Findings from a new study show that hookah smokers and nonsmokers exposed to hookah (or waterpipe) secondhand tobacco smoke at social events in hookah lounges and in private homes had significant increases in uptake of benzene, a leukemogen that causes lymphohematopoietic cancers, especially acute...
Researchers have found that patients with an advanced form of kidney cancer, for which there is no standard treatment and a very poor prognosis, respond well to a combination of two existing anticancer drugs. The combination of bevacizumab (Avastin) and erlotinib (Tarceva) produced excellent...
A phase I trial of the first drug designed to inhibit the cancer-causing activity of a mutated enzyme known as isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1, which is involved in cell metabolism, has shown clinical activity in patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with the IDH1 mutation. The...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to BGB324 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). BGB324 is a first-in-class, highly selective small-molecule inhibitor of the Axl receptor tyrosine kinase. It blocks the epithelial-mesenchymal transition...
Scientists have found that altering members of the p53 gene family, known as tumor-suppressor genes, causes rapid regression of tumors that are deficient in or totally missing p53. Study results suggest existing diabetes drugs, which impact the same gene-protein pathway, might be effective for...
ASCO issued its new Policy Statement on Medicaid Reform yesterday, which calls for major changes to the program to ensure access to high-quality cancer care for all low-income individuals. The Society’s recommendations call for Medicaid expansion in all 50 states to close coverage gaps,...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with paclitaxel, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, or topotecan for the treatment of patients with platinum-resistant, recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. AURELIA Trial ...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, O’Shaughnessy et al found that the addition of iniparib to gemcitabine and carboplatin did not improve overall survival or progression-free survival in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. An exploratory...
An international collaboration has identified frequent mutations in two genes that often occur together in Ewing sarcoma and that define a subtype of the cancer associated with reduced survival. The research, conducted by the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-Washington University...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Iyengar et al found that stereotactic body radiation therapy plus erlotinib (Tarceva) resulted in infrequent recurrence in radiation therapy–treated sites and was associated with prolonged progression-free survival and overall...
In a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database analysis reported in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Sperry et al found that sentinel lymph node biopsy was not associated with improved disease-specific survival in propensity score–matched patients with head and...
Adding interleukin-2 to gefitinib (Iressa) therapy resulted in threefold higher response rates in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study by Bersanelli et al in Cancers. The addition of interleukin-2 enhanced the efficacy of gefitinib without negatively ...
Olaparib, an experimental twice-daily oral cancer drug, produced an overall tumor response rate of 26% in several advanced cancers associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, according to a phase II study reported by Kaufman et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The positive response provides...
In the phase III Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 40302/Alliance trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Burstein et al found that the addition of the dual EGFR-HER2 inhibitor lapatinib (Tykerb) to endocrine therapy with fulvestrant (Faslodex) did not improve progression-free...
In a prospective Chinese study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Seto et al found a 2-year rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation of 41.5% in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative and anti–hepatitis B core antigen antibody (anti-HBc)–positive patients receiving...
In a secondary analysis utilizing the graded prognostic assessment—an improved diagnosis-specific index—the group of all patients with one to three brain metastases had no survival advantage when treated with whole-brain radiation therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery, compared with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Friedman and colleagues, the Children’s Oncology Group study AHOD0031 has shown that early response to dose-intensive chemotherapy can be used to tailor subsequent therapy in pediatric intermediate-risk Hodgkin lymphoma. Study Details In...
Patients with untreated metastatic colorectal cancer who received FOLFOXIRI (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, oxaliplatin, irinotecan) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) had improved survival compared to patients who received FOLFIRI (5-FU, leucovorin, irinotecan) plus bevacizumab in a phase III...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Shaw et al found that crizotinib (Xalkori) produced a high response rate in patients with ROS1-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Chromosomal rearrangements in ROS1, which encodes the proto-oncogene receptor tyrosine...
In the NCIC-CTG LY.12 study, a phase III international noninferiority trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Crump and colleagues found that gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) was associated with a noninferior response rate and similar transplantation rate compared with...
Analysis of data from an institutional patient registry on stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) indicates excellent long-term, local control in 79% of tumors for medically inoperable, early-stage lung cancer patients treated with the procedure from 2003 to 2012, according to research presented at...
Patients who received postoperative radiation therapy lived an average of 4 months longer when compared to the patients who had the same disease site, tumor histology, and treatment criteria and who did not receive postoperative radiotherapy, according to research presented at the 2014 Chicago ...
The Dutch and Belgian NELSON trial is assessing the effect of increasing interval low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer on lung cancer mortality. In an analysis among screened Dutch participants reported in Lancet Oncology, Horeweg and colleagues identified screen-detected...
