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Showing 13401 - 134502016 Head and Neck Cancer Symposium: Most Recurrences of HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Cancer Can Be Found Within 6 Months
For patients treated with definitive radiation therapy for oropharyngeal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), the majority of recurrences can be detected by post-treatment imaging at 3 months and physical exams during the 6 months following treatment, according to research presented by...
Men Get Breast Cancer Too
Like many men, it never occurred to me that I could get breast cancer. But it turns out it is more common—and deadly—than I thought, with about 2,600 men diagnosed each year with invasive breast cancer and nearly 440 dying of the disease.1 In 2010, I became one of those men, and the diagnosis was...
A Surgeon’s Inspiring Journey to Death
Every so often, a memoir comes along in which the story speaks to universal themes. For that magic to occur, the author must step aside at times and let others tell their story, too. Moreover, the writing must be clear, vibrant, and above all else honest to the core. The recently published memoir...
Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab in Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma Regardless of BRAF Mutation Status
On January 23, 2016, the indication for nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) in unresectable or metastatic melanoma was expanded through accelerated approval to include patients regardless of BRAF V600 mutation status.1 The combination was previously approved for treatment of patients with...
Failure of Updated Dietary Guidelines to Advise Limiting Red and Processed Meat Deemed a ‘Missed Opportunity’
“A missed opportunity” is how Susan Higginbotham, PhD, RD, Vice President for Research, American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), described the “failure” of updated dietary guidelines to recommend limiting consumption of red and processed meat. Doing so would have “the potential to save...
Selected Abstracts From 2015 ASH Annual Meeting: Part 3
Here are several more abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, focusing on newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, and amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. For other selected abstracts...
ASCO Announces New Award Recognizing Extraordinary Contributions to Cancer Survivorship Care
ASCO has announced the creation of the Ellen L. Stovall Award and Lecture for Advancement of Cancer Survivorship Care, intended to recognize and promote the work of pioneers and leaders in the growing field of survivorship. The first award will be presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship...
Candid Discussions on Living With and After Cancer at An Evening for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers
On January 14, 2016, the Cancer Survivorship Symposium opened with An Evening for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers, an event featuring networking, a panel discussion, and an open forum to share the challenges of living with or after a cancer diagnosis. The audience included Symposium attendees as...
Management of Advanced Lung Cancer in the Elderly: A Reason to Rejoice or a Cause for Concern?
There is ample evidence to suggest that older adults with a good performance status (0 or 1) with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) should be treated with combination chemotherapy akin to younger patients.1,2 However, older adults comprise a heterogeneous group that has been...
Ofatumumab for Extended Treatment of Patients With Recurrent or Progressive Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
On January 19, 2016, ofatumumab (Arzerra) was approved for extended treatment of patients in complete or partial response after at least two lines of therapy for recurrent or progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).1,2 Ofatumumab was previously approved for treatment of untreated patients...
Expert Point of View: Elizabeth Plimack, MD
The Egyptian study presented by Brian Baumann, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, was a “valiant effort” to determine whether sequential adjuvant chemotherapy added to adjuvant radiation would improve disease-free survival, said formal discussant of this trial Elizabeth Plimack,...
Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Bladder Cancer: Hint of Benefit That Needs Confirmation
Adjuvant sequential chemotherapy plus radiation therapy and adjuvant radiation therapy alone significantly improved local tumor control compared with adjuvant chemotherapy alone in locally advanced bladder cancer but the improvement in disease-free survival (3-year disease-free survival of 68% vs...
Genomic, Molecular Differences in Tumor Biology May Explain Inferior Survival in African Americans With Kidney Cancer
African Americans who develop metastatic renal cell carcinoma have had worse survival historically than whites. With the advent of targeted therapy, the hope is that the gap in survival would be narrowed. However, a new study has shown that survival for African Americans with metastatic renal cell...
Active Holistic Surveillance May Prevent Unnecessary Biopsies in Low- and Low/Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer
The use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening has led to a dramatic rise in the number of men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer. Active surveillance is recommended to manage patients with favorable-risk, low-grade prostate cancer, with the goal of avoiding overtreatment of these...
2016 Head and Neck Cancer Symposium: Uninsured and Medicaid Patients More Likely to Present With Advanced Tumors, Experience Cancer-Specific Mortality
Compared to patients with non-Medicaid insurance, uninsured patients and patients with Medicaid are more likely to present with advanced stages of head and neck cancer and have higher overall and cancer-specific mortality rates, according to research presented by Churilla et al at the 2016...
2016 Head and Neck Cancer Symposium: Cost-Coping Strategies and Perceived Social Isolation in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
The majority of patients with locally advanced head and neck cancers rely on cost-coping strategies that alter their lifestyle in order to manage the financial burden of their care, according to research presented by Kung et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium (Abstract...
New Technology to Characterize Circulating Tumor Cells Suggests Better Treatment Decision-Making in Prostate Cancer
An early study showed that an experimental blood test (ie, “liquid biopsy”) that characterizes the phenotype and genomic characteristics of circulating tumor cells appears to have utility in personalizing treatment decisions for individual men with advanced prostate cancer.1 The assay—developed and ...
