Oncology
Weekly online symptom reporting was linked to five months' longer survival in lung cancer
A post-hoc SYMPRO-Lung analysis supports routine patient-reported monitoring; a living guideline keeps salivary oral cancer tests in research only; and AATS revises its early-stage lung cancer consensus.
Faecal blood screening cut colorectal cancer deaths by 11% in trials, but not deaths overall
A meta-analysis of 1.5 million adults in screening trials restates what FOBT screening does and does not do; OPTIMUM's five-year data link risk-adapted therapy to less than half the risk of death in high-risk myeloma compared with a matched external control; and AI scoring of TILs flags more HER2-positive patients who may gain from pertuzumab.
Surveillance colonoscopy at five years was non-inferior to three after high-risk adenomas
EPoS II's interim analysis supports lengthening the first surveillance interval after high-risk adenoma removal; iberdomide doubled MRD-negative complete responses in relapsed myeloma at a cost in neutropenia and infection; and a pan-RAS inhibitor showed activity in RAS-mutant lung cancer.
Blinatumomab in place of two chemotherapy blocks raised event-free survival in high-risk childhood ALL
AIEOP-BFM ALL 2017 found 4-year event-free survival of 83.0% vs 70.3%, with far fewer infections. Also: pembrolizumab plus olaparib in BRCA non-mutated ovarian cancer, quality of life on adjuvant alectinib, AI-scored TILs in triple-negative breast cancer, and an abrocitinib label supplement.
A multicancer blood test did not reduce late-stage cancer after three screening rounds in 142,000 people
NHS-Galleri, the first large randomised trial of a multicancer early-detection test, missed its primary endpoint. Also: STRIDE plus lenvatinib with TACE lengthened progression-free survival in intermediate HCC, long-course chemoradiotherapy preserved more rectums than short-course, ovarian function returned in under half after breast cancer chemotherapy, and an everolimus supplement.
Azacitidine-venetoclax beat intensive induction on event-free survival in fit AML
PARADIGM, a randomised phase 2 trial in 172 induction-eligible adults, found event-free survival of 14.5 versus 6.2 months with less severe infection and bleeding. Also: ivonescimab after EGFR-TKI progression, 80 Gy for high-risk prostate cancer, an FDA supplement for abemaciclib, and supervised exercise for men on ADT.
Relapsed small-cell lung cancer: a B7-H3 antibody–drug conjugate beat topotecan on survival
TAISHAN-302 reports a hazard ratio of 0.46 for death at interim analysis. Also: fruquintinib's toxicity profile in numbers, how little most countries spend on cancer control, and an osimertinib label supplement.
A chemo-free TKI-plus-radiotherapy strategy stopped early for a PFS gap of 26 months
ADVANCE randomised only 43 patients before the interim analysis halted it, a new prognostic index outperforms IMDC in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and French paediatric oncologists set out when not to screen for thrombophilia in childhood leukaemia.
Weekly symptom monitoring in lung cancer tracked five months of extra median survival
SYMPRO-Lung's post-hoc analysis brings a supportive-care intervention into the same conversation as a drug; MITF E318K is confirmed as a moderate-penetrance melanoma allele; and dual-gene methylation performs well as an HPV triage test.
A second lumpectomy is now a defensible choice, not a compromise
An international Delphi consensus reaches agreement on 80% of items for local recurrence after breast conservation; a nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugate reports phase 1 safety in 395 patients; and 39 trials put early palliative care ahead on quality of life and, exploratorily, survival.
A pan-RAS inhibitor reaches the clinic, and risk-stratified myeloma therapy holds at five years
Daraxonrasib produced responses in over 30% of previously treated RAS-mutant lung cancer at the cost of grade 3 toxicity in 54%; OPTIMUM's extended therapy for high-risk myeloma still has not reached median progression-free or overall survival at 71 months.
Blinatumomab replaces two chemotherapy cycles and improves survival while halving harm, and sunvozertinib takes first line in EGFR exon 20
Four-year event-free survival in high-risk paediatric B-cell ALL rises from 70% to 83% with two cycles of blinatumomab in place of chemotherapy; KEYLYNK-001 shows the olaparib arm, not the pembrolizumab arm, carries the benefit in BRCA non-mutated ovarian cancer; AI-scored TILs work but add nothing to a pathologist; and surveillance colonoscopy at five years holds against three.
ASTRO backs trimodality therapy as an alternative to cystectomy for selected muscle-invasive bladder cancer
A new radiation guideline formalises bladder preservation, STRIDE plus lenvatinib added three months of progression-free survival to TACE in HCC without a significant overall survival gain yet, and a ctDNA meta-analysis separates prognosis from treatment decisions.
