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Showing 12401 - 12450Randi Kaplan, LMSW, Named Schwartz Center’s 2016 National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year
The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, a national leader in providing compassionate care to patients and caregivers, has named Randi Kaplan, LMSW, Director of the Arthur D. Emil Caregiver Support Center at Montefiore, the National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year. The prestigious...
No Progression-Free Survival Difference With Temozolomide vs Radiotherapy in High-Risk Low-Grade Glioma
In a phase III intergroup trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Brigitta G. Baumert, MD, of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Brussels, and colleagues found no progression-free survival difference between temozolomide chemotherapy and radiotherapy alone in...
New Treatments for Lung Cancer in 2016
With drug approvals for immunotherapy in the first- and second-line settings, breakthroughs in targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, and the rapid evolution of therapies that target anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements, 2016 has been an extraordinary year for lung...
NCI Study Affirms There Is No Safe Level of Smoking
People who consistently smoked an average of less than 1 cigarette per day over their lifetime had a 64% higher risk of earlier death than never-smokers, and those who smoked between 1 and 10 cigarettes a day had an 87% higher risk of earlier death than never-smokers, according to a new study from...
Nivolumab in Recurrent or Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck
On November 10, 2016, nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved for treatment of recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the finding of an overall survival advantage...
Mutanome-Directed Immunotherapy: Finding the Best Treatment Match
Oncologists may be accustomed to looking for commonalities in patients, but highly personalized therapies are now being developed based on mutational analysis of tumors. According to data presented at the Cedars-Sinai annual symposium on New Therapeutics in Oncology: The Road to Personalized...
Liquid Biopsies Identify Molecular Alterations Driving Drug Resistance in Nearly 80% of Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancers
Liquid biopsy technologies are increasingly being used to detect genetic mutations in tumors, giving clinicians the opportunity to see in real time how a patient’s cancer may or may not be responding to treatment. In a study presented recently at the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular...
Noteworthy Antitumor Activity Seen in Phase I Studies of PDGFRα and KIT Mutation Inhibitors
Two studies presented at the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich focused on the inhibition of mutations in the KIT and PDGFRα oncogenes. These genes encode receptor tyrosine kinases, and when they are mutated, cell signaling malfunctions, leading to...
Genetic Link May Explain Outcomes Differences in Multiple Myeloma in African Americans
African Americans are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and twice as likely to die from this form of cancer. Research presented at the 9th American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health...
Novel Immunotherapy Combinations May Be the Future of Melanoma Treatment
The future treatment of melanoma may rely on combinations of immunotherapy agents beyond the current checkpoint inhibitors, and they are entering clinical trials, according to Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone...
FDA Approves Daratumumab in Combination Therapy for Patients With Multiple Myeloma Receiving at Least One Prior Treatment
On November 21, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid) and dexamethasone or bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior...
‘Clinically Useful’ Findings for Brentuximab Vedotin in CTCL, Rituximab Maintenance in MCL
Positive studies about brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma1 and rituximab (Rituxan) maintenance therapy in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL)2 were reported at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Hematology (ASH). “These abstracts each focus on approved agents and...
Equivalent Response Rates With Trastuzumab or Trastuzumab Biosimilar Plus Taxane in HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
In part 1 of a phase III equivalence trial reported in JAMA, Rugo et al found that treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin) or a proposed trastuzumab biosimilar in combination with a taxane produced similar overall response rates in patients with previously untreated metastatic HER2-positive breast...
ASH 2016: Children With Down Syndrome and ALL Fare as Well as Other Children Treated on ALL Consortium Protocols
Despite an elevated risk of toxicity from chemotherapy, children with Down syndrome and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) did not experience higher rates of relapse or treatment-related mortality compared with other children treated on Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium Protocols,...
ASH 2016: Ibrutinib and TGR-1202 Combination Yields Encouraging Results in Patients With Relapsed Forms of Leukemia or Lymphoma
A combination of two targeted agents has demonstrated safety as well as encouraging signs of effectiveness in a phase I clinical trial in patients with relapsed or hard-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Davids et al reported the findings at the 58th American ...
ASH 2016: New Data Shed Light on Potential Advantages of Pacritinib for Patients With Myelofibrosis
Compared with standard therapy, pacritinib significantly reduces spleen size among people with myelofibrosis who have very low levels of platelets, according to a late-breaking study presented by Mascarenhas et al during the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition...
ASH 2016: Ibrutinib Found Helpful in Treating Graft-vs-Host Disease After Stem Cell Transplant
A late-breaking abstract presented by Miklos et al during the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego (Abstract LBA-3) showed patients who experience graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) after stem cell transplantation that is not resolved by corticosteroid...
