Phoebe Starr

The addition of ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617, a radionuclide therapy that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), to standard-of-care treatment resulted in a 38% reduction in the risk for death versus standard of care alone in men with progressive PSMA-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), according to findings from the phase 3 VISION clinical trial, which were presented during a plenary session at the ASCO 2021 virtual annual meeting. Read More ›

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions to virtually all aspects of oncology care. There has been a steep drop in cancer diagnoses and screenings—a result of shelter-in-place policies instituted early on, as well as ongoing patient fears about returning to healthcare facilities for new appointments or follow-up care. Read More ›

Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning targeted to detect prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is poised to overtake conventional imaging, according to presentations at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Read More ›

Patients with metastatic urothelial cancer receive first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and second-line treatment with a checkpoint inhibitor. There is currently no approved third-line therapy for this malignancy. The investigational antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin may be a good choice for third-line therapy, based on the results of a phase 2 clinical trial presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

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Enzalutamide (Xtandi) and apalutamide (Erleada) had strong showings in 2 separate, randomized phase 3 clinical trials demonstrating that these drugs delay disease progression when added to background androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in ­patients with metastatic, hormone-­sensitive prostate cancer. Read More ›

Darolutamide, an investigational androgen receptor inhibitor, significantly improved metastasis-free survival in men with high-risk nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) compared with placebo in a large phase 3 clinical trial. Read More ›

“A shorter, hypofractionated schedule of radiation is noninferior to conventional radiation for disease control in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer at a median follow-up of 6 years,” said lead investigator Charles N. Catton, MD, FRCPC, Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who presented the study results.

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The study included 2 main comparisons of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus radiation and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus chemotherapy alone. The 3-year disease-free survival rate was 68% for adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus 63% for radiation alone, but this 5% difference was not statistically significant. The 3-year disease-free survival rate in the second comparison was 68% for chemoradiotherapy versus 56% for chemotherapy alone, a numerical trend toward improved survival with chemoradiotherapy.

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Contemporary treatment has led to improvements in survival for all patients with metastatic testicular germ-cell tumors (GCTs), including poor-risk patients, although they still have worse survival. A new study shows that if poor-risk patients receive curative therapy and survive for at least 2 years, their survival approaches that of favorable-risk and intermediate-risk patients. The study supports no further routine scanning 2 years after diagnosis in surviving patients. Read More ›

Experience at a high-volume cancer center suggests that nonstereotactic body radiotherapy external beam reirradiation of the pelvis for cancer recurrence or for a second genitourinary malignancy is safe in patients with advanced cancer, and can achieve excellent and durable palliation of symptoms without severe radiation-induced morbidity. Read More ›

The regular use of aspirin reduces the incidence of and risk for death from lethal prostate cancer, according to the results of a large observational study reported at the 2016 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Read More ›

A liquid biopsy using phlebotomy blood samples can identify phenotypes and genomic characteristics of circulating tumor cells that may personalize treatment selection for men with advanced prostate cancer. Read More ›

A genomic classifier is now available that can predict a low or high risk for metastasis in men with prostate cancer who have rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after a prostatectomy. The good news is that this test is reimbursable by Medicare. Read More ›

Adding docetaxel (Taxotere) to standard hormone therapy extends overall survival (OS) by a median of 10 months versus hormone therapy alone in men with newly diagnosed, advanced, hormone therapy–naïve prostate cancer, according to the results of the STAMPEDE trial. Read More ›

Previous studies have shown that a history of testicular cancer increases the risk for developing prostate cancer. A new study presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium shows, for the first time ever, a link between a history of testicular cancer and an increased likelihood of intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer sometime in the future. Read More ›

Experts are hopeful that the field of prostate cancer will soon be catching up to breast cancer and some other tumor types with regard to genomic markers. Read More ›

Active surveillance is sometimes used as management strategy in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, especially in older, sicker men with short life expectancy. A new study validates the use of active surveillance for men with low-risk prostate cancer but provides sobering data regarding this type of management for those with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Read More ›

In men with prostate cancer undergoing curative radiation therapy, it may be possible to preserve sexual function by using a vessel-sparing radiation technique, according to the 5-year follow-up results from a study of men who underwent vessel-sparing radiation therapy in this setting. Read More ›

San Francisco, CA —Radiation added to hormone therapy with antiandrogens extended cancer-specific survival, as well as overall survival, when used as the primary treatment of patients with locally advanced or high-risk prostate cancer. In the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group VII study, 10- and 15-year survival improved by more than 50% in patients who received radiation plus hormone therapy versus hormone therapy alone, according to an updated analysis presented at the 2014 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Read More ›

San Francisco, CA—Enzalutamide (Xtandi) prolonged survival and delayed radiographic progression of disease in men who had not received chemotherapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The complete results of the phase 3 PREVAIL trial were presented at the 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Read More ›

San Francisco, CA—Researchers have successfully completed a comprehensive characterization of molecular alterations in muscle-invasive urothelial bladder carcinoma as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. Read More ›

San Francisco, CA—Penile cancer is not very common in the United States, but it can be potentially fatal and appropriate treatment is crucial. A new, large population-based study showed that the management of patients with penile cancer in the United States is often not in line with current guidelines, including the 2013 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) clinical guidelines for the management of penile cancer. Read More ›

An interactive, online tool shows promise in helping patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) self-manage their pain and could prove to be a useful adjunct to office visits for this patient population. Read More ›

Tobacco use among patients with cancer is an important, but often overlooked, issue that requires intervention by oncology practices. Read More ›

A number of nonpharmacologic approaches to the prevention of prostate cancer are being studied, with mixed results. Findings from one study indicated that long-term vitamin E use was associated with an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, while results from another study found that vigorous exercise slowed the progression of prostate cancer. Researchers suggested that exercise may have favorable effects on gene expression in these patients. Read More ›