The FDA has approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) to treat men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer that has spread or recurred, even with medical or surgical therapy to minimize testosterone. Approved for patients with prostate cancer previously treated with docetaxel, enzalutamide was...
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. Indication In July 2012, cetuximab (Erbitux) was approved for use...
Janssen Research & Development, LLC, announced that the FDA has granted Priority Review to the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) administered in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer ...
The tripartite motif family protein 27 (TRIM27) is a transcriptional repressor that reduces induction of cell senescence by retinoblastoma-associated protein (RB1). High levels of TRIM27 expression occur in several human cancers and have been associated with poor prognosis in breast and endometrial ...
Mochizuki and colleagues from Keio University in Tokyo, the Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute in Kumamoto, and RIKEN in Saitama have shown that von Willebrand factor has proapoptotic effects and that a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28 (ADAM28) promotes metastasis by cleaving and...
Several targeted drugs are approved for treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer, but no validated biomarkers are available for prediction of clinical outcome of treatment with these agents. In a recent study, Tran and colleagues from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston,...
Born in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1900, Mary Woodard Lasker was introduced to the ravages of cancer when she was just 3 or 4 years old and went with her mother to visit the family’s laundress, Mrs. Belter, who had just undergone surgery for breast cancer. On the way over to Mrs. Belter’s home, Ms....
Lack of sleep is linked to more aggressive breast cancers, according to new findings published in the August issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment by physician-scientists from University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Seidman Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case...
Metronomic chemotherapy using a multidrug regimen appears beneficial and fairly well tolerated in patients with multiple myeloma that is highly refractory to previous treatments, investigators from the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy in Little Rock, Arkansas, reported.1 Their results...
Dying patients with cancer who avoided hospitalizations and life-prolonging measures, who worried less, prayed or meditated, were visited by a pastor, and maintained a therapeutic alliance with their oncologist had the highest quality of life at the end of life, according to a study recently...
Updated results from the phase III EMILIA study showed that trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) significantly improved overall survival of people with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer compared to the combination of lapatinib and capecitabine (Xeloda). The new data were reported in a press release...
Breast cancer survivors who engage in moderate to high levels of physical activity have reduced mortality and improved quality of life, according to recent studies. In addition, exercise may play a role in lowering the risk of breast cancer. “Physical activity can hasten recovery from the immediate ...
Retrospective analyses have indicated that the antidiabetic agent metformin may be associated with a quite substantial reduction in risk of cancers. There is evidence that the anticancer effects of metformin are related to inhibition of the growth of certain cancers via activation of AMP kinase...
The FDA has approved bosutinib (Bosulif) to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The drug is intended for patients with chronic, accelerated, or blast phase Philadelphia chromosome–positive CML who are resistant to or who cannot tolerate other therapies, including imatinib (Gleevec). The...
I am happy to accept the invitation by The ASCO Post to comment on the recent, long-awaited publication of the PIVOT study (Wilt et al: N Engl J Med 367:203-213, 2012) and the accompanying editorial by Thompson and Tangen (N Engl J Med 367:270-271, 2012). The editorial both points out weaknesses of ...
The relative benefits of surgery or observation in men with prostate cancer detected by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing have not been defined. Randomized trials comparing radical prostatectomy with observation were conducted before widespread use of PSA testing and an observational study...
At the recent Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference, held in Maui, Hawaii, Richard I. Fisher, MD, Chairman of the SWOG Lymphoma Committee and Vice-President for Strategic and Program Development at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, gave a presentation on the characteristics and...
A deadly contagious cancer known as devil facial tumor disease is pushing the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilius harrisii), to the brink of extinction. The loss of an interesting creature aside, the plight of the Tasmanian devil raises provocative questions...
Dr. Armitage: For ALK-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma, brentuximab vedotin is the best thing we have to deal with patients with recurrent disease, and who knows where it will end up in primary therapy. But if the patient is ALK-positive, there is a potential for crizotinib (Xalkori) to...
Case Summary presented by Steven M. Horwitz, MD, Assistant Attending, Lymphoma Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. This is a case of a 49-year-old woman who developed an enlarged right axillary lymph node. The woman had noticed some discomfort under her right arm, which she...
Case Summary presented by Andreas Engert, MD, Chairman, German Hodgkin Study Group, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany This is a case report of a 23-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in January 2009. She received two cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin,...
Dr. Armitage: As oncologists, we face many challenges. I think the most difficult is when you say to a patient with a disease everybody expects will be cured, and every patient expects to be cured, “It is not worth trying to do that. It is time to worry about keeping you as well as possible for as ...
Case Summaries presented by Joseph M. Connors, MD, Clinical Director, Centre for Lymphoid Cancer, British Columbia Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada When considering the management of a patient whose Hodgkin lymphoma has relapsed despite high dose...
“This is a very exciting time in melanoma,” said Michael Sabel, MD, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “For years, we chugged along with few options for systemic therapy. Then in 2010 and 2011, we saw melanoma data presented at ASCO plenary sessions. At ASCO 2012, we expanded in these areas...
The novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor tivozanib was superior to sorafenib (Nexavar) for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma in the phase III TIVO-1 trial.1 Tivozanib is a potent, selective inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, 2, and 3, with a long half-life that is...
William Oh, MD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, posed some questions about the first-in-class alpha emitter radium-223 chloride. “Is this an anticancer drug or a bone-targeted drug?” he said. “With abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) and enzalutamide (Xtandi), we see declines in PSA—an...
