February 15, 2014, Volume 5, Issue 3

Immunotherapy Duo Improves Survival in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

Overall survival was improved in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients through an innovative immunotherapy strategy in a multicenter study reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 “This is the first time a randomized study has shown that immunotherapy is effective in pancreatic ...

The Surgeon General’s Report on Tobacco Turns 50: Much Success, Much Work Ahead

On January 11, 2014, the nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of a document that transformed our public health landscape and has saved millions of lives: Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. This groundbreaking report, which...

ASCO's Education and Professional Development Services

Last September, Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, left her position as Professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago to join ASCO as its Senior Director of Education, Science and Professional Development. In her new position, Dr. Von Roenn will provide strategi...

Ramucirumab Plus Paclitaxel Improves Overall Survival After First Progression in Metastatic Gastric Cancer

In the global phase III RAINBOW trial in patients with metastatic gastric cancer, the investigational monoclonal antibody ramucirumab significantly improved both progression-free and overall survival, when added to paclitaxel in second-line therapy, as reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancer...

Maintenance Treatment With Capecitabine and Bevacizumab Is Effective in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, maintenance treatment with capecitabine plus bevacizumab (Avastin) after induction treatment with capecitabine, oxaliplatin, and bevacizumab (CAPOX-B) significantly delayed disease progression, compared to observation, according to the final results ...

FDA Accepts New Drug Application for Idelalisib in Refractory Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the New Drug Application (NDA) for idelalisib, a targeted, oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta, for the treatment of refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The FDA has granted a standard review for the NDA, with a target review date of Se...

FDA Approves CliniMACS CD34 Reagent System for the Prevention of Graft-vs-Host Disease in AML

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Miltenyi Biotec’s CliniMACS CD34 Reagent System as a Humanitarian Use Device for the prevention of graft-vs-host disease in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplan...

Margaret A. Tempero, MD, Named Editor-in-Chief of JNCCN

JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), has named Margaret A. Tempero, MD, as Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Tempero assumed the position of Editor-in-Chief on February 3, 2014, succeeding Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, wh...

New Society Launched for Advanced Practitioners in Hematology and Oncology

The Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) announced its launch as a new organization focused on meeting the unique educational and professional needs of the advanced practitioner in hematology and oncology. The formation of the Society was made public on January 26, 20...

SABCS Highlights Include Findings in Triple-Negative Disease, Protective Effects of Exercise, and the Adherence-Copay Link

The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium brings together specialists from all over the world who focus on management of breast cancer. We have covered many of the important presentations in the pages of The ASCO Post and in our online Evening News. Below are summaries of additional noteworthy meet...

Postmastectomy Pain Effectively Treated With a Simple Injection

For postmastectomy neuropathic pain, perineural infiltration with a combination of bupivacaine and dexamethasone is a “simple, effective, practice-changing treatment that any surgeon can do,” according to Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA, Professor of Surgery and Radiology at the University of Californ...

Addition of Novel Antiangiogenic Agent of No Benefit in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Ramucirumab added to first-line docetaxel failed to improve progression-free survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer in the large, randomized, placebo-controlled ROSE/TRIO-12 trial.1 An interim analysis of overall survival showed no advantage for the addition of ramucirumab. This study...

Switching Chemotherapy Based on Elevated Circulating Tumor Cells Does Not Change Outcome in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Elevated circulating tumor cells were prognostic for survival but did not pan out as a marker for switching after one cycle of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. The phase III Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) S0500 clinical trial, presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cance...

ASH Studies Refine Myeloma Treatment and Show Promise for New Agents

Multiple myeloma researchers moved the field forward at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, presenting evaluations of treatment schedules and reports of encouraging activity with compounds in development. Alternating vs Sequential Regimens In 231 newly diagnosed elderly ...

Novel Agents Show Activity in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

PI3K-mediated activation of downstream effectors allows tumors to escape from negative growth control, and this action may be checked with PI3K inhibitors. At the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, researchers reported results in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphom...

ASH Studies Confirm Benefit of Rituximab Maintenance in Follicular Lymphoma

Findings from two major studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting not only confirm the benefit of rituximab (Rituxan) maintenance in follicular lymphoma, but also indicate that the longer the maintenance period, the greater the impact on progression-free survival...

