November 1, 2014 (View All Issues)
CLEOPATRA: Survival With Dual HER2 Blockade ‘Unprecedented’
In the final overall survival analysis of the phase III CLEOPATRA trial, HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients lived 15.7 months longer if they received pertuzumab (Perjeta) in addition to trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel, investigators reported at the European Society for Medical...
Linking Biology and Therapy in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Recent discoveries in biology, therapy, and (most importantly) the interplay between these two have led to groundbreaking advances in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). These advances underline the impact of the “translational” approach to cancer management in general.
Standard of Care...
Partnering With Community Centers to Advance Oncology Care
Last fall, Richard R. Barakat, MD, FACS, the Ronald O. Perelman Chair in Gynecologic Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, was named to the new position of Deputy Physician-in-Chief for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Regional Care Network and Cancer Alliance, a new initiative meant to...
Novel Agents May Address Endocrine Therapy Resistance
Progress has recently been swift in the development of new drugs to improve the response to hormone therapy in breast cancer, according to Hope S. Rugo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education at the University of California, San Francisco, Helen...
What Is the Real Risk of Breast Cancer Associated With Atypical Hyperplasia?
Women with atypical hyperplasia have an absolute risk of about 1% per year for developing breast cancer—a level of risk that has been underappreciated. Not enough is being done to protect these women, according to Lynn C. Hartmann, MD, Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,...
High-Risk Benign Breast Lesions: Some Patients Can Avoid Surgery
High-risk atypical benign breast lesions are upgraded to cancer in more than 15% of patients, but the routine excision of such lesions is probably unnecessary. At the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco, researchers presented information that could guide the selection of patients who...
BRCA Mutations Found in Many Breast Tumors Called ‘ER-Positive’
BRCA mutations may occur in nearly one-third of breast cancer patients who would have been described as having triple-negative cancer except that their tumors express low levels of estrogen receptor, so the tumors are described as ER–low positive, according to researchers from The University of...
UCSF Study Finds $18 Billion Tobacco Toll in California, 2009
Smoking took an $18.1 billion toll in California in 2009—$487 for each resident—and was responsible for more than one in seven deaths in the state, more than from AIDS, influenza, diabetes, or many other causes, according to the first comprehensive analysis in more than a decade on the financial...
Encouraging Early Signals for Cediranib in Recurrent Cervical Cancer
Cediranib (a potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1, -2, and -3) produced a modest improvement in progression-free survival and a robust improvement in response rates compared with placebo when added to chemotherapy in patients with recurrent...
Practice-Changing Results at ESMO 2014
A record number of 19,859 attendees at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress discussed changes to oncology that will soon have a positive impact on the care of patients around the world.
“We are particularly pleased to see participants from 131 countries at the congress...
BRAF/MEK Inhibitor Combinations Impressive in Melanoma Trials
For advanced/metastatic melanoma patients with BRAF mutations, two pathway inhibitors are better than one, according to studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress that demonstrated improved progression-free and overall survival for regimens combining a BRAF...
Nivolumab Yields ‘Impressive’ Duration of Response as Late-Line Melanoma Treatment
Nivolumab yielded an “impressive” duration of response when used as second- or third-line treatment for patients with advanced melanoma, according to Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, who presented preliminary results of a phase III trial at the European Society...
Women Underrepresented in Oncology Leadership Positions, Greek Survey Shows
A growing number of oncologists in Greece are female, but women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions, according to a survey reported at the ESMO 2014 Congress.
“In Greece, and across Europe, women oncologists still find it hard to access leadership or academic positions,” said...
Novel Oral Agent Treats Cachexia in Patients With Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
For the first time, studies show that a drug is effective in treating several domains of cancer-related cachexia. Oral anamorelin increased lean body mass, achieved weight gain, and improved quality of life in patients with cancer-related cachexia in two pivotal phase III studies presented together ...
Local Treatments Fail to Improve Survival in Mesothelioma
The prognosis for malignant pleural mesothelioma remains dim, despite attempts to intensify treatment in the phase II SAKK 17/04 trial and other studies. The results of SAKK 17/04, presented at the 2014 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid, showed that the addition of...
