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Showing 13601 - 13650New Colonoscopy System Cleared by FDA
A developer of endoscopy products based in New York and Kissing, Germany, invendo medical, announced that the company received 510(k) clearance by the FDA of the company’s new C20 colonoscopy system, including the SC20 single-use colonoscope. The invendoscope SC20 has several features that are...
FDA Acts to Bolster Supply of Critically Needed Cancer Drugs
The FDA has announced a series of steps to increase the supply of critically needed cancer drugs and build on President Obama’s Executive Order to help prevent future drug shortages. The President’s order, issued last October 31, directed the FDA to take action to help further prevent and reduce...
Eating Problems and Pain Prevalent in Survivors of Head/Neck Cancer
“Eating problems due to poor oropharyngeal functioning and persistent pain are the most prevalent problems” faced by patients 5 years after being treated for head and neck cancer, according to a study published online by the Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.1 More than 50% of...
Rising Costs in Radiation Oncology Linked to Medicare Coverage
In the ongoing debate over how to control rising cancer care costs, it is vital to identify usage patterns of expensive new technologies. A recent study examined the relationship between Medicare reimbursement and the increasing use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).1 The ASCO Post...
Expert Point of View: Answer to Secondary Cancers with RAF Inhibitors May Be Concomitant MEK Inhibition
“The development of nonmelanoma skin cancers secondary to RAF inhibitor treatment has been recognized since 2005, having been seen initially with sorafenib (Nexavar),” noted Mario E. Lacouture, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Commenting on recently published studies in this setting,...
Expert Point of View: Next-generation Sequencing in Metastatic Triple-negative Breast Cancer Yields Rewards
Hope Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, commented on Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s presentation on molecular pathways in triple-negative breast cancer at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. “The really exciting thing is that we have moved from intrinsic subtyping of breast...
Searching for Quality in an Increasingly Complex Health-care Environment
With the Presidential election just around the corner, the health-care debate will undoubtedly heat up. The ASCO Post spoke with Sean R. Tunis, MD, MSc, Founder and Director, Center for Medical Technology Policy, and former Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, ...
GU Symposium 2016: Even After Antiandrogen Therapy, Docetaxel Remains Useful in Prostate Cancer
A study presented at the 2016 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium showed that 40% of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with docetaxel following abiraterone (Zytiga) had at least a 50% reduction in prostate-specific antigen (PSA), demonstrating the activity of...
Radiation Therapy Lowers Risk of Cancer Recurrence in Patients Undergoing Pancreatic Surgery
Radiation therapy was associated with a lower risk of cancer recurrence in pancreatic cancer surgery patients, making it, like chemotherapy, an important addition to treatment, Mayo Clinic research found. Whether radiotherapy helps patients after pancreatic cancer surgery has been a long-standing...
GU Symposium 2016: Updated Results of IMvigor 210 Show Durable Response Rates With Atezolizumab in Advanced Bladder Cancer
In the pivotal phase II IMvigor 210 study, the investigational cancer immunotherapy atezolizumab (MPDL3280A) showed encouraging response rates in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, Roche announced. These data were presented by Hoffman-Censits et al at the 2016...
GU Symposium 2016: New Blood Test Technology Shows Promise for Guiding Prostate Cancer Treatment Decisions
An early study suggests that an experimental blood test may help guide individualized decisions on the most appropriate treatments for patients with prostate cancer. The new noninvasive “liquid biopsy” scans the entire landscape of different kinds of cancer cells in blood and analyzes...
GU Symposium 2016: Cabozantinib Improves Upon the Standard of Care for Advanced Kidney Cancer
New analyses from a phase III clinical trial of patients with previously treated advanced kidney cancer demonstrated that patients of all risk levels experience more benefit from cabozantinib (Cometriq) than from the current standard of care, everolimus (Afinitor). The greater activity of...
GU Symposium 2016: Regular Aspirin Use May Reduce Risk of Dying From Prostate Cancer
A large observational study has found that men who take aspirin regularly may have a lower risk of dying from prostate cancer. Men who took aspirin regularly after their prostate cancer diagnosis were less likely to die from the disease. However, aspirin did not affect the overall incidence of...
Long-Term Follow-up of Risk of Cancer Among Twins
In a long-term follow-up study among approximately 200,000 Nordic twin individuals, there was an increased cancer risk in twins whose co-twin was diagnosed with cancer, with an increased risk for cancer overall and for specific types of cancer, including prostate, melanoma, breast, ovary, and...
Palliative Care Offers Greater Cost Savings for Cancer Patients With Multiple Chronic Conditions
Patients with incurable cancer and numerous other serious health conditions who consulted with a palliative care team within 2 days of hospitalization had significant savings in hospital costs, according to a new study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Published by...
2012 Oncology Meetings
APRIL 3rd European Lung Cancer ConferenceApril 18-21 • Geneva, Switzerland For more information: www.esmo.org Diagnosis and Treatment of Advanced Forms of Prostate Cancer, Bladder Cancer and Kidney CancerApril 20-21 • Kiev, Ukraine For more information: http://nbscience.com Organisation for...