Three emerging agents for castration-resistant prostate cancer are extending lives and defining their roles in the treatment scenario, according to William Oh, MD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, who commented on new data at the Best of ASCO Boston meeting. “We are talking about...
The findings of Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) 9346 sparked controversy at the ASCO Annual Meeting, and the interpretations were debated at an official postpresentation discussion. At the Best of ASCO Boston meeting, William K. Oh, MD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York—who also served as ...
Continuous androgen deprivation therapy remains the standard of care for newly diagnosed hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer, according to the phase III Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) 9346 intergroup trial presented at this year’s ASCO Plenary Session.1 Study Rationale The large...
In all likelihood, only a subset of patients given regorafenib derive benefit, as suggested by the progression-free survival curve seen in the CORRECT trial, according to Dr. Overman. “This is a very interesting curve. The medians don’t really capture the difference.… If you look more at the area...
Key colorectal cancer studies presented at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting are changing the treatment landscape in this disease, according to Michael Overman, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, who reviewed the data at the Best of ASCO San Diego meeting. The mix included...
As tyrosinse kinase inhibitors become increasingly effective in treating chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), major molecular responses (≥ 3-log reduction in BCR-ABL transcripts) are being achieved for a growing percentage of patients. “In the new era of tyrosinse kinase inhibitors, we are learning how...
Carfilzomib (Kyprolis), the next-generation proteasome inhibitor recently approved by the FDA for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, showed strong activity in the front-line setting when paired with lenalidomide (Revlimid) and low-dose dexamethasone (CRd).1 The study evaluated stringent complete ...
In a study presented at the ASCO Plenary Session, trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), the antibody-drug conjugate linking trastuzumab (Herceptin) to a cytotoxic agent, improved progression-free survival by 3.2 months, representing a 35% reduction in risk of progression in the phase III EMILIA trial.1...
While novel targeted agents may grab the headlines in the treatment of breast cancer, oncologists still debate the optimal delivery of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, still a vital component of treatment. At the Best of ASCO Boston meeting, Steven J. Isakoff, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General...
Research reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting attests to the tremendous molecular diversity of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the power of appropriately selected treatment, according to Leora Horn, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who presented data on molecular findings...
Three Best of ASCO meetings were held over the summer in Chicago, Boston, and San Diego. The faculty distilled the most interesting and immediately applicable data from the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting, provided personal perspectives, and interacted with attendees for an educational experience that was ...
A “new finding” that long-term survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma may be at risk for neurocognitive impairment and central nervous system (CNS) pathology arose from a study among 62 patients treated with either high-dose (≥ 30 Gy) thoracic radiation or lower-dose (< 30 Gy) thoracic...
A phase III study showed that progression-free survival was significantly prolonged with continuation maintenance with gemcitabine or switch maintenance with erlotinib (Tarceva) compared with observation in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received first-line treatment...
A population-based, retrospective cohort study of 12,500 women diagnosed with incident, invasive breast cancer found that anthracycline and trastuzumab (Herceptin) were associated with increased risk of heart failure and/or cardiomyopathy. “Compared with women who received no chemotherapy, our...
The year 2012 was “a banner year for symptom management,” according to Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, who presented data on patient and survivor care at the Best of ASCO San Diego meeting. “I have been doing symptom management for about 20 years, and it seems...
Adjuvant radiotherapy for patients with parotid acinic cell carcinoma “does not confer a therapeutic advantage in low-grade and early-stage tumors if resection is complete,” but the benefit for patients with higher-grade or higher-stage disease is uncertain because there were few of these patients...
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Over the past few weeks, Stanley L....
When bloody discharge started oozing from the nipple on my left breast, I knew instinctively that it was serious. Although I was just 43, having lost two aunts to breast cancer, I knew my family history increased my risk for developing the disease. So when I saw my gynecologist for an exam, I was...
Antioxidant supplements are widely used by healthy individuals as a preventive measure against cancer and heart disease and by patients with cancer to promote healing and prevent recurrence. Studies suggest that dietary supplements are used by up to 81% of cancer survivors, and that 14% to 32%...
Tweeting at concerts or plays may earn you scornful looks or even stern warnings from ushers, but tweeting at the ASCO Annual Meeting may enhance the meeting experience for you and others. In a study comparing trends in Twitter use by physicians during the 2010 and 2011 ASCO Annual Meetings, some...
Key studies on cancer epidemiology and prevention delivered both reassuring and not-so-reassuring findings on exposure to agents believed to be cancer-promoting. Kala Visvanathan, MD, MHS, of The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Baltimore,...
For more than a year, Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP, has been blogging at ASCO Connection (connection.asco.org) about such diverse topics as cancer survivorship, the redesign of clinical studies based on patients’ molecular characteristics, and the power of laughter. Last May, Dr. Dizon tackled the impact ...
“We are beginning to understand the molecular biology underlying a portion of the 80 or so subtypes of sarcomas, and we hope this will lead to subtype-specific treatments,” said William D. Tap, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, at the Best of ASCO Boston meeting. “And in...
The FDA approved the production and use of Choline C 11 Injection, a positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging agent used to help detect recurrent prostate cancer. Choline C 11 Injection is administered intravenously to produce an image that helps to locate specific body sites for follow-up tissue ...