ASCO Issues Annual Clinical Cancer Advances Report on Progress Against Cancer

Dec 16, 2013

The Society has recently published Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, a comprehensive review of progress in clinical cancer research that has come to fruition in 2013. The report highlights advances across the entire continuum of cancer care, from prevention to treatment and survivorship, and covers a broad range of cancer subspecialties. It also documents U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals of new anticancer agents, clinical practice guidelines, and policy priorities that are likely to influence cancer care delivery in the near-term.

Clinical Cancer Advances (CCA), nowit its ninth year, is a testament to thecurrent state of cancer science and areflection of where cancer researchis headed. It serves as an educationalresource for oncology residents andfellows, and practicing oncologists andprimary care physicians may look tothe document to catch up on the mostpromising developments in cancerresearch and care.

“In the introduction to this report,ASCO President Dr. Clifford Hudisreminds us that the only way we canimprove outcomes for our patients isthrough research,” said Jyoti Patel,MD, Co-Executive Editor of the report.“We’ve got to continue federal fundingof clinical trials and basic cancerresearch because this work helps millionsof people facing a cancer diagnosisevery year.”

Among the 76 studies featured in CCA2013, many capitalize on the growingunderstanding of tumor biology andgenomics. Marked progress has alsobeen achieved in treatment of rare andtherapy-resistant cancers through newprecision medicine and immunotherapyapproaches. The most significantadvances in those fields include:

  • Identification of new prognosticmarkers and potential therapeutictargets in brain, kidney, and headand neck cancers, and new molecularsubtypes of endometrial cancerand glioblastoma
  • Molecularly targeted drugs that stalldisease progression in patients withtreatment-resistant forms of cervicaland thyroid cancer
  • New, clever strategies to enhancethe ability of patients’ own immunesystems to fight cancer

Two landmark studies this year showcasecancer screening paradigmspoised to reduce socioeconomic andracial disparities in cancer survival.

  • Low-cost cervical cancer screeninginvolving simple vinegar deliveredby primary health workers reducedcervical cancer deaths by one-thirdin India, an approach that could savemore than 70,000 women’s lives peryear worldwide.
  • A state-wide colorectal cancerscreening and treatment programthat has nearly eliminated disparitiesin colorectal cancer outcomes forblack patients in Delaware.

CCA 2013 was developed under thedirection of an editorial board chosenby ASCO, comprised of experts in theirrespective fields of oncology. The editorsreviewed research published inpeer-reviewed scientific journals andpresented at major scientific meetingsbetween October 2012 and September2013.

Clinical Cancer Advances 2013 isfunded in part through the ConquerCancer Foundation Mission Endowment.The report was first publishedonline in the Journal of Clinical Oncologyon December 10, and isavailable with additional resources atcancerprogress.net/cca.

Research Funded in Part byConquer Cancer FoundationGrants among Top CancerAdvances of the Year
A preclinical study led by IngoMellinghoff, MD (2009 AdvancedClinical Research Award in Glioma),shows that a new experimental drugthat targets the protein product of agene involved in metabolism, IDH1, is apotentially important new therapeuticin the fight against cancer.

A study by Richard J. Lee, MD,PhD (2009 Career DevelopmentAward), demonstrates that a lowerdose of a new targeted therapy stillled to shrinkage of prostate cancermetastases when evaluated on bonescans and a reduction in the numberof circulating tumor cells.

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