Report to the Nation Finds Continuing Declines in Cancer Death Rates
Death rates from all cancers combined for men, women, and children continued to decline in the United States between 2004 and 2008, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2008. Overall cancer incidence rates among men decreased by an average of 0.6% per year...
SIDEBAR: Oocyte Preservation
For oocyte cryopreservation, eggs removed from a woman’s body are not fertilized with sperm to create embryos before being frozen. For this reason, oocyte cryopreservation may be a suitable option for women who do not have a partner, do not want to use donor sperm, or have religious or ethical...
SIDEBAR: Internet Tool to Calculate ‘Risks to Fertility'
The risk calculator available at the Fertile Hope website (www.fertilehope.org) lets patients know whether specific treatment regimens would put them at high, intermediate, low, very low/no risk, or unknown risk for azoospermia or amenorrhea. Both Fertile Hope and the ASCO fertility recommendations ...
Options for Preserving Fertility Should Be Considered Early to Maximize the Likelihood of Success
Most cancer survivors prefer to have biologic offspring despite concerns about the possible effects of cancer treatment on the child, the child’s lifetime cancer risk, or their own longevity, according to an ASCO panel that developed guidelines on fertility preservation in patients with cancer.1...
Higher Intake of Red Meat Associated with Increased Risk of Mortality
Eating more red meat appears to be associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and death from cancer and cardiovascular disease, but substituting fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains for red meat is associated with a lower mortality risk, according to...
Salvage Chemotherapy plus Best Supportive Care in Advanced Gastric Cancer
Adding salvage chemotherapy to best supportive care was tolerated and improved overall survival among patients with advanced gastric cancer previously treated with both fluoropyrimidines and platinum, administered simultaneously or concurrently. The authors of the study report, published in the...
PSA Screening Reduced Prostate Cancer–Specific but Not Overall Mortality
“Analyses after 2 additional years of follow-up consolidated our previous finding that [prostate-specific antigen (PSA)]-based screening significantly reduced mortality from prostate cancer but did not affect all-cause mortality,” investigators from the European Randomized Study of Screening for...
Benefit of Adjuvant Tamoxifen in ER-positive DCIS
Retrospective analyses of hormone receptors among patients enrolled in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-24 study showed that women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who received tamoxifen after standard therapy had significant...
Sorafenib plus Capecitabine for HER2-negative Advanced Breast Cancer
The addition of sorafenib (Nexavar) to capecitabine (Xeloda) improved progression-free survival among women with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIB trial. “There was no significant improvement for overall survival,” ...
Thomas J. Smith, MD, Appointed Director of Palliative Care, Johns Hopkins Medicine and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Thomas J. Smith, MD, has joined Johns Hopkins as the Director of Palliative Care for Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Hopkins’ Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Smith served as the Medical Director of the Thomas Palliative Care Program and the Co-director of ...
Oncology Professionals and Leaders to be Honored at ASCO Annual Meeting
Each year through its Special Awards Program, ASCO recognizes researchers, patient advocates, and leaders of the global oncology community who, through their work, have made significant contributions to enhancing cancer care. These recipients of ASCO’s highest, most prestigious awards collectively...
FDA Drug Approvals, January–April 2012
Imatinib mesylate tablets (Gleevec) approved for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients following complete gross resection of Kit (CD117) positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Vismodegib capsules (Erivedge) approved for the treatment of metastatic basal cell carcinoma or locally...
Liposomal Vincristine Receives Positive Vote from ODAC
Talon Therapeutics, Inc, announced the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 7 yes, 4 no, and 2 abstain that evidence from clinical studies supports a favorable benefit-risk assessment for use of vincristine sulfate liposomes injection (Marqibo). The manufacturer is seeking an indication for the ...
FDA Approves New Silicone Gel–filled Breast Implant
The FDA recently approved a silicone gel-filled breast implant manufactured by Sientra Inc for breast augmentation in women at least 22 years old and breast reconstruction in women of any age. As a condition of approval, Sientra is required to conduct postapproval studies that will assess long-term ...
FDA Commissioner Statement: Surgeon General’s Report on Youth Smoking
The recent report on “Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults” by the Surgeon General not only documents the devastating consequences of tobacco use for our nation’s youth, but also represents a clarion call for bold action at every level of government to implement proven strategies to...
ODAC Offers Recommendations on Two Sarcoma Drugs
The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recently recommended approval of one drug for sarcoma but rejected another. The panel voted 11 to 2 that clinical studies support a favorable benefit-risk assessment for use of pazopanib (Votrient) in treating patients with advanced soft-tissue...
Advances in Axillary Surgery for Patients with Breast Cancer
Results from the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) Z0011 trial, which found no benefit for completion axillary nodal dissection in patients with breast cancer involving one to two positive sentinel nodes,1 have led to changes in breast cancer management, though points of...
