FOR PATIENTS with malignant melanoma, the significant improvement in outcomes with targeted agents and antibodies against the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) has now been observed in the adjuvant setting. Two landmark studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 ...
ON AUGUST 30, 2017, the first genetically engineered T-cell therapy (tisagenlecleucel [Kymriah]) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is refractory or in second or...
Participating in twice-weekly practice of Tibetan yoga may reduce sleep disturbances and improve sleep quality in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, according to a study published by Chaoul et al in Cancer. The study, led by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer...
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Losk et al found that an intervention including surgeon initiation of gene-expression profile testing with Oncotype DX significantly reduced the time to testing, receipt of testing results, and initiation of chemotherapy in...
Overall survival outcomes in the phase III CheckMate 067 trial indicate improved survival with nivolumab (Opdivo)/ipilimumab (Yervoy) vs ipilimumab and with nivolumab vs ipilimumab in patients with previously untreated advanced melanoma. These findings were reported in The New England Journal of...
Federally funded research that provides a deep understanding of cancer is spurring advances against many types of the disease. With a strong bipartisan commitment from Congress to keep investment in biomedical research a national priority, we can accelerate our pace of progress and save more lives...
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Reiss et al found that reducing the starting dose of sorafenib (Nexavar) was associated with noninferior overall survival, reduced cost, and lower risk of discontinuing treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular...
A phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Leonard et al showed no significant progression-free survival benefit of adding bortezomib (Velcade) to R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan], cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) in previously untreated patients with...
In the UK-Swiss phase III GeDDiS trial, the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel did not significantly improve progression-free survival vs doxorubicin in first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Findings were reported in The Lancet Oncology by Seddon et al....
Mature results from the KEYNOTE-045 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA37_PR) confirmed significantly longer survival in patients with advanced urothelial cancer who received the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab after initial...
Clinical trials are fundamental to the development of new treatments for cancer, yet the annual accrual to cancer clinical trials worldwide is low, estimated at 3%–5%. A nationwide study in Ireland, the preliminary results of which were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology...
Immunotherapy with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) may be a better option than standard treatments for patients whose head and neck cancer has spread or recurred after an initial round of chemotherapy, according to results of the KEYNOTE-040 trial presented at the European Society ...
Body fat distribution in the trunk is more influential than body weight when it comes to cancer risk in postmenopausal women, according to a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 1408P_PR). The findings put a new spin on weight...
The results of the MONARCH 3 trial, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 236O_PR), showed that adding the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib to endocrine therapy improved progression-free survival compared to endocrine...
Factors that may limit the ability of young adult cancer survivors to work were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 1110PD_PR). Late side effects can occur months or years after cancer treatment. In patients diagnosed with cancer in young...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to copanlisib (Aliqopa) for the treatment of adults with relapsed follicular lymphoma who have received at least two prior systemic therapies. “For patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma, the cancer often...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved bevacizumab-awwb (Mvasi) as a biosimilar to bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of multiple types of cancer. Bevacizumab-awwb is the first biosimilar approved in the U.S. for the treatment of cancer. “Bringing new biosimilars to...
Durvalumab improves progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage III lung cancer, according to late-breaking results from the phase III PACIFIC trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA1_PR) and...
A 14-year randomized trial in more than 600 patients has concluded that chemoradiation should remain the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. The findings were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 928O_PR). ...
The preliminary results of a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid show that sociopsychological factors have become more significant for patients today than physical side effects such as nausea and vomiting, which were among the top concerns in...
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has shown a promising response rate in patients with pretreated metastatic gastric cancer, according to late-breaking results from the KEYNOTE-059 trial presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA28_PR). The expected...
In a European analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Martínez et al found similar survival outcomes with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide-based haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) vs conventional HLA-matched sibling donor or HLA-matched...
Adding taselisib to letrozole before surgery significantly improved outcomes for patients with early breast cancer that was both estrogen receptor–positive and HER2-negative, according to results of the LORELEI trial, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress ...
Patients with high-risk prostate cancer starting long-term hormone therapy may benefit from two new treatments, according to late-breaking results from the STAMPEDE trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (LBA31_PR). Long-term hormone therapy...
The superiority of docetaxel-based triplet therapy over standard of care in patients with resectable esophagogastric cancer has been confirmed in late-breaking results from the FLOT4 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA27_PR)....
Due to DNA sequencing, patients with rare cancers for which no standard treatment is available could receive existing therapies that work in patients treated for different cancers but who carry the same genetic mutations. The first results of a multidrug and multitumor clinical trial (Abstract...
