Past Issues – Page 6 – The Cancer Letter

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Issue 20 - May. 15, 2020

TCL46-20 (733 downloads)

Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Nancy Davidson describes plans for reopening the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance as COVID-19 wave recedes
Nancy Davidson is now in the eleventh week of managing the COVID-19 pandemic—the longest stretch experienced by any health executive in the U.S.
And now, like her peers throughout the country, Davidson, president and executive director of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, is in the midst of ramping up plans for a comeback of cancer services.
With $306M for serology research, NCI mobilizes labs, academic centers, grantees, contractors, and SBIR
The NCI Board of Scientific Advisors has approved concepts for an RFA and an RFP to support research in serological testing.
NCI Director’s Report
Sharpless: COVID-19 threatens to reverse long-running trend of decreasing cancer mortality
Delayed cancer diagnoses, deferred care, and postponed surgeries amid the COVID-19 pandemic will adversely impact cancer outcomes, which may show up as an increase in cancer mortality in the next few years, said NCI Director Ned Sharpless.
NCI BSA approves 11 new and reissue concepts, defers one
The NCI Board of Scientific Advisors has approved 11 new and reissue concepts—Request for Applications, Cooperative Agreement, Request for Proposals, and Program Announcement with special receipt, referral and review.
Guest Editorial
SARS-CoV-2 and oncology drugs
What do we mean when we talk about value?
It is a humbling moment to reflect on not only the current situation, but also on whether drug reimbursement policy changes might help to encourage nimbler global responses to public health threats in the future.
Obituary
Isaiah Fidler, founder of MD Anderson Department of Cancer Biology, dies at 83
Isaiah “Josh” Fidler, DVM, PhD, died on May 8, at his home in Houston following a long illness.
An Appreciation
The Class of 1983; Remembering Josh Fidler
We moved to Houston together with Rosemary’s daughters, Catharine and Claire, in August of 1983 when Irv accepted the position of head of the Division of Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Obituary
Oncology pioneer John W. Yarbro dies at 88
Oncology pioneer John W. Yarbro, MD, PhD, died April 13 in Miramar Beach, Florida. He was 88.
COVID-19 Updates
- Heartland NCORP sites implement drive-through laboratory service
- Roswell Park to assess immunotherapy combination in cancer patients with COVID-19
- MSK Kids study: Children with cancer are not at a higher risk for COVID-19 infection or morbidity
- GRYT Health and BMS launch COVID-19 Advocacy Exchange
In Brief
- ASCO highlights: 2020 annual meeting scientific program lineup
- Long, Smith, Quinn named to new positions at Roswell Park
- DFCI and Silverberry Genomix form population health initiative for research and education
- Paczesny, Mehrotra named co-leaders of cancer immunology at Hollings Cancer Center
Clinical Roundup
- Atezolizumab combination improves survival in HCC
Drugs & Targets
- FDA approves Retevmo, first therapy for lung and thyroid cancers with RET gene alterations
- FDA approves Lynparza + bevacizumab as maintenance treatment for ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancers

Issue 19 - May. 8, 2020

TCL46-19 (774 downloads)

Guest Editorial
COVID-19 and community cancer care
A panorama of a catastrophe
The COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic to health care in the US.
Much has been written about the impact on hospitals and on the health care professionals enduring horrific stress to support the acutely ill. These providers are heroes, and we are all indebted to them. But less attention has been paid to the indirect effects of the pandemic on health care, particularly the care delivered to those with chronic medical illnesses.
NCI receives $306 million in new money for COVID-19 serology test research;
Details to follow at BSA meeting May 12
NCI has received additional $306 million under a COVID-19 aid package “to develop, validate, improve, and implement serological testing and associated technologies applicable to COVID-19.”
Fox Chase will not be sold to Jefferson after all
Deal becomes a “casualty of COVID-19”
The deal is off: Fox Chase Cancer Center will not be sold to Thomas Jefferson University.
COVID-19 slams into the nation’s capital region;
Here is the damage assessment at six institutions
In the first effort of its sort, The Cancer Letter has compiled a damage assessment, gauging the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, gathering information on populations that were struck hardest, and quantifying impact on academic cancer centers and large hospital systems.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Lessons from COVID-19:
Leaders of six cancer centers in the DMV area tell us about caseloads, the outlook—and impact
As the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia prepare to loosen pandemic restrictions and reopen economies, hospital networks and academic cancer centers brace for a potential uptick in SARS-CoV-2 infections.
An Appreciation
Paul A. Marks, architect of modern academic oncology who led MSK for two decades, dies at 93
On rare occasion, an innovator makes such a profound impact on the world that people thereafter cannot imagine what life was like before that transformation. Paradoxically, for those not witness to such an achievement, this phenomenon may have, in terms of legacy, a blunting effect.
Guest Editorial
Embracing the increasing value of eHealth in patient-centered cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
In the past decade, there has been a growing interest in capitalizing on advances in information technology to provide quality and patient-centered care to cancer patients and survivors outside a hospital or clinic setting.
Guest Editorial
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancer clinical trials—they are a-changing
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, NCI estimated that about 3% to 5% of adult cancer patients participated in clinical trials.
COVID-19 Updates
- Democratic senators call for $26B in next COVID-19 relief package to support research workforce
- House members call for equal access to affordable oral chemotherapy prescription drugs amidst COVID-19 outbreak
In Brief
- Patton named CEO of OneOncology
- Blumenthal named VP of Global Oncology Regulatory Affairs at Merck
- Haura, Khushalani named clinical science research leaders at Moffitt
- Bona named director of Benign Hematology at Smilow Cancer Hospital
- Prebet, Zeidan named hematology leaders at Yale Cancer Center
- Hamilton, Danilov join City of Hope
- Tempera named associate professor in the Gene Expression & Regulation Program at Wistar
- Bin Tian appointed professor, co-director of the Center for Systems & Computational Biology at Wistar
- Tsvi Gal named head of infrastructure at MSK
- Seattle Cancer Care Alliance opens Acute Clinical Evaluation Clinic
- Robert Peter Gale receives ASJA award for “Chernobyl, the HBO miniseries: Fact and Fiction”
Clinical Roundup
- Cancer patients without insurance or Medicaid don’t experience the same benefits of clinical trials
- Libtayo shows clinically-meaningful and durable responses in second-line advanced basal cell carcinoma
- New tumor sampling method significantly improves genetic testing for cancer treatment
Drugs & Targets
- FDA approves Tabrecta, first targeted therapy to treat metastatic NSCLC
- FDA approves daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj for multiple myeloma
- FDA accepts NDA for CC-486 in AML indication
- Caris Life Sciences submits two PMA applications to FDA for whole exome and whole transcriptome sequencing
NCI Trials
NCI Trials for May 2020
The National Cancer Institute Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program approved the following clinical research studies last month.