Study Finds Abnormal Insulin and Glucose Dynamics in Childhood Survivors Treated With Abdominal Radiation
An ongoing pilot study, designed to assess dynamic indices of insulin and glucose homeostasis in childhood cancer survivors exposed to abdominal radiation, has found a variety of derangements in glucose and insulin homeostasis in this cohort.1 According to an analysis presented at the 2016 Cancer...
Clinic-Based Weight-Loss Intervention Successful in Cancer Survivors
A randomized clinical trial examining the effect of a 15-week healthy living program on weight loss in cancer survivors showed a 5.3% decrease in baseline body weight in those participating in the program.1 “Cancer survivors randomized to a 15-week clinic-based weight-loss intervention lost an...
Detection of Thyroid Cancer Most Cost-Effective With Physical Examination, Not Ultrasound Screening
A study evaluating annual physical examination as a screening method to detect thyroid cancer in cancer survivors exposed to neck radiation has shown a substantial cost reduction compared with ultrasound screening, with no thyroid cancer–related mortality.1 According to the analysis, this method...
Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Among Oncology Surgeons Do Not Necessarily Result in Culturally Competent Care
A survey of oncology surgeons from six hospitals in Washington State found that the surgeons in the sample “displayed and valued cultural awareness and sensitivity” but that “cultural awareness and sensitivity did not necessarily result in culturally competent behavior.”...
Carboplatin/Paclitaxel Tops Oxaliplatin/Capecitabine as Neoadjuvant Regimen for Esophageal Cancer
The United Kingdom’s phase II NEOSCOPE trial compared the toxicity and efficacy of two preoperative chemoradiation regimens—carboplatin/paclitaxel and oxaliplatin/capecitabine—and judged one to be the winner. “CarPacRT passed the prespecified efficacy criteria for taking forward to phase III, but...
2016 Head and Neck Cancer Symposium: Study Maps Distinct Molecular Signatures of HPV-Positive Throat Cancer by Smoking Status
Patients with throat cancer exposed to both human papillomavirus (HPV) and tobacco smoke demonstrate a pattern of mutations along several key cancer genes, according to research presented by Zevallos et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium (Abstract 1). These distinct...
Radiotherapy for Rectal Cancer: Study Reports No Risk for Subsequent Pelvic Tumors
Second malignancies were not more common among patients who underwent radiotherapy for rectal cancer. In fact, radiotherapy appeared to offer some degree of protection against subsequent cancers, according to the findings of a study from the Netherlands reported at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers ...
Serum Tumor Marker Testing Overused, Especially for Solid Tumors
A retrospective review to evaluate the frequency of serum tumor marker testing “found a high rate of serum tumor marker testing overuse and extreme overuse in patients with advanced solid tumors,” Melissa K. Accordino, MD, of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New...
Expert Point of View: Bertram Wiedenmann, MD, PhD and Markus Moehler, MD, PhD
Commenting on the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) antibodies in tumors with mismatch repair deficiency, Bertram Wiedenmann, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, suggested, “The efficacy of pembrolizumab...
Receipt of Adjuvant Therapy at High-Volume Center Improves Survival in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer
Patients with pancreatic cancer who received adjuvant chemotherapy at a high-volume center had superior median and 5-year overall survival than did patients who were treated in a community setting, according to the results of a study presented at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 This...
Surveillance for Recurrence and Second Cancers: Guidelines and Caveats
Striking the right balance between under- and oversurveillance of cancer survivors is challenging, and oncology providers are best served by knowing and following guidelines—though they can change often. Cancer recurrence and second cancers are two of the major threats to the health of cancer...
Antithymocyte Globulin Reduces Need for Immunosuppressants After Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation From Unrelated Donors
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Walker et al found that treatment with antithymocyte globulin reduced the need for immunosuppressive therapy in patients with hematologic malignancies receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation from unrelated donors. Study Details In this...
Inherited Genetic Variations That Lead to Severe Drug Toxicity in Pediatric Leukemia Discovered
An international research team has determined how inherited gene variations lead to severe drug toxicity that may threaten chances for a cure in children with leukemia. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, results of which set the stage to expand the use of a...
Autoantibodies May Help Detect Lung Cancer Earlier
Preliminary research has identified autoantibodies—immune proteins found in the blood specific for one's own proteins—that can potentially detect lung cancer early by distinguishing between smokers with or without lung cancer and can also discriminate between lung cancer and low-dose...
Anti–PD-1/PD-L1 Antibodies Make Strong Showing in Gastrointestinal Cancers
Although the results may not yet be as impressive as those seen in melanoma, lung, and kidney cancers, monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) are producing responses, with some durability, in gastrointestinal cancers, according to studies presented at the 2016...
Fecal Immunochemical Test Sensitive and Effective for Annual Colorectal Cancer Screening
Annual screening with the fecal immunochemical test is highly sensitive for detecting colorectal cancer and “is feasible and effective for population-level colorectal cancer screening,” according to a large-scale retrospective cohort study assessing the fecal immunochemical...