FDA Approves Bortezomib Injection for Previously Untreated Patients With Mantle Cell Lymphoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved bortezomib (Velcade) injection for previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma. This is the first treatment in the United States to be approved for use in previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma. Bortezomib was...
FDA Approves Netupitant and Palonosetron Combination Capsule for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a combination of netupitant and palonosetron (Akynzeo) to treat nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy.
The new drug, also known as NEPA, is a fixed-combination capsule comprised of two agents: oral palonosetron,...
Blinatumomab Receives FDA Priority Review Designation in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review Amgen’s Biologics License Application for blinatumomab for the treatment of adults with Philadelphia chromosome–negative relapsed/refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As part of the acceptance, the FDA granted ...
Peter Carroll, MD, MPH, Receives Grant for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer
The ZERO Cancer Research Fund has awarded the Jim Lafferty Memorial Research Grant in the amount of $45,000 to Peter Carroll, MD, MPH, of the University of California San Francisco, for the purpose of researching new and improved methods for early detection of prostate cancer. The grant is part of...
Long-Term Results of COU-AA-302 Confirm Abiraterone Benefit
Final results of the COU-AA-302 trial continue to support the survival benefit of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) in men with chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, often referred to as the “predocetaxel space.”
“The study met the overall survival endpoint and all...
Radiotherapy Should Be Added to Hormone Therapy in Node-Positive Prostate Cancer
Node-positive prostate cancer has typically been excluded from clinical trials, leaving oncologists with little evidence to guide management for this group of patients. A study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress sheds light on this issue, providing the...
E-Cigarettes Unhelpful in Smoking Cessation Among Patients With Cancer
In a new study of patients with cancer who smoke, those using e-cigarettes in addition to traditional cigarettes were more nicotine-dependent and equally or less likely to have quit smoking traditional cigarettes than nonusers.1
The rising use of e-cigarettes has raised many questions among...
Lenvatinib Receives Priority Review Designation for Advanced Thyroid Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Priority Review designation to the New Drug Application for lenvatinib mesylate as a treatment for progressive radioactive iodine–refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. Lenvatinib is an oral multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a...
Despite Potential to Overwhelm, Surveys Still Essential Research Tool
The age of the Internet and worldwide connectivity has made it easier than ever to send out surveys to a wide audience quickly and easily. This ease of access can make surveys an affordable and readily available research tool for independent investigators, but it can also make surveys an...
Progress Against Cancer: A Snapshot
Five decades ago, cancer was viewed as a monolithic and largely untreatable disease, with only a handful of hard-to-tolerate and mostly ineffective therapies available. Since that time, major U.S. investments in cancer research have led to dramatic improvements in our biologic understanding of...
Illumination and Innovation: Transforming Data Into Learning
"Illumination” is a provocative word, evoking as it does the banishment of the darkness of ignorance by the light of new knowledge. Today, we are benefiting from a steady stream of new knowledge about the molecular basis of cancer and the interaction between host and tumor immunology. The concept...
CancerLinQ™ Receives Major Commitment From CTCA®
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO has received a major commitment of support for the development of CancerLinQ™ from Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Inc (CTCA), a national network of five cancer hospitals. The donation is the largest received to date in support of CancerLinQ, a...
ASCO Recruits Members to Help Improve Access to Colorectal Cancer Screening, Follow-up Care
ASCO is among the medical professional societies supporting the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) by recruiting physician leaders from within its membership for a pilot program called Links of Care. The program was established to promote health equity and to improve access to colorectal ...
Latest Patient Booklet From ASCO and Cancer.Net: Palliative Care
ASCO Answer’s new Palliative Care booklet teaches patients and their families about this specialized area of medicine, explaining the difference between palliative care and hospice care and how palliative care is more than receiving a drug to ease physical symptoms. The booklet also includes...
For Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Adding Carboplatin to Anthracycline/Taxane Produces Benefit, but How Much?
Combination chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer is anthracycline- and taxane-based and has not really changed much in the past 10 years, but “we are starting to see emerging data with selective activity of platinum agents,” Priyanka Sharma, MD, told participants at the Best of ASCO...
