In a French phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Mir et al found that pazopanib (Votrient) plus best supportive care increased progression-free survival vs best supportive care in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) resistant to imatinib and sunitinib. Study...
A CCR2 inhibitor (PF-04136309) was active in combination with FOLFIRINOX (oxaliplatin, irinotecan, leucovorin, fluorouracil) in treatment-naive patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to a single-center phase Ib study reported by Nywening...
In a French single-arm phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bertucci et al found little evidence of benefit from the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies in women with nonmetastatic HER2-negative inflammatory breast cancer. Study Details In the study, ...
Among patients with early-stage breast cancer who were considered at high risk for disease recurrence based on clinical and biologic criteria, the MammaPrint genetic test identified a large group of patients for whom 5-year distant metastasis–free survival was equally good whether or not they ...
The investigational drug LOXO-101, which selectively targets a family of proteins called neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptors (NTRKs), produced significant tumor regression in patients whose tumors had NTRK gene fusions, according to data from a phase I clinical trial presented by Hong et al at...
The new investigational anticancer therapeutic BGB-283, which targets the RAF family of proteins, was safe, tolerable, and showed signs of clinical activity in patients who had a range of types of cancer with mutations in BRAF, KRAS, and NRAS, according to results from a phase I clinical trial...
The benefit of plasma genotyping to predict treatment benefit in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was confirmed in three studies presented April 15 at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) 2016 in Geneva. However, researchers warned that plasma tests are unlikely to fully ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Callegaro et al have developed nomograms to predict overall survival and risk of distant metastases in patients undergoing resection of soft-tissue sarcomas of the extremities. Study Details The study involved data from a development cohort of 1,452 consecutive ...
A cancer and fertility program established at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) improves patient satisfaction with information received regarding fertility risks and preservation options, according to a report by Kelvin et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Designed to support...
In an analysis of the SOFT and TEXT trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Regan et al found that the greatest benefit of adjuvant exemestane in reducing breast cancer recurrence was among women with the highest risk of recurrence on the basis of clinicopathologic characteristics....
The third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib (Tagrisso) is effective in the first-line treatment of EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a late-breaking abstract presented by Ramalingam et al (Abstract...
Immunotherapy with a live bacterium combined with chemotherapy demonstrated more than 90% disease control and a 59% response rate in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to the results of a phase Ib trial presented by Jahan et al April 14 (Abstract 208O_PR) at the European Lung...
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA), which seeks to expand the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) to patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma after prior therapies. The application...
On April 13, The Parker Foundation announced a $250 million grant to launch the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, a collaboration between scientists, clinicians, and industry partners to lead an unprecedented cancer immunotherapy research effort. The gift is the largest single contribution ...
Data from a new study show that patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) taking direct-acting antiviral treatments who have previously been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma had a high rate of redeveloping their illness. The large retrospective cohort study (Abstract LBP506), presented by...
Previous studies have shown that married patients with cancer fare better than unmarried patients with cancer, surviving more often and longer. In a new study, published by Martínez et al in Cancer, researchers at University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine reported that the...
The addition of chemotherapy with procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine to radiotherapy significantly prolonged overall survival in patients with low-grade glioma, according to the final results of the phase III RTOG 9802 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Buckner et al. A...
Wide variability exists in radiation treatment decisions following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery for breast cancer, according to a review of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) Z1071 trial. These findings were published by Haffty et al in the International Journal of...
Prostate cancer patients and their doctors may want to think twice about the best timing for chemotherapy or radiation therapy in conjunction with a common nonsurgical treatment, based on international research findings led by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators. Researchers using mouse...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shaffer et al have developed a prognostic scoring system for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for myelodysplastic syndrome. Study Details The study involved data from 2,133 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome in...
On April 11, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved venetoclax (Venclexta) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with 17p deletion, as detected by an FDA-approved test, who have received at least one prior therapy. Venetoclax is the first...
Ribi et al reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that addition of ovarian function suppression to tamoxifen resulted in greater endocrine and sexual function symptoms among premenopausal patients with early breast cancer in the Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT). The SOFT study...
The use of combination therapy with estrogen plus progestin, previously shown to be associated with an increased incidence of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women in studies based largely on white women, has been shown to increase this type of breast cancer...
Elderly men had a significant increase in the risk of noncancer hospitalizations following the diagnosis of prostate cancer, according to a population-based retrospective cohort study conducted by Amit D. Raval, PhD, and colleagues at West Virginia University, Morgantown. Results were published in...
Pathologists would disagree about 8% of the time when interpreting a single breast biopsy slide, with more overinterpretation than underinterpretation in discordant cases, according to an analysis combining results from the B-Path (Breast Pathology) study with data on the prevalence of breast...
Use of a custom next-generation sequencing assay may accurately predict mismatch repair deficiency on the basis of mutational load in colorectal cancer, according to a report by Stadler et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details The study involved data from 224 patients with...
