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Showing 13851 - 13900Inherited Genetic Markers May Predict Melanoma Survival and Help Plot Course of Disease
At NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, researchers have discovered an inherited genetic marker that might provide clinicians with a personalized tool to gauge an individual’s survival and determine which patients require closer monitoring in the years...
New NCCN Guidelines for Vulvar Cancer Available
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has published new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for vulvar cancer; these NCCN Guidelines® are currently available as Version 1.2016. The NCCN Drugs & Biologics Compendium (NCCN Compendium®) has been...
New Precision Medicine Guidelines Aimed at Improving Personalized Cancer Treatment Plans for Patients
A committee of national experts, led by a Cleveland Clinic researcher, has established first-of-its-kind guidelines to promote more accurate and individualized cancer predictions, guiding more precise treatment and leading to improved patient survival rates and outcomes. These guidelines were...
Pregnancy-Associated Melanoma Is Linked With Higher Death Rates
Melanoma is on the rise in women of childbearing age. Those at the greatest risk, according to new Cleveland Clinic research, are women younger than 50 who are pregnant or have recently been pregnant. After adjusting for age, tumor location, and stage, researchers from Cleveland Clinic's...
New Target Identified for Reducing Metastasis
A protein that is constantly expressed by cancer cells and quiescent in healthy cells appears to be a solid target for reducing cancer's ability to spread, scientists reported. The WASF3 protein enables cancer cell invasion, and by interrupting its relationship with another protein, CYFIP1, which...
FDA Approves Ofatumumab for Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in Complete or Partial Response
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ofatumumab (Arzerra) for extended treatment of patients who are in complete or partial response after at least two lines of therapy for recurrent or progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Ofatumumab was previously approved for the...
New Method to Improve Preoperative Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer Based on Ultrasound
In a landmark study, investigators from Europe proposed a new and simple method to assess the risk of malignancy of women with an adnexal mass. The method identified between 89% and 99% of patients with ovarian cancer using the results of ultrasound examination, which can be obtained in referral...
Higher Risk of Radiation-Induced Breast Cancer Found in Women Screened More Frequently and in Women With Larger Breasts
Radiation-induced breast cancer risk from digital mammography is low for the majority of women, but the risk is higher in women with large breasts, who received 2.3 times more radiation and required more views per examination to image as much of the breast as possible compared to those with small...
Palliative Care Initiated in the Emergency Department Associated With Improved Quality of Life
A palliative care consultation initiated in the emergency department for patients with advanced cancer was associated with improved quality of life and did not seem to shorten survival, according to an article published by Grudzen et al in JAMA Oncology. Visits to the emergency department are...
New Findings May Enhance PARP Inhibitor Therapy in Breast Cancer
Findings from a new study reveal that the activity of PARP inhibitors, an emerging class of drugs being studied in cancer clinical trials, may be enhanced by combining them with inhibitors targeting the oncogene c-MET, which is overexpressed in many cancers. The findings resulting from in vitro and ...
Survivorship Symposium 2016: 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...
Link Between Obesity and Increased Risk of Colorectal Cancer Revealed in Preclinical Models
Obesity has long been associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer, but the link has never been understood. Now, a research team led by investigators at Thomas Jefferson University has revealed the biologic connection, and in the process, has identified an approved drug that might prevent...
Survivorship Symposium 2016: Persistent Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Is Common in Female Cancer Survivors
A new study of women cancer survivors indicated that 45% still have chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms years after completing cancer treatment. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy was associated with worse physical functioning, poorer mobility, and a nearly twofold higher...
Journal of Oncology Practice Goes to Monthly Distribution With New and Enhanced Resources
ASCO announced today that the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) will be printed on a monthly basis and offer new resources to supply oncology professionals with cutting-edge information on cancer care delivery. Doubling its content, the expanded journal also features clinical information from a...
Ultrasound Guidance Lowers Risks of Thoracic Nerve Block Technique for Mastectomy
A regional anesthesia technique called thoracic paravertebral nerve block is highly effective in controlling pain after breast cancer surgery, but concern about potential complications may limit its use. A new study provides evidence that using ultrasound to guide the nerve blocking procedure...
HPV Vaccine Uptake Is Highest Among Girls in High-Poverty and Majority Hispanic Communities
Adolescent girls living in high-poverty communities and majority Hispanic communities were more likely to have received at least one dose of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine than those living in low-poverty communities and in communities of other racial and ethnic compositions. These findings...
Blood Test That Monitors ctDNA Better Than the Standard in Tracking Metastatic Melanoma
Physicians treating patients with metastatic melanoma may soon have a superior tool in their efforts to closely track the disease. A new study shows that a blood test that monitors blood levels of DNA fragments from dead cancer cells does a better job than the current standard test at tracking the...
