Reprogramming Tumors; Bad Stool Samples; Human Experiences in Cancer Care

A novel treatment that reprograms tumors to make them more responsive to immunotherapy showed promising activity in a preliminary clinical study of triple-negative breast cancer. (Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer)

President Biden announced his intention to appoint W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, as the next National Cancer Institute director.

More than 10% of stool samples for routine colorectal cancer screening were unsatisfactory for evaluation with fecal immunochemical testing. (American Association for Cancer Research)

Percutaneous ablation of early-stage lung cancer lesions appeared safe and effective in a small multicenter clinical study. (American Journal of Roentgenology)

Adding the anti-PD-L1 antibody avelumab (Bavencio) to a novel targeted drug or radiation therapy did not improve outcomes in gynecologic cancers, with the exception of a small group of patients with cervical cancer. (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Cancer)

The MEK inhibitor mirdametinib produced objective responses in 52% of pediatric patients and 41% of adults with a specific type of neurofibromas, SpringWorks Therapeutics announced.

Pfizer and Astellas announced FDA expansion of enzalutamide (Xtandi) indications to include nonmetastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer.

And Merck said the agency approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment for HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.

Journal of Clinical Oncology’s Art of Oncology has published a special edition highlighting essays about personal experiences in cancer care.

Redispensing unused oral cancer drugs saves money and is good for the environment. (JAMA Oncology)

AI-derived models predicted the outcome of treatment for ovarian cancer with 80% accuracy, better than currently available clinical models. (Catholic University of Rome, Nature Communications)

Highlighting worldwide disparities in cancer care, targeted drugs including CDK4/6 inhibitors just arrived in the African nation of Mozambique, almost a decade after the first drug in the class was approved in the U.S. (ABC GlobAlliance)