This year’s ASCO Annual Meeting was really exciting in two specific ways. First, we saw the development of high-tech novel therapies and combinations that effectively manipulate the immune system and extend survival in historically difficult-to-treat diseases, like metastatic melanoma (eg,...
First-line cetuximab (Erbitux) plus FOLFIRI chemotherapy (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], irinotecan) offered a roughly 4-month survival advantage over bevacizumab (Avastin) plus FOLFIRI for patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer in the German phase III clinical trial FIRE-3. A ...
Spouses and long-term partners of patients diagnosed with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer were no more likely to test positive for oral HPV infection than people in the general population and have a low risk of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, according to the Human Oral...
Progression-free survival was significantly improved for patients with metastatic melanoma of the eye (uveal melanoma) treated with selumetinib, according to the final analysis of data from a phase II crossover study presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract CRA9003). Progression-free...
Long-term follow-up results from an expanded phase I study indicate that nivolumab produced long-lasting responses in patients with stage IV melanoma. Overall, 33 out of 107 patients (31%) treated with five different doses of nivolumab experienced tumor shrinkage of at least 30% and responses were...
Adding granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF, Leukine) to ipilimumab (Yervoy) at a 10 mg/kg dose significantly improved survival compared to the same dose of ipilimumab alone, according to results of a proof-of-principle phase II trial. One year after the start of therapy,...
A new study by researchers Fox Chase Cancer Center has identified a disconnect between clinical trials that look at new treatments for metastatic pancreatic cancer and the patient population most likely to be diagnosed with the disease. Clinical trials typically enroll, and base their findings on,...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved two new drugs, dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), for patients with advanced or unresectable melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer. Dabrafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, is approved to treat patients with melanoma whose tumors...
In order to support high-quality science, the European Hematology Association collaborates with 16 Scientific Working Groups (SWGs) and concentrates on fostering activities directed towards basic and translational research. In simultaneous sessions on Thursday, June 13, during the European...
Under conditions of oxygen starvation often encountered by tumors, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) sends signals that thwart the development of tumor-suppressing microRNAs, an international team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered. The...
Mayo Clinic researchers have used next-generation genomic analysis to determine that some of the more aggressive prostate cancer tumors have similar genetic origins, which may help in predicting cancer progression. The findings appear online today in the journal Cancer Research. Gleason Patterns...
Physicians have more information to share with their patients about the benefits and risks of low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening following the publication in the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of the first (of three planned) annual screening examinations from...
Hologic, Inc, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of C-View, a new low-dose two-dimensional (2D) imaging software. C-View 2D images may now be used in place of the conventional 2D exposure previously required as part of Hologic’s FDA-approved...
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed a promising method to distinguish between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis, two disorders that are difficult to tell apart. A molecular marker obtained from pancreatic “juices” can identify almost all cases of pancreatic cancer, their...
Results from a phase I study of a new oral targeted drug, idelalisib (GS-1101), show the agent has potential as a therapy for relapsed or treatment-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The drug produced rapid and long-lasting tumor shrinkage in half of the patients treated with...
In the largest clinical trial to date to examine the efficacy of PARP inhibitor therapy in BRCA1/2 carriers with diseases other than breast and ovarian cancer, the oral drug olaparib was found to be effective against advanced pancreatic and prostate cancers. Results of the study, led by researchers ...
Findings from a large, prospective 20-year study indicate that a high level of cardiovascular fitness in middle age reduces men’s risk of developing and dying from lung and colorectal cancer, two of the most common cancers affecting men. Better fitness also reduces the risk of dying from,...
Results from a phase I study show that combination therapy with ipilimumab (Yervoy) and the investigational antibody drug nivolumab led to lasting tumor shrinkage in approximately half of patients with aggressive, advanced melanoma. The results will be presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting in...
On May 15, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved radium Ra 223 dichloride (Xofigo) for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer, symptomatic bone metastases, and no known visceral metastatic disease. Radium-223 dichloride is an...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test, a companion diagnostic for erlotinib (Tarceva). This is the first FDA-approved companion diagnostic that detects epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations, which are present in approximately 10% of...
A comprehensive genomic analysis of nearly 400 endometrial tumors suggests that certain molecular characteristics, such as the frequency of mutations, could complement current pathology methods and help distinguish between principal types of endometrial tumors, as well as provide insights into...
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called “master regulator” gene may be the key to...
The pages of medical history are dog-eared with breakthroughs that have transformed medicine and saved lives. One of those dog-eared pages belongs to Emil Frei III, MD, known to his colleagues and friends as Tom. In the dawn of oncology, Dr. Frei, along with his associate, Emil Freireich, MD, did...
Patients with advanced alveolar soft part sarcoma achieved some control of their disease using the experimental anticancer drug cediranib. The results from this largest clinical trial on alveolar soft part sarcoma to date were published online ahead of print on April 29, 2013, in the Journal of...