Supervised exercise improved quality of life and fatigue in men on androgen deprivation
STAMINA shows a prescribed programme can be built into routine cancer care. Also: azacitidine-venetoclax against intensive induction in fit AML, ivonescimab after EGFR-TKI progression, organ preservation in rectal cancer, and dose-escalated radiotherapy in high-risk prostate cancer.
A B7-H3 antibody-drug conjugate halved the risk of death in relapsed small-cell lung cancer
TAISHAN-302 reports median overall survival of 13.3 months against 9.4 with topotecan, a hazard ratio of 0.46, and fewer grade 3 or higher events. Plus where the EGFR inhibitor network meta-analysis actually lands.
A renal cell prognostic model that beats IMDC, and AI colonoscopy's benefit turns out to be all diminutive polyps
CPI2, built on CheckMate-214 and validated on CheckMate-9ER, reached a C-index of 0.72 against 0.61 to 0.65 for IMDC. Separately, a network meta-analysis of 13 trials finds AI detection gains concentrate entirely in polyps of 5 mm or less.
Adding oxaliplatin to adjuvant S-1 lifted five-year survival in gastric cancer
CAPITAL reports 70.9% against 62.9% at five years, at the cost of double the grade 3–4 toxicity; the AGA sets out how ampullary adenomas should be assessed and resected; and weekly symptom monitoring in lung cancer tracks with five months of extra survival.
A fourfold perineal hernia risk with the minimally invasive approach, and rehabilitation that held handgrip through chemoradiotherapy
Incidental lung nodules from first principles, a phase 2 trial of multidisciplinary mHealth rehabilitation, what a virtual pain programme costs per quality-adjusted life year, and a harm that has followed minimally invasive abdominoperineal resection into the literature.
AI reclassifies one in nine immune-low breast tumours, and esketamine fails its anxiety trial
APHINITY samples rescored three ways, a nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugate through 395 patients, and a negative randomised trial that should close a question rather than open one.
In BRCA non-mutated ovarian cancer, the olaparib did the work and the pembrolizumab did not
KEYLYNK-001 randomised 1,367 patients three ways and found pembrolizumab alone no better than chemotherapy, while adding olaparib maintenance improved progression-free survival at the cost of a great deal more toxicity. Plus a pan-RAS inhibitor in lung cancer, SGLT2 inhibitors and gastrointestinal cancer risk, a nab-sirolimus supplement, and consensus on a second breast cancer in the same breast.
Five years on, intensified therapy still separates high-risk myeloma from its historical control
OPTIMUM's five-year data show median progression-free survival not reached against 24.4 months in a molecularly matched cohort — with the caveat that the comparison is external, not randomised. Plus how many gastric cancers actually express claudin 18.2, exercise against anthracycline cardiotoxicity, a vemurafenib supplement, and ASTCT's rewritten toxicity grading.
Measuring 5-FU levels halved severe toxicity, and chemoimmunotherapy is confirmed as first line in oesophageal squamous cancer
A meta-analysis of six phase 3 trials puts the survival benefit of first-line PD-1 blockade in oesophageal squamous carcinoma at a hazard ratio of 0.68, single-fraction and hypofractionated radiosurgery look equivalent after resection of brain metastases, and pharmacokinetic dosing of fluorouracil outperforms body surface area.
Supervised exercise on androgen deprivation therapy works when it is built into the service, and adjuvant alectinib costs nothing in quality of life
A 700-man randomised trial embeds exercise and dietary support in NHS prostate cancer care and improves quality of life and fatigue, a FAK inhibitor added to a KRAS G12C inhibitor raises response rates without reaching significance, and AI-scored tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes validate but add nothing to a pathologist.
Azacitidine-venetoclax outperformed induction chemotherapy in fit AML patients
PARADIGM randomised 172 induction-eligible adults and more than doubled median event-free survival, from 6.2 to 14.5 months, with fewer serious infections and less bleeding. Plus dose-escalated radiotherapy finally shows a benefit in high-risk prostate cancer, and ivonescimab extends progression-free survival after EGFR-TKI failure.
Venetoclax added to DA-EPOCH-R killed more patients than it helped
A randomised phase 2 trial in double-hit lymphoma closed early for excess mortality, dose-escalated radiotherapy improves ten-year progression-free survival in high-risk prostate cancer, and ivonescimab extends progression-free survival after EGFR-TKI failure without a clear survival gain.