2018 ASCO Annual Meeting
David F. McDermott, MD, on RCC: Results of the KEYNOTE-427 Trial
David F. McDermott, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, discusses study findings on pembrolizumab monotherapy as first-line therapy in advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (Abstract 4500)...
Nathan A. Pennell, MD, PhD, on NSCLC: Lowering Genetic Testing Costs
Nathan A. Pennell, MD, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic, discusses the economic impact of next generation sequencing vs sequential single-gene testing modalities to detect genomic alterations in newly dia...
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, and A. Oliver Sartor, MD, on Prostate Cancer: Perspectives on Outcomes for Black and White Patients
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of City of Hope, and A. Oliver Sartor, MD, of Tulane University School of Medicine, discuss the implications of findings on black and white patients with metastatic castrate-resist...
Aviva C. Krauss, MD, on Multiple Myeloma: Treatment Trials Analysis
Aviva C. Krauss, MD, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, discusses findings on an FDA analysis of immune-related adverse events and response to pembrolizumab in multiple myeloma (Abstract 8008).
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, and Neeraj Agarwal, MD, on Prostate Cancer: The Talapro-2 Trial
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of the City of Hope, and Neeraj Agarwal, MD, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, discuss the ongoing phase III Talapro-2 study of talazoparib with background enza...
Apostolia-Maria Tsimberidou, MD, PhD, on Precision Medicine: Results From the IMPACT Study
Apostolia-Maria Tsimberidou, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses findings on clinical outcomes, including long-term survival, according to the pathway targeted and...
Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, on Using Immunotherapy in the Community Setting: 2018 Update on an ACCC Program
Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, of West Cancer Center, reports on the progress of the ACCC Immuno-Oncology Institute to speed adoption of immunotherapeutics in community practices.
Danh Pham, MD: Lung Cancer Screening Rates Still Too Low
Danh Pham, MD, of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, discusses his findings using a registry on the low rates of screening with low-dose computed tomography, despite its p...
Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, on Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Results From the TRANSCEND NHL 001 Trial
Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses study findings on lisocabtagene maraleucel in relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL (Abstract 7505).
William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, and Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, on CLL: Results From the CAPTIVATE Trial
Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discuss phase II findings on ibrutinib plus ...
Nathan Hale Fowler, MD, and Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, on Follicular Lymphoma: Results From the RELEVANCE Trial
Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Nathan Hale Fowler, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discuss phase III study findings on lenalidomide...
Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD, on Right to Try: Expert Perspective
Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD, of the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, discusses implications of the federal “Right to Try” law, recently enacted.
Laurence Albiges, MD, PhD, and Toni K. Choueiri, MD, on RCC: Novel Combinations for Advanced Disease
Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Laurence Albiges, MD, PhD, of Gustave Roussy, discuss two treatment studies: one testing pegilodecakin with nivolumab or pembrolizumab and th...
Laurence Albiges, MD, PhD, and Toni K. Choueiri, MD, on Metastatic RCC: Perspectives on the Carmena Trial
Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Laurence Albiges, MD, PhD, of Gustave Roussy, discuss the implications of this study’s potentially practice-changing finding that nephrectomy...
Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Results From the PAKT Trial
Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, of Queen Mary University of London, discusses phase II study findings on AZD5363 plus paclitaxel vs placebo plus paclitaxel as first-line therapy for metastatic triple-negative ...
Ryan D. Nipp, MD, on Electronic Symptom Monitoring: Trial Results
Ryan D. Nipp, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses study findings on electronic symptom monitoring vs usual care to assess whether the intervention, tested in hospitalized patients with ad...
Rita Elias Assi, MD, on AML and Genomics
Rita Elias Assi, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the impact of next-generation sequencing on treatment selection in acute myeloid leukemia (Abstract 103).
Joseph A. Sparano, MD, on Breast Cancer: Results of the TAILORx Trial
Joseph A. Sparano, MD, of Montefiore Medical Center, discusses phase III study results on chemoendocrine treatment vs endocrine treatment alone in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-negati...
