The Cancer Letter – The Cancer Letter is an independent weekly news publication and the leading source for information on the issues that shape oncology.

Issue 9 - Mar. 5, 2021

TCL47-09 (159 downloads)

Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Not for sale: Fox Chase Cancer Center
Last year, Fox Chase Cancer Center stood poised to make history by becoming the first NCI-designated cancer center to be sold on open market. The Cancer Letter spoke with Richard I. Fisher, president, CEO and director of Fox Chase.
Three companies withdraw cancer indications for PD-1/PD-L1 drugs in FDA’s “industry-wide evaluation”
Over the past three months, three pharmaceutical companies voluntarily withdrew three cancer indications for drugs that had previously received accelerated approvals from FDA, but ultimately failed to meet agreed-upon endpoints in confirmatory trials required for regular approvals.
NASEM: Reduce cancer drug waste by reformulating development, payments, dosing
Once an expensive cancer drug is discarded, it’s not worth it for drug developers, health care providers, and payers to recoup its cost, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said in a congressionally mandated report.
Cancer History Project
A 25-year retrospective: How NCCN changed the way cancer medicine is practiced—and paid for
A quarter century ago, on March 3, 1996, in Ft. Lauderdale, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network held a conference—its first.
In the Archives
Women’s History Month: Amy Reed, Carol Fabian
This column in The Cancer Letter features the latest posts to the Cancer History Project by our growing list of contributors.
In Brief
- Hans Clevers receives 2021 Pezcoller Foundation-AACR award
- Sarah Hawley named associate director education, training programs at UMich Rogel Cancer Center
- Lilli Petruzzelli named SVP of early clinical development at Genentech’s gRED
- Brian Faith named VP of communications at City of Hope
- Six early-career cancer researchers receive nearly $3 million total from The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center receives $2.75 million to increase prostate cancer screening in African American men
- Yale establishes Chênevert Family Brain Tumor Center
Funding Opportunities
DoD prostate cancer research funding opportunity for FY21
The FY21 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding to the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program to support innovative, high-impact prostate cancer research.
Clinical Roundup
- NCCN guidelines for histiocytosis clarify best practices for recently-defined cancers
- Yale researchers identify T cells active against advanced melanoma
- UNC Lineberger study: Engineered safety switch curbs severe side effects of CAR T immunotherapy
- City of Hope researchers investigate checkpoint inhibitor combination for TNBC
- GO2 Foundation initiates study to improve participation of Black communities in lung cancer clinical trials
Drugs & Targets
- FDA approves lorlatinib for metastatic ALK-positive NSCLC
- FDA authorizes first robotically-assisted surgical device for performing transvaginal hysterectomy
- FDA grants accelerated approval to Pepaxto for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma
- CHMP recommends approval of Sarclisa + carfilzomib, dexamethasone for relapsed multiple myeloma
- CHMP tissues positive opinion for Opdivo + Cabometyx as first-line treatment for advanced RCC
- CHMP recommends approval of dostarlimab for women with recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer
- Novartis completes in-licensing of tislelizumab
NCI Trials
NCI Trials for March 2021
The National Cancer Institute approved the following clinical research studies last month.

Issue 8 - Feb. 26, 2021

TCL47-08 (192 downloads)

The Bidens announce initiatives on health inequity and DARPA-like research for cancer
On a visit to Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center Feb. 24, first lady Jill Biden issued an unprecedented presidential call to action on reducing health inequities—specifically, cancer disparities—in demonstration of the White House’s effort to reach and engage underserved communities.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Kunle Odunsi: 50 years from now disparities—and metastatic disease—will be gone
On Monday, March 1, Adekunle “Kunle” Odunsi will become the director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center—and the second Black director of an NCI-designated cancer center.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
A $250M gift creates Break Through Cancer foundation to focus five cancer centers on hard-to-treat diseases
Five academic cancer centers have formed a unique research alliance, Break Through Cancer, to focus on four cancer types—pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, and acute myelogenous leukemia.
Guest Editorial
Reflections on J Freireich and Baruch Spinoza: Can one be too smart?
Can one be too smart? In some disciplines such as physics and mathematics the answer is clearly no. In medicine, the answer is not so clear.
In the Archives
Joseph H. Ogura, Arti Hurria, and the impact of the National Cancer Act
This column in The Cancer Letter features the latest posts to the Cancer History Project by our growing list of contributors.
In Brief
- Ze’ev Ronai named director of Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center
- Children’s Mercy Kansas opens new research building to accelerate pediatric care
- Maryam Lustberg named director of The Breast Center at Smilow, chief of breast medical oncology at Yale
- Anne-Marie Duliege named CMO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
- Fox Chase Cancer Center establishes Cancer Epigenetics Institute
- Ryan Schoenfeld named chief scientific officer of The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
- AACR and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research award five $750,000 grants for cancer research
Clinical Roundup
- NCI study finds that people with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may have a low risk of future infection
- One-third of cancer survivors worried about treatment and healthcare disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic
- NCCN, ACS CAN, NMQF develop recommendations on how to address racial disparities in cancer care
- Daily emails about chemicals in tobacco lead some smokers to consider quitting
Drugs & Targets
- Libtayo receives FDA approval for NSCLC with high PD-L1 expression
- Biocept, Protean BioDiagnostics establish research collaboration on NSCLC
- IU School of Medicine researchers discover combination drug for TNBC

Issue 7 - Feb. 19, 2021

TCL47-07 (125 downloads)

Guest Editorial
Moffitt Cancer Center: Why we are building the first machine learning department in oncology
Imagine a future where cancer patients are able to receive the treatment they precisely need and not the treatment that is prescribed to all.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Antoni Ribas: Cancer research has been pivotal to development of COVID-19 vaccines
In a matter of months, cancer researchers have gone from grappling with a surge of COVID-19 with limited clinical data to playing a critical role in the development of successful mRNA vaccines against the disease.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Lori Pierce: Therapies are of no use when patients can’t get off work to be treated
As she became president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Lori J. Pierce decided to focus on equity in cancer care as her year-long presidential theme.
Remembering Jane Cooke Wright, a Black woman physician, who was among seven founders of ASCO
Sometime in 1995, Edith Mitchell, a U.S. Air Force oncologist who at the time served as commander of the 131st Medical Squadron at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, first heard the name Jane Cooke Wright.
In the Archives
Presidents Day, Black History Month, Lasker Awards
This column in The Cancer Letter features the latest posts to the Cancer History Project by our growing list of contributors.
In Brief
- Richard Nixon Foundation to commemorate National Cancer Act in a two day meeting
- Jeremy Kortmansky named associate CMO for Network Medical Services at Smilow
- Edward Kaftan named assistant cancer center director for translational science at Yale Cancer Center
- Daniel E. Spratt named chair of radiation oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center
- Ute Dugan named SVP of clinical research at Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
- Paul Han named senior scientist of NCI’s Behavioral Research Program
- Carl June, Steven Rosenberg, Zelig Eshhar named 2021 Dan David Prize Laureates
- UCLA Health receives $29 million to establish center in precision genomic medicine
- Broad Institute, Dana-Farber, and Count Me In receive $16 million to launch patient-partnered research initiatives in rare cancers
- Biden administration: Work requirements in Medicaid do not promote the objectives of the program
- George Mason, Rutgers Cancer Institute collaboration receives $1.33M U.S. Army’s Breakthrough Award
Trials & Tribulations
City of Hope leads Cancer Patients Bill of Rights resolution, aimed at expanding access to unleash the full benefits of cancer care innovation
A profound, difficult, seemingly impossible human journey begins with the words, “you have cancer.”
Clinical Roundup
- NCCN guidelines analyze evidence for nephroblastoma
- Study: Cabozantinib found to be most effective treatment for metastatic papillary kidney cancer
- Gene-based blood test for melanoma spread evaluates treatment progress
- JNCCN study: Weight loss associated with worse outcomes in people with HER2+ early breast cancer
- Single-dose radiation therapy for breast cancer removes treatment barriers for Black women
- Yale study: Targeted therapy improves survival in advanced bladder cancer
Drugs & Targets
- FDA approves Cosela to reduce bone marrow suppression caused by chemotherapy
- Exact Sciences to acquire Ashion Analytics, enter research collaboration with City of Hope’s Genomics Institute, TGen