Archive

DPHARM: How to address the clinical trial enrollment crisis?

With 80% of trials missing enrollment targets, expect sponsors to push decentralised, site-light designs that shift screening and consent work onto your clinic.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 17 Sept

Occupational Pesticide Exposure and Risk of Non-melanoma Skin Cancer Among U.S. Adults: A Systematic Review

When taking a skin history in outdoor or agricultural workers, ask about pesticide exposure alongside UV, since it may add independent NMSC risk.

Oncology · Cureus · 17 Sept

Purpureocillium lilacinum Fungemia Masquerading as an Unidentified Yeast in a Heavily Immunosuppressed Patient With Relapsed Multiple Myeloma and Therapy-Related Mixed-Phenotype Acute Leukemia: A Case Report

Blood culture grew a yeast-like organism unidentified by rapid multiplex PCR; reference mycology identified P. lilacinum about two weeks later. Susceptibility showed amphotericin B resistance and high itraconazole MIC, with lower MICs to posaconazole and voriconazole.

Oncology · Cureus · 17 Sept

Rare EGFR mutation increases lung cancer risk 62 times in never smokers

A germline EGFR variant confers far higher lung cancer risk than smoking in never-smokers, so family history may soon justify screening decisions beyond tobacco exposure.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 17 Sept

An Atypical Presentation of Richter's Transformation in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Stroke-Like Onset With Multiorgan Involvement Including the Heart and Seminal Vesicles

In CLL patients with sudden stroke-like deficits or unexplained cardiac or genitourinary masses, consider Richter's transformation rather than assuming a vascular or primary cause.

Oncology · Cureus · 17 Sept

Spontaneous Pneumothorax During Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Pulmonary Metastasis From Osteosarcoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Pneumothorax detected on routine image guidance after fraction four; patient remained clinically stable, treated with supplemental oxygen alone, and completed SBRT after brief interruption.

Oncology · Cureus · 17 Sept

Incidence of Osteoradionecrosis and Dental Implant Survival in Patients With Irradiated Head and Neck Malignancies: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Implants showed good overall survival with wide between-study variation; mandibular survival tended to exceed maxillary but was not statistically significant. ORN after implant placement was uncommon at patient and implant levels.

Oncology · Cureus · 17 Sept

Esophageal Cancer.

Five-year survival still under 20%, so recognise Barrett's and squamous risk factors early and refer promptly for endoscopy and multimodal therapy.

Oncology · NEJM · 17 Sept

Blinatumomab for Replacing Chemotherapy in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

4-year event-free survival 83.0% (95% CI 77.4-87.4) with blinatumomab versus 70.3% (95% CI 63.8-75.9) with chemotherapy; hazard ratio 0.51 (95% CI 0.35-0.73).

Oncology · NEJM · 17 Sept

Levetiracetam therapeutically targets GABAergic synapses in diffuse midline glioma.

Children with DMG on levetiracetam had longer overall survival; no such effect in hemispheric high-grade glioma. Levetiracetam reduced proliferation and tumour burden and extended survival in DMG xenograft mice only.

Oncology · Nature Medicine · 17 Sept

Gallium-68 (68Ga)-Labelled Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in the Initial Staging of High-Risk Prostatic Adenocarcinoma: Reclassification to Oligometastatic Disease and Change in Treatment Intent

PSMA PET identified a 15 mm left internal iliac node (SUL 6.9), 8 mm para-aortic node (SUL 3.2), and 6 mm costal lesion (SUL 1.4), reclassifying to miN1, miM1a, unifocal miM1b; PSA fell to 0.15 ng/mL at three months

Oncology · Cureus · 17 Sept

RAS Mutations as Prognostic Biomarkers in Digestive Cancers: From Binary Classification to Variant-Specific and Context-Dependent Risk Stratification

KRAS G12C tumours respond to KRAS G12C inhibitors; G12D/V versus G12R subtype and KRAS mutant dosage stratify outcomes in pancreatic cancer; RAS mutations predict anti-EGFR resistance in colorectal cancer.

Oncology · Cureus · 17 Sept

Humana study links pharmacy care coordination to lower costs, fewer hospitalizations for cancer patients

Embedding specialty pharmacists in cancer care cut hospitalisations and ED visits, suggesting your oncology patients may benefit from coordinated pharmacy follow-up between cycles.

