Tremelimumab is an anticytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4) monoclonal antibody, a class of inhibitor that has shown activity in multiple tumor types. Ipilimumab (Yervoy), another agent in this class, was found to significantly prolong overall survival in metastatic melanoma despite a...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the marketing of the UroLift system, a permanent implant to relieve low or blocked urine flow in men age 50 and older with benign prostatic hyperplasia. As men age, the prostate can become enlarged, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia....
In an exploratory analysis of long-term survival data from the GeparTrio trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gunter von Minckwitz, MD, of the German Breast Group in Neu-Isenburg, and colleagues found that response-guided neoadjuvant chemotherapy appears to improve disease-free survival...
In a phase II study (MCL-001, EMERGE) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Andre Goy, MD, of Hackensack University Medical Center, and colleagues evaluated the use of single-agent lenalidomide (Revlimid) in bortezomib (Velcade)-treated patients who had relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma. ...
A new plasma biomarker, isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1), has been shown to be more sensitive in detecting non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than currently used biomarkers, including CEA, Cyfra21-1, and CA125, according to a study published in Clinical Cancer Research. The study by Jie He,...
A comparison of three methods of predicting the risk of recurrence in women treated for estrogen-receptor–positive breast cancer found that only the breast cancer index (BCI)—a biomarker based on the expression levels of seven tumor-specific genes—accurately identified patients...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Annette McWilliams, MD, of Vancouver General Hospital, and colleagues analyzed data from subjects undergoing low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer to identify factors that might predict whether lung nodules found on...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 13 to 0, with one abstention, in favor of recommending accelerated approval of a pertuzumab (Perjeta) regimen for neoadjuvant treatment in patients with high-risk, HER2-positive, early-stage breast...
A family of microRNAs (miR-200) blocks cancer progression and metastasis by stifling a tumor’s ability to weave new blood vessels to support itself, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in Nature Communications. Patients with lung, ovarian, kidney, or...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gregory T. Armstrong, MD, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, and colleagues assessed the frequency of major cardiac events and cardiovascular risk factors among adult survivors of childhood cancer and their siblings. They...
Available data suggest that docetaxel plus cyclophosphamide improves disease-free survival and overall survival compared with doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide in early-stage breast cancer. Other findings suggest that amplification of TOP2A, the gene positioned next to HER2, is predictive of...
Results of the two rounds of annual incidence screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) vs radiography in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) were recently reported by Denise R. Aberle, MD, of University of California at Los Angeles, and colleagues in The New England Journal of...
Pomalidomide (Pomalyst) alone has shown limited efficacy in relapsed multiple myeloma, but synergistic effects have been noted when it is combined with dexamethasone. In a phase III trial (MM-003) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jesus San Miguel, MD, of Universidad de Salamanca, and colleagues...
For the first time, a genetic link specific to risk of childhood leukemia has been identified, according to a team of researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, University of Washington, and other institutions. The discovery was reported...
German investigators reported at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco that an abridged magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol can accurately detect cancers among women whose mammographic screenings were negative (Abstract 1). MRI, therefore, may reveal the type of tumor that...
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a molecular marker called Mig6 that appears to accurately predict longer survival—up to 2 years—among patients being treated with the EGFR inhibitors gefitinib (Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva). Results from the preliminary study were published ...
A large retrospective study reported that adding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to mammography before or immediately after surgery was not associated with reduced local recurrence or contralateral breast cancer rates among women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast who were treated...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shukui Qin, MD, of People’s Liberation Army Cancer Centre, Bayi Hospital, in Nanjing, and colleagues compared FOLFOX4 (infusional fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) with doxorubicin as palliative chemotherapy in patients with ...
A new ultrasensitive screening method that detects genetic variations that initiate colon cancer and can help in the detection of the cancer in its early stages could be used for noninvasive colon cancer screening, according to a study by Bettina Scholtka, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department ...
As reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Glenwood D. Goss, MD, of the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Center, and colleagues, the prematurely closed NCIC CTG BR19 study showed no apparent survival benefit of adjuvant gefitinib (Iressa) vs placebo in patients with completely resected non–small...
A team of researchers led by Janet Stanford, PhD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has discovered that mutations in the gene BTNL2, which encodes a protein involved in regulating T-cell proliferation and cytokine production—both of which impact immune function—increase the risk ...
The effect of bisphosphonate treatment in early breast cancer is controversial, with some data indicating survival benefit in the adjuvant setting. In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gunter von Minckwitz, MD, of the German Breast Group in Neu-Isenberg and colleagues compared...
The investigational agent brivanib is a selective dual inhibitor of VEGF and fibroblast growth factor receptors, both implicated in hepatocellular carcinoma. In a trial (BRISK-PS) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Josep M. Llovet, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New...
The investigational drug brivanib is a dual inhibitor of VEGF and fibroblast growth factor signaling, both implicated in hepatocellular carcinoma. In a noninferiority trial (BRISK-FL) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Philip J. Johnson, MD, of the Institute of Translational Medicine,...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have identified a protein that certain high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells need to survive and have used that knowledge to fashion a more effective method of killing tumor cells. The findings appear in the August 29 edition of ...