Ibrutinib Induces Prompt and Durable Responses in Some Lymphomas

The Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) is changing the landscape of treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. New research with the drug in lymphoma, presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, indicates it may be of benefit in ...

Breast Implant–Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Shows Better Outcome in Cases With No Distinct Tumor Mass

Only recently described, breast implant–associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma usually presents as an effusion-associated fibrous capsule surrounding the implant and less frequently as a mass. Little is known about the natural history and long-term outcomes of such disease. In a study reported...

ASCO and College of American Pathologists Guideline Update: Recommendations for HER2 Testing in Breast Cancer

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and College of American Pathologists (CAP) recently convened an Update Committee to conduct a systematic literature review and update recommendations for optimal HER2 testing. In particular, the Committee identified criteria and areas requiring cla...

University of Pittsburgh Researchers Awarded More than $1 Million by NIH to Study New Treatments for Pancreatic Cancer Patients

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a 5-year grant of more than $1.5 million to Herbert J. Zeh III, MD, and Michael T. Lotze, MD, at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), partner with UPMC CancerCenter, to study a novel treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinom...

Serving the Underserved: Dr. Gina Villani and ASCO’s Health Disparities Committee Work to Minimize Cancer Care Gaps

It has been a little over a decade since the Institute of Medicine landmark report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care found overwhelming evidence of racial disparities in the U.S. health-care system. Since then, ASCO has been dedicated to minimizing these ...

ASCO Turns Attention to Community Researchers With Community Research Forum

The implementation of clinical trials and quality research programs by community-based investigators and research staff is one of the most effective weapons available in the fight against cancer. The ASCO Community Research Forum was designed in support of this mission and to aid these profession...

Conquer Cancer Foundation Launches New Planned Giving Website

In November of 2013, the Conquer Cancer Foundation partnered with the Stelter Company—one of the leaders of planned giving resources in the nonprofit community—to launch a new planned giving portal on the Foundation’s website. The planned giving portal focuses on the variety of ways individuals c...

The Latest From the 2014 Genitourinary Symposium

Help your patients catch up on the latest research on genitourinary cancers—direct them to www.cancer .net/gusymposium for summaries of what the latest research means for patient care and a podcast with an ASCO expert explaining the importance of this research. They can also look for coverage of ...

Charting the Successes: CancerProgress.Net Chronicles More Than 50 Years of ASCO and Progress Against Cancer

On this historic year, as ASCO proudly commemorates its 50th anniversary and decades of evolutionary change and growth, it also celebrates the significant progress that has been made against cancer throughout history. ASCO’s anniversary website, CancerProgress.Net, chronicles these achievements a...

It’s Time to Reignite Our Nation’s Commitment to Cancer Research

As 2014 rolls in, ASCO is calling for a renewed commitment to federal funding of cancer research. In a letter sent to House and Senate Appropriations leaders, ASCO urged Congress to use spending levels in the recently passed budget to set the highest possible funding level for the National Instit...

Long-Term Follow-up Indicates Increased Telomere Length With Lifestyle Change in Men With Low-Risk Prostate Cancer

Short telomere length in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is associated with aging and age-related diseases such as cancer, stroke, vascular dementia, cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and diabetes. Telomere attrition is considered a potential mechanism in triggering the chromosoma...

Indiana University Simon Cancer Center Receives $15 Million Pledge

The Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer recently announced a $15 million pledge to support breast cancer research at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. This new pledge adds to the previous $20 million in commitments completed in November 2013 and will continue to fu...

NIH Makes Palliative Care More Attainable for Pediatric Patients and Their Families

A campaign “Palliative Care: Conversations Matter” recently launched by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) aims to increase the use of palliative care for children with serious illness. Palliative care can reduce a child’s pain, help manage other distressing symptoms, and provide i...

Trametinib and Dabrafenib in Combination for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma With BRAF V600E or V600K Mutations

On January 9, 2014, the combination of trametinib (Mekinist) and dabrafenib (Tafinlar) was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K mutations as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test....

City of Hope Receives $10 Million Gift to Launch Lymphoma Research and Treatment Center

A $10 million gift from Internet publishing entrepreneurs and philanthropists Emmet and Toni Stephenson and their daughter Tessa Stephenson Brand will fund the creation of the Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center at City of Hope, Duarte, California, the cornerstone of the institution’s new Hematologic...

Radiation Oncology Institute Awards $200,000 Grant to Christopher Slatore, MD

The Radiation Oncology Institute (ROI) has named Christopher G. Slatore, MD, recipient of a $200,000 award, distributed over 2 years, for a project to examine the comparative value of radiation therapy and patient outcomes among patients with lung cancer. Dr. Slatore is Assistant Professor in the...

FDA Programs to Expedite Drug and Biologic Product Development

With the advent of Breakthrough Therapy designation, there are now four FDA programs to expedite the development of promising new agents: Fast Track, Breakthrough Therapy, Priority Review, and Accelerated Approval (Table 1). These programs complement one another and serve a common goal: to speed ...

Milestones in Oncology, From ASCO’s CancerProgress.Net

To help tell the story of progress against cancer, ASCO launched CancerProgress.Net in 2011. The site is intended as a resource for media, policymakers, oncologists, advocates, and the public. One central feature of the site is an interactive timeline of major milestones in cancer treatment, prev...

Focus on the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology

Founded nearly 3 decades ago in response to unfavorable changes in Medicare reimbursement regulations and growing coverage issues with Michigan’s private payers that threatened oncologists’ ability to provide quality cancer care to patients, the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology (MSHO) ...

An Early Chemotherapy Innovator, Franco M. Muggia, MD, Now Focuses on Advancing Therapies for Ovarian Cancer

Looking over an illustrious career in medical oncology that spans 5 decades, Franco M. Muggia, MD, told The ASCO Post that he is excited about the future and hopes to continue making contributions to the field of oncology in years to come. At the forefront of the early clinical development of che...

Richard J. Gannotta, DHA, FACHE, Named President Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Northwestern Memorial HealthCare (NMHC) has announced that it has named Richard J. Gannotta, DHA, FACHE, President, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Senior Vice President, NMHC effective this month. Dr. Gannotta was President of Duke Raleigh Hospital of the Duke University Health System. “Rick ...

Ongoing NCI-Funded Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Hematologic Cancers: Lymphoma

LYMPHOMA Study Type: Randomized Phase II/Interventional Study Title: Phase II Study of Dose-Adjusted EPOCH/Rituximab in Adults With Untreated Burkitt Lymphoma or c-MYC Positive Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, and Dose-Adjusted EPOCH in Adults with c-MYC Positive Plasmablastic Lymphoma Study Sponso...

Ongoing NCI-Funded Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Hematologic Cancers: Leukemia

Study Type: Non-Randomized Phase I /Interventional Study Title: A Phase I Study of GNKG168 in Pediatric Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or Acute Myeloid Leukemia (IND#113600) Study Sponsor and Collaborators: Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia Consortium Purpose: To investigate ...

Ongoing NCI-Funded Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Hematologic Cancers: Multiple Myeloma

Study Type: Non-Randomized Phase I/Interventional Study Title: Multicenter Phase I Study of Th1/Tc1 Immunotherapy Following Autologous Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Transplantation in High-Risk Multiple Myeloma Study Sponsor and Collaborators: National Cancer Institute; Hackensack University Medi...

Integrative Oncology: Kava

Kava Scientific Name: Piper methysticum Common Names: Kava-kava, kawa, kavain, rauschpfeffer, intoxicating long pepper, tonga, yagona, and yaqona. Overview Kava, a perennial shrub indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Rim, is known for its relaxant effects and used for social and r...

NIH Names First Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, Hannah Valantine, MD

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. ­Collins, MD, PhD, has appointed Hannah Valantine, MD, to Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity. Dr. Valantine will lead NIH’s effort to diversify the biomedical research workforce by developing a vision and comprehensive strategy...

Lessons Learned in Cancer Care Communication

Over the past several decades, outcomes data have traced the success stories in cancer research and therapeutics. However, during those decades of increasingly rapid scientific breakthroughs, certain psychosocial components in the continuum of cancer care were often overlooked. One such element i...

2014 Oncology Meetings

FEBRUARY European Society for Medical Oncology Sarcoma and GIST 2014February 18-19 • Milan, ItalyFor more information: www.esmo.org 2014 BMT Tandem MeetingAmerican Society for Blood and Marrow TransplantationFebruary 19 - 23 • Orlando, FloridaFor more information: www.asbmt.org Multidisciplinary ...

Nothing Prepared Me for Cancer

Fourteen years ago, when I was just 29, I was feeling weak and fatigued and had severe pain in my abdomen. I’d had these symptoms for about a year, but none of the several doctors I saw or any of the tests they performed could find the source of my problems. I even had one nurse practitioner tell...

UN Agency Issues World Cancer Report 2014

A new global cancer report1 compiled by the United Nations’ International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) shows, as a single entity cancer is the biggest cause of mortality worldwide, and there were an estimated 8.2 million deaths from cancer in 2012. The report also noted that global cancer...

Confronting Uncertainty About the Harms and Benefits of Screening Mammography

“If women are to truly participate in the decision of whether or not to be screened [for breast cancer using mammography], they need some quantification of its benefits and harms,” asserted H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, and Honor J. Passow, PhD, Instructor, at The Dartmouth In...

Intact Gut Microbe Populations Improve Response to Chemotherapy

Gut microflora affect local and systemic inflammatory responses, and inflammation is involved in both pathogenesis and treatment of cancers, but it is unclear whether gut microflora affect inflammation in the sterile tumor microenvironment. In a study reported in Science, Iida and colleagues asse...

Effect of Cyclophosphamide Mediated by Gut Microflora

In a study reported in Science, Viaud and colleagues showed that the antitumor activity of cyclophosphamide is dependent on the effect of this agent on gut microflora. In mouse studies, the investigators found that cyclophosphamide altered the composition of microbiota in the small intestine, ind...

CYB5A Induces Autophagy, and Higher Expression Improves Survival in Pancreatic Cancer

Loss of 18q22.3 is a prognostic marker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Giovannetti and colleagues assessed the role of 18q22.3-encoded CYB5A in pancreatic cancer prognosis and autophagy modulation. In the study, both resect...

High Plasma Alkylresorcinols Associated With Reduced Risk of Distal Colon but Not Overall Colorectal Cancer

In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kyrø and colleagues found that high levels of plasma alkylresorcinols, biomarkers of dietary whole-grain wheat and rye intake, were associated with reduced risk of distal colon cancer. The study involved prediagnostic plasma samples...

High Expression of hENT1 Can Predict Better Survival Among Patients on Postsurgical Gemcitabine

High levels of expression of the human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) were associated with longer median survival of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma receiving gemcitabine, according to an analysis of clinical data and cancer tissue collected from the European Study Group f...

In CLL With Coexisting Conditions, Chlorambucil Produces Better Outcomes With Obinutuzumab Than With Rituximab

A randomized phase III trial conducted in 26 countries found that combining chlorambucil (Leukeran) with an anti-CD20 antibody—either obinutuzumab (Gazya) or rituximab (Rituxan)—produced better outcomes among patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and coexisting con...

Pomalidomide Plus Low-Dose Dexamethasone: Important New Option in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Pomalidomide (Pomalyst) plus low-dose dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival compared to pomalidomide alone in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma enrolled in a multicenter, open-label study, the phase II part of the MM-002 trial. The study confirmed the...

Anticipated Shortage of Oncologists Will Strain Ability to Provide Quality Cancer Care

An update of the ASCO 2007 oncology workforce study found that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, when fully implemented, may “modestly exacerbate” anticipated workforce shortages, increasing the demand for oncologists and radiation oncologists by 500,000 visits per year. “Unless onc...

Donald L. Morton, MD, an Icon in Surgical Oncology, Dies

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.” —John Wayne Donald L. Morton, MD, transformed the management of melanoma and breast cancer by introd...

Leukemia/Lymphoma Pioneer Geoffrey P. Herzig, MD, Dies

Many of the advances that have bettered mankind are attributed to those who were driven by a primary passion. Geoffrey P. Herzig, MD, lived the better part of his life with a primary passion: conducting research to increase the cure rate of leukemia and lymphoma patients. His friend and colleague...

Corrections to Note

In the January 15, 2014, issue of The ASCO Post, three errors occurred. These errors have since been corrected and revised versions of the articles may be viewed online at ASCOPost.com or via the QR code here. The errors were as follows below. Trastuzumab Dosing In the article “HER2-Positive Bre...

Role for Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Regimen in AML After Allogeneic Transplantation

Reduced-intensity conditioning and myeloablative-conditioning regimens following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) resulted in comparable survival, according to a study published in Blood. The study evaluated 181 patients, 39 treated with ...