ASCO Annual Meeting | Conference

Despite Recommendations, Aggressive Cancer Treatment Still Common at End of Life

June 6th 2016

An analysis of over 28,000 patients younger than 65 with incurable cancers found that approximately three-fourths of them received aggressive care within the last 30 days of life and one-third died in the hospital.

Web App Boosts Survival for Lung Cancer Patients

June 6th 2016

Patients with lung cancer who participated in a web-based system for reporting and tracking their symptoms achieved dramatic gains in survival compared with individuals who were followed with typical protocols.

Cancer Drugs Less Affordable in Poorer Countries Despite Lower Prices

June 6th 2016

Researchers who set out to understand the affordability of cancer drugs across the globe concluded that lower prices in some poorer countries don’t equate to better access.

Dabrafenib/Trametinib Combo Highly Effective in BRAF-Mutant NSCLC

June 6th 2016

The combination of dabrafenib and trametinib was highly effective as a treatment for patients with BRAF V600E-mutant non–small cell lung cancer.

Nivolumab Delivers Durable Responses in Hodgkin Lymphoma

June 6th 2016

Single-agent nivolumab induced responses in 66% of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma who had progressed following autologous stem cell transplant and brentuximab vedotin.

Nivolumab 5-Year OS Rate Passes 30% in Advanced RCC

June 6th 2016

About one third of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who were treated with single-agent nivolumab in the second-line setting or later were still alive at 4 and 5 years in long-term follow-up data from phase I and phase II clinical trials.

Atezolizumab Effective in First-Line Setting in Bladder Cancer

June 6th 2016

Patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma who were ineligible for standard cisplatin-based chemotherapy achieved a 24% reduction in tumor size and had a median survival of 14.8 months after taking the immunotherapy agent atezolizumab (Tecentriq).

Bernard Fox on Significance of Immunoscore Validation Project

June 6th 2016

Bernard A. Fox, PhD, chief, Laboratory of Molecular and Tumor Immunology, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute at Providence Portland Medical Center, discusses the significance of the Immunoscore Validation Project.

Extending AI Therapy Beyond 5 Years Reduces Recurrence in HR-Positive Breast Cancer

June 6th 2016

Women who extended their adjuvant therapy with an aromatase inhibitor to 10 years after treatment for their early-stage HR-positive breast cancer reduced their risk of recurrence by more than a third and experienced no new toxicities or worsening of quality of life.

Dr. Balar on IMvigor 210 Results for Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

June 6th 2016

Arjun V. Balar, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, co-leader of the Genitourinary Cancers Program, discusses updated results of cohort 1 of the IMvigor 210 study, which examined the efficacy of atezolizumab as first-line therapy in patients with cisplatin-ineligible locally advanced/metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Survival in Recurrent GBM Surpasses Historical Results with Gene Therapy

June 6th 2016

A novel antiangiogenic gene therapy, added to bevacizumab, led to significantly better overall survival in recurrent glioblastoma multiforme compared with historical patients treated with bevacizumab alone, a small phase II trial showed.

Novel Gastric Cancer Immunotherapy Scores Robust Phase II Results

June 6th 2016

IMAB362 reduced the risk of death or progression by approximately 50% when added to standard chemotherapy for patients with CLDN18.2-positive advanced gastric cancers.

Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Combo Active in Microsatellite Instability-High mCRC

June 6th 2016

Nivolumab (Opdivo) as a monotherapy and in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy) demonstrated promising antitumor activity in patients with high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer.

Rovalpituzumab Tesirine Shows Promising Efficacy for SCLC

June 6th 2016

Treatment with rovalpituzumab tesirine demonstrated single-agent activity and a manageable safety profile for patients with recurrent/refractory small cell lung cancer.

Daratumumab Combo Shows Unprecedented PFS Benefit in Multiple Myeloma

June 5th 2016

Adding daratumumab to bortezomib and dexamethasone reduced the risk of progression or death by 61%, and doubled response rates compared with the standard 2-drug regimen alone for patients with recurrent or refractory multiple myeloma.

Adding Temozolomide to Radiotherapy Is Effective and Tolerable in Older Adults With Glioblastoma

June 5th 2016

Adding temozolomide to short-course radiotherapy after surgery boosted overall survival by nearly 2 months, bringing 1-year survival rates up from 22.2% to 37.8% for elderly patients with glioblastoma.

Dr. Palumbo on CASTOR Trial Results in Multiple Myeloma

June 5th 2016

Antonio Palumbo, MD, chief, Myeloma Unit, Department of Oncology, Section of Hematology, University of Torino, Italy, discusses the phase III results of the CASTOR trial, which was a randomized controlled study examining the efficacy of daratumumab (Darzalex), bortezomib (Velcade), and dexamethasone versus bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Frontline Response Nears 60% in PD-L1+ NSCLC

June 5th 2016

Upfront treatment with the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab demonstrated an objective response rate of 57% in patients with PD-L1-positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer.

Final Phase III Data Uphold CPX-351 Survival Benefit in AML

June 5th 2016

CPX-351 reduced the risk of death by 31% compared with cytarabine and daunorubicin (7+3) for older patients with high-risk, secondary AML.

Adding 4-1BB Agonist to Pembrolizumab Safe, Effective Across Solid Tumors

June 5th 2016

The combination of the 4-1BB agonist utomilumab and the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab was safe and effective as a treatment for patients with advanced solid tumors.