American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO)

Data presented at ASCO from the phase III DECISION trial showed treatment with the TKI sorafenib (Nexavar) delayed disease progression by 5 months in patients with metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer that had progressed on radioactive iodine.

Results of two phase III trials, presented at ASCO, on the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard therapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma found that the drug added no benefit.

The David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award, ASCO’s highest scientific honor, went this year to Dr. Martine J. Piccart, who is internationally recognized for her unflagging dedication and innovative approaches to the development of drugs and regimens that will truly make a difference in the lives of patients with breast cancer.

Results from the phase III GOG 240 trial, presented at ASCO, showed the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard chemotherapy improved overall survival by nearly 4 months in women with advanced or relapsed cervical cancer.

Biennial visual inspection with acetic acid (vinegar) screening by trained public health workers significantly reduced cervical cancer mortality in a large cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted among thousands of women from poor neighborhoods in Mumbai, India.

A single-center study analyzed the frequency of breast cancer susceptibility mutations among black women diagnosed with breast cancer. The findings suggest that broader genetic screening may be beneficial for these women. The study also suggests that family history is not the only criteria by which patients at risk for breast cancer can be identified.

In a study presented at ASCO, a team of researchers used microarrays to characterize 130 triple-negative breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy to see whether certain subtypes are more likely to respond to the treatment.

Building on the landmark studies of the immunotherapeutic agent ipilimumab just a few years back, ASCO 2013 saw the presentation of truly impressive data on two PD1 blockers, as well as noteworthy studies of other immunotherapeutic approaches to advanced melanoma.

Further analyses of data subsets from the ALSYMPCA study of the alpha particle-emitting isotope Ra-223 (Xofigo) were presented at ASCO, providing additional evidence of efficacy and safety of the recently FDA approved therapeutic agent.

A phase III study, presented at ASCO, comparing pemetrexed and carboplatin with paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab failed to find a difference in a composite endpoint of progression-free survival and severe drug-related toxicities in patients with nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer.

A simple serum protein test can help guide treatment decisions between chemotherapy and erlotinib as second-line therapy for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, according to results of a phase III study presented at ASCO.

Results from the GALAXY-1 trial showed that the novel second-generation heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor ganetespib could potentially improve survival in patients with advanced-stage non–small-cell lung cancer.

A study presented at ASCO shows that axillary radiotherapy results in similar outcomes to axillary lymph node dissection, but halved the incidence of lymphedema.

A phase III trial presented at ASCO showed similar efficacy between two adjuvant paclitaxel regimens, but the weekly regimen led to fewer patient side effects.

Addition of curcuminoids to treatment with docetaxel was well tolerated and showed promise in improving the response rate to docetaxel “in terms of both PSA decrease and objective response” in a phase II trial in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Monotherapy with enzalutamide (Xtandi) achieved a “high PSA response rate and marked PSA decline” in patients with hormone-naïve prostate cancer after 6 months in a single-arm, multicenter phase II study.

Guiding treatment for non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using expression levels of the proteins RRM1 and ERCC1 led to no difference in either progression-free or overall survival, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.

A massive French database study shows that genetic tumor profiling in patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is feasible, and is already helping physicians guide treatment in many patients, according to results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.

Women diagnosed with estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer who took tamoxifen for 10 years as adjuvant therapy had lower risk of late recurrence and lower risk of death compared to those who took the drug for 5 years. These results corroborate the findings of the international ATLAS trial.

Treatment with 200 µmol per day of sulforaphane for 20 weeks was “feasible, safe,” and inhibited histone deacetylase (HDAC) function in a single-arm study of 20 patients who had non-castrate biochemical (PSA)-recurrence of prostate cancer despite surgery or radiation.

Ahead of the 2013 ASCO meeting we highlight some of this year's prostate cancer sessions, many of which focus on how best to use the new agents that have been approved recently, as well as looking into new drugs and combinations presented from early trials.

A large study shows that middle-age men engaged in lots of cardiovascular exercise have a reduced risk of developing and dying from lung and colorectal cancer.

CancerNetwork and the journal ONCOLOGY present an exclusive interview with Dr. Kimberly Blackwell, Duke Cancer Institute, who discusses some of the most important information to come out of this year’s meeting and talks about the future of breast cancer research.

Cancer Network presents an exclusive interview with Joel W. Neal, MD, PhD, who discusses some of the most important information to come out of this year’s meeting and talks about the future of lung cancer research.

Impressive interim results from a phase Ib/II trial of ibrutinib, a selective Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were reported at ASCO.

The results of a randomized phase III trial show paclitaxel beat two newer chemotherapies, nab-paclitaxel and ixabepilone in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer patients who have not had prior systemic therapies.

Women previously treated for HER2-positive breast cancer have lower rates of relapse when given a novel peptide vaccine. The AE37 vaccine showed a 43% risk reduction in these patients after 22 months of follow-up in a phase IIb clinical trial.

Bendamustine plus rituximab should be considered as the preferred first-line treatment of follicular and indolent lymphomas, and the elderly with mantle cell lymphoma.

At the ASCO annual meeting, researchers presented persuasive evidence that a new class of targeted agents-MEK inhibitors-may warrant inclusion in the growing armamentarium for patients with advanced BRAF-mutated melanoma.

In this exclusive interview, Michael B. Atkins, MD, director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses some of the most important melanoma research to come out of this year’s ASCO meeting and talks about the future of melanoma therapies.