Increased Risk of Severe Neurocognitive Impairment in Adult Survivors of Pediatric CNS Tumors
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Brinkman et al, a study in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort showed that adult survivors of pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors are at increased risk of severe neurocognitive impairment. Study Details The study involved 224 survivors of CNS...
Melanoma-Specific Survival Significantly Higher With Wider Excision Margins
Among patients with high-risk, primary cutaneous melanomas, the risk of death from melanoma at a median follow-up of 8.8 years was significantly higher among those randomized to surgery with a 1-cm excision margin than among those randomized to surgery with a 3-cm excision margin. Although overall...
Study Finds Mechanism by Which Obesity Promotes Pancreatic and Breast Cancers
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of obesity to promote cancer progression. In their report published by Incio et al in Clinical Cancer Research, the research team describes finding an association between obesity and an...
Gene Previously Observed Only in Brain Is Important Driver of Metastatic Breast Cancer
When breast cancer becomes metastatic, patient survival is drastically reduced, prompting the need to explore the genes that may cause tumor cells to metastasize. Now, scientists from The Wistar Institute have shown that a gene that was once thought only to be found in the brain is also expressed...
Eribulin Improves Overall Survival vs Dacarbazine in Advanced Liposarcoma or Leiomyosarcoma
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Schöffski et al found that eribulin improved overall survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma who had received at least two prior systemic treatments for advanced disease. Outcome in the subgroup with...
High Conditional Survival for Patients With Metastatic Testicular Germ Cell Tumors Receiving First-Line Curative Therapy
Two-year conditional overall and disease-free survival were substantially increased in patients surviving and surviving without recurrence for 2 years after first-line curative therapy for metastatic testicular germ cell tumors, according to a study reported by Ko et al in the Journal of Clinical...
Dutch Study Shows Increased Risk of Second Cancer for Survivors of Hodgkin Lymphoma During Long-Term Follow-up
In a Dutch study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Schaapveld et al found that survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma treated between 1965 and 2000 were at a 4.6-fold greater risk of second cancer vs the general population during long-term follow-up. There was no significant difference in the ...
Younger T Cells May Improve Immunotherapy for Pediatric Cancer
Pediatric oncologists from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have investigated techniques to improve and broaden a novel personalized cell therapy to treat children with cancer. The researchers say that a patient’s outcome may be improved if clinicians select specific...
Study Finds Enzalutamide Increases Progression-Free Survival vs Bicalutamide in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Use of the androgen receptor–inhibitor enzalutamide (Xtandi) more than doubled progression-free survival vs the nonsteroidal antiandrogen bicalutamide in patients with metastatic prostate cancer progressing on androgen-deprivation therapy, according to the randomized phase II TERRAIN trial...
Nanoparticle Therapy That Uses LDL and Fish Oil Kills Liver Cancer Cells
An experimental nanoparticle therapy that combines low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and fish oil preferentially kills primary liver cancer cells without harming healthy cells, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report. The study was published by Wen et al in Gastroenterology. “This...
Study Finds Time Lag Between Positive Fecal Blood Test and Follow-up Colonoscopy
Annual testing for blood in the stool using high-sensitivity guaiac fecal occult blood tests or fecal immunochemical tests is one of several recommended colorectal cancer screening strategies for adults 50 to 70 years old. However, although a positive finding requires a follow-up colonoscopy to...
Reduction in Late Mortality in Childhood Cancer Survivors in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Cohort
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Armstrong et al found that late mortality decreased over time among 5-year survivors of childhood cancer in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort. The reduction is consistent with efforts during recent decades to modify treatment with ...
Possible Marker for Recurring HPV-Linked Oropharyngeal Cancers
A retrospective analysis of human papillomavirus (HPV) antibodies in patients treated for oropharyngeal cancers linked to HPV infection suggests at least one of the antibodies could be useful in identifying those at risk for a recurrence of the cancer, said scientists at The Johns Hopkins...
Alectinib in ALK-Positive Metastatic NSCLC After Crizotinib
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On December 11, 2015, alectinib (Alecensa) was granted...
No Benefit of Adding Adjuvant and Maintenance Lapatinib to Chemoradiation in High-Risk Patients With Resected Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Harrington et al found that the addition of concurrent adjuvant lapatinib (Tykerb) to chemoradiation therapy and the use of maintenance lapatinib did not improve disease-free or overall survival in high-risk patients with resected...
Similar Low Incidence of Bowel Symptoms With Hypofractionated vs Conventionally Fractionated Radiotherapy in Localized Prostate Cancer
As reported by Wilkins et al in The Lancet Oncology, 2-year patient-reported outcomes in a UK phase III trial (CHHiP) substudy have shown a similar low incidence of bowel problems among patients with intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer receiving hypofractionated vs conventionally...
Removal of Complex Renal Tumors Performed Safely by Robotic Surgery in Selected Patients
Renal cell carcinoma can sometimes spread to the inferior vena cava, posing a threat to the heart and brain. Robotic nephrectomy for inferior vena cava tumor thrombus has favorable outcomes in selected patients compared with open surgery, which can have a high rate of complications, reported Abaza...
