ASCO Annual Meeting

Adding the VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab to standard docetaxel improved overall survival by 1.4 months versus docetaxel alone in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer.

Mark D. Pegram, MD, from the Stanford University Medical Center, discusses a phase II study of margetuximab in patients with relapsed or refractory advanced breast cancer whose tumors express HER2 at the 2+ level by immunohistochemistry and lack evidence of HER2 gene amplification by FISH.

Combining the oral targeted agents olaparib and cediranib resulted in a near-doubling of median progression-free survival (PFS) among women with recurrent ovarian cancer in a phase II study highlighted Saturday during the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

Treatment with single-agent ibrutinib dramatically increased PFS by nearly 80% and significantly extended OS by 57% compared with ofatumumab in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL.

Lenvatinib, a novel multityrosine kinase inhibitor, is highly effective against differentiated thyroid cancer that has become resistant to standard RAI therapy.

Patients with less aggressive, HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer can be effectively treated with a lower-dose radiation regimen depending upon their response to combination induction therapy.

Denise A. Yardley, MD, hematologist/oncologist, Sarah Cannon Research Institute discusses a pilot study to assess safety, pharmacokinetics, and effects on circulating estrogens in women with advanced hormone-positive breast cancer when given enzalutamide plus exemestane.

Adding goserelin to chemotherapy for women with early-stage hormone receptor (HR)-negative breast cancer helps both to preserve their fertility and to prolong their survival.

A phone-based intervention that offers practical tools to help family caregivers support their loved one with advanced cancer-as well as emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle themselves-resulted in less caregiver depression and better quality of life, according to the findings of a new study presented May 30 at the 50th Annual ASCO Meeting in Chicago.

Maha Hussain, MD, from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the possibility of ETS gene fusions acting as a predictive biomarker for prostate cancer.

For patients with less than a year to live, the discontinuation of statins may increase the median time-to-death and improve quality of life.

Silvia Formenti, MD, The Sandra and Edward H. Meyer Professor of Radiation Oncology chair, Radiation Oncology, NYU Langone Medical Center, associate director, Radiation Oncology, Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone, discusses a trial that examines concurrent adjuvant systemic therapy and accelerated radiotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)

Anna C. Pavlick, DO, associate professor, Hematology and Medical Oncology, medical director, Clinical Trials Office, Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone, discusses a phase II trial exploring low-dose cyclophosphamide and ipilimumab in metastatic melanoma.

Jason J. Luke, MD, instructor, Department of Medicine, Harvard School of Medicine, staff physician, medical oncologist- melanoma, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the controversy behind the COMBI-d trial results.

In December 2013, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that asymptomatic, high-risk individuals receive annual screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT).

The new targeted drug, PLX3397, has demonstrated responses in patients with pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS), a rare joint disorder.

Obesity significantly increases the risk of dying of breast cancer in premenopausal women with ER-positive early disease.

A rising prostate-specific antigen after surgery or radiation therapy for prostate cancer is not enough reason, on its own, to initiate androgen-deprivation therapy.

The highly selective EGFR inhibitor AZD9291 demonstrated an overall response rate of 64% without inducing dose-limiting toxicities in patients with metastatic NSCLC who harbor an acquired EGFR T790M resistance mutation.

Richard D. Carvajal, MD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the background of the investigation of selumetinib for advanced uveal melanoma.

Sandra Swain, MD, medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, highlights information presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Meeting.

A. Oliver Sartor, MD, Director of the Tulane Cancer Center, describes the mechanism of action of radium-223 for bone metastases from prostate cancer.

Keerthi Gogineni, MD, MSHP, medical oncologist, Abramson Cancer Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, comments on oncology drug shortages in the U.S.

Timothy S. Pardee, MD, describes a phase I trial looking at the first-in-class mitochondrial metabolism inhibitor CPI-613 in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies.

Electra D. Paskett, PhD, Professor, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, discusses the use of vinegar as a cervical cancer screening tool in the U.S.

Bruce Roth, MD, from the Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, discusses the optimism for a cure with immunotherapies.

Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, Chief, Hematology Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, discusses the treatment of advanced melanoma.

David R. Gandara, MD, from UC Davis Cancer Center, discusses treatment with the heat shock protein 90 inhibitor ganetespib.