ASCO Calls for Improvements to Clinical Pathway Programs in Oncology
ASCO released a new policy statement with recommendations to ensure that clinical pathways in oncology promote—not hinder—the care of patients with cancer. Published by Zon et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice, the statement asserts that the way in which these treatment management...
Phase I Trial Shows Injectable Agent Illuminates Cancer During Surgery
Doctors at the Duke University School of Medicine have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon’s ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The imaging technology was developed through...
AACR, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, and Carol’s Crusade for a Cure Foundation Partner to Offer Grant Opportunity
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, and Carol’s Crusade for a Cure Foundation have announced a new partnership and grant opportunity in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer research. The AACR–Triple Negative Breast Cancer...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients and Colleagues
Patients of the Women’s Cancer Center at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia often ask about ovarian cancer risk, the center’s Director, Robert A. Burger, MD, told The ASCO Post. Moreover, the recent study showing that bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy reduced that risk generated discussion among ...
Sunitinib-induced Hypertension May Be Efficacy Biomarker in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
A retrospective exploratory analysis of pooled efficacy data from more than 500 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib (Sutent) “support the hypothesis that hypertension may be a viable biomarker of antitumor efficacy in this patient population,” according to a report...
Statistically Significant Decline in Lung Cancer Incidence and Death Rates among Women
More than a decade after lung cancer incidence and death rates began to decline in men, a statistically significant decrease in the rates are occurring among women. The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975 to 2007, is the first to document these decreases, the report’s authors...
Adding Gemcitabine to Chemoradiation Improves Survival Outcomes for Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer
A phase III, open-label, randomized trial found that adding gemcitabine to concurrent cisplatin chemoradiotherapy and using gemcitabine as adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin improved survival outcomes in women with locally advanced cervical cancer. Toxicity was increased compared to standard...
Death Rates Significantly Reduced for Men Having Radical Prostatectomy vs Watchful Waiting
Estimated 15-year results from the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study (SPCG-4) show that men diagnosed with early prostate cancer and randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy continued to have significantly reduced rates of death from prostate cancer, death from any cause, and risk of...
FDA Issues Revised Draft Guidance on Financial Disclosure by Clinical Investigators
The FDA recently issued a draft guidance on financial disclosure by clinical investigators, intended to assist researchers, industry, and FDA staff in interpreting and complying with regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Part 54. The draft is being distributed for comment...
More Than $6 Million Awarded to Promising Cancer Researchers
This year ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation will support promising researchers as they pursue studies that explore the anticancer activity of diabetes drugs in prostate cancer, improve the quality of life for elderly patients with colorectal cancer, and examine psychosocial outcomes of siblings of...
Subcutaneous Bortezomib Offers Improved Safety Profile for Treating Patients with Relapsed Multiple Myeloma
Subcutaneous administration of bortezomib (Velcade) was comparably efficacious to intravenous administration in a phase III trial in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma, but the SC route “seemed to have an improved systemic safety profile compared with intravenous delivery,’’ investigators...
More Evidence Links Vitamin D Deficiency to Breast Cancer
Patients with breast cancer and deficient levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D are more likely to have aggressive tumor profiles and unfavorable prognostic markers than women with optimal levels of vitamin D, according to research presented at the 12th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast...
Trabectedin New Drug Application Withdrawn
Centocor Ortho Biotech Products, LP, announced that it has voluntarily withdrawn the New Drug Application (NDA) for trabectedin (Yondelis) for the treatment of women with recurrent ovarian cancer. The withdrawal is based on the FDA’s recommendation that an additional phase III study be conducted to ...
FDA Approves Sunitinib for Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors
The FDA approved sunitinib (Sutent) to treat patients with progressive neuroendocrine cancerous tumors located in the pancreas that cannot be removed by surgery or that have metastasized. This is the second new approval by the FDA to treat patients with this disease. On May 5, the agency approved...
New Drug Application Submitted for Vemurafenib in Melanoma
Daiichi Sankyo announced that applications have been submitted for market approval for vemurafenib (PLX4032/RG7204) for the treatment of metastatic melanoma to the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Additionally, a premarketing application for approval for a companion diagnostic test has...
‘Paradoxical’ Result Tying Estrogen to Reduced Risk of Breast Cancer Is Consistent with Laboratory Data
Results from the Women’s Health Initiative1 showing a decreased incidence of breast cancer among postmenopausal hysterectomized women who took estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) may seem paradoxical, but “comply exactly” with laboratory research, according to V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc,...
A Conversation with Patricia A. Ganz, MD
Researching the effects of cancer on patients’ quality of life and championing the development and implementation of survivorship care plans have been at the forefront of the 20-year-long career of Patricia A. Ganz, MD, Director of the Division of Prevention and Control Research at UCLA’s Jonsson...