Issue 18 - May. 1, 2020

TCL46-18 (733 downloads)

Real-World Evidence
COVID-19 vs. community oncology: Flatiron’s data provides first damage assessment
Community oncology practices in the United States are reeling from a sharp decrease in business—whether you look at new patients, chemotherapy visits, or non-chemo visits—the result of reduced activity and stay-at-home orders across the country to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
NSCLC patients getting checkpoint inhibitors more likely to develop pneumonitis, Syapse-FDA-Aurora study finds
Patients with lung cancer and a history of pneumonitis are more likely to develop treatment-associated pneumonitis later, especially in the course of receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to a new study by Syapse, FDA, and Advocate Aurora Health.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Skip Burris: These few months are going to shape health care in the coming years
The COVID-19 pandemic will change the structure and economics of clinical care and clinical trials in cancer, said Howard “Skip” Burris, president of clinical operations and chief medical officer of Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare.
AACR data from China and Europe amount to “two different messages” for cancer patients with COVID-19
Are COVID-19 patients with cancer at a greater risk of dying than non-cancer patients? Depends on whom you ask.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
With 61,000 people registered, first-ever virtual AACR annual meeting “enthusiastically received”
Nobody knew how to even begin to predict the number of people who would register for the first-ever virtual annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Remdesivir established as standard of care for COVID-19, Fauci declares
FDA issues Emergency Use Authorization
Early data from two randomized phase III studies of the antiviral drug remdesivir make it a viable treatment for COVID-19.
Guest Editorial
Under the onslaughts of COVID-19, Montefiore deployed a PPE strategy for patients—PREVENT/PROTECT/ENABLE
March 1, 2020, started as a good day at the Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care in New York.
Guest Editorial
The pandemic of COVID-19 and its effect on clinical trials in the community
How do we move forward?
This pandemic has affected a lot of people, both physicians and patients, physically as well as emotionally.
Guest Editorial
Cancer doesn’t wait—we are treating cancer patients now
As part of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the nation had dramatically reduced their surgery schedules when UC Davis cancer patient Marlene Blake had surgery for breast cancer in March.
Dafna Bar-Sagi, Arul Chinnaiyan, Carl June, Christopher Lima, Miriam Merad, and John Schiller are among newly elected NAS members
The National Academy of Sciences announced the election of 120 members and 26 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Covid-19 Updates
- FDA grants Emergency Use Authorization for novel, non-implanted device to wean patients off mechanical ventilation
- TGen seeks volunteers for COVID-19 immunity study
- J&J and Emergent Bio collaborate on coronavirus vaccine candidate
In Brief
- Kristin Brill named enterprise director of Breast Oncology at SKCC
- UCLA researchers receive $2.8M NCI grant to develop blood-based test for liver transplant candidate selection
- 2020 Stovall award nominations due May 1
Clinical Roundup
- Phase III trial evaluating Libtayo in NSCLC halted because of significant OS improvement
- Lynparza demonstrates OS benefit in phase III prostate cancer trial
- GARNET study demonstrates potential of dostarlimab to treat recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer
- MD Anderson, Ipsen advance therapy with potential benefit for patients with lung, ovarian cancer
- Study: Disruptions in health insurance coverage are common, and affect cancer care and survival
- AI may help brain cancer patients avoid biopsy
- Mouse model study shows promise in treatment of medulloblastoma and ependymoma
Drugs & Targets
- FDA approves GSK’s PARP inhibitor Zejula for first-line maintenance of advanced ovarian cancer
- FDA grants accelerated approval to new dosing regimen for Keytruda
- FDA grants Mobocertinib Breakthrough Therapy Designation in NSCLC designation
Clarification

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A panorama of a catastrophe