In a UK noninferiority trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Mehanna et al found that positron-emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) surveillance was associated with similar survival vs planned neck dissection in patients with stage N2 or N3 squamous cell carcinoma ...
Ultrasound was associated with improved incremental detection of breast cancer at screening compared with tomosynthesis in women with mammography-negative dense breasts, according to the interim findings of the Italian prospective ASTOUND study. Tagliafico et al reported these results in the...
Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of Keck Medicine of USC and Clalit National Israel Cancer Control Center have found that coffee consumption may be inversely associated with the risk of colorectal cancer. The findings by Schmit et...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Isaacs et al found that use of primary breast-conserving surgery for early-stage breast cancer has declined somewhat in recent years in New York State, most steeply among younger women. In addition, 90-day reoperation rates have declined and are lower for...
I was the last one on the oncology team to meet Mel. He was 36 years old, and by then Mel had been living with metastatic colon cancer for several years. During that time, his clinicians had never referred him to our psycho-oncology team because of his strong attitude and outlook. Mel’s outward...
A review of major studies and the current literature underscored the role of geriatric assessment in making treatment recommendations for patients aged 80 years and older with early and metastatic breast cancer. The review was published in the Journal of Oncology Practice. The corresponding author...
David B. Roth, MD, PhD, has been appointed Director of the new Penn Center for Precision Medicine. In his new role, he will lead efforts to accelerate the implementation of precision medicine into clinical care. Dr. Roth is an expert in DNA repair and mechanisms of programmed gene rearrangements...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) primary concern in the drug approval process is to ensure that the drug is safe and effective. For the past several decades, the advocacy groups have vociferously painted the agency as a stodgy bureaucracy that prevents desperate patients access to...
The adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” is true, but authors still need to be aware of the importance of first impressions. The title of science writer Travis Christofferson’s book Tripping Over the Truth: The Return of the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Illuminates a New and Hopeful Path to ...
The Claudia Cohen Research Foundation and the Foundation for Women’s Cancer announced Michael J. Birrer, MD, PhD, as the 2016 recipient of the Claudia Cohen Research Foundation Prize for Outstanding Gynecologic Cancer Researcher. The $50,000 prize was presented at the Society of Gynecologic...
On March 11, 2016, crizotinib (Xalkori) was approved for treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ROS1 rearrangement–positive tumors.1,2 A U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved test for the detection of ROS1 rearrangements in NSCLC is not currently...
The 2016 Pezcoller Foundation-American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Award for Cancer Research will be presented to Joan Massagué, PhD, Director of the Sloan Kettering Institute and Alfred P. Sloan Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, at the AACR...
The oncology research team at HonorHealth Research Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona, is spearheading a phase Ib/II trial that is demonstrating promising results with a novel regimen in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. “The patients we are treating have advanced adenocarcinoma of the...
Itai Yanai, PhD, whose in-depth study of how embryos develop has led to breakthroughs in the analysis of gene composition and expression, has been named the inaugural Director of the newly created Institute for Computational Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. He officially takes his new...
Susan Block, MD, an institute physician in the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a Harvard Medical School Professor, and Director of the Serious Illness Care Program at Ariadne Labs, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American...
The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF) announced the addition of cancer researcher Robert Hromas, MD, Chair of Medicine at University of Florida Health, to its scientific advisory board (SAB). Dr. Hromas, who continues his position at the University of Florida Health, will join his...
Recent data indicate that the rate of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and the rate of diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer have decreased since a 2012 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) statement (released in October 2011) gave a grade D recommendation against PSA...
Hartford HealthCare has named Past ASCO President Peter Paul Yu, MD, FASCO, the first Physician-in-Chief of Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute. As Physician-in-Chief, Dr. Yu will be responsible for working closely and collaboratively with physicians and nurses who practice within the Hartford...
African American patients with esophageal cancer survive fewer months after diagnosis than white patients, but only if they also have low incomes, according to a study presented by Loretta Erhunmwunsee, MD, at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Dr. Erhunmwunsee led the study...
Here is the final installment of selected abstracts from the proceedings of the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, focusing on Hodgkin lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. For other selected abstracts...
On March 30, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved defibrotide sodium (Defitelio) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease, also known as sinusoidal obstructive syndrome, with renal or pulmonary dysfunction following hematopoietic...
CANCERSCAPE, the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), provided a forum for about 300 attendees to gain insight into the complexities of oncology treatment, where “clinical advances, policy mandates, and value-based payment reform intersect.” Of particular...
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) was passed in April 2015, introducing comprehensive changes to how Medicare pays physicians for services. As the policies passed in MACRA are rolled out over the coming years, they will profoundly impact reimbursement and care...
A study in the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP)1 measured the level of cultural competence among surgeons from six hospitals in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, home to a large population of American Indians and Alaskan Natives. According to the study, “Assessing Cultural Competence...