50 Years of Advancements in Treating Breast Cancer Have Led to Tumor-Centered Treatment Algorithm
Transformations in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer have shifted the therapeutic approach from a “stage-centered treatment algorithm” to a “tumor biology-centered treatment algorithm,” Priyanka Sharma, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas...
Variety of Adjuvant Strategies Explored in HER2‑Positive and Other Breast Cancer Types
Adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) was shown to be effective in patients with breast cancers ≤ 2 cm, regardless of estrogen receptor status, in a meta-analysis1 of five chemotherapy trials, but a “pressing question” remaining is whether T1a/b, N0 tumors warrant the use of adjuvant trastuzumab, Andrew ...
Experts Debate the Need for Upfront vs Late Stem Cell Transplant in Multiple Myeloma
With powerful new drugs capable of achieving sustained and deep remissions in multiple myeloma, the role of upfront stem cell transplantation is being questioned by experts, who debated the pros and cons at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 9th Annual Congress on Hematologic...
NIH 2014 New Innovator Award Recipient Pamela Kreeger, PhD, to Study Metastasis in Ovarian Cancer
Pamela Kreeger, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is among a group of researchers to receive a 2014 New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kreeger will receive funding of nearly $2.3 million. She has chosen to study...
MD Anderson Receives $5 Million Grant for Research in Glioblastoma
The Broach Foundation for Brain Cancer Research has made a $5 million commitment to support glioblastoma multiforme research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. James and Jamie Broach established the Broach Foundation in 2011, just months after Mr. Broach was diagnosed...
Beyond R-CHOP for Lymphoma
The R-CHOP regimen (rituximab [Rituxan] plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) was a major advance in treating diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, but experts are seeking to up the ante and identify ways to continue to improve outcomes beyond that achieved with R-CHOP.
“We are ...
No Benefit Seen for Cetuximab Added to Cisplatin and Accelerated Radiotherapy in Advanced Head and Neck Carcinoma
Use of cisplatin or cetuximab (Erbitux) with radiotherapy improves overall survival in stage III or IV head and neck carcinoma, and adding cetuximab to platinum therapy improves overall survival in metastatic disease. In the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0522 trial reported in...
Adding Cetuximab to Chemoradiation Did Not Benefit Patients With Advanced Head and Neck Cancer: What Were the Reasons?
Two landmark randomized studies demonstrated improved survival of patients with head and neck cancer receiving the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody cetuximab (Erbitux) concurrent with radiotherapy compared with radiotherapy alone,1 and similar improvement in patients with...
Treating Testicular Cancer in 2014
Testicular cancer is one of oncology’s true success stories. It is a highly treatable disease, usually curable, that most often develops in young and middle-aged men. Despite the success in testicular cancer, there are still clinical challenges ranging from staging to optimum therapeutic...
Nearly 800 New Cancer Medicines and Vaccines in Development, PhRMA Reports
America’s biopharmaceutical research companies are currently developing nearly 800 new medicines and vaccines for cancer, according to a report released recently by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).1
Perseverance Needed
“In recent decades, we have seen great...
Professional Associations Collaborate to Launch Stereotactic Radiosurgery Patient Registry
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) are partnering to launch and support a national registry for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treatments. The partnership was announced recently at the ASTRO Annual Meeting.
The SRS...
2014 Oncology Meetings
NOVEMBER
Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium
November 4 - 8 • New York, New York
For more information:
www.chemotherapyfoundationsymp-osium.org
Diagnostic Error in Medicine 5th International Conference
November 11-14 • Baltimore, Maryland
For more information:
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Lung Cancer
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies of people with lung neoplasms, including stage I and II small cell and non–small cell lung cancers. The studies include phase Ib, II, III, observational, and interventional trials...
A History of Medical Oncology
BOOKMARK
Title: Therapeutic Revolution: The History of Medical Oncology From Early Days to the Creation of the Subspecialty
Author: Pierre R. Band
Publisher: Bentham Science
Publication date: 2014
Price: $39.00 (eBook); $78.00 (print on demand); 213 pages
Available at: eurekaselect.com
According to ...