In an Italian study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Umberto Vitolo, MD, and colleagues in the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi, treatment-naive patients aged > 60 years with advanced follicular lymphoma were randomized to rituximab [Rituxan] maintenance or observation after brief ...
Survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for long-term adverse physical and mental effects, but little is known about the effects of illness in siblings of these patients. In a study reported in Lancet Oncology, Lasse Wegener Lund, MD, of the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre in...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Arjun Sahgal, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, and colleagues evaluated the occurrence of vertebral compression fractures in patients undergoing spinal stereotactic body radiotherapy. Vertebral compression fracture ...
A retrospective analysis of 110 patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia found that single-unit, unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation resulted in a 5-year disease-free survival rate of 44%. “Our data document that a significant proportion of children with this disease,...
Thyroid ultrasound imaging could be used to identify patients who have a low risk of thyroid cancer for whom biopsy could be deferred, according to a retrospective case-control study by Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, and colleagues in...
Subcutaneous trastuzumab (not available in the United States) has been shown to have noninferior efficacy and similar pharmacokinetic and safety profiles compared with intravenous trastuzumab (Herceptin) in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. In the PrefHer trial reported in...
In the noninferiority ICOGEN trial reported in Lancet Oncology, Yuankai Shi, MD, of the Key Laboratory of Clinical Study on Anticancer Molecular Targeted Drugs. Beijing, and colleagues compared the oral epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor icotinib with gefitinib...
A study by Alexi Wright, MD, MPH, and colleagues at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston has found that two common subtypes of cervical cancer, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, have distinct molecular profiles. The results suggest that clinical...
African American women are less likely to receive the vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), even with access to health care, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings, published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health, suggest a need...
A new screening strategy for ovarian cancer appears to be highly specific for detecting the disease before it becomes lethal. The strategy was described in a study published early online this week in Cancer. A clinical trial is ongoing to verify the findings. Karen Lu, MD, of The University of...
Studies evaluating two standards of care in adults with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma—ie, increased-dose bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine (Matulane), and prednisone (BEACOPPescalated) and doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine...
The combination of the investigational histone deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat (Faridak) with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone was able to recapture responses in 34.5% of heavily pretreated, bortezomib-refractory patients with multiple myeloma in the phase II PANORAMA 2 trial. The 55...
It is estimated that 30% to 90% of cancer patients experience impairment of sleep quality post-treatment and such impairment can be severe enough to increase morbidity and mortality. Preliminary evidence indicates that yoga may improve sleep in cancer patients. In a study reported in the Journal of ...
An app to prevent teens from smoking and encourage them to quit if they have started is now available at no cost on the Apple iTunes Store. “Our app combines education and entertainment with comics and interactive games,” said Designer Alexander Prokhorov, MD, PhD, a Professor in the...
A drug recently approved for use in multiple myeloma is now being tested for its ability to fight central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, a deadly cancer of the immune system that can affect the brain, spinal cord and fluid, and eyes. The clinical trial, now open at the three campuses of Mayo Clinic ...
Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in men and the leading cause of cancer deaths in white, African American, and Hispanic men, according to the Centers for Disease Control. However, it remains unclear why, despite treatment, some prostate cancers progress and may become...
Anthracycline- and taxane-based three-drug chemotherapy regimens have proven benefit as adjuvant therapy for early-stage breast cancer. As reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, of Washington Cancer Institute–MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and colleagues,...
In a study (Medical Research Council AML 15 Trial) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alan K. Burnett, MD, of Cardiff University School of Medicine and colleagues compared induction with daunorubicin/cytarabine, daunorubicin/cytarabine plus etoposide, and fludarabine/cytarabine/granulocyte...
New research suggests that restricting calories for a defined period of time may improve the success of cancer treatment, offering valuable new data on how caloric intake may play a role in programmed cancer cell death and efficacy of targeted cancer therapies. Study results were published online...
VeriStrat, a serum-based protein assay, can help select which patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not known to have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations might benefit from an EGFR-targeted agent, according to a study described at the 2013 Best of ASCO Los...
A new way of analyzing data acquired in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appears to be able to identify whether or not tumors are responding to antiangiogenesis therapy, which may help physicians determine the most appropriate treatments for patients. In a report published online in Nature...
For the two-thirds of lung cancer patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease, tumor size is not used currently to predict overall survival times. However, a new study led by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has shown that even in advanced stages total tumor size can have ...
In the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), initially reported in 2003, finasteride significantly reduced the risk of prostate cancer by 24.8% but was associated with a relative 26.9% increase in risk of high-grade disease compared with placebo. In a study reported in The New England Journal of ...
A phase I clinical trial showed diffuse large B-cell lymphomas resistant to chemotherapy can be reprogrammed to respond to treatment after being pretreated with drug azacitidine (Vidaza), according to a study published in Cancer Discovery. Patients whose lymphomas recur after initial chemotherapy...
A trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by John P. Crown, MD, of the Irish Cooperative Oncology Research Group, and colleagues assessed the addition of the antiangiogenesis agent sunitinib (Sutent) to capecitabine (Xeloda) in patients with previously treated metastatic breast cancer who...