Arnaud Méjean, MD, PhD, on RCC: Results From the Carmena Trial
Arnaud Méjean, MD, PhD, of the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, discusses his study’s potentially practice-changing finding that nephrectomy is no longer the standard of care for patients with metas...
Gilberto Lopes, MD, MBA, on NSCLC: Results From the KEYNOTE-042 Trial
Gilberto Lopes, MD, MBA, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, discusses phase III findings on pembrolizumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment f...
Gianni Bisogno, MD, on Rhabdomyosarcoma: Results From the European Paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group
Gianni Bisogno, MD, of the University Hospital of Padova, discusses study findings on maintenance low-dose chemotherapy in patients with high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma (Abstract LBA2).
2018 ASCO: Carmena Trial Compares Nephrectomy Plus Adjuvant Sunitinib vs Sunitinib Alone in Metastatic RCC
The randomized phase III Carmena trial showed that many people with advanced kidney cancer can avoid nephrectomy without compromising survival. The median overall survival for people who received the ...
2018 ASCO: TAILORx: Most Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer Can Forgo Chemotherapy When Guided by a Diagnostic Test
The federally funded, phase III TAILORx clinical trial showed that most women with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative, axillary node–negative early-stage breast cancer and a mid...
2018 ASCO: Low-Dose Maintenance Chemotherapy in Rhabdomyosarcoma
A new chemotherapy strategy seems to improve cure rates for children with rhabdomyosarcoma who are at high risk for cancer recurrence. In a randomized phase III clinical trial, adding 6 months of low-...
2018 ASCO: KEYNOTE-042 Trial Compares Pembrolizumab With Chemotherapy as First-Line Treatment of NSCLC With PD-L1 Expression of 1% or More
A large, randomized phase III trial shows that the immunotherapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is a more effective initial treatment than chemotherapy (the current standard of care) for the majority of pat...
Manisha H. Shah, MD, on Thyroid Cancer: Advances in Precision Medicine
Manisha H. Shah, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, summarizes a session she chaired on progress in tailored treatments for medullary and anaplastic thyroid cancers as well ...
Nancy Davidson: Serendipity and Purpose (with Allen S. Lichter, MD)
Allen S. Lichter, MD, ASCO’s former Chief Executive Officer, talks with Nancy E. Davidson, MD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the 2018 recipient of the Visionary Leader Award, named for Dr...
Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD, on Breast Cancer Staging: New and Important Changes
Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the 8th edition of the TNM staging system, which includes prognostic stage groups based on clinical and patho...
Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, on Lung Cancer: Results From the Circulating Cancer Genome Atlas Study
Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses genome-wide sequencing for early-stage lung cancer detection from plasma cell–free DNA (Abstract LBA8501).
Robert J. Kreitman, MD, on Hairy Cell Leukemia: Results From an International Study
Robert J. Kreitman, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses findings on moxetumomab pasudotox in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia (Abstract 7004).
Robert M. Jotte, MD, PhD, on NSCLC: Results From the IMpower131 Trial
Robert M. Jotte, MD, PhD, of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, discusses phase III study findings on atezolizumab plus carboplatin plus paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel vs carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel, as...
Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD, on Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia
Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD, of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, discusses phase III findings on ibrutinib/rituximab vs placebo/rituximab in Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (Abstract...
Supriya G. Mohile, MD, on Communicating With Older Cancer Patients: Results From a Community Trial
Supriya G. Mohile, MD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center, discusses study findings on ways to improve communication with older cancer patients using geriatric assessment (Abstract LBA10003...
Martee L. Hensley, MD, on Leiomyosarcoma: Results From a GOG Treatment Trial
Martee L. Hensley, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses phase III study findings on adjuvant gemcitabine plus docetaxel followed by doxorubicin vs observation for uterus-limited, h...