AACR Honors Zhu Chen, MD, PhD, for Distinguished Public Service and Global Impact in Cancer Research
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) honored Zhu Chen, MD, PhD, with the 2014 AACR Award for Distinguished Public Service and Global Impact in Cancer Research in Biomedical Science at the AACR’s inaugural meeting in China, called New Horizons in Cancer Research: Harnessing...
Lessons From Cancer
For a year before I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in December 2011, I had what I thought were the lingering remnants of a bad case of bronchitis. My breathing was labored, I had a chronic cough, and occasionally my voice would give out. Every time I saw my pulmonologist, I would...
NCI Awards $2 Million Grant to University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine to Study How Cancer Spreads to Bone
With a $2 million, 5-year grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine will examine the molecular mechanisms that allow certain cancers, particularly multiple myeloma, to spread to the bone. The project could lead to new...
EGFR a Potential Target in Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer With Basal-Like Phenotype
As reported by Rebouissou and colleagues in Science Translational Medicine, a subset of muscle-invasive bladder cancers that present with a basal-like phenotype is associated with poorer survival, EGFR pathway activation, and sensitivity to EGFR inhibition.
Assessment of data from 383 tumors...
MHC-Matched Graft-vs-Host Disease Requires Recipient Intestinal Barrier Loss and Natural Killer Cell Inactivation
Although available data indicate an association among pretransplantation conditioning intensity, intestinal barrier loss, and severity of graft-vs-host disease, the multiple effects of irradiation and other types of conditioning have made it difficult to precisely identify the role of intestinal...
Successful Immunotherapy With Mutation-Specific CD4-Positive T Cells in Patient With Epithelial Cancer
There is limited evidence of mutation-specific T-cell response to epithelial cancers. In a study reported in Science, Tran and colleagues used whole-exome sequencing to show that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes included CD4-positive Th1 cells that recognized a mutation in erbb2 interacting protein...
Chemotherapy-Induced Immunosuppressive Myeloid Cells Inhibit Tumor Control via PD-1–PD-L1 Axis
In a study reported in Cancer Research, Ding and colleagues identified mechanisms by which cyclophosphamide induces suppressor cells that inhibit immune response and predispose to loss of tumor control. They found that cyclophosphamide treatment induces expansion of inflammatory monocytic myeloid...
Androgen, Estrogen, and Stem Cell Markers Help Predict Recurrence and Survival in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Fujimura and colleagues developed and tested models to predict prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence and cancer-specific survival in patients with treatment-naive prostate cancer and bone metastases using mRNA expression of genes involved in...
Polymorphisms and Cetuximab Benefit in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
Polymorphisms in FcγR (receptor for the constant region of immunoglobulin G) have been reported to be associated with improved immune-mediated effects of cetuximab (Erbitux) in metastatic colorectal cancer. In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Sclafani and colleagues analyzed the...
Cervical Cancer Risks After Negative HPV Test Lower at 3 Years Than After Negative Pap Result
Three-year risks for cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or worse (CIN3+) were lower following a negative test for human papillomavirus (HPV) than following a negative Pap test, according to a large study comparing three cervical cancer screening strategies, HPV or Pap...
Vitamin D Deficiency Is Prevalent Among Patients With Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
Vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent among patients newly diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, and black patients had statistically significantly lower levels than white patients, according to a recent study reported by Katherine Van Loon, MD, MPH, of the UCSF Helen Diller Family...
Updated GEM2005 Trial Confirms Benefit of Melphalan/Bortezomib Combination in Elderly Multiple Myeloma Patients
Melphalan in combination with bortezomib (Velcade) should be maintained as one of the standards of care for the treatment of elderly patients with multiple myeloma, concluded Spanish trialists reporting updated results from the GEM2005 study comparing bortezomib/melphalan/prednisone with...
Obinutuzumab Could Have Synergistic Action With New Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors
Final results from the phase I/II GAUGUIN study showed that obinutuzumab (Gazyva) monotherapy was active in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia, European researchers reported in Blood. In phase II, median progression-free survival was 10.7 months and ...