The Dutch and Belgian NELSON trial is assessing the effect of increasing interval low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer on lung cancer mortality. In an analysis of screening test performance among Dutch participants reported in Lancet Oncology, Horeweg and colleagues found...
Antibody-drug conjugates, checkpoint inhibitors, and single-dose intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer were included in the Cleveland Clinic's Ninth Annual Top 10 Medical Innovations List released earlier today. The list identifies those advances likely to have a major impact on...
The phase III ALSYMPCA trial showed that radium-223 (Xofigo) increased overall survival vs placebo patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and symptomatic bone metastases. In a prespecified subgroup analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hoskin et al found that overall survival...
Physician burnout in palliative care is higher—over 62%—than the burnout rate reported in medical oncology—45%—according to a large survey of over 1,200 hospice and palliative care clinicians. The factors contributing to professional burnout severity included younger age,...
In a phase III ARCHER 1009 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ramalingam et al found no progression-free survival benefit of the irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor dacomitinib vs erlotinib among all patients with pretreated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or among those...
In a subgroup analysis of the pooled results of the EINSTEIN-DVT and EINSTEIN-PE trials reported in The Lancet Haematology, Prins et al found that the recurrence rate for venous thromboembolism in cancer patients receiving anticoagulant therapy with oral rivaroxaban (Xarelto) was similar to that in ...
Early findings from a study of 319 families suggest that use of an innovative, telephone-based symptom monitoring and coaching system during home hospice care leads to significantly decreased patient symptoms in the final weeks of life. The findings will be presented at the 2014 Palliative Care in...
In smokers with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the relationship between KRAS mutations and NQO1 may be of future therapeutic value, according to the study findings presented by Yilmaz et al in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The researchers...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Maude et al reported achieving sustained remissions in children and adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using autologous CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells. Study Details In the...
Neratinib is an irreversible pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitor with activity against HER1, HER2, and HER4. In a phase I/II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Saura et al found that the combination of neratinib and capecitabine exhibited high activity in patients with trastuzumab...
At least 14 million major medical conditions among U.S. adults aged 35 years and older were attributed to cigarette smoking by a study estimating the disease burden of cigarette smoking, which, according to the study’s authors, “remains immense.” Among current and former smokers,...
For women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer, combining two anti-HER2 agents with chemotherapy is the most effective treatment modality in the neoadjuvant setting, according to a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The...
More women are undergoing salpingo-oophorectomy as a cancer prevention measure, but many are unaware of the potential sexual or psychological side effects of the procedure. A new study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute demonstrated that a half-day educational program can help ...
Known cancer-driving genomic aberrations in localized lung cancer appear to be so consistently present across tumors that a single biopsy of one region of the tumor is likely to identify most of them, according to a paper published by Zhang et al in Science. The study led by scientists at The...
In breast cancer patients under the age of 40, positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanning may provide accurate clinical staging for stage IIB and III disease, according to the study findings presented by Riedl et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The utilization of...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sherman et al found occult cancers in 2.6% of high-risk women undergoing risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy. Study Details The study involved 966 asymptomatic high-risk women age ≥ 30 years who underwent risk-reducing...
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 ...
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...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today 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,...
The risk of developing cancer in a salivary gland might be higher in people with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, which are associated with breast and ovarian cancer, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital...
An investigative predictive model for lung cancer demonstrated more accuracy than the more commonly used Mayo Clinic model in prescreening lung nodules prior to resection, according to the results of a study reported by Deppen et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. The investigators suggested...
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...
As reported in The Lancet by Robert et al, the anti–programmed-death receptor-1 (PD-1) antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda) produced durable responses in a phase I trial in patients with ipilimumab (Yervoy)-refractory melanoma. The study provided the basis for the recent accelerated approval of...
Researchers in Germany report that nearly one-third of more than 2,100 patients with cancer interviewed at inpatient and outpatient care centers experienced a clinically meaningful level of mental or emotional distress that meets the strict diagnostic criteria for mental disorders including...
The molecule threonyl tRNA-synthetase may provide value as a serum diagnostic marker and a potential target of therapy for ovarian cancer, according to the results of a study reported by Wellman et al in BMC Cancer. In addition, the mortality risk was slightly reduced for patients with high...
In an analysis of outcomes in patients with node-positive prostate cancer reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Abdollah et al found that adjuvant radiotherapy is associated with a survival benefit in patients with low-volume nodal disease in the setting of intermediate- to high-grade...
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to John O’Keefe, FRS, and to May-Britt Moser, PhD, and Edvard I. Moser, PhD, for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. This “inner GPS”...