M. Alexander Otto began his reporting career early in 1999 covering the pharmaceutical industry for a national pharmacists' magazine and freelancing for the Washington Post and other newspapers. He then joined BNA, now part of Bloomberg News, covering health law and the protection of people and animals in medical research. Alex next worked for the McClatchy Company. Based on his work, Alex won a year-long Knight Science Journalism Fellowship to MIT in 2008-2009. He joined the company shortly thereafter. Alex has a newspaper journalism degree from Syracuse (N.Y.) University and a master's degree in medical science -- a physician assistant degree -- from George Washington University. Alex is based in Seattle.
News
Twelve-month overall survival benefit with ribociclib for metastatic breast cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
It’s the first phase 3 trial to report a median overall survival beyond 5 years in advanced breast cancer.
News
Durvalumab combos beat monotherapy for unresectable stage 3 NSCLC
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Combination treatment has better progression free survival with a similar safety profile.
News
Mediastinal relapse risk lower with PORT, but no survival benefit
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Post-op radiation may help patients with high mediastinal burdens.
News
COVID is especially dangerous for mesothelioma
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Case review demonstrates a mortality rate of 57%.
News
Unequal resource distribution underlies lung cancer disparities
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
“We have to focus on the areas where we are most likely to be successful.”
News
Finding the most bang for the buck with adjuvant atezolizumab for NSCLC
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Lack of benefit with pneumonectomy, cisplatin-gemcitabine needs further investigation.
News
Study calls higher surgery costs at NCI centers into question
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
When is the higher cost of cancer surgery at NCI centers worth it?
News
A case is building for personalized, genome-based radiation dosing
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The data so far “seem very solid. I’m very excited by the concept,” Dr. Brian Marples said.
News
Dostarlimab indication broadened to all dMMR solid tumors
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The FDA approved dostarlimab-gxly in April for dMMR recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer.
News
Nivolumab gets additional adjuvant indication for bladder cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Nivolumab is the first and only PD-1 inhibitor approved as a secondary treatment for urothelial carcinoma.
News
‘Remarkable’ results for targeted therapy of rare CNS tumors
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
New options emerge for difficult lesions.
News
Adjuvant capecitabine shown a less punishing option after NPC chemoradiation
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The study teams were looking for “a way to make adjuvant therapy more tolerable.”
News
Cabozantinib gains ground for salvage in differentiated thyroid cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
It’s an option when first-line VEGFR blockers stop working.
News
Chemotherapy/local excision avoids proctectomy in rectal cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Promising results, but the short follow-up means the true organ preservation rate is unknown for now.
News
Drug conjugate extends life in HER2+ end-stage metastatic colorectal cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
An almost 50% response rate is “very exciting.”