Issue 6 – The Cancer Letter

Are drugs really driving the latest drop in lung cancer mortality?
Looks like treatment is playing a role, experts say
On Jan. 8, the American Cancer Society published its annual estimates of new cancer cases and deaths, declaring that the latest data—from 2016 to 2017—show the “largest ever single-year drop in overall cancer mortality of 2.2%.”
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
ACS’s Siegel: Large drop in lung cancer mortality likely driven by treatment, not just drugs
Rebecca Siegel doesn’t usually pay attention to one-year drops in data trends, but the 2.2% decline in overall cancer mortality from 2016 to 2017—driven primarily by lung cancer—seemed too big to ignore.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
NCI’s Penberthy: We may be seeing some impact of treatment in lung cancer mortality, but we need more data
If the mortality rate for lung cancer is starting to fall of a cliff in part because of treatment effect—contributing to more than a third of the 2.2% decline in overall cancer mortality from 2016 to 2017—is that signal showing up on the radar of NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program?
American Cancer Society CEO Gary Reedy cedes day-to-day operations to chief operating officer
In what appears to be a significant reorganization, Gary Reedy, CEO of the American Cancer Society, announced to the staff of the Atlanta-based charity that he will be stepping away from its day-to-day operations.
In Brief
- Satish Gopal named director of the NCI Center for Global Health
- Livestrong updates its mission—and unveils new logo
- David Ann, Yilun Liu named deans at City of Hope graduate program
- Krystyna Kowalczyk named CEO of Moffitt’s immunotherapy CRO
- Brandi Felser named executive director of Sarcoma Foundation of America
- LUNGevity releases state-by-state Lung Cancer Scorecard
- UPenn receives ACGT grant for CAR T-cell clinical trial in prostate cancer
Clinical Roundup
- Survey finds gaps in knowledge of cancer risk factors
- Lung cancer screening decision aid through tobacco quitlines improves informed decision-making
- Study: liquid biopsy is an effective predictor of stage III melanoma relapse
- First-ever single-cell analysis of uveal melanoma reported
Drugs & Targets
- EMA accepts tucatinib application in HER2-positive breast cancer
- EMA accepts application for belantamab mafodotin for multiple myeloma
- European advisory group backs Pfizer’s Rituxan biosimilar
- FDA, FTC collaborate to deter anti-competitive practices involving biosimilars
NCI Trials
NCI Trials for Feb. 2020
The National Cancer Institute Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program approved the following clinical research studies last month.
For further information, contact the principal investigator listed.