Top in hem/onc: Detecting cancer by smell, COVID-19 vaccine elicits response

Results from a small study showed that an odor-based tool identified ovarian cancer with 95% accuracy and pancreatic cancer with 90% accuracy. A report on the data was the top story in hematology/oncology last week.

In another top story, 90% of patients with cancer were seropositive after receiving a second dose of a messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine compared with 100% of healthy patients.

Read these and more top stories in hematology/oncology below:

‘Electronic nose’ accurately detects ovarian, pancreatic cancers

An electronic, odor-based tool accurately distinguished pancreatic and ovarian cancer specimens from benign disease and control specimens by analyzing vapors emanating from blood samples, according to results of a small, preliminary study. Read more.

Patients with cancer achieve response to messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine

A high percentage of patients undergoing treatment for cancer achieved a sufficient antibody response to the BNT162b2 messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine, according to study results published in JAMA Oncology. Read more.

‘Valid and reliable data’ needed to address disparities in pediatric cancer survivorship

The issue of racial and ethnic disparities in health care has garnered increased attention during the past year, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.

Weight-based immunotherapy dosing may benefit patients with cancer and high BMI

Patients with cancer and overweight or obesity had better outcomes with immune checkpoint inhibitors than lighter patients, but only when they received weight-based dosing of the therapy, study results showed. Read more.

Adjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitor following chemoradiation in NSCLC

Seventy-nine percent of stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients who received chemoradiation were also treated with at least one dose of adjuvant immunotherapy, according to findings presented at the virtual 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting. Read more.