Postmenopausal women aged 55 to 75 with early-stage breast cancer can be safely treated with breast-conserving surgery without postoperative radiation therapy, according to a double-arm, prospective, randomized study presented this week at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting. The ...
Tamoxifen is a time-honored breast cancer drug used to treat millions of women with early-stage and less-aggressive disease, and now a University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) team has shown how to exploit tamoxifen’s secondary activities so that it might work on more aggressive breast...
A prospective study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital observed an association between risk of second primary cancer and history of nonmelanoma skin cancer in white men and women. The researchers found that people with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer had a modestly increased risk...
Nearly two-thirds of children receiving stem cell transplants returned to the hospital within 6 months for treatment of unexplained fevers, infections, or other problems, according to a study performed at Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. Children who received donor...
More than a quarter of a century after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, many children and teenagers who developed thyroid cancer due to radiation are in complete or near remission, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology ...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Community Oncology Alliance, ION Solutions, and The US Oncology Network today commended a bipartisan group of 124 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives who sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expressing concern...
A combination of therapies may prove to be a promising advance for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer based on results of a phase I clinical trial, said researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Anaplastic thyroid cancer is one of the deadliest of all cancers. Nearly all patients diagnosed...
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case seeking to invalidate patents on two genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) was one of the first plaintiffs to sign onto this historic legal case. ACMG was also ...
The chances of developing lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure, asbestosis, and smoking are dramatically increased when these three risk factors are combined, and quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of developing lung cancer after long-term asbestos exposure, according to a new ...
Patients with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma who received infusions of chemotherapy, but who did not have radiation therapy to the mediastinum, had excellent outcomes, according to clinical trial results. Until now, most standard treatment approaches for patients with this type of...
The President has released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2014, which proposes new reductions for cancer care services. Taken in combination with existing strains imposed by sequestration, this proposal threatens access to care for some of America's most vulnerable: elderly patients with ...
When given sequentially, two orally available experimental drugs—sapacitabine and seliciclib—worked together to elicit antitumor effects in patients with incurable BRCA-deficient cancers, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, DC, April...
New results from a clinical trial conducted in Shanghai, China, indicate that adding cetuximab (Erbitux) to standard chemotherapy enables some patients with otherwise inoperable liver metastases due to colorectal cancer have their metastases surgically removed. Such surgery can be curative, and is...
Black women with breast cancer had significantly worse survival compared with other racial and ethnic groups across cancer subtypes, which suggests that the survival differences are not solely attributable to the fact that black women are more frequently diagnosed with less treatable breast cancer...
Researchers using patients’ own immune cells in an immunotherapy approach called anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy achieved responses in children whose acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) had returned after a bone marrow transplant, according to preliminary results...
A novel two-step immunotherapy approach yielded clinically beneficial responses in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, including one patient who achieved complete remission, according to data from two phase I clinical trials presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, DC,...
A strong, stable federal investment in cancer research, prevention, and treatment is critical to continue the progress we are making for the more than 1.66 million Americans newly diagnosed with cancer every year. ASCO calls on Congress to renew its commitment to this life-sustaining research. As...
The antibody-drug conjugate DMUC5754A, a novel member of a relatively new class of drugs, showed activity in women with ovarian cancer, even those with hard-to-treat, platinum-resistant disease, in a phase I trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, DC, April 6 to 10....
The emergence of molecular diagnostic testing in lung cancer offers new hope for patients battling the number 1 cancer killer in the United States and abroad. Now, for the first time after a decade of biomarker testing in lung cancer, a uniform approach for testing for the EGFR mutation and ALK...
For the first time, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have isolated adult stem cells from human intestinal tissue. The accomplishment provides a much-needed resource for scientists eager to uncover the true mechanisms of human stem cell biology. It also enables them to ...
Taking a break from hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatments once the cancer seems to be stabilized is not equivalent to continuing therapy, a new large-scale international study finds. Previous smaller studies had indicated that intermittent androgen deprivation therapy might be just as good...
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for...
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have found that a new formulation of a promising anticancer agent, the small chemical molecule FL118, is even more effective in controlling two types of cancer than a version reported in PLOS ONE 6 months earlier proved to be. Additional evidence...
Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center have identified new DNA sequences associated with breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The findings, which appear in three studies in the journals PLoS Genetics and Nature Genetics, will help reveal the underlying causes of these diseases and help researchers...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of Florida studied health-care providers to determine the factors associated with disparities in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among girls, ages 9 to 17, from low-income families. They found that physician vaccination...
The American Association for Cancer Research released its second Annual Report on Cancer Survivorship in the United States in advance of the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, which will be held in Washington, DC, April 6-10. The report, published in the AACR’s journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers ...