however, are unaware of it, or find out only after they have developed cancer. A screening...
Women younger than age 40 with advanced breast cancer often experience more aggressive disease and worse prognoses than their older counterparts. Knowing which types of genetic mutations these patients tend to have may inform treatment strategies and improve outcomes. In a recent study, researchers ...
Although women of African descent experience a higher incidence and mortality from triple-negative breast cancer than women of other races or ethnicities, research findings presented by Hall et al at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that the magnitude of gene-specific risks of triple-negative...
A new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society showed physician, practice, and patient characteristics were associated with oncologists’ ratings of the importance of patient health insurance and out-of-pocket costs for genomic testing in treatment decisions. The findings are being...
New findings from researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center published by Shukla et al in Nature Communications reported the results of using a comprehensive sequencing approach on 114 pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients with solid tumors. The researchers found that their...
Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses study findings that suggest the variation in frequency of EGFR and KRAS mutations in lung cancer may be associated with genetic ancestry in patients from Latin America. The results indicate it may be possible to identify germline alleles underpinning this link. Finding a germline locus or loci may impact the development of lung cancers with these mutations and may improve lung cancer prevention and screening for populations of Latin American origin, as well as others.
The first bladder cancer drug targeting a cancer-driving gene mutation has been used relatively little despite its clear efficacy in a clinical trial, suggests a report published as a research letter by Nimgaonkar et al in JAMA Oncology. Researchers analyzed a large, nationwide database of cancer...
The first-in-human, first-in-class trial of the next-generation PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) 1–selective inhibitor AZD5305 suggests this drug may be a welcome advance over its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved predecessors in the treatment of solid tumors with alterations in...
Nickolas Papadopoulos, PhD, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses early detection as the key to reducing cancer mortality and the lack of tests for many malignancies. Liquid biopsies have the potential to screen for various tumor types, albeit with varying levels of sensitivity. Dr. Papadopoulos discusses his research on such blood tests, following patients prospectively to find the best combination of genetic and epigenetic biomarkers to increase sensitivity (Abstract PL02).