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.
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Enfortumab vedotin/pembrolizumab hailed as new standard for upfront mUC
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
After decades of stagnation, an almost doubling of life expectancy has set a new bar for the first-line treatment of locally advanced/metastatic...
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Does first-line pembrolizumab add-on improve PFS in high-risk cervical cancer?
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
An FDA decision is expected in January on pembrolizumab with concurrent chemoradiotherapy for the first-line treatment of locally advanced...
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It’s safe to skip SLNB for small, ultrasound-negative breast cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Trial results support “the argument that sentinel node positivity is not, in and of itself, a critical parameter that determines therapeutic plans...
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Debate: Should smoldering myeloma be treated?
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
After hearing two experts debate the evidence at the SOHO annual meeting, an audience seemed swayed to treat high-risk myeloma patients.
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Using JAK inhibitors for myelofibrosis
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Newer options are improving management of cytopenic patients.
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AI mammogram screening is equivalent to human readers
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
“That the AI system was able to match the performance of the average reader in this specialized group of mammogram readers indicates the...
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CHP/CCUS: Low blood cancer risk for most patients
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The goal of ongoing research is to prevent CHIP/CCUS progression in higher-risk patients.
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MM: Newest IKEMA results back isatuximab
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Adding isatuximab to carfilzomib and dexamethasone creates ‘another effective triplet’ for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
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RFS failed as endpoint in adjuvant immunotherapy trials
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
“Our meta-analysis failed to find a significantly strong association between RFS and OS in RCTs of adjuvant immunotherapy,” the authors concluded...
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DCIS isn’t an automatic indication for mastectomy in HER2+ BC
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
In the largest look into the issue to date, investigators find that neoadjuvant therapy clears DCIS about half of the time.
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Interrupting radiotherapy for TNBC linked to worse survival
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
“All reasonable efforts should be made to prevent any treatment interruptions,” including “prophylactic measures to reduce the severity of...
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ESMO helps hematologists assess new cancer drugs
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The group’s new study evaluation tool, the ESMO-MCBS:H, is aimed at helping doctors and others determine the benefit of new blood cancer therapies...
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Ibrutinib + venetoclax: High-risk features don’t lessen CLL response
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Expert cautions that upfront targeted therapies for CLL should be considered experimental, given the adverse events and lack of long-term follow-...
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CAR-T hikes overall survival in relapsed/refractory LBCL
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Investigators say axi-cel should become the standard of care for second-line large B-cell lymphoma.
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CLL: Venetoclax combos top first-line chemoimmunotherapy
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
A triple-therapy combination yielded the best outcomes, but it should still be considered investigational.