Oncology · Fierce Healthcare · 16 Sept

Bazex Syndrome as a Cutaneous Marker of Occult Malignancy: A Report of Two Cases

Both patients had oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma; one also had a synchronous large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Skin biopsy showed nonspecific histopathological findings in both.

Oncology · Cureus · 16 Sept

Liquid biopsy for early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

A validated miRNA blood panel could flag early-stage pancreatic cancer before imaging, when resection is still possible.

Oncology · Nature Medicine · 16 Sept

Smokeless Tobacco Pouch Keratosis: A Report of Two Cases

Both patients had thick whitish wrinkled lesions along the vestibule or gingiva at the site of smokeless tobacco contact; both received nicotine replacement therapy to quit.

Oncology · Cureus · 15 Sept

Improving Engagement With Breast Cancer Screening Through Structured Telephone Outreach Among Uninsured Women

Of 361 patients, 110 (30.5%) were contacted; 70 (63.6%) accepted referral. Mammography completion was 2.9% at 30 days and 4.3% at 60 days; 74.3% of referred patients had no follow-through

Oncology · Cureus · 15 Sept

Fatal Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy Associated With Disseminated Carcinomatosis of the Bone Marrow From Occult Gastric Cancer: An Autopsy-Confirmed Case

Bone marrow biopsy confirmed disseminated carcinomatosis; autopsy showed type 4 gastric adenocarcinoma with pulmonary tumor microemboli and fibrocellular intimal proliferation causing fatal respiratory failure.

Oncology · Cureus · 15 Sept

After rejection, FDA approves Telix’s Pixclara, the first FET-PET imaging drug for brain cancer

FET-PET distinguishes true tumour progression from post-treatment pseudoprogression in glioma, sparing patients unnecessary biopsy or therapy change.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 15 Sept

Indian AI platform for cancer care featured in BRICS health journal

AIIMS-built decision support for cancer care is now peer-visible, so Indian oncologists may soon see it offered in their own workflows rather than imported tools.

Oncology · ETHealthworld · 15 Sept

Roche, MediLink notch phase 3 lung cancer win but trail GSK on cross-trial survival

A new B7-H3 ADC option is coming for relapsed SCLC, but its median survival trails GSK's rival, so sequencing and cross-trial comparisons will matter.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 14 Sept

Circulating tumor DNA-guided de-escalation or escalation of adjuvant therapy in high-risk stage II and stage III colon cancer: the phase 2 PEGASUS trial.

The 2-year relapse-free rate among ctDNA-negative patients was 88% (90% CI 81-93%), below the predefined 92% threshold; the primary endpoint was not met. ctDNA-positive patients had a 3-year disease-free survival of 58% versus 83% (HR 2.71; 95% CI 1.35-5.45; P=0.0036).

Oncology · Nature cancer · 14 Sept

Comparative Outcomes of Transoral Robotic Surgery Versus Open Surgery in Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

TORS was associated with lower tracheostomy rates, shorter hospital stay, and reduced feeding tube dependence; recurrence and overall survival favoured TORS; complications and positive margins were comparable.

Oncology · Cureus · 13 Sept

Clinical usability of an explainable AI decision support tool and evaluation of multimodal models in NSCLC.

An explainable AI tool trained on 2,396 real-world NSCLC cases may sharpen immunotherapy selection beyond PD-L1 alone, but awaits validation before replacing current scoring.

Oncology · Nature Medicine · 13 Sept

Tambotatug Pelitecan in Small-Cell Lung Cancer after Platinum-Based Therapy.

Median overall survival 13.3 vs 9.4 months (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.35-0.62; P<0.001). Median progression-free survival 7.4 vs 2.8 months. Objective response 59.1% vs 9.7%. Grade 3+ adverse events 55.4% vs 77.9%.

