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An online tool that allows patients to input their clinical and pathologic features as well as explore treatment options in a structured manner based on National Comprehensive Cancer Network® Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) may help drive smoking cessation and testing for ...
Findings from a new study highlight the importance of timing in initial staging positron-emission tomography (PET) and/or computed tomography (CT) scans for patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving chemoradiation therapy.1 According to data presented at the 2019...
Frailty and sarcopenia are common conditions among patients with lung cancer and are linked with decreased survival as well as increased surgical complications, chemotherapy toxicity, and cost of care. If a survey of oncologists at the 2019 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium is any...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mak et al found that a crowd innovation contest produced automated artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms “that replicated the skills of a highly trained physician” in segmenting lung tumors for radiotherapy targeting. The investigators also noted...
We read with interest a recent article published on ASCOPost.com, which summarized a paper on the role of shared decision-making in lung cancer screening.1,2 The summary and original report highlight a mandate by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that bears careful...
A study by Xu et al in Clinical Cancer Research evaluating deep-learning networks that analyze time-series computed tomography (CT) images of patients with locally advanced NSCLC has found these networks can integrate imaging scans at multiple time points to improve clinical outcome...
As reported in The Lancet by Mok et al, the KEYNOTE-042 trial has shown an improvement in overall survival with pembrolizumab vs standard chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without a sensitizing EGFR mutation or ...
In the phase I/II NRG Oncology/RTOG 0813 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bezjak et al found that five-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) was associated with relatively low rates of serious treatment-related toxicity and good outcomes in patients with centrally...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bayman et al found that prophylactic radiotherapy to the chest wall after diagnostic or therapeutic procedures did not reduce the risk of chest wall metastases in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. In the open-label,...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the first-line treatment of patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation, or those with metastatic NSCLC....
Maintenance immunotherapy did not improve survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to late-breaking results from the CheckMate 451 study presented today by Owonikoko et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress 2019 (Abstract LBA1_PR). Around 60% to 70% of...
Two studies reported at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) 2019 provided new insights on the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although around half of all people newly diagnosed with NSCLC are elderly (Pallis ...
Two nonprofit organizations serving the lung cancer community—the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA)—have announced they are joining forces as the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer. With more than 3 decades of combined expertise, a...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson (LCI) recently announced the inaugural recipients of the AACR–Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Innovation Science Grants. The grants represent a new funding opportunity to support research...
On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with carboplatin and etoposide for the first-line treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. Approval was based on the IMpower133 study (ClinicalTrials.gov...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mor et al found that veterans with advanced lung cancer treated in Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers with high hospice use were more likely to receive concurrent cancer care but less likely to receive aggressive care. Moreover, veterans treated at...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Sun et al, a long-term update of the phase III NRG Oncology/RTOG 0214 trial has shown that prophylactic cranial irradiation was associated with a reduced incidence of brain metastases and improved disease-free survival—but not overall survival—compared...
The results of an analysis of pooled data from the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 trial and the phase II KEYNOTE-158 study of the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab in the treatment of advanced small cell lung cancer has found that the therapy provided antitumor...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shaw et al found that lorlatinib showed greater efficacy in patients with vs without anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) resistance mutations among patients with advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in whom one or more...
DISCUSSANT OF the CheckMate 384 trial, Siwen Hu-Lieskovan, MD, PhD, Director of Solid Tumor Immunotherapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, called the short-term safety data “convincing.” However, she noted that the long-term impact of intermittent, lower-minimum concentration...
PATIENTS WITH advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may no longer have to come to the clinic every 2 weeks for treatment. According to a descriptive analysis of the phase IIIb/IV CheckMate 384 study, a more convenient dosing option of nivolumab has demonstrated convincing short-term safety...
A new method of determining the sequence of molecules in DNA can be used to detect small fragments of cancerous genetic material in blood samples from patients with lung cancer with a high degree of accuracy, according research published by Li et al in Annals of Oncology. Liquid Biopsies and...
Matthew A. Gubens, MD, of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses recent updates to the NCCN Guidelines in non–small cell lung cancer, including the use of pembrolizumab as a single agent or in combination based on PD-L1 status, treatment selection in squamous and nonsquamous patients, and how mutational status affects treatment strategy.
Jyoti D. Patel, MD, of the University of Chicago, discusses immunotherapy for locally advanced NSCLC, selecting patients for these treatments, and the potential toxicities of combination therapies.
Susan Y. Wu, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses how patient exposure to treatment guidelines improved smoking cessation counseling and the use of molecular testing, and decreased the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early-stage disease (Abstract 5).
Mark K. Ferguson, MD, of the University of Chicago Hospital, discusses frailty and loss of muscle tissue, which are common among patients with lung cancer. These conditions are linked with decreased survival as well as increased surgical complications, chemotherapy toxicity, and cost of care.
