The Cancer Letter Publications

Issue 24 - Jun. 14, 2019

TCL45-24 (234 downloads)

NCAB asks for help from administration as NCI deals with deluge of grant applications
NCI and its advisors are stumped by a deep medical mystery: Why has the number of grant applications received by the institute grown by nearly 50% since 2013?
CMS dings MD Anderson on Medicare compliance, citing serious deficiencies in patient care
The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services has removed MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Medicare “deemed” status, which means that, until the Houston hospital demonstrates compliance with federal regulations, the institution is at risk of having its Medicare provider agreement terminated.
Review
Chernobyl, the HBO miniseries: Fact and fiction (Part III)
With episode four of the series, we moved even further from reality than in prior episodes.
Emory fires two NIH-funded faculty members for not disclosing foreign sources of funding and work in China
Emory University has terminated two NIH-funded faculty members at the Department of Genetics for failing to disclose foreign sources of funding and the extent of their involvement with institutions in People’s Republic of China.
NCTN grants awarded, with $20M increase
The National Clinical Trials Network has received a $20 million funding increase from NCI in the latest awards cycle—from $151 million to $171 million.
In Brief
- Brawley to receive 2019 AMA Distinguished Service Award
- Roswell Park’s NCI designation renewed
- NCI invites abstracts for conference on the $50M Childhood Cancer Data Initiative
- ACS, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance form research collaboration
- ACCC, AstraZeneca to launch initiative to support care for stage III/IV NSCLC
- Krista Nelson received Leadership in Oncology Social Work Award
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
FDA’s Project Facilitate uses a call center to streamline access to unapproved cancer therapies
The FDA Oncology Center of Excellence announced a pilot program to help physicians get access to unapproved therapies for patients with cancer.
Clinical Roundup
- Cancer survivors predicted to number over 22M by 2030
- Identifying colorectal cancer subtypes in patients could lead to improved treatment decisions
- Study suggests higher triple-negative breast cancer incidence among black women is not generalizable
Drugs & Targets
- FDA approves chemoimmunotherapy regimen in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
- FDA approves two indications for Keytruda
- FDA approves PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx assay in HNSCC
- Cofactor Genomics joins FNIH Biomarkers Consortium
The Cancer Letter wins investigative, design awards
The Cancer Letter won four 2019 Dateline Awards from the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Issue 23 - Jun. 7, 2019

TCL45-23 (216 downloads)

ASCO’s mCODE seeks to compose lingua franca for cancer informatics
The American Society of Clinical Oncology published a set of common standards for cancer data elements via an initiative dubbed mCODE.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
ASCO’s Miller: mCODE will improve downstream analytics with essential cancer data elements
The mCODE initiative, developed by American Society of Clinical Oncology and its partners, aims to optimize electronic health records to answer research questions on drug efficacy and patient outcomes.
Guest Editorial
Big Data for outcomes and clinical research: major advance or improvement needed
Creation of Big Data repositories is now emphasized at virtually all research institutions and the NIH, but the number of publications describing patient outcomes from these sources appears modest.¹ Why is this so; what factors limit what should be a hugely productive resource, and how can we improve the impact of this use of Big Data? Why does this issue require greater physician engagement and understanding to solve? The integration of clinical, laboratory, and financial data is required to describe disease and treatment outcomes as well as treatment value.
Letter from the Editor
ASCO 2019 through art
This year, we decided to approach the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in a completely new way: through illustration.
Obituary
Henry Lynch, pioneer of hereditary cancer detection, dies at 91
Henry T. Lynch, the father of hereditary cancer detection and prevention, died June 2. He was 91.
In Brief
- Tony Kerlavage named director of NCI CBIIT
- Jeff Shilling named NCI’s chief information officer
- Jeff Settleman named senior VP, group head of oncology R&D at Pfizer
- RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute announce $750M cancer pavilion in New Brunswick
- Hackensack Meridian Health opens Center for Discovery and Innovation
- University of Indiana and MSK researchers receive $4.1 million grant from Cancer Moonshot
Funding Opportunities
DoD kidney cancer funding opportunities for FY2019
The FY19 Defense Appropriation provides $20 million to the Department of Defense Kidney Cancer Research Program to support research of exceptional scientific merit in the area of kidney cancer.
Clinical Roundup
- Study finds link between Medicaid expansion and equity in cancer care
- Long-term survival benefit shown for metastatic melanoma patients treated with Tafinlar + Mekinist
- Venclexta + Gazyva combination meets primary endpoint for CLL
- Pembrolizumab found safe in treating cancer patients with HIV
- BMS announces first presentation of results for Opdivo + Yervoy in hepatocellular carcinoma
- Lymphoma trial finds combination targeted therapy effective prior to chemotherapy
- Enfortumab vedotin produced tumor response rate of 44% in bladder cancer
- Researchers identify three-drug combination curbing growth in melanoma
- Taiho Oncology and Servier present Lonsurf data
Drugs & Targets
- FDA grants Priority Review for daratumumab combination in multiple myeloma
- Caris Life Sciences partners with Debiopharm International SA
NCI Trials
NCI Trials for June
The National Cancer Institute Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program approved the following clinical research studies last month.

