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 8 - Feb. 26, 2021

TCL47-08 (170 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 (123 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

Issue 6 - Feb. 12, 2021

TCL47-06 (197 downloads)

NCI Director’s Report
NCI raises paylines, commemorates 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act of 1971
Pandemic notwithstanding, NCI is on track to reach the 15th percentile for the payline by 2025—a goal set by institute Director Ned Sharpless in response to a deluge of grant applications.
Black History Month
VCU’s Rob Winn reflects on a year of COVID, racial reckoning, and being the sole Black director of an NCI-designated cancer center
Being Black and running an NCI-designated cancer center at a time of a worldwide pandemic, an ugly election, and a racial reckoning in a Southern town puts you in a position to make profound observations.
Come back later: ODAC rejects accelerated approval of neoadjuvant Keytruda in TNBC
In a unanimous vote, the FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee recommended against an accelerated approval for Keytruda for patients with high-risk, early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, in combination with chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, then as a single agent as adjuvant treatment after surgery.
Uğur Şahin: Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA coronavirus vaccine is “fastest vaccine developed and approved in medical history”
When Uğur Şahin and his wife Özlem Türeci founded their company, BioNTech, in 2008, they set out to explore novel modalities for treating cancer—including messenger ribonucleic acid, a well-understood single-stranded molecule featured in most Biology 101 textbooks.
Peter Marks: How FDA crunched COVID-19 vaccine review timelines without compromising safety or efficacy
Faced with a pandemic that kills thousands of Americans each day, FDA leadership had to get therapeutics and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 onto the market with unprecedented speed without sacrificing standards.
In Brief
- Anne Chiang named deputy chief medical officer and chief integration officer at Smilow Cancer Hospital
- Sachin Apte named chief clinical officer of Huntsman Cancer Institute
- Alan Tackett named deputy director of UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
- Sybil R. Green named first diversity and inclusion officer of ASCO
- Patrick Delaney named executive director of NCCN Foundation
- City of Hope receives $100M donation from Arthur Riggs
- MSK receives $7M donation, establishes newly endowed chair and fellowships for health equity and diversity
- Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital receives $750,000 grant to address cancer health inequality
- Biden’s former Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon panel members, oncology leaders pen letter supporting Janet Woodcock for FDA commissioner
Funding Opportunities
DOD ovarian cancer research funding opportunity for FY21
The FY21 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding to the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program to support patient-centered research to prevent, detect, treat, and cure ovarian cancer.
Clinical Roundup
- ASCO, Friends of Cancer Research recommend broadening eligibility criteria in cancer clinical trials
- CRISPR tech targets human genome’s complex code
Drugs & Targets
- Ukoniq receives FDA accelerated approval for marginal zone lymphoma and follicular lymphoma
- Breyanzi receives FDA approval for adults with relapsed or refractory large-B-cell lymphoma
- Libtayo receives FDA approval as first immunotherapy for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma
- MD Anderson, Mirati Therapeutics collaborate on KRAS and solid tumor research
- Inrebic received European Commission approval for myelofibrosis

The Bidens announce initiatives on health inequity and DARPA-like research for cancer

Conversation with The Cancer Letter

Kunle Odunsi: 50 years from now disparities—and metastatic disease—will be gone

Conversation with The Cancer Letter

A $250M gift creates Break Through Cancer foundation to focus five cancer centers on hard-to-treat diseases

Guest Editorial

Reflections on J Freireich and Baruch Spinoza: Can one be too smart?

In the Archives

Joseph H. Ogura, Arti Hurria, and the impact of the National Cancer Act

In Brief

Clinical Roundup

Drugs & Targets

Guest Editorial

Moffitt Cancer Center: Why we are building the first machine learning department in oncology

Conversation with The Cancer Letter

Antoni Ribas: Cancer research has been pivotal to development of COVID-19 vaccines

Conversation with The Cancer Letter

Lori Pierce: Therapies are of no use when patients can’t get off work to be treated

Remembering Jane Cooke Wright, a Black woman physician, who was among seven founders of ASCO

In the Archives

Presidents Day, Black History Month, Lasker Awards

In Brief

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

Clinical Roundup

Drugs & Targets

NCI Director’s Report

NCI raises paylines, commemorates 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act of 1971

Black History Month

VCU’s Rob Winn reflects on a year of COVID, racial reckoning, and being the sole Black director of an NCI-designated cancer center

Come back later: ODAC rejects accelerated approval of neoadjuvant Keytruda in TNBC

Uğur Şahin: Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA coronavirus vaccine is “fastest vaccine developed and approved in medical history”

Peter Marks: How FDA crunched COVID-19 vaccine review timelines without compromising safety or efficacy

In Brief

Funding Opportunities

DOD ovarian cancer research funding opportunity for FY21

Clinical Roundup

Drugs & Targets