AACR Inducts Frank McCormick, PhD, FRS, DSc (hon) as President; Elects Charles L. Sawyers, MD, as President-elect, 2012-2013
Leadership of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) inducted Frank McCormick, PhD, FRS, DSc (hon), as President of the society during the AACR Annual Meeting held earlier this month Dr. McCormick is the Director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family ...
ACCC Releases Survey on ‘Oncology Medical Home’
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) released findings from a survey that explores how community-based cancer care programs view the concept of the “oncology medical home”—a patient-centered model for coordinated care, whereby payers would reimburse physicians for services that keep...
Summary of ASCO Provisional Clinical Opinion on Palliative Care
The ASCO provisional clinical opinion on palliative care recently published1 was based largely on data from seven published randomized controlled trials, including a phase III lung cancer trial by Temel and colleagues, which was the trigger for the new recommendations.2 The trial’s principal...
An Expert Shares Insight into the Future of Lung Cancer Treatment
Despite growing national focus on early detection, prevention, and new molecular-based treatments, lung cancer persistently remains the number 1 cause of cancer death for men and women in the United States. The ASCO Post spoke to lung cancer specialist Paul A. Bunn, Jr, MD, Executive Director,...
SIDEBAR: Major Conclusions of the Surgeon General’s Report on Youth Tobacco Use
Cigarette smoking by youth and young adults has immediate adverse health consequences, including addiction, and accelerates the development of chronic diseases across the full life course. Prevention efforts must focus on both adolescents and young adults because among adults who become daily...
Surgeon General Releases New Report on Youth Smoking
The fight against tobacco use among young people was accelerated recently by Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA, with the release of the Surgeon General’s Report, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. This report details the scope, health consequences, and influences that...
Radiation Oncologists Are Discussing Infertility Risks with Young Patients
More than 80% of radiation oncologists discuss the impact of cancer treatments on fertility with their patients of childbearing age. This can lead to improved quality of life for young patients with cancer, according to a study in Practical Radiation Oncology.1 In the past, the clinical focus for...
NCCN Announces New Guidelines for Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced that it has issued new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology.1 Adolescent and young adult patients are defined in the guidelines as individuals 15 to 39 years of age at initial cancer...
George Kovach, MD, Named as President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers
George Kovach, MD, became President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) at its 38th Annual National Meeting in March 2012. Dr. Kovach is the medical director of the Genesis Cancer Center, Davenport, Iowa, and one of the founding members of the Iowa Oncology Society (IOS). “I am...
SIDEBAR: ASCO PCO Expert Panel
Members of the Ad hoc Expert Panel included co-chairs Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, Northwestern University, and Thomas J. Smith, MD, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in addition to: Amy P. Abernethy, MD, Erin R. Alesi, MD, Tracy A. Balboni, MD, MPH, Ethan M. Basch,...
ASCO Releases Palliative Care Provisional Clinical Opinion
ASCO has released a provisional clinical opinion (PCO) addressing the integration of palliative care services into standard oncology care.1 The ASCO Post recently spoke with one of the PCO’s lead authors, Thomas J. Smith, MD, Director of Palliative Care for Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Johns...
‘We Need an Index of Biologic Aging’
As a retired elderly (soon to be 83-year-old) oncologist, I read the recent article on the subject of geriatric oncology, in the March 15 issue of The ASCO Post, with great interest ("Moving the Field of Geriatric Oncology Forward," by Stuart M. Lichtman, MD, FACP, FASCO.) This was particularly so...
Our Patients, Our Teachers
There is no greater professional satisfaction than the knowledge that you have cared for a patient and the care brought an improvement in the patient's health. Regardless of the level of appreciation, whether the patient is cured or not, and even if the patient's sense of well-being may be...
2012 Oncology Meetings
May 4th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference May 3-5 • Brussels, Belgium For more information: www.esmo.org ONS 37th Annual Congress May 3-6 • New Orleans, Louisiana For more information: www.ons.org State of the Art Techniques in IMRT, IGRT, SBRT, Proton and Brachytherapy May 4-6 • Las Vegas, Nevada...
Adding Cetuximab to Adjuvant Therapy with Modified FOLFOX6 Does Not Improve Survival
Adding cetuximab (Erbitux) to adjuvant treatment with mFOLFOX6, the modified sixth version of FOLFOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin) did not improve disease-free survival among patients with resected stage III colon cancer, even those with wild-type KRAS, according to a phase III study in...
Nearly 800,000 Lung Cancer Deaths Averted during 1975–2000 Due to Decline in Smoking Rates
The cumulative impact of changes in smoking behavior that started in the mid-1950s averted approximately 795,851 U.S. lung cancer deaths, 552,574 among men and 243,277 among women from 1975 to 2000, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers also...
SIDEBAR: Could HPV Testing Be Used Alone?
“In the United States, there are no recommendations currently for HPV screening alone as a primary screening test for cervical cancer,” Michael L. LeFevre, MD, MSPH, Co-Vice Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) told The ASCO Post. “Cytology picks up very few cases of...