Issue 22 - May. 31, 2019

TCL45-22 (390 downloads)

How a New Jersey hospital used a misguided study of robotic surgery to wage an ill-fated war on breast cancer
Using a da Vinci robot for breast cancer surgery? Is it safe? Effective?
You might want to know that, according to informed consent documents for a study that was approved by the IRB at Monmouth Medical Center, all issues stemming from robotic mastectomy have been sorted out.
Letter from the Editor
The path from a correction to an investigation of research conduct at Monmouth Medical Center
Our investigative story this week is an outgrowth of a correction.
Last summer, Monmouth Medical Center, a 500-bed hospital within the RWJBarnabas Health system, came to The Cancer Letter’s attention when a breast surgeon there used a da Vinci robot to perform robotic nipple-sparing mastectomies on two patients, a woman with invasive breast cancer and a man with abnormal growth in his breast.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Fotopoulos: Monmouth Medical Center told us to not follow up with robotic mastectomy patients
As the team lead by surgeon Stephen Chagares prepared a protocol for robotically-assisted mastectomy, the Institutional Review Board at Monmouth Medical Center provided guidance “every step of the way,” said Nicholas Fotopoulos, a research coordinator and an undergraduate at Princeton University in his sophomore year.
An Appreciation
LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., a pioneering surgeon, dies at 89
It is with great sadness that I share the recent passing of an oncology icon, Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. As said by Dr. Wayne Frederick, a mentee, surgical oncologist, and president of Howard University, “He was a surgeon par excellence, oncologist, medical educator, civic leader, and mentor to me and so many others.”
An Appreciation
Leffall, one of five surgeons to serve as president of two ACSs, the American Cancer Society and American College of Surgeons
We have known a giant—physically, mentally, fraternally, socially, professionally, ethically, spiritually. Now he is gone, but will be long remembered and loved.
Who are The Cancer Letter readers?
After 45 years of covering oncology, we stopped and asked our readers:
who are you?
In Brief
- Ohio State receives $11M NCI grant for Appalachian cervical cancer prevention
- ACS receives $1.99M grant for sub-Saharan African patient navigation initiative
- Seewaldt and Buermeyer awarded grand prize from the Global Challenge to Prevent Breast Cancer
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Project ECHO brings specialized knowledge to rural providers
Project ECHO, a service that provides physicians in rural areas with access to multidisciplinary expertise, will soon announce partnerships with four cancer centers—Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Yale Cancer Center.
Clinical Roundup
- Early-onset colorectal cancer rising fastest in Western states, say ACS and OSU
- Johns Hopkins researchers design blood test to detect DNA fragments of multiple cancer types
Drugs & Targets
- FDA approves first mesothelioma treatment in 15 years
- FDA approves Piqray + fulvestrant in breast cancer
- FDA approves lenalidomide for follicular and marginal zone lymphoma
- FDA approves gilteritinib for refractory AML