Expert Point of View: Genes May Predict Taxane-related Peripheral Neuropathy
As an oncologist who frequently avoids taxanes, largely due to concerns about neuropathy, Steven Vogl, MD, of the Bronx, New York, was asked to comment on the study. He observed that while the Indiana University study has no immediate applicability, it is “a good first look.” “I typically don’t...
A Conversation with Brad Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH
Each year in the United States, approximately 70,000 people between the ages of 15 and 40 are diagnosed with cancer. And while getting a cancer diagnosis at any age can be devastating, for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) grappling with sexuality, body image, peer pressure, dating, marriage,...
Opinion: The FDA–Pharmaceutical Industry Complex
On January 17, 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his farewell address to the nation, coined the term “the military-industrial complex.” His purpose was to warn of the inefficiencies that could result from such a relationship, which would imperil the strength of our military and the safety of ...
Survivorship Symposium 2016: Study Finds That Less Than Half of Survivors of Hodgkin Lymphoma Received All Recommended Follow-up Care
According to the American Cancer Society’s 2014 Cancer Facts & Figures, Hodgkin lymphoma is diagnosed in about 800 adolescents and young adults each year. And while standard treatments for the cancer, including chemotherapy and radiation, are very effective in improving survival,...
Survivorship Symposium 2016: Study Finds Personalized Survivorship Care Plans Improve Health Outcomes in Low-Income Breast Cancer Survivors
Although the Institute of Medicine recommends the implementation of treatment summaries and survivorship care plans as a mechanism to improve ongoing clinical and coordination of oncology care and to address the immediate post-treatment and long-term effects of cancer therapy, empirical evidence...
Capecitabine Noninferior to 5-FU with Improved Toxicity Profile in Rectal Cancer, Two Studies Demonstrate
Two separate trials presented during an oral session at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting suggest that capecitabine (Xeloda) can replace fluorouracil (5-FU) as part of chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer. Patients randomly assigned to either treatment had comparable outcomes but with less toxicity from...
Changes Introduced to Better Inform Consumers about Sunscreen
The FDA announced that sunscreen products meeting modern standards for effectiveness may be labeled with new information to help consumers find products that, when used with other sun protection measures, reduce the risk of skin cancer and early skin aging, as well as help prevent sunburn. The...
Test Approved to Help Determine Candidacy for Trastuzumab
The FDA has approved a new genetic test that will help health-care professionals determine whether women with breast cancer are HER2-positive and, therefore, candidates for trastuzumab (Herceptin). The test, called Inform Dual ISH, allows for measurement of the number of copies of the HER2 gene in...
Important Briefs: Lymphoma Research on Improved Chemotherapy, Biomarker Associations, and Stem Cell Transplant Approaches
The 11th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma was held June 15–18 in Lugano, Switzerland. More than 3,000 hematologists, clinical oncologists, pathologists, and researchers attended the meeting, which was first convened in 1981. Topics of discussion included lymphoma staging in the new...
Iniparib Fails to Improve Outcomes in Triple-negative Breast Cancer
As reported in the March 15 issue of The ASCO Post, a phase III trial of the novel agent iniparib failed to demonstrate a significant improvement in survival for women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. The “top-line” results were communicated in the spring via press releases from...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
The study of concurrent HPV and Pap testing for cervical cancer was widely reported even before the recent ASCO Annual Meeting. In an interview with The ASCO Post, Barnett Kramer, MD, was asked how physicians can respond to questions about the study from patients. “You can tell a woman over the...
Cervical Cancer Screening Study Should Reassure Physicians and Patients that a 3-Year Screening Interval Is Safe and Effective
Results of a large-scale cervical cancer screening study using concurrent human papillomavirus (HPV) and Pap testing should “reassure” women over 30 who test negative for HPV and have normal Pap tests that “it is extremely safe to go 3 years” before being tested again, Barnett S. Kramer, MD, MPH,...
My First of Many ASCO Meetings
In June, I attended my first ASCO Annual Meeting. Although I have been practicing and teaching urology for 35 years with a specific interest in genitourinary oncology and I have attended dozens of national meetings, the ASCO Annual Meetings were not on my radar. Focus on the Patient The...
Cabozantinib Shows Encouraging Activity in Metastatic Castrate‑resistant Prostate Cancer
Cabozantinib, a dual inhibitor of MET kinase and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, exhibits high, early single-agent activity in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer, according to Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, who presented these findings at the 2011 ASCO Annual...
Is Subspecialization an Option or a Necessity in Community Practices?
Should oncologists in community practices subspecialize? What would that mean for them and for their patients? These are some of the issues tackled in a Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) Strategies for Career Success article entitled “Subspecialization in Community Oncology: Option or Necessity?”...
FDA Issues Updated Safety Data on Silicone Gel–filled Breast Implants
The FDA has released a report updating the clinical and scientific information for silicone gel–filled breast implants, including preliminary safety data from studies conducted by the manufacturers (Allergan and Mentor) as a condition of their November 2006 approval. While the report confirms...