Study Finds No Predictive Value of ERCC1 Marker for Outcomes With Nonplatinum vs Platinum Therapies in NSCLC
In the UK phase III ERCC1 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lee et al found that presence of the excision repair cross complementing group 1 (ERCC1) biomarker did not predict better outcome with nonplatinum therapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study...
ASH 2016: Interim Analysis Shows Adding Lenalidomide Maintenance Therapy to Chemoimmunotherapy Prolongs Progression-Free Survival in High-Risk CLL
The combined use of genetic markers and minimal residual disease assessment (MRD) has made it easier to identify chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients likely to have a poor outcome after receiving frontline chemoimmunotherapy. Interim results from the phase III German CLL M1 study presented...
ASH 2016: CD19-Targeting CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy Yields High Response Rates in Treatment-Resistant CLL
In a small, early phase trial, a high percentage of patients who had exhausted most traditional treatments for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) saw their tumors shrink or even disappear after an infusion of a highly targeted, experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy...
Does Androgen-Deprivation Therapy Increase the Risk for Dementia in Patients With Prostate Cancer?
In a UK population–based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Khosrow-Khavar et al found no significant association between the use of androgen-deprivation therapy and the risk for dementia in patients with prostate cancer. The study involved a cohort of 30,903 men with newly...
ASH 2016: Cessation of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Treatment in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients With Deep Molecular Response
In one of the largest-ever trials to assess the safety of stopping tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy—the Euro-Ski trial—about half of 821 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) showed no evidence of relapse 2 years after treatment cessation, suggesting that some patients can...
ASH 2016: Phase I Trial of Vadastuximab Talirine in Combination With 7+3 Induction Therapy for Patients With AML
In a clinical trial presented by Erba et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) AnnualMeeting & Exposition (Abstract 211), vadastuximab talirine was found to be safe when used in combination with standard chemotherapy treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The...
ASH 2016: Study Shows Patients Traditionally Ineligible for Studies May Benefit From Trial Participation
Patients who potentially could benefit most from participation in clinical trials due to poor prognoses often are not included based on eligibility criteria, such as existing medical illnesses. A novel study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center revealed some patients with acute...
ASH 2016: New CAR T-Cell Therapy Holds Promise for Children and Young Adults With Hard-to-Treat ALL in Phase I Trial
Children and young adults with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who receive chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting CD22, a protein found on the surface of leukemic cells, appear to mount a clinical response and, in some cases, achieve remission....
ASH 2016: New Chemotherapy Delivery Method Improves Survival After Bone Marrow Transplant in Older Patients With AML
A new analysis presented by Lancet et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition (Abstract 906) found older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survived longer after receiving an allogeneic stem cell transplant if they were first treated with the...
FDA Grants sBLA to Pembrolizumab for the Treatment of Relapsed or Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy, for the treatment of patients with refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma or for...
Increased Morbidity and Mortality in HCT Survivors vs Other Cancer Survivors
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chow et al found that hematopoietic cell transplantation survivors had higher rates of morbidity and mortality compared with a matched population of patients with cancer not undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation. The study involved...
High Frequency and Poor Outcome of Philadelphia Chromosome–Like ALL Reported in Adults
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Roberts et al found a high frequency of Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)–like acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults with B-cell ALL and poorer outcome with conventional therapy in these patients. Frequency of Disease The frequency...
EORTC-NCI-AACR 2016: Liquid Biopsies Identify Molecular Alterations Driving GI Cancer Drug Resistance in Nearly 80% of Patients
Ryan Corcoran, MD, PhD, Translational Research Director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center, described to attendees of the 2016 EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics the results of a program at MGH focused...
EORTC-NCI-AACR 2016: ‘Remarkable Antitumor Activity’ in Phase I Studies of PDGFRα and KIT Mutation Inhibitors
Two studies at the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany focused on the inhibition of mutations in the KIT and PDGFRα oncogenes. These genes provide instructions for making proteins that are part of a family of proteins called receptor...
Association of Extent of Surgeon-Assessed Resection on Outcome in High-Risk Neuroblastoma
In an analysis of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma from the Children’s Oncology Group A3973 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, von Allmen et al found that surgeon-assessed resection of at least 90% was associated with improved event-free survival and a reduced cumulative ...
Obesity/Overweight and Lower Activity Level May Increase Risk of Taxane-Induced Neuropathy in Women With Invasive Breast Cancer
Greenlee et al found that obesity, overweight, and low levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with an increased risk of taxane-related peripheral neuropathy in women with invasive breast cancer, according to a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...
FDA Grants Full Approval and Label Update for Ponatinib in CML and ALL
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted ponatinib (Iclusig) full approval for the treatment of adult patients with chronic-phase, accelerated-phase, or blast-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for whom no ...
