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 7 - Feb. 19, 2021

TCL47-07 (105 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 (195 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

Issue 5 - Feb. 5, 2021

TCL47-05 (369 downloads)

Jill Biden signals White House resolve on cancer research: “This is the fight of our lives”
Jill Biden stopped by at NCI earlier this week to reaffirm the Bidens’ pledge to “fight cancer as we know it”—an early signal that cancer research is near the top of the national agenda at the Biden-Harris White House.
Guest Editorial
Building on the legacy of the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot
In January, after tumultuous weeks filled with unprecedented political tension and rising COVID-19 infections across the nation, thrilling news arrived quietly in my email inbox: official notice of the Abramson Cancer Center’s five-year, $45 million Cancer Center Support Grant award from the National Cancer Institute, which had bestowed us with a merit rating of “Exceptional” Comprehensive Cancer Center last year.
Storytelling is a part of J Freireich’s legacy
J enjoyed explaining that the letter J in his name appeared in his birth certificate.
He had no idea why his mother, an immigrant seamstress at a Chicago sweatshop, put it there, but it was certainly not an abbreviation for an actual name, Jacob, for example.
Legendary MD Anderson faculty member Emil J Freireich dies at 93
Emil J Freireich, MD, a trailblazing oncologist who developed groundbreaking therapies for childhood leukemia and came to be recognized as a founding father of modern clinical cancer research, passed away peacefully in Houston at his beloved institution, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, on Feb. 1. He was 93.
An Appreciation
Ode to J
“On our best days, we could only wish to be what Freireich was on any one of his average days”
“Humans cannot live without hope. Hopelessness is the greatest trauma a person has to suffer.”—Emil J Freireich, MD
An Appreciation
J Freireich loved good science and a good fight
When I started my fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1980, Dr. Freireich headed the Department of Developmental Therapeutics.
An Appreciation
J Freireich was one of the few oncologists to have developed a cancer cure
Emil J Freireich was a big man in stature, with a booming voice. He was one of the last of the 60 original members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
For those watching The Crown:
Remember when Princess Diana raised money for Northwestern Cancer Center?
Twenty-five years ago, The Cancer Letter missed a big story.
In the Archives
Black History Month, the National Cancer Act—and opening up the archives
As the Cancer History Project gets underway, our archives are growing. Now featuring past issues of The Cancer Letter from 1973-2014 and The Clinical Cancer Letter from 1977-2014, the database is becoming a fun place to explore. Go ahead, do a search for your mentors, and unearth lost quotes from times passed.
In Brief
- Jeremy Rich named deputy director of research at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
- Yen-Michael Hsu named director for cell therapy laboratory at UPMC Hillman
- Jeffrey Bradley named interim chair of Emory Department of Radiation Oncology
- ASCO 2021 annual meeting to be virtual
- Roswell Park, BMS Foundation create $3.3 million program to address cancer burden for native and rural communities
Trials & Tribulations
The Delaware experience:
Keeping in contact with those at risk is key to colorectal and breast cancer screening during COVID-19
COVID-19 continues to ramp on and has affected just about all aspects of the health care system in our country.
Clinical Roundup
- More than half of cancer survivors have underlying medical conditions associated with severe COVID-19
- Gene mutations linked to worse outcomes from leukemia in Hispanic and Latino children
- Queen’s leading new research aimed at improving outcomes for early-stage bowel cancer
- Yale Cancer Center researchers discover mechanism to overcome drug-resistance in B-ALL
- IU cancer center researchers discover how breast cancer cells hide from immune attack
- Fecal microbiota transplants help patients with advanced melanoma respond to immunotherapy
- Targeted RNA nanoparticle shows early promise as liver cancer treatment
- KEYNOTE-598: Keytruda + Yervoy did not improve OS, PFS in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Drugs & Targets
- FDA grants accelerated approval to Tepmetko for metastatic NSCLC
- Keytruda receives positive EU CHMP opinion for expanded approval in some cases of relapsed or refractory classical hodgkin Lymphoma
NCI Trials
NCI Trials for February 2021
The National Cancer Institute approved the following clinical research studies last month.
For further information, contact the principal investigator listed.