Oncology · NEJM · 12 Sept

Cullinan, Taiho showcase 6-month survival benefit in phase 3 trial for advanced lung cancer

A six-month frontline survival gain in advanced NSCLC offers your EGFR-mutant patients a new first-line option beyond current standard combinations.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 11 Sept

Owkin, Servier ink oncology R&D deal to guide discovery and trial design

AI-guided trial design could sharpen oncology trial enrolment and biomarker selection, but no clinical data yet shows it improves patient outcomes.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 11 Sept

The future of RAS inhibitors

RAS inhibitors are moving beyond one approved drug for pancreatic cancer, so expect more targeted options for KRAS-mutant tumours in coming years.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 11 Sept

FDA delays approval decision for Exelixis' tyrosine kinase inhibitor in colorectal cancer

A potential oral option added to atezolizumab for metastatic colorectal cancer is pushed back, so keep current regimens unchanged for now.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 11 Sept

Variability of Nutritional Status During Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Its Association With Clinical Outcomes: An Ambispective Observational Study From India

Mean weight fell from -1.80% at day 0 to -7.65% at day +30. At day +60, weight loss was greater with viral infections (-14.7% vs -5.4%; p=0.03) and stays >36 days (-14.6% vs -5.3%; p=0.025).

Oncology · Cureus · 11 Sept

BioNTech sets survival standard in hard-to-treat cancer ahead of pivotal readout

In relapsed lung cancer, gotistobart achieved 18.5-month median overall survival, exceeding current standard-of-care benchmarks; confirmatory pivotal data are still pending.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 11 Sept

GSK’s Hansoh-partnered ADC lays down marker for lung cancer scrap with Merck

A new ADC achieved 18.5-month median overall survival in phase 3 lung cancer, potentially adding a treatment option beyond current standard regimens.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 11 Sept

Teclistamab versus lenalidomide-dexamethasone in high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma: a randomized phase 2 trial.

Complete response 77.8% with teclistamab versus 0% with Rd; MRD negativity 82.2%. At median follow-up 24.5 months, 2-year progression-free survival 92% versus 49%.

Oncology · Nature Medicine · 11 Sept

MMSDH facilitates ACSL4 propionylation to counteract ferroptosis upon hypoxia and impairs PDAC chemotherapy efficacy.

Hypoxia-induced MMSDH lactylation at K113 promotes ACSL4 degradation via chaperone-mediated autophagy; MMSDH-mediated ACSL4 propionylation correlated with low ACSL4 and poor NAC response in recipients.

Oncology · Nature cancer · 11 Sept

Comparative Evaluation of Concurrent Carboplatin-Paclitaxel Versus Cisplatin-Etoposide Chemoradiotherapy in Unresectable Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: A Prospective Randomized Study

Tumour-response distribution favoured EP (p=0.029). 12-month PFS 40.0% EP versus 25.0% PC (p=0.206); 12-month OS 80.0% versus 56.3% (p=0.144). EP caused more severe anemia, thrombocytopenia and esophagitis.

Oncology · Cureus · 11 Sept

Clinicopathological Machine Learning Models for Mortality Risk Prediction in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Analysis of the The Cancer Genome Atlas Head-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (TCGA-HNSC) Cohort

Clinicopathological-only AUCs ranged 0.666 to 0.698. Adding genomic features improved every classifier, best random forest AUC 0.708 to 0.727. Stage IV HR 4.07 (95% CI 1.50-11.03).

Oncology · Cureus · 10 Sept

COVID-19 vaccination around immune checkpoint inhibitor start and survival in a nationwide cohort of patients with cancer.

Pre-ICI mRNA vaccination: HR 0.90 (95% CI 0.87-0.94) at 1-3 months, 0.96 (0.93-1.00) at 6 months, no association after 12 months. Post-ICI: HR 0.84 (0.80-0.88) at 3 months.

Oncology · Nature Medicine · 10 Sept

Treatment Decisions in Multiple Myeloma.

Quadruplet induction is now standard in newly diagnosed myeloma and the role of autologous transplantation is being reevaluated; in relapse, BCMA-directed CAR T cells, bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates are sequenced by T-cell fitness and multiantigen targeting.

Oncology · NEJM · 10 Sept

Tyra rolls toward pivotal bladder cancer study even as midphase data deflates stock

Dabogratinib's complete response rate missed analyst targets, so watch for confirmatory data before considering it for FGFR-altered bladder cancer patients.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 9 Sept

Solstice rises with $225M series A to advance next-gen CTLA-4 immunotherapy into phase 2

This funding accelerates a next-gen CTLA-4 inhibitor into phase 2, potentially offering better-tolerated checkpoint therapy for your cancer patients.

Oncology · Fierce Biotech · 9 Sept