Jing Zeng, MD, of the University of Washington, discusses upstaging disease from stage III to stage IV, which can occur with repeat PET and/or CT scans for patients with locally advanced NSCLC, and the need for clinicians to stage disease properly to ensure appropriate treatment.
Ruqin Chen, MB, of the Mayo Clinic Florida, discusses early study findings that show molecular profiling with NF1, CD79a, and AKT3 could potentially improve prediction of progression-free survival in patients with lung cancer who are receiving immunotherapy.
Kyle F. Concannon, MD, of the University of Washington/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses study results on the delays in biopsy after radiographic findings among homeless vs housed patients with lung cancer, and the higher rates of missed appointments following diagnosis (Abstract 125).
J. Fletcher Drogos, MD, of Rush University, discusses study findings on overall survival and toxicity among patients who undergo multiple radiation treatments for lung cancer.
Shraddha M. Dalwadi, MD, MBA, of Baylor College of Medicine, discusses the nearly 12% of potentially curable patients with stage I NSCLC who do not receive treatment, the various socioeconomic reasons why, and how some patients may benefit from minimally invasive therapies (Abstract 127).
Aaron S. Mansfield, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, summarizes a session he moderated on rare thoracic cancers such as mesothelioma and thymic epithelial tumors, as well as novel imaging and treatments in neuroendocrine tumors.
Heather A. Wakelee, MD, of Stanford University, discusses the most recent FDA-approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors that target EGFR and ALK mutations, how these agents fit into the treatment landscape, and the rapidly evolving field of TKI resistance.
Leora Horn, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses the progress made treating extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, improvements in progression-free and overall survival, and the fact that it’s still difficult to determine which patients will benefit most from immunotherapy.
On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with carboplatin and etoposide for the first-line treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. IMpower133 Approval was based on the IMpower133 study, a...
In a linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results and Medicare study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Salz et al found that chronic opioid use varied by cancer among older cancer survivors. By 6 years after diagnosis, survivors were no more likely to be chronic opioid users...
A new survey of radiation oncologists points to a sharp decline in the use of prophylactic cranial irradiation for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), indicating a rapid change in standard practice for the disease following the 2017 publication of a major clinical trial by...
A new clinical trial found that exposing patients to tailored versions of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN®) Guidelines for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may help drive smoking cessation, testing for potential biomarkers and, for early-stage disease, more...
A new analysis of patients treated with local consolidative therapy for oligometastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) found that the intensive treatment approach is associated with improved overall survival. Local consolidative therapy—consisting of radiation therapy or...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ready et al, the phase II CheckMate 568 trial has shown that higher tumor mutational burden is associated with response, irrespective of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in first-line nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab treatment of ...
The findings of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), reported in 2011, revealed that participants who received low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) scans had a 20% lower risk of dying of lung cancer than participants who received standard chest x-rays. Despite these results,...
The work of nine researchers who have previously received funding from Conquer Cancer is featured in ASCO’s Clinical Cancer Advances 2019. Visit CONQUER.ORG/CCA for more details. Immunotherapy At New York University Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York City, Leena Gandhi, MD, PhD, led a large...
Edward B. Garon, MD, of the Olive View–UCLA Medical Center, discusses phase IIIb/IV study findings on reducing the frequency of nivolumab dosing, from 480 mg every 4 weeks to 240 mg every 2 weeks, in patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract 100).
Nicolas Guibert, MD, PhD, of Toulouse University Hospital, discusses a simple algorithm built to predict durable outcomes of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer that has been treated with immunotherapy. He notes that early changes in circulating tumor DNA burden may also predict sustained responses to PD-1 inhibitors (Abstract 103).
Researchers hypothesized that targeting some genetic alterations in plasma cell–free DNA—along with early monitoring—could be an effective, noninvasive method for predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Findings...
Researchers reported similar efficacy and safety with an every-4-week regimen of nivolumab in the second-line setting compared to an every-2-week schedule in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Edward B. Garon, MD, and colleagues presented the results of an interim analysis of...
In the phase III TROG 09.02 CHISEL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ball et al found that stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy improved local disease control vs standard radiotherapy in peripherally located, inoperable stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The open-label trial ...
The proportion of early-stage drug trials tackling the most common tumor types has declined sharply since the early 1990s, as less common cancers receive increasing attention in trials, according to new research presented by Sato et al at the TAT 2019–International Congress on Targeted...
The number of guideline-recommended biomarkers to be assessed in patients with newly diagnosed, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is increasing. These biomarkers include both predictive targets—including EGFR, ALK, ROS1, BRAF, RET, MET, and ERBB2—and prognostic...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On October 30, 2018, pembrolizumab in combination with...