Web Exclusives

Until the late 1930s, stomach cancer—also called gastric cancer—was the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Although stomach cancer is still a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, it is now much less common in this country. Read Article ›

Rucaparib (Rubraca, Clovis Oncology) demonstrated promising antitumor activity in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and a deleterious BRCA alteration, according to results of a study published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Read Article ›

Black men with low-risk prostate cancer who were on active surveillance had an increased risk for disease progression and definitive treatment compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts, but not increased mortality, according to the results of a recent study. Read Article ›

On October 23, 2020, the FDA approved FoundationOne CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic for larotrectinib (Vitrakvi; Bayer), a drug currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have an NTRK gene fusion without a known acquired resistance mutation, are metastatic or where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity, and have no satisfactory alternative treatments or that have progressed following treatment. Read Article ›

On October 16, 2020, the FDA granted full approval to venetoclax (Venclexta; AbbVie and Genentech) in combination with azacitidine, decitabine, or low-dose cytarabine for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults aged ≥75 years or who have comorbidities precluding intensive induction chemotherapy. Read Article ›

ASCO guidelines cite significant improvement in progression-free survival when PARP inhibitors are used as maintenance therapy or in the setting of recurrent disease in women with advanced ovarian cancer who have responded to platinum-based chemotherapy in the first line. Read Article ›

In an analysis of the phase 3 PRIMA study, niraparib monotherapy as first-line maintenance after platinum-based chemotherapy improved progression-free survival in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer regardless of BRCA mutation status or homologous recombination status (deficient or proficient). Read Article ›

In the PAOLA-1 study, women with advanced ovarian cancer, regardless of BRCA mutation status, experienced a 40% reduction in the risk for disease progression or death when randomized to olaparib plus bevacizumab compared with placebo and bevacizumab. The reduction in risk with olaparib was greatest in patients whose tumors were homologous recombination deficient. Read Article ›

In a 4-arm randomized study, providing telephone genetic counseling only to those women who have a pathogenic mutation or who request the counseling is noninferior to mandatory pre- and posttest counseling, which may represent a new paradigm for genetic testing. Read Article ›

Selpercatinib Shows Durable Responses in Patients with Thyroid Cancer and RET Mutation
Venclexta plus Azacitidine Improves Overall Survival in Patients with AML
Advances in New Therapies Attributed to Reductions in Lung Cancer Mortality
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Initiating annual breast cancer screening at 40 years of age may reduce mortality rates in women, according to study results published August 12, 2020, in the journal The Lancet Oncology (Duffy SW, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2020;21:1165-1172). Starting earlier screening also did not result in overdiagnosis. Read Article ›

The results of an online questionnaire of 609 breast cancer survivors in the Unites States suggest that almost 50% experienced delays in care during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was published online on August 9, 2020, in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (Papautsky EL, et al. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2020 Aug 9. Epub ahead of print). Read Article ›