Combination targeted adjuvant therapy with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) doubles relapse-free survival in patients with stage III BRAF-mutant melanoma, according to late-breaking results from the COMBI-AD trial presented on September 11 at the European Society for Medical Oncology ...
As reported by Baik et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Medicare patients who received androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer do not appear to be at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and may have an extremely small increased risk for dementia. Study Details The study...
In a phase III trial reported by Govindan et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the addition of first-line ipilimumab (Yervoy) to paclitaxel/carboplatin did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details In the...
Some stroke survivors may have underlying cancer, according to an observational study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 1412P_PR). “Postmortem studies have suggested that cancer can develop after a stroke, but the magnitude of...
Patients requiring surgery for esophageal cancer fare better after undergoing a hybrid minimally invasive esophagostomy compared to an open esophagostomy, according to long-term results of the MIRO trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract ...
Caucasian women with ovarian cancer can safely stick to the standard every-3-week dosing schedule for paclitaxel rather than boosting up to a weekly dose-dense regimen, according to results of the phase III ICON8 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in...
Data from two separate phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid show the particular central nervous system (CNS) activity of alectinib (Alecensa) in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer involving a mutation of the...
A phase II study has shown that cabozantinib (Cometriq) produces responses in patients with tyrosine kinase inhibitor–refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. The findings were reported by Cabanillas et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. MET plays a role in vascular endothelial growth...
The optimal follow-up protocol for patients with completely resected non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains elusive after results of the IFCT-0302 trial, presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid, did not show a difference in overall survival...
Even small tumors in the breast can be aggressive, according to a study in patients with early-stage breast cancer presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid (Abstract 150O_PR). Researchers found that 24% of small tumors were aggressive, and patients...
The vast majority of tumor marker tests in primary and secondary care are not necessary, according to a study presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid (Abstract 1410P_PR). The tests assisted with a cancer diagnosis in just 2% of patients....
The results of a phase II trial have shown high activity of guadecitabine, a next-generation hypomethylating drug, in treatment-naive older patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The findings were reported in The Lancet Oncology by Kantarjian et al. Guadecitabine has a longer half-life and exposure...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Pavel et al, no significant difference in deterioration of health-related quality of life was observed with everolimus (Afinitor) vs placebo in the phase III RADIANT-4 trial, which included patients with advanced nonfunctional well-differentiated...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Brasky et al found that the use of individual source supplemental vitamins B6 and B12 was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer among men in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort. Several B vitamins, including B6, B9 (folate),...
When I was in high school, I spent summers working as a restaurant dishwasher, grocery store stock boy, and gardener in northwest Indiana. The idea of spending those weeks learning about science and medicine would not have been an option for me at that time. Yet it is precisely those students who...
A randomized phase II trial (Children’s Oncology Group [COG] ANBL1221) has resulted in the selection of dinutuximab (Unituxin) plus irinotecan/temozolomide as a regimen to be further evaluated in the treatment of pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed neuroblastoma. Study results were...
Two scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will receive the 2017 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for their significant research leading to the development of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. The award is the country’s most prestigious biomedical research prize,...
Although Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it someday may prove to be an effective treatment for glioblastoma. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine showed that...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Shoushtari et al, a single-center experience has shown a very high rate of clinically significant immune-related adverse events with nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) for advanced melanoma. Their findings suggest that the full course of four doses of...
The phase III ACT IV study has shown no survival benefit of adding rindopepimut, a vaccine targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) deletion mutation EGFRvIII, to temozolomide in patients with newly diagnosed EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma. These findings were reported by Weller et al...
WITH THE MANY NEWS REPORTS about Senator John McCain being diagnosed with glioblastoma, patients may be asking if symptoms such as headaches and vision or speech problems should signal the need for screening or diagnostic tests. “There has never been any suggestion that doing routine screening,...
NEWS ARTICLES about Senator John McCain’s diagnosis of glioblastoma accurately describe glioblastoma as aggressive and having a poor prognosis. But as Walter J. Curran, Jr, MD, pointed out in one of those reports, “substantial improvements in surgical approaches” have enabled more patients to...
Fever therapy became firmly established as a significant therapeutic modality during the first decades of the 20th century. Physicians in this era believed the heat of a fever assisted in the control of numerous infections by killing the infective organism as it traveled through the bloodstream....
Many Type A personalities deal with problems by controlling all aspects of the problem. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it works for a while. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. The health-care system—hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices—have policies (specific office hours and strict...