CHICAGO – Debates over the value of hyperthermic intra-peritoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) may subside as cancer patients and their doctors learn of the French study done in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis. On the other hand, maybe they won't, because fans aplenty remain. "There are surgeons in the U.S. who are firm believers in HIPEC and others who are true skeptics," said Richard Schilsky, chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). "If patients travel around, they're going to hear the entire spectrum" of opinion. In such a contentious environment, "to even be able to do a randomized study is quite remarkable," he said during ASCO's annual meeting. He also noted that the surgery is "technically demanding" and "takes its toll on both the surgeon and the patient."

Waltham, Mass.-based Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s updated results from its phase I trial with DCC-2618, a broad-spectrum KIT and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) alpha inhibitor, in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting cheered investors.

CHICAGO – The word "race," when used in drug development, usually suggests a contest to reach the market first, but at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, it became key topic of talk – more than once – in prostate cancer (PC) trials.

CHICAGO – Research unveiled at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting equals what one specialist called "an absolutely practice-changing study" related to high microsatellite instability (MSI-H), a genomic marker associated with genetic mutations in tumors, and its relation to Lynch syndrome (LS), an autosomal dominant inherited condition known to increase the risk of developing some cancers.

CHICAGO – Data from a randomized phase III trial showing that many people with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) can avoid surgery to remove the kidney "flipped the existing paradigm," said Sumanta Pal, medical oncologist with Duarte, Calif.-based City of Hope. "Even in the context of patients with advanced disease that has spread to the lungs, liver and other sites [cases account for about 20 percent of all worldwide], we've been removing the kidney, but admittedly this isn't based on a very high level of evidence until now," he said.

CHICAGO – Phase III Impower131 findings with Tecentriq (atezolizumab, Roche Holding AG) when combined with chemotherapy in squamous-cell lung cancer, along with separate discoveries related to a would-be new blood test for early stage lung cancer emerged at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

CHICAGO – "It's remarkable to me how the pediatric oncology community manages to continue to make great strides by using old drugs in new ways," American Society of Oncology (ASCO) Chief Medical Officer Richard Schilsky said during the group's meeting, as he spoke about the first advance in 30 years in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a rare cancer of the muscle tissue that strikes children.