Link Between Previous Treatment for Depression and Increased Risk of Receiving Nonguideline Treatment in Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Women with early-stage breast cancer previously treated for depression were more likely to receive nonguideline treatment for breast cancer, “probably contributing to poorer overall and cancer-specific survival,” according to a nationwide Danish cohort study reported in the Journal of...
Gleevec Is Saving My Life but at a Cost
Like many patients in the chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), my cancer was discovered during a routine physical, when an off-the-chart white blood cell count signaled a serious problem that my primary care physician attributed to unspecified internal bleeding. Fortunately for me, my...
Long-Term Effects of Finasteride in Patients From the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial
In the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial finasteride was found to reduce the risk of low-grade prostate cancer but to have no effect on overall survival. Results of the trial, in which 18,880 men were randomized to receive finasteride or placebo for 7 years, were reported in 2003. In a recent study...
Drainage of Massive Ascites: Patient of Nicholas Senn, MD
Prior to the 20th century, there were very few specific therapies for disease. Many diseases, especially cancers and infections, resulted in accumulations of fluid or pus in body cavities. Physicians had to become masters of the trocar, needle, and catheter. They learned to artfully remove fluid...
Expect and Encourage Questions About Breast Reconstruction
An article in The New York Times about women who had chosen not to have reconstruction following breast cancer surgery might prompt questions from newly diagnosed patients considering their options.1 Deanna J. Attai, MD, FACS, told The ASCO Post that whenever an article on breast cancer appears in...
Helping Patients With Breast Cancer Decide Whether to Have Reconstruction
A “nascent movement to ‘go flat’” is how an article in The New York Times characterized the decisions by some women to opt out of reconstruction following surgery for breast cancer.1 The article examined the reasons several patients made that decision, which included avoiding multiple surgeries and ...
Dave, Dave, Dave
It was 1983, and I was in my third year as an attending physician at a major East Coast university medical center and just 5 years out of fellowship. As was common at the time, I saw and treated all malignancies except leukemia and gynecologic cancers. In the middle of a typically busy day at the ...
FDA Approves Daratumumab in Combination With Lenalidomide/Dexamethasone or Bortezomib/Dexamethasone in Multiple Myeloma
On November 21, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid) and dexamethasone, or bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone, for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior...
Safety Profile of Nivolumab Monotherapy in Advanced Melanoma
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Weber et al performed a pooled analysis of the safety profile of nivolumab (Opdivo) monotherapy in advanced melanoma, including a focus on potential immune-related (select) adverse events. The analysis pooled safety data from 576 patients receiving...
Factors Predictive of Outcomes With Dabrafenib/Trametinib in Metastatic BRAF-Mutant Melanoma
Long et al identified factors predictive of progression-free and overall survival with combined dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) in patients with BRAF V600E–mutant or BRAF V600K–mutant metastatic melanoma, according to a pooled individual data analysis reported in The...
Michael O’Connell, MD, Receives the 2016 ACCC Clinical Research Award
Michael O’Connell, MD, received the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 2016 Clinical Research Award in recognition of the significant and positive impact of his research on the oncology patient, family, and the community. ACCC President Jennie R. Crews, MD, MMM, FACP, accepted the...
How When Breath Becomes Air Is Helping the Public—and Physicians—Confront Their Mortality
It should not come as a surprise to anyone who has read Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s brilliant—and unforgettable—memoir, When Breath Becomes Air (Random House, 2016), that nearly a year after publication, it remains on The New York Times best-seller list, its popularity only increasing with time. Written...
Study Finds Cabozantinib of Clinical Benefit vs Sunitinib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
A randomized phase II clinical trial evaluating cabozantinib (Cabometyx) compared with standard-of-care sunitinib (Sutent) as first-line therapy for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma has found that cabozantinib reduced the rate of disease progression or death by 34% compared with...
Making Peace With Cancer
Next to me sounds the buzzing of my Lympha Press machine, which substitutes for the constant visits of the physiotherapist who performs the lymph drainage. This gives me more freedom, and we have more privacy at home. I can use the machine whenever I need it, and my 5-year-old daughter, Christina, ...
Understanding Biosimilars and Their Impending Role in Oncology Care
Biosimilars are among the newest threads in the fabric of cancer treatment in the United States, and they are spawning numerous questions for oncologists and patients with cancer. Many of these questions were taken up by participants in a recent Washington forum on “The Future of the U.S....
Adjuvant Sunitinib for Renal Cell Carcinoma: Not Ready for Prime Time
In renal cell carcinoma and other cancer types, a consistent paradigm in drug development exists: Observe efficacy of a drug in the metastatic setting and move quickly to explore the agent in the adjuvant setting. In the cytokine era, there were multiple efforts to characterize whether adjuvant...