2018 ASCO: Blood Test Shows Potential as a Detection Tool for Early-Stage Lung Cancer
An initial report from the large, ongoing Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study provides preliminary evidence that a blood test may be able to detect early-stage lung cancer. This is one of ...
2018 ASCO: IMpower 131 Studies Addition of Atezolizumab to Chemotherapy in Advanced Squamous NSCLC
Initial findings from a randomized phase III clinical trial showed that patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) benefit more from initial treatment with the programmed...
2018 ASCO: Genomic Study Finds Lynch Syndrome Is Common Among Patients With MSI-High Tumors
A genomic study of more than 15,000 tumor samples showed that people who have tumors with high microsatellite instability (MSI-H)—a genomic marker associated with a large number of genetic mutat...
2018 ASCO: IMPACT Trial Matches Treatment to Genetic Changes in the Tumor to Improve Survival Across Multiple Cancer Types
Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of consecutive, prospectively molecularly profiled patients with advanced cancer who participated in a large, personalized medicine trial. They found tha...
Jed A. Katzel, MD, on Head and Neck Cancer: Findings on Treatment of Female Patients
Jed A. Katzel, MD, of Kaiser Permanente, discusses his team’s findings on the disparities in head and neck cancer treatment for women and the possible missed opportunities to take a more aggressive an...
Susan Halabi, PhD, on Prostate Cancer: Overall Survival for Black vs White Men
Susan Halabi, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center, discusses an analysis that showed an increase in overall survival in African American men vs Caucasian men, all of whom had metastatic castration-...
Daniel J. George, MD, on Prostate Cancer: Outcomes for Black and White Patients
Daniel J. George, MD, of Duke University, discusses findings from a multicenter study of black and white patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer treated with abiraterone acetate an...
2018 ASCO: Black Men With Advanced Prostate Cancer Treated With Chemotherapy May Have Equal or Better Survival Than White Men
An analysis of pooled data from 9 randomized phase III trials of more than 8,000 men with advanced prostate cancer who received chemotherapy shows chances of survival are as good for black men as whit...
2018 ASCO: Abiraterone May Be More Effective in Black Men With Advanced Prostate Cancer Than in White Men
In a prospective clinical trial of 100 men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the response to the hormone treatment abiraterone (Yonsa, Zytiga) was greater and longer-lasting in bla...
2018 ASCO: Gender Disparities in Head and Neck Cancer Treatment and Outcomes
An analysis of cancer registry data from a California hospital system showed that women with head and neck cancer were less likely to receive intensive chemotherapy (35% vs 46%) and radiation (60% vs ...
2018 ASCO: Geriatric Assessment Improves Communication Between Oncologists and Older Patients
A federally funded randomized study demonstrated that the use of geriatric assessment in routine care of older adults with advanced cancer significantly improved doctor-patient communication about age...
2018 ASCO: Treatment for Colorectal Cancer in Washington State Costs Twice as Much as in Neighboring Area of Canada, Despite No Difference in Survival
An analysis of health claims data from two demographically similar regions on either side of the U.S./Canada border shows that a common treatment for advanced colorectal cancer costs twice as much in ...
Treating Insomnia in Cancer Survivors
A Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute–supported randomized clinical trial of cancer survivors showed that 8 weeks of either acupuncture or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) de...
Upfront Use of Nelarabine Plus Chemotherapy Improves Disease-Free Survival in T-Cell Malignancies
Upfront use of nelarabine plus standard Children’s Oncology Group–augmented Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (aBFM) chemotherapy boosted survival rates in children and young adults with newly diagnosed T-cell...
ASCO’s Incoming President Sets Her Goals for the Next Year
With all the advances in oncology care over the past decade, the most important contribution to high-quality care remains the personal connection between oncologist and patient, said Monica M. Bert...
For Adjuvant Trastuzumab, 6 Months Is Noninferior to 12 Months
The noninferiority phase III Persephone trial could shake up the standard of care for adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin), showing that patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer derived as mu...
