Tony Berberabe, MPH

Four molecular subtypes of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma were prognostic for outcomes after metastasectomy, with striking differences seen in overall survival and disease-free survival between each of the groups.

An extension in overall survival seen with the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab has completely changed the standard of care for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

As clinicians’ understanding of the disease pathobiology associated with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has increased, novel treatments have emerged.

Twelve creative and influential oncology research leaders are the winners of the 2017 Giants of Cancer Care® awards, a unique honor that recognizes physician-scientists who have helped move cancer care forward.

Ten prominent oncology researchers and clinicians have been chosen as the 2016 Giants of Cancer Care® award winners from the largest field of nominees in the 4-year history of the unique OncLive recognition program. The winners were chosen by a panel of esteemed oncology leaders.

Radiation therapy can be effectively delivered in more focused, intensive, and shorter-course treatment regimens that offer patients at least equivalent—and in some cases superior—outcomes in several tumor types, thus helping to mitigate challenging adverse effects of standard approaches.

In a propensity-matched analysis of a national cancer registry, patients who underwent radical cystectomy or concurrent chemoradiation to treat urothelial cancer demonstrated statistically similar median overall survival rates. Further analysis suggests that the hazard ratios between the two treatments change over time and is hypothesis generating.

For patients who are likely to experience contiguous recurrence of glioblastoma, a new computer simulation using tumor treating fields and employing a personalized transducer array, delivered electric field intensities that exceeded therapeutic intensities in 3 different tumor locations. The findings may aid treatment planning when using the NovoTAL System, which optimizes therapeutic delivery in 2 orthogonal directions to the gross tumor volume and proximal peri-tumoral brain zone.

Men with intermediate prostate cancer who received extreme hypofractionated radiotherapy reported a low incidence of side effects, with no significant differences compared with a similar cohort of men who received conventional fractionation after 2 years of treatment.

Study results that examined patient-reported outcomes and quality of life measures demonstrate that hypofractionated radiotherapy is a viable, safe, and value-added alternative to patients with low-risk prostate cancer.

Treatment options for men with localized prostate cancer include active surveillance, radical prostatectomy, or external-beam radiotherapy, but in the Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment trial each therapy was associated with a low prostate-specific mortality rate of about 1%.

Men with positive needle biopsy for prostate cancer who underwent active surveillance exhibited no difference in quality-of-life compared with men who had a negative prostate needle biopsy.

As a group, Rio Grande Urology shares a sense of obligation and culture. Its leaders have embraced an integrative model approach and sees the advantages of it.

Patients with renal cancer who underwent cytoreductive nephrectomy and targeted therapy had improved survival compared with patients who did not undergo the surgery.

A collection of clinical trials that uses a target-specific and tissue-agnostic algorithm to rapidly match patients to investigational therapies aimed at the tumor's molecular makeup takes the approach that "one trial really does not fit all."

Michael Fabrizio, MD, and Dana Adams, COO, provide their perspective on the challenges that urology practices face today.

The pivotal phase III trial ARMOR 3-SV will be discontinued based on recommendations made by the trial's independent data monitoring committee.

An ongoing phase II, four-cohort trial involving capmatinib (INC280), an oral MET inhibitor, will determine the clinical activity of the agent in pretreated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who have undergone one or two lines of therapy.

Researchers are hoping the results of a late-stage efficacy and safety study of apalutamide in patients with high-risk, localized, or locally advanced prostate cancer who are receiving primary radiation therapy will demonstrate an improvement in metastasis-free survival.

Patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma who were ineligible for standard cisplatin-based chemotherapy achieved a 24% reduction in tumor size and had a median survival of 14.8 months after taking the immunotherapy agent atezolizumab (Tecentriq).

Results from a phase III trial investigating the benefit of adjuvant temozolomide in combination with radiation therapy has the potential to be practice changing for a rare type of brain cancer.

An elite group of finalists have been recognized for their achievements, talent, and the compassionate care they provide to their patients and families in the 2016 Giants of Cancer Care® recognition program.

The radioactive imaging agent, fluciclovine F18 (Axumin), was approved by the FDA for use in positron emission tomography scans in men with suspected recurrence of prostate cancer whose prostate-specific antigen levels rise following prior treatment.

Using the Decipher Prostate Cancer Classifier assay to predict which patients might respond to hormonal therapy has resulted in the discovery and validation of an adjuvant androgen-deprivation therapy resistance signature.

Results from a study using the Decipher Prostate Cancer Classifier noted that its use added very strong data about the likelihood of patients with prostate cancer dying within 10 years.

Five of 6 patients with metastatic urothelial cancer and at least 1 of 2 genetic alterations demonstrated a marked improvement in 3-month progression free survival of 6.6 months when given afatinib (Gilotrif), compared with patients who lacked these specific genetic abnormalities.

Patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia face a difficult treatment journey, but a phase III safety and efficacy trial involving the second-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor acalabrutinib (ACP-196) will help inform oncologists about whether the emerging agent can offer a greater benefit to patients with high-risk disease over ibrutinib (Imbruvica).

At Metro Urology of Minneapolis, urologists are at the forefront of introducing new techniques and technology, especially with respect to advanced prostate cancer care.

Researchers have designed a recently launched clinical study into entrectinib, a first-in-class inhibitor of tropomyosin receptor kinases, as a basket trial in which the drug can be evaluated simultaneously for activity against three gene alterations and multiple tumor types.

Emerging agents targeting the PD1/PD-L1 pathway and the process of angiogenesis are shaping up to be promising options to break a 30-year drought in new therapies for patients with progressive metastatic urothelial bladder cancer.